You Must Know Your Enemy If You Want to Win the War :Billy Graham

we're to know the enemy he's called the God of this age the prince of this world and the prince of the air in second Corinthians 2 11 we are told not to be ignorant of the devil lest Satan should get an advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices there is a devil and there are spiritual hosts in Matthew 25 41 it speaks of his angels there are demons in First Peter 5 8 the Bible says be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom

he may devour and then in Ephesians the sixth chapter and the 12th verse we read these words talking about you and me for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against Powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places much of the New Testament has to do with spiritual war author and no one is exempt from this conflict the word against stands out five times in Ephesians chapter six we are told that it's not against flesh and blood but against four things principalities powers World rulers

spiritual host now some of the names that are given to Satan and the devil and the tempter in the Bible are of course Satan the deceiver a liar a murderer an accuser The Prince and pow there the prince of this world the God of this age the Destroyer the evil one the elves above all of those names are given to a person that we call Satan now the Bible speaks of his Wiles his devices his snares the Bible warns that he beguiled he seduces he opposes he resists he deceives he sows tasks he tempts he

persecutes he blasphemes many people ask where did the devil come from according to Isaiah 14 he apparently revolted against God he was the greatest and the most beautiful of all of God's created creatures and for some unknown mysterious reason way back in the eons of time he led a revolt against God and he was thrown out of heaven and landed on this planet he has been fighting God's purposes ever since and one of God's purposes was to populate this planet with people that would love God and serve God and obey God and ever since that

time the devil has been active in trying to gain this planet and gain the people that God put here now the devil tries to make us think that he's in hell but he's never been to Hell the devil is walking about seeking whom he can devour there are three Temptations and he always uses the same three he used them with Jesus he used them with Eve Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden he used them on you the same way he doesn't bear it they're the same things first is the lust of the flesh

second it is the lust of the eye and third is the pride of life now the first time that he came to Jesus to tempt him he tempted him to turn stones into bread he appealed to his physical appetite this was the lust of the flesh now Jesus was hungry at the end of 40 days and the devil knows when to come he comes at the opportune moment he comes to one of the strongest appetites that we have which is hunger thirst may be number one now the very mention of bread must have made the

famished body of Jesus leap with desire the second Temptation that the devil gave Jesus took him up on the Pinnacle of the temple which is the highest point in all the area and the devil said to him since you're the Son of God why don't you cast yourself down and instead of taking the long hard Road of teaching and preaching and persecution and healing and dying you can do it all in one great moment in which the angels will be seen coming and catching you and everybody will believe for it's written in the Bible he

shall give his angels charge concerning you and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time you dash your foot against the stone the devil uses scripture and Jesus answered again it is written he used that three times it is written it's important to know the word of God and when Satan comes from this temptation you quote a verse of scripture that's one thing he can't stand it's the sword of the spirit it's your one weapon that you can use God's plan was that he'd go to the cross and die for our

sins and if he hadn't done that none of us could have been saved the third Temptation was the temptation of ambition the devil now uses his trump card no other person in history had ever resisted this one he takes Christ to a high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and the devil said to him all this power all these kingdoms all these nations all these riches all this Glory I will give you if you will worship me just value Nia a few minutes bow your head to

me and it'll all be yours in a moment of time the splend of the sovereignty the power the pump the dazzling power of Nineveh and Babylon and Persian Greece and Egypt and Rome and France and Germany and Italy China and Indian American the Soviet Union passed before Jesus he could have had it all but Satan's Pride would be forever satisfied if only Jesus Christ God's son would bow to him this is the most Craven crawling picture of what Satan really is he hungers for Glory and for worship you're never more like the devil than when

you want credit for what you do the devil promised Christ all of it if he would bow his knee to him but he gets many of you cheaper than that so cheap if men will but but serve him he will give you Fame and honor and wealth people today will stifle their conscience murder their principle compromise with evil in order to secure what they desire Satan says for a moment bowing of the head and that money will be yours that office will be yours that political prize will be yours that position will be yours that

Fame will be yours that business will be yours that sexual satisfaction will be yours if you just bow to me how many people do it what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own self suppose you gained it all but lost your soul that is eternal what have you gained you've lost in this world and you've lost in the world to come now let us study and see how Jesus met the Temptation Of The Devil as a pattern for how we too can meet his Temptations Jesus was in

that terrible Wilderness 40 days and 40 nights and he had nothing to eat he was thinking and he was praying but Jesus was also obedient to the will of God he spent his time in prayer he had a total knowledge of the scriptures and at that moment when he was hungry and tired from the Sun the Heat and all the Wilderness the tempter came he had no human companion Jesus was alone in that wilderness now how did Christ gain the victory let's summarize a moment because it'll help you when you have to face the tempter

when you go home tonight or tomorrow at the office or in the school or wherever you are the temptation to take a drug the temptation to take a shortcut that's wrong the temptation to tell a lie first by obedience to the will of God you just say Lord I will obey you but I need your help because none of us can live the Christian life alone we just can't do it it's the holy spirit that he gives you to live in you and through you I cannot live the Christian Life the Holy Spirit must live

it through me and then secondly by spending much time in prayer you don't have to kneel down every time you pray but you can pray all the time even while I preach like this like I'm doing now I'm praying I'm saying Lord help me to say the right thing help me to say the thing that will help somebody that is here tonight that needs this message because this message is for somebody here tonight for many people here tonight that need it and then you meet the Devil by knowing the scriptures he's the only person who

never surrendered or yielded himself to the Temptation Of Satan and he did it by quoting scripture he said it is written in James 4 7 it says submit yourselves therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you in a world in which the dominant religion is now secularism and the lifestyle is materialism we need to understand God's word so we know how to quote and apply it properly in Revelation 12 11 it says by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony they overcame the accuser are you resisting

him are you submitting to God and in First Peter 5 it says be soba be vigilant because your adversary the devil has a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devout whom resist steadfast in the faith foreign