THE
INVISIBLE FOE
Brethren it is great to welcome us
all into the year 2015. Although it is a year of great challenges and trials
for both the Body of Christ and her members; I am very confident that the LORD
our GOD is mighty and able to save us from all our troubles. I would like to
encourage us to pray for our beloved Nigeria especially in this period of
elections and economic turbulence. May the Almighty God who delivered the
people of Israel from all her enemies, deliver Nigeria also. In Jesus Name.
Amen.
The topic today is titled the INVISIBLE
FOE. The bible reference is taken from Ephesians
6:12. It says; “For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms” (NIV). The scripture
would let us know that we are at the center of a spiritual conflict that begun
before the world and humanity was formed. It is one of the greatest ongoing conflicts
in man’s history, happening in an invisible realm. This war is orchestrated by rebellious
angels that are responsible for diseases, famine and engineering conflicts
throughout human history. Prophet Isaiah spoke of the identity of this
invisible foe in Isaiah 14:12-15;
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou
hast said in thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be
like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the
pit”. (KJV).
Long ago before
Man ever was there was an attempt by a group of renegade Angels to overthrow
God. Revelation 12:7-9 gives an account of the
rebellion in Heaven: “Then war
broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the
dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost
their place in Heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent
called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to
the earth, and his angels with him”. (NIV)
The name of our
foe is Satan; formerly known by his angelic name “Lucifer”
which means “light-bearer or Morning star”.
He was an Archangel of Praise and heralded the presence of God in Heaven. This
privilege allowed him to be beautified by the Glory of the Most High. He became
arrogant; according to the book of Isaiah he wanted to sit above God and take
for himself the worship that was due unto God. His rebellion was dealt with by
the Archangel Michael, who is the Angel of War. Lucifer lost and was cast out
of Heaven together with all those who joined him. When he fell he was cast unto
the Earth, the bible makes it known that he did not fall directly to the
physical world. He colonized Man’s Heaven or what is commonly referred to as
the Spirit Realm or
Heavenlies. This is so because Man consists of Spirit, Soul
and Body. The Spirit was breathed into Man by God. The soul consists of all of
Man’s characteristics, Emotions, desires and memories and the body allows Man
to function on the natural world. So to speak Man is a Spirit, made in God’s
image living in an earthly body. We only aware of this realm when we sleep, but
our spirit is fully functional there all the time. The Spirit realm influences
the earth and that is why Satan chose to colonize it. Jesus came to take back
Man’s birthright and he victoriously accomplished that on the Cross. Satan’s
total defeat will come at the end where he and his demons are cast into the
lake of fire forever.
THE ENEMY’S DEADLY ARSENAL
We are urged to be
vigilant because the enemy is a wandering Lion seeking for vengeance (1st Peter 5:8. NIV). There are three ways in which the enemy attacks us. He attacks us through our thoughts; this
often achieved through doubt and immoral thoughts. The enemy attacks the
mind/thoughts so as to distract us from God. Doing so would disconnect us from God
and we begin to rely on our abilities rather than HIM (GOD). The by products
are depression and anxiety which leads to an unfulfilled spiritual life. The Apostle Paul in the book of Romans 12:12 states that
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will
is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”. We are encouraged to continually renew
our minds by study of God’s word. I would also encourage us to be cautious of
the things we meditate upon, music we listen to, movies we watch especially
those with pornographic content. These things could pollute our minds.
When it comes to words the bible makes us know that “the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45. NIV). Put another way, our words are products of our
thoughts. This is one of the reasons why most people who think negatively or
immorally never say anything positive. They must first change their thinking. Most
people entertain fear, doubt and discouragement and as such can never say/do
anything contrary because WHAT YOU THINK DRIVES HOW YOU LIVE.
This brings us to Action;
it’s not enough to think or speak positively alone. One must be able to back it
up with action. For instance, it’s not enough saying that I am going to abstain
from premarital sex without actually striving to do that. We have often heard
the saying “practice what you preach” (James 2:18-25). This applies to dealing
with the enemy; many believers are too laid back to fast, pray and find out the
will of God for their lives. That’s why many believers spend years attempting
to change their situations but to no avail. It’s well and good believing God’s
promises but you have to consistently for HIS will to be done. The reason for
this is given in Psalm 8:4-8. God gave the
Earth to Man and as such God cannot carry-out any activity on the Earth without
Man’s permission (Prayer). This is the reason why the enemy can wreak as much
havoc; poverty, diseases, war. When we refuse to pray then God cannot intervene;
that will be a breach of the willpower HE gave to Man. God will not intervene
unless we pray that HIS will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. It is for
this reason that Jesus had to be born through a human mother and why He also
needed the Holy Ghost. Jesus COULD NOT have accomplished HIS assignment without the Holy
Ghost.
Your thoughts, words
and actions must be integrated, that is your words, thoughts and actions must align.
The bible lets know that for the Lord our God is ONE (Mark
12:29). This statement implies that there is an alignment between God’s thoughts,
words and actions. For instance, in Genesis He states “let us create man in our
image and likeness”. He fulfilled it.
How to Defeat the Enemy
- Faith Hebrews 11
- Discipline Hebrews 12:11
- Prayer Matthew 21:13
- Living a Righteous life Titus 3
- Submitting to the Holy Ghost John 14:26
- Persevere/Endure 2 Timothy 2:3
- Study the word of God 2 Timothy 2:15
- Be vigilant 1 Peter 5:8
- Help the less privileged Ezekiel 16:49
- Put on your Amour Ephesians 6: 10-18
Finally, we must
be on our guard as we near the end of this age. Jesus said there will be
increase in lawlessness which is a characteristic of the enemy. We must be sure
to resist any form of lawlessness and must prayerfully ask the Lord to
establish on earth the order in Heaven. We must pray for one another because we
belong to the army of the Lord and are fighting the same enemy. We must not
forsake our responsibilities but rather as good soldiers, the master may find
us faithful and reward us. We must shun immorality and hypocrisy; which is
current ravaging the body of Christ. We must continually show love and exhibit
the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
The only effective way to keep the Devil out is by living a life free of sin.
The blood that was shed for us is capable of cleansing us from all sins. We
must regularly confess our sins to God and also learn to forgive each other. Revelation 12:11 says that “They triumphed over him by the
blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony”. So we
are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus; whatever we are going through today
God is willing and able to save us. All we need to do is engage the powers of
darkness and seize victory through prayer and supplications to God (1 Timothy 2:1).
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