Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
6 "D's" Of The Enemy's Strategy
Embark on a spiritual journey and master the strategies to thwart the enemy's attempts to undermine your faith and purpose. You'll uncover how 1 Peter 5:8 serves as a powerful call to stay vigilant against the devil, who prowls like a roaring lion. Explore the profound concepts of spiritual adversaries—the devil, the world, and the flesh—and understand how they seek to distract and delay believers from fulfilling their divine assignments.
Get your Bible, hold it up with me, wave it at the devil, make the devil mad, make Jesus glad, and we're going to make a little confession here and then we're going to get in the word. If you would repeat after me Heavenly Father, thank you for your holy word and the benefit that I will receive tonight. Thank you, lord, for helping me to load my spiritual toolbox along my spiritual journey and walk with you, and I declare that I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, let's jump into the word of God here tonight and, if you would, please, turn with me in your Bibles over to 1 Peter 5, verse 8. That's where we're going to start, and the scripture says this.
Speaker 1:The scripture in that New King James Version says be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. The Amplified Version of that same scripture says this. It says Be well-balanced, temperate, sober of mind, be vigilant and cautious at all times, for that enemy of yours, the devilams around like a lion, roaring in fierce hunger, seeking someone to seize up and to devour. You know, one of the things that I want to point out, there is in the Amplified Version it's very clear that the devil is your enemy. It says this that enemy of yours, the devil. So you don't ever have to wonder who your enemy is. The devil is your enemy and so if you didn't know, you have an enemy. You know now that you have an enemy and the enemy's job is to inhibit growth and success. You know, as believers and as Christians, one of the things that we do and that God helps us to do by a spirit and requires us to do is to grow. All of us have a plan. God has a plan for each of our lives and God wants us to be successful, but it is the enemy's job to stop us from being successful. As a believer, the growth and ability to succeed or fulfill God's plan or call upon our lives may be hindered or halted by three distinct enemies. We know that the devil is our enemy and we could say that the stopping of that is halted in three different enemies. In the first one is the devil. The second hindrance or distraction is the world and the third one is the flesh. In 1 Peter 5 and 8, we just read that we were warned on how the devil, the enemy of yours, walks or roams about looking for a, like a lion looking, whom he can devour. Now a little something a little interesting about lions. Lions hunt for the weak. They hunt for the young. They hunt for the isolated. They hunt for the unguarded, the uninformed, the unaware. They'll hunt for animals.
Speaker 1:Now, if you've attended Glorious Way Church for any period of time, then this doesn't really talk about you, because we get the word here attended Glorious Way Church for any period of time, then this doesn't really talk about you, because we get the word here at Glorious Way Church and I'm so thankful about that. But those are the ones that the enemy marks for attack. The enemy also looks for those that are full of faith and advance in the kingdom of God. So if you thought, just because you're saving and serving God, that you're exempt from enemy's attacks, sorry, he's going to attack. But you know what? We don't have to be fearful of the attacks of the enemy. Why? Because we have already received victory. The scripture says now thanks be to God, who always leads us to triumph in Christ Jesus, and so we have victory, that's assured.
Speaker 1:The devil hates people full of faith. Look at your neighbor and say he's talking about you. The devil hates people who are busy evangelizing, telling others about Jesus. He doesn't want the word to get out, and he also hates you. The devil's ultimate agenda is to destroy us, not merely to hurt us, to maim us or discourage us, but to devour and destroy us. He does that when he gets us to bow to circumstances, pressures or forces, his evil design, hopefully thereby to make us yield to him.
