Part One in a Series on Spiritual Warfare. You can't fight the enemy if you don't know you have an enemy. You can't prepare for the enemy unless you know something about the enemy. Visit us at Bibleguy.org

1. Know Your Enemy
Spiritual Warfare

2. Know Your Enemy
Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood, but against the rulers, against
the powers, against the world rulers of
this darkness, against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavens.

3. Know Your Enemy
Romans 12:1-2
1
Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by
the mercies of God, to present your bodies as
a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God
– which is your reasonable service. 2
Do not
be conformed to this present world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you may test and approve what is the will
of God – what is good and well-pleasing and
perfect.

4. Know Your Enemy
“It is never the will of God for spiritual
warfare to become our focus. The
fastest way to to lose our balance is to
rebuke the devil more than we relate to
God. The primary strength we have in
warfare is godliness, which is achieved
only through intimacy with God.”
--Beth Moore, Living Free

5. Know Your Enemy
God’s goal and purpose
for us:
• To become Christ-like
• To sacrificially follow Jesus
• To make disciples (build His
kingdom)
• To bring glory to Him

6. Know Your Enemy
• 3 Enemies interfering with
the purpose
–The World
–The Flesh
–The Devil

7. The World
• The culture in which we live, hostile to God
• Operates only by the senses (but empowered
by spirits beyond the senses)
• The wisdom of the world is foolishness to
God (1 Cor. 1:20)
• We are commanded not to love it (1 John
2:15-17)
• We are not to be conformed to it (Rom.
12:1,2)
1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise
man? Where is the expert in the
Mosaic law? Where is the debater of
this age? Has God not made the
wisdom of the world foolish?
1 John 2:15-1715
Do not love the world or the things in
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him, 16
because all that is in the world
(the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the
arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from
the Father, but is from the world. 17
And the world is
passing away with all its desires, but the person who
does the will of God remains forever.
Romans 12:1-2 (NET)
1
Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice –
alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is your
reasonable service. 2
Do not be conformed to this
present world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind, so that you may test and approve what is
the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and
perfect.

8. The World
• Materialism and “Keeping Up with the Joneses”
• Entertainment industry
• Internet: chat rooms, porn sites
• Sexual immorality
• Ambition
• Spirit of rebellion (against parents, authorities,
employers, etc.)
• Philosophy: no absolute truth, right and wrong
are what you choose them to be

9. What God Says About The
World
• Rom 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which
is good and acceptable and perfect."
• The Message: "Don’t become so well-adjusted to
your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed
from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants
from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture
around you, always dragging you down to its level of
immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops
well-formed maturity in you."

10. What God Says About The
World
• 1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of
life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”
• The Message: “Don't love the world's ways. Don't love
the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love
for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the
world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for
yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do
with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world
and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—
but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.”

11. The Flesh
• Our ways of making life work
independent of God
• Everything we do apart from God
– Getting our own way ("I want what I want!")
– Self-centeredness
– Controlling nature
– Kingdom building
– Ignoring God

12. The Flesh
– Idolatry and lust: people, power, things,
experiences, relationships
– Greed
– A right to be comfortable, a refusal to suffer
– Pride
– Self-worship
– People-pleasing

13. The Flesh
– Addictions: food, drink, drugs, gambling,
shopping, sex
– Refusing to submit to God: unforgiveness,
sexual immorality, sinful relationships
– Temper tantrums
– Worry
– Suicidal thoughts

14. What God Says About The
Flesh
“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:
immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery,
enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger,
disputes, dissensions, factions, envying,
drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of
which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you,
that those who practice such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-
control; against such things there is no law.
“Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified
the flesh with its passions and desires.” Gal 5:19-24

15. What God Says About the
Flesh
The Message: “It is obvious what kind of life develops
out of trying to get your own way all the time:
repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking
accumulation of mental and emotional garbage;
frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket
gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness;
cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-
satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love
or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-
minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of
depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled
and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of
community. I could go on.

16. What God Says About the
Flesh
“This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you
use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's
kingdom.
“But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts
into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an
orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance
about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with
things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a
conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and
people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments,
not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and
direct our energies wisely.

17. What God Says About the
Flesh
“Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in
the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything
connected with getting our own way and mindlessly
responding to what everyone else calls necessities is
killed off for good—crucified.” (Gal. 5:19-24)

18. The Devil
Satan’s Fall?
Ezekiel 28:17-19 (NET) 17
Your heart was proud because
of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom on account
of your splendor. I threw you down to the ground; I
placed you before kings, that they might see you. 18
By
the multitude of your iniquities, through the sinfulness
of your trade, you desecrated your sanctuaries. So I
drew fire out from within you; it consumed you, and I
turned you to ashes on the earth before the eyes of all
who saw you. 19
All who know you among the peoples
are shocked at you; you have become terrified and will
be no more.’”

