FACT:  When people gather as a group seeking God, ready to do His will; God is there.

ALSO FACT: When people gather as a group seeking God, ready to do His will; the Enemy of God is there in opposition to God.

As believing followers of Jesus Christ who is Head of His Church; It is imperative to be alert and aware of the evil who slithers into our gatherings.  We need to be educated. God’s Word teaches us the difference between God and the enemy of God.

KNOW THE ENEMY.  To know the enemy is to recognize quickly his age-old tricks used to destroy our faith.  With God’s words of wisdom and His power living in us we are more than able to form strategic ways to defeat him in our lives before “the devil takes a foothold” in the doors of our hearts!  Our enemy is God’s enemy, called Satan or the Devil.  He is not the flesh and blood people we face each day but an evil spirit who seeks to destroy all our relationships, beginning with our relationship with God.

Satan’s Backstory:  He was an angel of God but then decided he wanted to be God so he formed an army of demons to support him in his cause.  But God being God alone, holy, and perfect in all His ways, kicked this opposition out of heaven and into the dark recesses of earth.  The Enemy’s tools were, are, and always will be hate, pride, ego, envy, jealousy, arrogance, deception, slander, mocking, irreverence (all characteristics opposite of God) to distract, deceive, deconstruct progress, confuse the congregants by pitting one against the other over small irrelevant  details in committee meetings, with the sole purpose to destroy our faith in God.  Our true enemy is not each other but the evil one.  He will tempt us through our own egos and measures of our self-worth in an aggressive attempt to work in and through us, in the lives of those we love within our family, among our friends—including the Body of Christ.  Jesus calls him, “the father of lies”!  Shouldn’t we?  Jesus was tempted by him; don’t think for a nanosecond we who follow Jesus will not be tempted by the same prince of this world!

His sole desire is to deceive, to deconstruct progress with distractions, to halt what God has given His people to be and do for His glory and their good.  But his powers are limited. We have the power to resist him.  When we call on the Name of Jesus—our enemy flees.  The enemy hates believers on their knees calling on the Name of Jesus.  You see, Satan knows and fears the Son of God!

From the writings of Billy Graham, we learn;

Three times Christ designated Satan as the prince of this world. The Bible is clear that either the world’s inhabitants are under the influence of this world with its cunning, deception, and spell; or they are in Christ and under the direction of the Spirit of God. There is no neutral ground. The lines are drawn by the Bible.

The Bible teaches that worldliness is a force, a spirit, an atmosphere of the cosmos that is in opposition and in contradiction to all that is godly and Christian. Its goal is selfish pleasure, material success, and the pride of life. It is ambitious and self-centered. God is not necessarily denied; He is just ignored and forgotten.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians reminding them that in times past they had walked according the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2-3).

Now the words “course of this world” carry the meaning of current or flow. There is an undertow, a subtle current, which runs against and in contradiction to the will and the way of God. Satan employs every device at his command to harass, tempt, thwart, and hurt the people of God.

Paul reminds us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age” (Ephesians 6:12). The Christian is not left defenseless in this conflict. God provides the power to give us victory over Satan. Paul said, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). This is why Jesus proclaimed: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” John 10:10). –Billy Graham, Find Peace with God.

WHY all this talk concerning our “clear and present danger”? Why tell the truth of all that our Enemy daily dishes out to us? 

Because of the appalling statistics of George Barna who surveyed the Body of Christ in our country.  With other executive denomination leaders, I was privileged to attend a special meeting where Barna revealed “The State of the Church” in the United States.  With tears in his eyes, this prophet of our time reported the results of survey. The one finding that caught us all “off guard” was the revelation that, according to believers surveyed; MOST did not believe that Satan even existed! WHAT!?! What a devasting finding—among others!

According to Barna Group research regarding the State of the Church, roughly 60% of American Christians believe Satan is not a living entity but merely a symbol of evil. Only about 27% of adults (and 35-40% of Christians) are convinced that Satan is a real force. 