Speaker 1:Last Sunday night, if you were not with us in service, pastor James Buntrock preached a message called Get Lit and Stay Salty. Now, I want to tell you he wasn't talking about getting drunk or getting high, but he was talking about being the light of the world, and he was talking about being salt, in other words, being a preservative being seasoned. We are called, as believers, to be salty, to be a preservative, to season the world with the message of hope, the word of God, and so I want to encourage you. If you were not here or if you didn't get a chance to partake in that message, you can certainly review it or view it on the Glorious Way Church podcast, and I would encourage you to do that because that message was not only an urgent message, but it was also strategic, and I believe it is a right now word for what's ahead of us. You know I don't know about you, but I'm so excited, yes, to celebrate Christmas, but I'm even more excited to get busy in 2025 and all of the things that God has in store for us for me individually, but also for this church and the body of Christ. And so I want to encourage you to get plugged into that message and study, and I believe it'll really help you.
Speaker 1:But tonight I want to provide some intel, if you will, on six strategic D's. I call them six strategic D's that the enemy of yours, that enemy of yours, wants to use against you and the progression of the strategy when they're at work. The six D's that the enemy of yours, that enemy of yours, wants to use against you, and the progression of the strategy when they're at work. The six D's are the strategy of the enemy of this. The first one is deception. The second one is distraction. The third one is delay. The fourth one is to deny. The fifth one is to disqualify. And then the sixth strategy is once he's deceived, he's distracted, he's delayed, he's denied, he's disqualified, then ultimately, his goal is to destroy you. And so we want to look at each one of those strategies and how they work and how you and how you can be victorious in those. The first strategy of the enemy is deception, and deception always starts with the question of God's word and authority. If you will look over in the book of Genesis, we're going to look at a couple of examples tonight of the enemy at work and we're going to study most of our study tonight it's going to be in the Old Testament, but we're going to look at some work, some of the work that the enemy's doing in some of these strategies at work.
Speaker 1:And so in Genesis, chapter one, verse 27 and 28, we see God's plan for mankind. It says so God created man in his own image, in the image of God. He created him male and female. Now it's really important. I want to stop there real quick and make sure that God was not confused about gender. There was no gender identity questions when God created man and woman. It says right here that he created him male and female. He created them. There were no other. Notice that there's not an other in the Bible. And so God only created two kinds man and woman. He created them. Then God blessed them and God said to them be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves. Fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And so there were two things I want to point out. First of all we see the creation, and then the second thing we see in this passage of scriptures is the assignment.
Speaker 1:Then we go to chapter two in Genesis, starting at verse eight, and we look, we get a little bit more information on the place of the assignment. So then the Lord, god, planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. All out of the ground. The Lord made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And so we go on to look at verse 10. Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden and from it parted and became four river heads, and it names the four rivers and it goes on the verse.
Speaker 1:Let's pick up at verse 15. It says then the Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. So we see, not only did he give them an assignment, but he gave them a specific assignment in a specific place. Why is this important? Because God has called each and every one of us into his kingdom for such a time as this. And if you are in the kingdom of God, a part of the body of Christ, you have an assignment. And it's important for two things One, to be busy about your assignment, but it's also important to make sure that you're in the right place. And so God put them in the garden, gave them an assignment to tend it, and then the Lord commanded the man, saying of every tree of the garden you may eat, you may freely eat verse 17, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. And so we see that God gave them an assignment, he gave them a place of an assignment and he also gave them specific instructions pertaining to that assignment. You know, the Word of God is a great place to get specific instructions concerning your assignment. And what God said then still applies today.
Speaker 1:There's a reason God gave them a warning and there's a reason that the Bible is full of warnings. You know God is like us as parents. How many of you know that when you tell your child the stove is hot, you're telling them that not because you want to deny them the opportunity to touch the stove, but you are trying to protect them from touching a hot stove? And so the father puts warnings in the world, to put in his word, to protect us from things that are harmful and hindrance. And so again we're talking about the six D's in the strategy of the enemy.
