This study was first taught on June 9, 2010

Topic: Relating With The Enemy (2)

No audio available for this study.

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Background
We considered last week, the fact that although Christians are to love their enemies, it does not mean that those enemies won't be enemies any longer. Hence, we considered the need for Christians to know how to relate with their enemies.

We identified three enemies essentially, namely; the seen human enemies, the unseen spirit enemy (the devil and his fallen angels, also called demons), and the enemy within us (the old man, also called 'the sinful nature' or 'the flesh'). We saw that each one of these require to be treated differently, as we live here on earth.

We noted that the word of God to us is that we love all our human enemies, but we must not be fooled into thinking that they love us or will love us after our kindness. We noted further that we are not in any way, to love the devil and his demons; rather, we are to resist them steadfastly. We also noted that the flesh is by far the most dangerous of all our enemies, and as such must be totally crushed, not just be suppressed!

Finally, we observed that Christians must indeed be sober, vigilant, and prayerful at all times, if they are to be able to overcome the devil, and his numerous agents and spies. Christians must completely put off the old man (the sinful nature), so that they can truly put on the new man (the divine nature); for only then can they put on the whole armour of God, and be able to withstand the devil and his war machine in the evil day (which is every day, more or less). Christians must use only divinely prescribed weapons for the warfare with the enemy, and ensure that they receive orders only from the Holy Spirit (through the written and spoken word of God).

Scripture Text(s)
1 Peter 5:8
Tonight, we want to emphasize the fact that we are in a battle field, and must know how to conduct ourselves in any situation we find ourselves. Our major enemy, the devil, has wiles with which he has been able to trick Christians into falling. Hence, the scripture text tonight encourages us to be sober and vigilant because of our enemy, the devil. May the Holy Spirit help us to achieve the goal set for us by our Lord, Amen.
We shall study some biblical situations in which the enemy attacked those who were on God's side, with a view to understanding how he works, and knowing how to conduct ourselves in such situations; and to take nothing to chance.
Genesis 3:1-6; 2:9, 15-17; 1 John 2:15-17; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; James 1:13-15; Matthew 10:16; 1 Samuel 13:5-14; 10:8-10; 15:1-31; 16:1-23; 18:1-30; 19:1-7, 8-24; 22:1-23; 23:1-15, 19-29; 24:1-22; 25:1ff; 26:1ff; Luke 22:31-34; 45-46, 54-62; 1 Kings 13:1-24; Job 1:1-22; 2:1-10, 11-13; 3:1ff; Luke 4:3-13.

Conclusion
Indeed, Christians need to be sober and vigilant, because the devil, our enemy is on the prowl, looking for whom he may trip up. His goal is to cause a separation between God and the Christian, by getting the Christian to disobey or rebel against God and His word. His approach is to use any and every thing at his disposal: people, animals, the weather, their mind, etc.

Christians must therefore, ensure that they pay attention to the word of God, and keep it in their hearts at all times. They must be ready to strike back at the devil with the undiluted word of God! Christians must ensure that their love for God is unrivaled and unsurpassed: they are not to love anything more than God, and not to the extent of yielding to that thing which they love more than God.

Christians must also be aware that the devil is not going to stop trying to trip us, just because we went to church or can memorize scriptures, and so on. In fact he is not a respecter of persons, as far as temptation is concerned. Any and everybody is a target. He strikes when you least expect: just when you think you have overcome, he strikes; when you are rejoicing over a victory, he strikes; when you are confident that God is with you, he strikes; etc. Therefore, be sober, and be vigilant!

Our attitude must be to absolutely trust in God and His word; act wisely in every circumstance; be constant and prevailing in prayer; be mindful of counsel that you are receiving, even from pastors; don’t follow God afar off, let everyone know that you are for God no matter what; take heed to His every word (no retaliation, no hatred, forgive those who offend you, pray for those who hate you, etc.); keep still in the midst of turbulence; and so on.

Remember that many have been tempted, and have fallen at one time or another. So, “let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12; KJV).

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