God has equipped you to fight your worst enemy.
Don't join his side.
Don't join his side.
Our enemy is sneaky.
He is sly.
He is slimy and despicable.
Some people don't realize this. They have joined his side.
Instead of being on guard against him, they have cozied up and become friends.
They watch his movies and laugh at his jokes. They surf his internet sites. They dance to his music.
What they don't know is killing them. Spiritually.
And the whole armor of God just sits there in their closet. Unused. Why put on armor to protect yourself against a friend?
They don't understand the nature of this enemy's warfare.
But Paul did. That is why the first thing Paul tells us about our enemy is the nature of his warfare: his warfare is one that employs deception, cunning or scheming.
In other words, he is not going to fight fair. He will not fight like a gentleman. He will lie, deceive, trick, and use any manner of slimy schemes in order to unseat us from winning the war to walk worthy.
Satan has a whole arsenal of unscrupulous tactics:
God has equipped you to fight your enemy. Don't join his side! Armor up and go out to fight against him!
Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son;
Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His mighty power:
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.
--Charles Wesley
He is sly.
He is slimy and despicable.
Some people don't realize this. They have joined his side.
Instead of being on guard against him, they have cozied up and become friends.
They watch his movies and laugh at his jokes. They surf his internet sites. They dance to his music.
What they don't know is killing them. Spiritually.
And the whole armor of God just sits there in their closet. Unused. Why put on armor to protect yourself against a friend?
They don't understand the nature of this enemy's warfare.
But Paul did. That is why the first thing Paul tells us about our enemy is the nature of his warfare: his warfare is one that employs deception, cunning or scheming.
In other words, he is not going to fight fair. He will not fight like a gentleman. He will lie, deceive, trick, and use any manner of slimy schemes in order to unseat us from winning the war to walk worthy.
Satan has a whole arsenal of unscrupulous tactics:
- He lies to you about God. (Genesis 3)
- He lies to God about you. (Job 1-2)
- He tricks you into doing something you know is wrong. (I Chronicles 21:1)
- He lies even to those in his own army. (I Kings 22:20-22)
- He hurls unfounded accusations. (Zechariah 3:1, Revelation 12:10)
- He is the Father of Lies. (John 8:44)
- He disguises himself as an angel of light. (II Corinthians 11:14)
- He stalks you like a roaring lion, employing vicious strategies in order to take down his prey. (I Peter 5:8)
God has equipped you to fight your enemy. Don't join his side! Armor up and go out to fight against him!
Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son;
Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His mighty power:
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.
--Charles Wesley