Speaker 1:And so we see, and we go on to Genesis, chapter three, and we see that the devil shows up in verse one. Now, the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman has God really indeed said to you, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent we may eat the fruit of the, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden. God has said you shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then the serpent said in verse four the serpent said to the woman you will not surely die. Now that's just like the devil he always wants to come in and to argue and to debate about what God has said. Let me be very clear here If it's in God's word, there's no debate about it. If it's in God's word, there's no dispute about it. If it's there, it's there for a reason. Then the serpent said to the woman in verse four you shall not surely die, for God knows that in the day that you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took its fruit and ate.
Speaker 1:So we see several things here. First of all, we see that Adam and Eve were called for a purpose and had an assignment. And just like they were called for an assignment, we're called for an assignment. We also see something that's very interesting. Then the lie Satan told them to dissective act. He's still telling today. You know, one of the things that just tickles me, I find quite amusing about the devil, is he doesn't have any new material. The same lie he told then is the same lie he's telling today. And so if the enemy's whispering in your ears know that what he's telling you is nothing new, and so he has no new strategy, and he still wants to question your authority. And nothing new. And so he has no new strategy. And he still wants to question your authority and your purpose. And that's the ultimate goal of the enemy in the act of deception is he wants to question your authority, he wants to question your assignment, he wants to question what you are, who you are and what you've been called to do. Why is that? Because that's one of his strategies.
Speaker 1:The second strategy of the enemy is distraction. The only purpose of that is to take your eye off the end result. The purpose of the enemy's plan of distraction is to distract you, to take your focus, to take your attention, to take your energy off of what you are called to do or what you're doing and going about being busy for the kingdom of God. You know, the devil doesn't bother people that aren't doing anything for the kingdom of God. Why? Because he can arrest him anytime he wants to. He would rather turn his attention to those that are busy doing things. Why? Because when you get busy taking care of God's business, you are a threat to the kingdom of darkness. And you know Jesus is returning soon and you know there's a lot to do before he returns. And so the devil I believe he's so nervous he's canceled all leave. There are no vacations and no PTO in hell. All of the demons are busy working overtime trying to complete the plan, the evil agenda of Satan. How many of you know? I've read the back of the book and we win. Praise God, we win. And so distraction is just to take your eyes off the end result. And so in Numbers, chapter 13, here's another example that we're going to look at of distraction at work and the devastation of it.
Speaker 1:In Numbers, chapter 13, starting in verse 1 through verses 6, we see the story of where Moses, the children of Israel, had come out of Egypt. God had brought them out in a mighty and an awesome way, and so now they are on their way to the promised land. And so, in verse three, the Lord spoke to Moses saying send them out to the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel and each tribe of their fathers. You shall send a man, everyone a leader among them. Verse 17,. Then Moses sent them out to spy the land of Canaan and said to them go up this way into the south and go up to the mountains and see what the land is like, whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many, whether the land they dwell in is good or bad, whether the cities they inhibit are like camps or strongholds Verse 20, whether the land is rich or poor, whether there are forests or there be not, be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land, now that the time was the season for the first ripe grapes. So verse 21,.
Speaker 1:We see that they went up and they spied out the land, and so I want to fast forward here and go to verse 27. Well, let's back up and go to verse 15. And so they departed and came back to Moses. They'd gone out, they'd spied the land. Now we pick up the story in verse 26. It said they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all of the congregation of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him and said we went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey and this is its fruit.
Speaker 1:Nevertheless I want to just stop right there and just underline the word nevertheless. There are no neverthelesses in God's work, in other words, but the only but to but God. Any of the buts don't apply. So they're saying, yeah, it was flowing with milk and honey, but, and so they say, nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong, the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, the Hittites, the Jebusites and the Amorites, well in the mountains, the Canaanites well by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.