19. The Devil
Demons are Satan’s angels?
Revelation 12:3-7 (NET) 3
Then another sign appeared in heaven: a
huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its
heads were seven diadem crowns. 4
Now the dragon’s tail swept
away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.
Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give
birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5
So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to
rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly
caught up to God and to his throne, 6
and she fled into the
wilderness where a place had been prepared for her by God, so
she could be taken care of for 1,260 days. 7
Then war broke out in
heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and
the dragon and his angels fought back.

20. The Devil
• Satan means "adversary"
• Devil means "accuser or slanderer"
• He is crafty (Gen 3:1)
• He is the tempter (Mt 4:3)
• Jesus called him "the evil one" (Jn 17:15)
• He blinds the minds of the unbelieving so they
can't see the light of the gospel (2 Cor. 4:3,4)
• He is ruler of this world and prince of the power of
the air (Eph 2:2)
Genesis 3:1a Now the serpent
was more shrewd than any of the
wild animals that the Lord God
had made.
Matthew 4:3 (NET)
3
The tempter came
and said to him, “If
you are the Son of
God, command these
stones to become
bread.”
John 17:15 (NET)
15
I am not asking you
to take them out of
the world, but that
you keep them safe
from the evil one.2 Corinthians 4:3-4 3
But even if our gospel is veiled, it
is veiled only to those who are perishing, 4
among whom
the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who
do not believe so they would not see the light of the
glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God.
Ephesians 2:1-2 (NET) 1
And although
you were dead in your transgressions and
sins, 2
in which you formerly lived
according to this world’s present path,
according to the ruler of the kingdom of
the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now
energizing the sons of disobedience,

21. The Devil
• He has legions of wicked angelic beings under him who
serve him in various administrative capacities: rulers,
authorities, powers, dominions, world forces of darkness.
• He disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14)
• His servants (demons) disguise themselves as servants
of righteousness. (2 Cor. 11:15)
• He is the accuser of the brethren. (Rev. 12:10)
• He deceives the whole world. (Rev. 12:9)
• He prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour
people (1 Pet. 5:8)
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (NET) 13
For such people are false
apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of
Christ. 14
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an
angel of light. 15
Therefore it is not surprising his servants also
disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end
will correspond to their actions.
Revelation 12:10 (NET) 10
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven
saying, “The salvation and the power and the kingdom of our
God, and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, the one who
accuses them day and night before our God, has been thrown
down.
Revelation 12:9 So that huge dragon – the
ancient serpent, the one called the devil and
Satan, who deceives the whole world – was
thrown down to the earth, and his angels along
with him.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober and alert. Your
enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is
on the prowl looking for someone to
devour.

22. The Devil
• He can be resisted (1 Pet. 5:9)
• He can't get past God's hedge of protection around
us (Job 1:10)
• He is on a leash. He can't do anything without God's
permission (Job)
• Jesus disarmed Satan and the demons at the Cross
and made a public spectacle of them (Col. 2:15)
• All he has to work with is schemes, wiles, lies and
deceptions.
• He dwells in darkness and will spend eternity in
everlasting torment in hell.
1 Peter 5:9 Resist him, strong in your faith, because you
know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world
are enduring the same kinds of suffering.
Job 1:9-10 9
Then Satan answered the Lord, “Is it for
nothing that Job fears God? 10
Have you not made a
hedge around him and his household and all that he has
on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands,
and his livestock have increased in the land.
Colossians 2:15 Disarming the rulers and authorities,
he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over
them by the cross.

23. The Devil
What Jesus said about Satan:
John 8:44 You people are from your father the
devil, and you want to do what your father
desires. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and does not uphold the truth,
because there is no truth in him. Whenever
he lies, he speaks according to his own
nature, because he is a liar and the father of
lies.

24. The Devil
What Jesus said about Satan:
Luke 10:17-19 17
Then the seventy-two returned with
joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in
your name!” 18
So he said to them, “I saw Satan fall
like lightning from heaven. 19
Look, I have given you
authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on
the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt
you.

25. The Devil

26. The Devil

27. The Devil

28. The World, the Flesh and the
Devil
• Primary temptation of the world:
– Fit in and be accepted
• Ways to protect yourself:
– Immerse yourself in God's acceptance of you.
– Know what it means to be "in Christ.” (Eph.)
• Key:
– Trust and dependence on Jesus

29. The World, the Flesh and the
Devil
• Primary temptation of the flesh:
– To have our own way
– To feel good
• Ways to protect yourself:
– Recognize the flesh as a spoiled brat, and
resolve to crucify it through self-denial.
– Check yourself throughout the day: am I in the
spirit or in the flesh?
• Key:
– Trust and dependence on Jesus

30. The World, the Flesh and the
Devil
• Primary temptation of the devil:
– To take or keep our eyes off Jesus
– To separate us from following Him
• Ways to protect yourself:
– Keep focusing on Jesus.
– Praise music.
– Memorize Scripture and meditate on it.
– Know the truth so you can recognize his lies.
• Key:
– Trust and dependence on Jesus

31. Prepare yourselves for battle
It is not enough to simply
identify the enemy. We must
also know how to prepare for
and fight the enemy. Next:
entering the battle.

32. Make sure your on the winning
team
Commit your heart and mind
to Jesus Christ, his team, his
purpose and his play book.