Know Your Foe - Part 1

 

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

—Ephesians 6:12 NKJV

Do you sense the battle against us? Do you wish to win over the forces of our enemy, Satan? Do you know for what to watch? How to recognize him? How to fight against him? So many Christians have been lulled to sleep and do not even sense the battle, let alone experience the weariness of it.

Scripture has much to say about enemies. Most often, those “flesh and blood” enemies we see don’t pose the problem. Instead, it is the power behind them that poses danger. How can we recognize this powerful enemy? Consider what the Bible tells us.

In Ephesians 6:10-18, we read about the ways of this enemy, as well as God’s provision for the battles against Satan. First of all, we know that Satan studies us, knows us, and plots against us. He delights to find weaknesses in us and to scheme up ways to traps us.

And, in 1 Peter 5:8, we read that he prowls about looking for people to devour. He is wily and clever. He sets snares and watches for us like a fierce and hungry lion.

Puritan theologian, Matthew Henry says this about our enemy: ¹

We have to do with a subtle enemy, an enemy who uses wiles and stratagems. He has a thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls: hence he is called a serpent for subtlety, an old serpent, experienced in the art and trade of tempting … The devil is a spirit, a wicked spirit; and our danger is the greater from our enemies because they are unseen, and assault us ere we are aware of them.

How do we hope to win, or even to stand, against so terrifying and strong an enemy? In the same passage of Ephesians 6:10-18, we see the answer from the Apostle Paul, who knew something about the battle waged against us.

God has supplied for us his strong armor. From head to foot, we can know God’s covering. We have no strength in ourselves to match up against this foe. But, God has told us He wants us to stand strong against this enemy. God gives us offensive and defensive weapons with which to fight. The armor consists of the following key elements:

• the belt of truth
  
  
• the breastplate of righteousness
  
  
• the shoes of the gospel of peace
  
  
• the shield of faith
  
  
• the helmet of salvation
  
  
• the sword of the Spirit, which is the written Word of God.
  
  
• praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
  
  

We must put on this armor that God has supplied. We must bathe every action we take in fervent prayer. We must recognize that God desires to keep us safe by guarding us against Satan’s attacks.

Our Lord loves it when we come to Him and admit our weakness, even our cowardice before so terrifying a foe. He thrills to see us rely wholly on his all-sufficiency. No power in heaven or earth can quench the power of our Lord of Hosts, and He is with us. Take courage from this verse found in Psalm 46:7:

The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.

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1 Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary. McLean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Company, 1985. Vol. VI, pp. 718-719.