Situation Report - Enemy Forces

Ps 61:3 “For You have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy.”

“If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” Sun Tzu

In any type of warfare it is absolutely critical to know your enemy. You must know your enemy’s weaknesses so that they can be exploited, but you also need to know their strengths because the enemy’s confidence in his strengths just may be his biggest weakness. Today I will attempt to give you a situation report on the strengths of your enemy in Spiritual Warfare. I have looked up as much Scripture as I possibly could on the strength of Satan and his renegade band of hooligan demons. I hope that this information will heighten your awareness to the Strengths of Satan. But please don’t get discouraged; at the bottom of this rather long study, we will go over his weaknesses and trust me, he has some weaknesses. This is not a typical devotion; it is more like a military briefing on your enemy. Pay Attention!!

“In life, as in chess, forethought wins.” Charles Buxton

From Ezekiel 28:12 we know that he (Satan) is extremely smart. “"You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” Also from Ezekiel 28:14 we know that he (Satan) was the highest appointed of all angels and was the guard for the throne room of God. “You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.” Before the fall, Satan had the highest position and power among the angelic creatures; power and wisdom sufficient enough to guard the throne of God from every possible enemy. Ezekiel 28:13 talks about his beauty. “Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared.” This glory and beauty represent the decoration of the highest officer in Heaven. From these passages we can expect that to this day he still is as fierce as he was as protector of the throne, that his intellect still far exceeds ours, that he still has power, and that he is still as beautiful as ever. Rev 12:4 says, “And his tail *swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” Satan has a great following, an uncountable amount, of fallen angels that do his bidding. (Demons) Satan rules over all the fallen angels. (Matt 12:24)
We can deduce that the enemy is: organized (Ephesians 6:12), wiser (Ezekiel 28:12), stronger (2 Peter 2:11), greater in number than we are (Rev 12:4), and do not die. (Luke 20:36) It seems that we are in trouble, but don’t get discouraged.

What does Satan have power over?
Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." God gave dominion or rule over all living creatures and the entire earth to Adam. Adam gave dominion over all living creatures and the entire earth to Satan when he sinned against God. John 12:31 “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” John 14:30 “"I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;”

As ruler of this world, what can Satan do with his power?

1. He has the power over death.
Heb 2:14 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,” (He killed Job’s children.)

2. He has power over nature.
Job 1:19 “and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you." (Job 1:16)

3. He has power and influence over armies, whether organized or barbaric.
Job 1:15 “and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." Job 1:17 “while he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

4. He can motivate humans to kill humans. (Cain /Abel)
1 John 3:12 “not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.” John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

5. Satan is a source of disease and handicap. Satan produced the illness of Job.
Matt 12:22 “Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.”
Acts 10:38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
Luke 13:16 “"And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen * long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?"
Mark 9:20 “They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth.” (Mark 5:5, self mutilation; Matt 8:28, violence; Matt 17:15, commit suicide)

Satan is called the "father of lies", (John 8:44). He is called a murderer, (1 John 3:8). He is the highest authority in the cosmos, (Eph. 2:2). The unbeliever is made blind to gospel information by being distracted by Satan. Satan does not force anyone to be lost, he uses every means to steer the unbeliever away from the truth. His ultimate weapon in this is religion. (Gen. 3:5; Col. 2:8) 2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Satan’s Weaknesses
“The greatest weakness of all is the great fear of appearing weak.” Jacques BTNigne Bossuet

Satan is not God!
Even though Satan is the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and he aspires to be like the most high (Isaiah 14:14), he is not God and does not posses the attributes of God. He is not omniscient. He is not omnipotent. He is not omnipresent. He has none of the attributes of God and never will.

Only God is sovereign!
Satan has been given rule over this world. (John 12:31) God is the sovereign ruler of the universe. Jesus Christ’s position of authority, seated at the right hand of God on the throne, is equal to the authority of God. Ephesians 1:19-23 “and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might (1:20) which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (1:21) far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come (1:22) And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, (1:23) which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Satan and his army of fallen angels must submit to the authority of God. (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) Matt 8:28-32

Satan has no Power over Believers!
If you are a believer in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you are filled with the Holy Spirit, adopted into the family of God, and are positional “in” Christ, which means that you are now superior to angels. 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
Our position in Christ makes us citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3:20), Royal priests (1 Peter 2:5,9), members of the family of God (Eph 2:19), adopted (Galatians 4:5) and an heir with Christ (1 Peter 1:4).

Believers cannot be possessed by demons. Demons cannot possess someone that God the Holy Spirit possesses. However demons can influence believers who are in the power of the flesh. A believer that has submitted to the power of the Holy Spirit cannot be influenced by demons. Satan shows us in Job the first chapter that he has no power over believers unless God grants it to him. Believers are protected from the direct action mission by the hedge of protection that God places around everyone in Christ. That hedge can only be broken if God allows it for testing and trails.

He has already lost the War!
When Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God, Satan became a great big loser. This fulfilled the prophesy of Genesis 3:15. The cross defeats Satan. (John 12:31) He will be confined in the Abyss, or the pit at the beginning of the millennium (Rev 20:2). He will be cast into the lake of fire at the end of the millennium. (Rev 20:10)

This is his biggest weakness. He has lost. He is defeated. The victory is in Christ. We can share in Christ’s victory every day by winning the daily battles that we face in this angelic conflict. Now you know his weaknesses, use them to your advantage. Keep on becoming victorious daily through the study and application of God’s Word. Find the purpose that God has for you in this war. Don’t stand idly by while the rest of the soldiers execute God’s plan and claim victory.