Strategies for Victory Over the Enemy
In the arena of sports, victory is often contingent upon knowing one's opponent. Teams meticulously analyze their adversaries' strengths, weaknesses, and tactics to formulate winning strategies. Similarly, in our spiritual journey, understanding our opponent, the devil, and his schemes is crucial for triumphing over spiritual battles.
SATAN’S SCHEME OF OFFENSE
In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth to address an issue. There was a man who caused some trouble and hurt everyone in the church. They rose up and opposed this individual. Paul was writing to give tough instructions on how to deal with this offense.
2 Corinthians 2:6-8 6 Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. 7 Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. 8 So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.
Even though this person hurt the church, Paul instructed them to forgive and then comfort him so he didn’t become discouraged. He also told them to reaffirm their love for him. This certainly goes against conventional wisdom, but this is what the goal should be in the family of God.
We should always forgive and restore. If you have a relationship that is not being restored, one of you is not acting like a Christian. PLAIN AND SIMPLE! Everything that could be done to bring about forgiveness and reconciliation must be done. Anything less is a failure of duty as a Christian.
Then Paul goes on to talk about the real reason for forgiving and comforting this man . . . and it’s kind of a BIG DEAL.
2 Corinthians 2:11 so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes. NLT
Satan is tricking many of us and we are unaware he’s doing it. In this example in scripture, it’s plausible that the congregation in Corinth felt like that person was a cancer and they needed to address it. They opposed him in some way and probably felt affirmed in doing that. They probably thought they were doing something righteous to isolate this issue and weed out the problem. However, Paul expresses that if they continued on that course and caused this man to become overcome by discouragement, the devil would have outsmarted them and won a victory in this man’s life. What a perspective! Each person is a soul that God loves and cares for and wants to see restored. We need to see it that way too!
Where in your life might Satan be working and you’re not even aware?
Here are some of his tactics:
Satan is a deceiver and a liar. A good lie is easy to believe, so you must know the truth in order to identify the lie. We must be people of the Word.
Satan tempts you to engage in sinful behavior so he can get back at God and knock you off course.
Satan tries to sow seeds of doubt and disbelief in people’s minds about who God is, His goodness, and how much He loves us.
Satan sows division and discord. Anytime you see it happening in the body of Christ, know that it’s a work of Satan. He wants to break up the unity among God’s people.
Satan tempts people to fall into pride and arrogance, leading them to do what he did and rebel against God’s authority.
Satan brings spiritual attacks. You will experience more opposition the closer you get to the Lord. Look for patterns.
Satan distorts Scripture or at least tries to keep you from it. It is the very Word of God and Satan tries to confuse and mislead people so they will walk outside of God’s will and plan.
Satan will always target those who are isolated and not connected to the rest of the body. He will go to the weak, hurt, and isolated because they’re easy prey.
STRATEGIES FOR VICTORY
1) FULLY SURRENDER YOUR LIFE TO JESUS
This is the starting point to victory in our lives. Without Jesus, we are bound in darkness and our future is grim. But, when Jesus went to the cross, He shed His blood and defeated the enemy so we can walk in victory.
2 Corinthians 2:14-16 14 But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. 15 Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.
When we surrender our lives to Jesus and accept the message of the gospel, we become His prisoners of war. We are in His parade exhibiting to the world that Jesus won the victory.
The word which is rendered here as “triumph" occurs in no other place in the New Testament, except in Colossians 2:15.
Colossians 2:15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Satan is already a defeated foe! We have to remember that. The only power he has over us is the power we give him. Jesus won the war on the cross and those who say yes to Him can walk in that same victory. We are the reason He went to the cross. He gives us victory over Satan, Hell and Sin!
John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
2) STAY ALERT AND BE READY
When you’re playing sports, you have opponents that are trying to stop you from achieving your goal. Both teams are working hard, so you have to hope that you catch them with their guard down. The moment your opponent gets tired, lazy, or disengaged (even for a moment) is your time to exploit that and capitalize.
Peter gave us some instructions regarding our engagement with the enemy.
1 Peter 5:8-9 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.
The devil is the “one who opposes” the believer. Satan was an angel that rebelled in heaven and was kicked out. He has no power against God Almighty, so he turns his attention to humans, God’s creation and family.
The Bible says Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44), responsible for leading the world astray, (Revelation 12:9, deceived Eve into rebelling against God. (Genesis 3:1-7) and even tried to deceive Jesus. (Matthew 4:1-1) If he attacked Jesus, he has no problem attacking you!
Peter gives us three strategies to combat the devil.
(1) Stay Alert - be on the lookout for his tricks and schemes
(2) Stand firm against him - oppose his temptations like you're on the goal line trying to keep the other team from scoring.
(3) Be strong in your faith - build yourself up in the faith, pray, know the Word, go to church, feed your spirit and not your flesh, be filled with the Spirit.
3) RESIST THE DEVIL AND COME CLOSE TO GOD
If you look closely you will find that scripture lays out specific details regarding our lives and how we can walk in victory. James, the Lord’s brother, details this in chapter 4 of his letter when He gives us things to avoid and things to do to gain victory in our lives.
James 4:4-10 4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. 6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
Things to avoid . . .
Friendship with the world - turn your eyes on Jesus. You can’t care and pursue the things of this world more than you do God.
Unfaithfulness to God - He doesn’t want to be in a part-time relationship with you.
A proud spirit - says we don’t need God
Things to do . . .
Humble yourself - recognize you do need God and He will give you grace, which is favor you don’t deserve.
Resist the Devil - We can’t say, I CAN’T HELP MYSELF, THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT. When you resist him, he will depart from you.
Repent - for your divided loyalty between God and the world. When you humble yourself, He will lift you up in honor.
Come close to God - it’s time to jump in and stop standing on the shore just getting your feet wet.
4) BE STRONG IN THE LORD
In Ephesians 6, Paul discusses the popular theme of putting on the full armor of God to experience victory over the enemy. As he begins this topic, he lays the foundation with an important imperative.
Ephesians 6:10-11 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
What does it mean to be strong in the Lord? The word translated “be strong” means “be strengthened”. So we must be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of His power. In order to take our stand against the devil, we need to be strengthened by the Lord. We need His mighty power!
Unfortunately, many of us try to do it on our own. We fight hard, but it’s in our own strength so we only see limited success. Scripture says, “Be strong IN the Lord,” not BY the Lord. This speaks to our relationship with Him. As we position ourselves IN Him and grow in our relationship with Him, He strengthens us with everything we need for every situation.
The Full Armor of God is a picture of our position in Christ. Each piece is us putting on Christ and being positioned for victory. Paul is calling us to faithfulness and to abide in Christ, trusting the Lord’s power for everything in life.
This is why Paul was able to say, “I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) This is strength to endure through every circumstance life may throw at us, strength to stand firm against the devil’s schemes, and strength to walk in victory!
CONCLUSION
When you maintain a right relationship with God, His strength becomes your foundation, ready to support you through any challenge that comes your way. He not only equips us but empowers us to rise above every obstacle and claim victory over our enemy. We are victorious through Christ!
Pastor Nick DiBenedetto
from the sermon series, “X-Factor” (2/25/24)