Who is the Enemy?
By Jack Jackson - Minister Where You Are

As I was pondering the battle, it becomes evident from people we talk to that even Christians are deceived about who the enemy is. This might sound strange at first, but depending on what you believe, the enemy you are fighting against, might be God (big G).

Who then is the battle against? Everyone will agree it is against Satan, the god (small g) of this world, who is busy along with evil principalities and princes of the air to "blind the minds of those who believe not the Gospel" according to 2 Cor. 4:3-4. We are told that Satan blinds them lest the glorious light of the Gospel should shine to them. Either Satan is deceived into thinking he must blind them or else they could see it and respond; or he was really given the authority to blind minds when Adam lost title to the earth, and does so gladly to see as many in hell as possible.

This is where we as Seed Sowers come in, the foolish things of the world. God uses His people and allows them to use weapons that are not carnal but mighty in God to the tearing down of strongholds (2 Cor 10:4). God, until He takes back the title of the earth, decides to use us to get around the "deed" so to speak and equips His people with mighty weapons in Him, to tear down the strongholds (lies and blinding) of the god of this world (Satan). The question comes down to our faith. If we believe this, and boldly preach the truth of His Word, we should expect strongholds to fall away, and the lost to be able to see clearly.

On the other hand, some tell me that they preach the gospel merely out of obedience, and patiently await God putting a blind man in front of them that He has selected to give sight to. In this situation, it seems foolish to present the gospel at all. It is like battling against God, if you boldly present the Gospel as if you are trying to do spiritual battle and tear down the blindings of the enemy. In their theology, in a strange way, the enemy is God (big G) which according to the popular theology is the responsible party for the blinding, because in that theology, only some have been chosen to be unblinded. And although there remains a reason to go to battle, it is merely to be obedient to the great commission, and can be very devoid of the love for the lost.

I don't know about you all, but before I got saved and had the love of God within me, I could care less about most people, and never wondered about their eternal resting place. But since God saved me, I have a God given love for the lost and their eternal destination. I am not merely being obedient to the great commission, I truly have a desire to see "all people" get saved, not "all kinds of people".

Depending on what you believe, that kind of love is either greater than the love God has for all men (if you believe in limited atonement), and it makes God the blinder of men; or is exactly the heart of God, disproving limited atonement, and leaves us with the true enemy being Satan.

When you go to witness, do you feel you are going to battle?

Have you dwelt upon who the enemy is?

Have you dwelt upon the weapons needed, and why?

Aren't we supposed to hate the enemy and fight hard against him, if in a battle?

Can our perspective on the enemy have any bearing on how hard we fight the battle or how serious we take the fight?

Do you cry over the lost?

Don't you think God does too?

Below: This message was posted on the Great New Network. Please find a response from a fellow Seed Sower named Christine.

Jack,

I thank God for your post and have received a revelation from God through the scripture you chose to post.

I am reminded that it is the difference between passive and aggressive.

Hope is passive.

Prayer is aggressive.

The Kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force!

Of course! Why did He give us weapons if there was no battle to fight?!

Oh praise God! The Lord has really revealed something to me today that will change the rest of my spiritual life. What a rush! Even the Tozer daily devotional is on the same topic this a.m. Oh praise Him for His incredible faithfulness! I repent of my defeatest attitude and repent of my passivity in spiritual matters, which I carried inward not outward. I repent of feeling I could do nothing to remove the wicked one's blinders from the eyes of the lost, and now wage war with my fellow brothers in arms (and sisters)

I can pray, and believe it or not, for the first time in a long time really see the awesome power in that.

It's funny, when we receive a revelation from the Lord we realize how little we knew about something we felt we knew plenty about.