Key Findings from Barna Research on Satan’s Existence:

• Widespread Disbelief: Approximately 6 in 10 (59-60%) American Christians agree (either strongly or somewhat) that Satan is a symbol of evil rather than a living being.
• Low Conviction: Only 27% of all adults and roughly 40% of born-again Christians strongly believe that Satan is a real entity.
• Uncertainty: About 8% of Christians are unsure about the existence of Satan.
• Contradictory Beliefs: Despite not believing in a literal Satan, 64% of Christians believe that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces like demons or evil spirits. 

WE MUST KNOW OUR REAL ENEMY who plagues us!  I am not trying to lift him up but bring him down in Jesus Name! 

Satan is the bully in our lives who constantly pecks our purposes as a child of God. How do we deal with this bully?  I’m going to again refer to a spiritual mentor in my past, the honorable and trusted pastor of pastors, Billy Graham.  He writes;

When it comes to bullying in a spiritual sense, the ultimate bully is Satan. God has taught us how to defend ourselves against him—never listen to the devil. This was Eve’s problem at the beginning of time on Earth—she “listened” to the serpent (the devil).

Satan will do everything he can to discourage and defeat us. He attacks us where we are weakest. He wants to keep us from serving God and living according to His ways. “Resist [the devil],” the Bible says, and be steadfast in the faith (1 Peter 5:9).

Spiritual training is necessary to build us up in our minds, like physical exercise makes our muscles stronger. Christ has provided everything we need to arm ourselves against Satan’s attacks. He communicates with us through His Word and brings a sensitivity to the working of His Spirit within.

God has promised to be with us when we face any trouble; we must remember that He is bigger than every problem! Most of all, we must never forget that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, Satan has already been defeated—and someday the battle will be over.

The same book—the Bible—that tells of God’s love, also warns us of the devil who desires to come between God and His people; he is ever wanting to ensnare the souls of mankind. Remember, the closer we stay to Jesus, the farther away we are from the devil.  –Billy Graham, Excerpts from “Find Peace with God Today.”

The enemies of the exiles work to rebuild what the Enemy hates—a place to gather to worship God.  Is it surprising that they suddenly have opposition? Let’s see how they dealt with their bully who created more bullies.  There is much more to this story.

Ezra 4

Opposition to the Rebuilding

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

³ But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”

⁴ Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. ⁵ They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Later Opposition Under Xerxes and Artaxerxes

⁶ At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷ And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.

⁸ Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows:

⁹ Rehum the commanding officer and Shimshai the secretary, together with the rest of their associates—the judges, officials and administrators over the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa, ¹⁰ and the other people whom the great and honorable Ashurbanipal deported and settled in the city of Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates.

¹¹ (This is a copy of the letter they sent him.)

To King Artaxerxes,

From your servants in Trans-Euphrates:

¹² The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.

¹³ Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer. ¹⁴ Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, ¹⁵ so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed. ¹⁶ We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.

¹⁷ The king sent this reply:

To Rehum the commanding officer, Shimshai the secretary and the rest of their associates living in Samaria and elsewhere in Trans-Euphrates:

Greetings.

¹⁸ The letter you sent us has been read and translated in my presence. ¹⁹ I issued an order and a search was made, and it was found that this city has a long history of revolt against kings and has been a place of rebellion and sedition. ²⁰ Jerusalem has had powerful kings ruling over the whole of Trans-Euphrates, and taxes, tribute and duty were paid to them. ²¹ Now issue an order to these men to stop work, so that this city will not be rebuilt until I so order. ²² Be careful not to neglect this matter. Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?

²³ As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.

²⁴ Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Cliffhanger:  It’s not over—stay tuned!

Lord,

Thank you for sending me to research the true enemy to know his tricks and tempts so that I can call him for who he is—your original enemy.  Thank you for reminding us there is no neutral ground. We either choose you who is Life or we choose Satan who is death.  I choose you, Savior and Lord, for you chose and loved my first. There is no one like you who gives, helps, guides, protects, provides, and is always loving, faithful, compassionate, forgiving and kind. I trust you with my life for you are Life!

In Jesus Name, Amen