Speaker 1:And then Caleb, finally, somebody with some sense said, got up and quietly to people before Moses and said let us go up at once and take possession, for we are able to overcome it. But the men the 10 of the 12, who had gone up with them, said we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we, and they gave the children of Israel a bad report. Now we're talking about distraction. Now it's something that, a couple of things that I want to point out here about the work of this, the strategy of distraction at work here. God has already told them what they were going to get. They totally missed the most important part of the assignment and that was to go up and take a look at what I am going to give you. He didn't say take a look. Go up and take a look and see if you can get it. That's not what he said. He said I'm going to give it to you. We're in a time now where God has called us to do specific things and he's already assured the victory. Now that doesn't mean it's going to look easy, but we don't want to be like the spies and totally miss the most important part of the assignment. God didn't say it was going to be easy, but he did promise to give them the victory.
Speaker 1:Our assignments may not look easy, but the victory has already been guaranteed by the blood of Jesus, the fact that we are here on earth for such a time as this, to speak loud and clear to each one of us. You know, here's something that I remember during a time of something I was dealing with in my own personal life and was struggling with an assignment, and I just felt like I was such a failure. And I remember praying and just talking to the Lord, and I just heard him whisper something that was so, so, so incredible, just like I felt he said to me I've got more confidence in you than you have in yourself. And you know, you may not look at yourself in your natural and in your own natural ability that you're able to accomplish any much or able to complete a task or able to do what's ahead of you, but I just want you to know that God has more ability in you than you have in yourself. And he's already saying to you go, look at what you're about to get. That's good, amen. And so we need to make sure that we keep our eyes on the assignment, not the circumstances. The thing that did the children of Israel in here, that's distracted them, was the circumstances. You need to recognize that the job of circumstances is to distract you from your assignment. That's the second D in the strategy of the enemy. The third strategy of the enemy is to delay us. The purpose of the delay strategy is to slow you down or to halt an event or to stop whatever you're trying to complete.
Speaker 1:Over in Numbers, chapter 13,. We're going to go back there. It's still talking about the children of Israel and the Lord spoke to Moses. I'm going to read it again because there's such good stuff there. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. And he talks about sending one representative from each tribe. Now, two things there that we need to make sure we catch. We're talking about delay. God said go and see. That's the first thing. He said go and see what you're getting. He didn't say go and see. He didn't say go and see what you're not getting.
Speaker 1:But the men who had gone up with him the 10 of the 12 who'd gone up with him, came back and said we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are. And he said and they gave the children of Israel a bad report and they just blew it. They just totally blew it. So it's really important to understand that when the spirit of delay is at work. Here's some things that you must avoid to defeat the spirit of delay, the assignment of delay. Wrong responses will delay what you get and when you get it. Here's another tool for your tool belt. Wrong responses will delay what you get and when you get it. Here's another tool for your tool belt. Wrong responses will delay when you complete the assignment. So we see the wrong response from the children of Israel, the 10 of the 12. There are giants in the land. We're grasshoppers in their sight, we're unable, and so that response delayed what they were going to get. So we read later that 10 that not only did those 10, but a whole generation missed out on receiving the promised land because they responded the wrong way. Wrong responses will delay when you complete the assignment. What should have taken a few days only took. What should have taken a few days took 40 years. That's a big delay, that's a serious delay.
Speaker 1:We've got a harvest to bring in. Why is this so important? Why do we need to recognize these strategies? Because we've got a harvest to bring in. You know, god has kind of pushed pause on the time clock, I believe, and we've got a great work to do. We've got a harvest to bring in. We've got souls to win, we've got people to reach, we've got things to do to advance the kingdom of God, and we've got to recognize these strategies. And we've got to recognize these strategies and we've got to be smarter and wiser than the enemy strategies Recognize them first, but then know how to defeat them. And so we need to understand that wrong responses will delay what you get and when you get it, and wrong responses will delay when you complete the assignment.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about the fourth strategy in the work of the enemy. The fourth strategy, or the fourth D in the strategy of the enemy is to deny. The fourth strategy, or the fourth D in the strategy of the enemy is to deny. The purpose of the deny strategy is to withhold your rights, your privileges and your benefits. Now it's important to point out that the children of Israel had a covenant that was cut by the blood of bulls and goats. We have a much better covenant that was cut on the shed blood of the Lamb of God, and so we've got a much better deal and a much better arrangement than what they had.
Speaker 1:But it's important to understand that that does not exempt us from the enemy to attempts to deny us from what God has promised us. It does not exempt us from the enemy's attempt to deny us the rights to advance, to be in health. I mean, this covers so many things the enemy wants to deny us. Nowhere in the Bible does it say I want you sick. But what it does say is I want your hope. What it does say is it's by the stripes of Jesus you were healed, and so the enemy's job is to come in and to bring those circumstances. The circumstances are to deny us what's already ours.
Speaker 1:It's interesting, the devil that never come to argue with what you don't have. It's just like a thief. John 10 10 says for the thief comes, but to steal, to kill and to destroy. Well, what does a thief do? A thief's job is to steal what he doesn't have. In other words, he wants to deny you the benefit of enjoying something that you have. And so we need to deny you the benefit of enjoying something that you have. And so we need to understand that the purpose of that strategy is to deny your rights, your privileges and your benefits. And so we need to make sure that we see things through the eyes of the grantor. In other words, we need to look at circumstances and things in life through the eyes, through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, but through the eyes of the grantor. When you are facing a situation and the minute you realize that what's going on, you should realize that immediately. If it's contrary to God's word, you should realize that immediately that the devil is trying to deny you something that belongs to you. And if he's trying to deny you something that belongs to you, then the first thing you need to do is get God's perspective. What does God's word say about the situation? And once you know what God's word says about the situation, you need to make sure that you see those things through the eyes of the grantor, by the help of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:I like to use this little phrase because I think it's catchy, but it's also helpful. A lie will always deny. I like that. I'm going to say that again. A lie will always deny. In other words, that lie's sole purpose. That lie exists just to deny you of something that belongs to you. Any circumstance that is contrary to what God has said about you or to you is solely trying to deny you of what God, of what belongs to you. Trying to deny you of what God, of what belongs to you, trying to deny you of what belongs to you, what God has given you.
Speaker 1:And if we're going to accomplish everything that we need to accomplish, we've got to be vigilant about these strategies. As a matter of fact, I believe we're entering into a time where we're going to see. If you think God did something incredible for the children of Israel when he brought them out of Egypt, you wait and see what he does in this next season. I believe we're going to see. You think you saw shock at our end, boy, we hadn't seen anything yet. I'm excited about what God is going to do.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about the fifth strategy. The fifth strategy is this disqualify. The purpose of the disqualify strategy is this to take you out of the game. You know, when you're in a, when you're competing in a sport or competing in an activity, if you do something that goes against what the rules of the game say, then you are subject to be disqualified. And so I think we have an excellent example of how the children of Israel in those two illustrations.
Speaker 1:First of all, if we go back to Adam and Eve, what disqualified Adam and Eve? Disobedience? Disqualified Adam and Eve. Disobedience will qualify. Disqualify you and the enemy's looking for every opportunity to get you to be this, to be disobedient. He'll say things to you like well, you know, if you, if you do that, then people are going to think harshly of you, or people are going to think different of you, or or you shouldn't do that. How do you really know that? That's God knowing full well that, that you have an assignment and a mandate from God. So he is trying to get you to dis, to disqualify yourself by the act of disobedience. God's not going to make you disobey him, but the enemy will try to make you disobey God, either through doubt and unbelief, through lack of faith or anything that he can do to disqualify you. Here's something we need to clearly understand, folks, and that is this God is serious about this harvest. We need to be serious about God's harvest. God is serious about what he wants to do in the earth in this time. We need to be serious about what God wants to accomplish in the earth and in this time, and we need to be so serious about it that we will not allow anything to disqualify us. Adam and Eve were disqualified through disobedience. The children of Israel were disqualified because of the report of the 10 that caused them to not have faith in what had been promised. Lack of faith disqualified them. Lack of faith will disqualify you.
Speaker 1:It's important that you maintain and stay plugged into faith. It's important that you understand that God has given us something. We don't have to see it to believe it, we just have to believe to see it. And that's the easy part. I say that kind of sarcastically, but we get the easy part. We get to believe to see it. Not to see it to believe it, but we get to believe to see it. If it's in God's word, then that's all you need. That's all you need. Why? Because God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. Has he not said it? Shall he not do it? Has he not spoken it? Shall he not bring it to pass? Oh, praise God. That's the time to just raise your hand and praise the Lord right there. Why? Because God is faithful to his word.
Speaker 1:Recognize that the enemy's strategy is to disqualify you. He wants to take you out of the game. You know many have been disqualified through disobedience, through you out of the game. You know many have been disqualified through disobedience, through a lack of faith. And if that hit something in you, I just want you to take a moment. You know God is able to restore you. He's able to put you back in the game, and it's as simple as recognizing that you missed it, recognizing that you failed, recognizing that you did something that caused the pause button to be pushed and you to be sidelined, and all you got to do is repent and ask God to restore you, and I believe that he will. I believe that God values you so much that he's willing to give you another chance. And so, if you feel like you've been disqualified, make it right, get back in the game, get busy doing the things that God has called you to do.
Speaker 1:And then, lastly, I want to talk about the very last strategy in the six D's of the strategy of the enemy, and that is to destroy. We see how the enemy wants to first of all deceive us. We see how he does that through distracting us, and the purpose of the distracting us is to delay us. The purpose of the delay is to deny us. The purpose of the denying is to get us to the point of disqualification, where we disqualify. Now you notice, the children of Israel disqualified themselves with their actions and their words. That's how the enemy gets you to disqualify yourself, through your actions and your words. And so we see that they were disqualified through those. But then, lastly, he doesn't want to stop it there.
Speaker 1:The devil wants to go for broke, he wants to get it all. It's not enough just to take every take what you have. He wants to take you. John 10, 10 says for the thief comes, but to steal, to kill and to destroy. But Jesus said don't get me mixed up with that, dude, I'm not that guy, but I've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. And so we need to understand that when the enemy shows up to try to kill and to steal, to kill, to steal and to ultimately destroy, we don't have to put up with that, we don't have to live with that, we don't have to give in with that, give in to that. We don't have to accept that. Why? Because Jesus said but I've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. And so I want to encourage you.
Speaker 1:When you see that the enemy is trying to destroy, you turn the tables on him. Well, how do you turn the tables on the devil, pastor Joseph Easy. First of all, I like to remind the devil. When I find myself having to deal with an attack or something that looks like an attack, I like to remind the devil of who he is, but, more importantly, of who I am, and I start with reminding him that he's an unemployed worship leader that's totally ineligible for benefits, and so I just cause him to have a fit over the benefits. Well, how do you do that, pastor Joseph? I lift my hands and I start worshiping and praising the Lord, and what does that do? That causes him to leave. And does that do? That causes him to leave and it reminds him that he was already defeated. Then I'll tell him, say to him, maybe I just need to remind you that you were defeated and that the blood of Jesus is against you and that you were made a public spectacle of and that won't be any destruction here today in my house.
Speaker 1:And so I want to remind you that when you find yourself dealing with the enemy, when you find yourself dealing with attacks of the enemy, when you find yourself looking at one of these six D's in the strategy of the enemy, know that God has given you the victory. The other thing that you need to recognize is this is that what you've been called to do is so valuable and so important that hell has allocated resources to you. That's funny to me. When I find that the enemy has had to allocate resources to me, that tells me that what God called me to do is far greater than anything I could do, and at that point I'm humbled and I'm honored. We don't have to serve God, folks. We don't have to do the things that we do. We get to, and so I hope this encouraged you tonight as you learn a little bit about it. And we've talked and looked at the six Ds in the strategy of the enemy and I pray that this has encouraged you and I hope it's helped you and you've received it.