As Christians, Jesus has given us eternal life and a purpose. He has given us each assignments based on our abilities as the Lord knows both our strengths and weaknesses. When we start each day fresh, we face a foe who is unseen but is still out there. Our enemy, Satan and his demons have always had the same tasks as they “scheme” against Christians. (1 Peter 5:8, Ephesians 6:11) Their job is simple, to prevent us from doing God’s will for our life and from sharing the good news about Jesus with others. It’s even stated that the enemy’s job is to kill, destroy and steal. (John 10:10)
The enemy has many different tactics that they use against Christians. They see Christians as a threat to their plans as we are ambassadors for Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21) We carry Jesus’s authority as believers and carry out his will on earth moving forward the gospel of Jesus to the unsaved world.
The enemy wants to take as many people with them into damnation as they know their ultimate fate is in the lake of fire mentioned in Revelation 20:10-14. We also know that the enemy blinds the minds of the unsaved, so they don’t see the glorious gospel of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
The enemy has always worked behind the scenes throughout time, and he has been using the same tactics, but repackaged. So what are the tactics of the enemy that have always been used? What are the tactics of the enemy in this digital age we live in now? What can we do to defend ourselves? Today, we will be going over these questions in further detail. Let’s get started!
Tactics the Enemy has Always Used
Throughout time, we see that Satan and his demons have been using tactics involving sin. As a simple guide, we can see the enemy uses the following:
Pride, Lust, Covetousness, Idolatry, Greed, Slothfulness, and Gluttony.
The enemy crafts these sins in a form so every man or woman can be tempted in a number of ways. This is demonstrated in the book of James where it says:
“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:14-15)
The enemy also understands scripture, as we saw Satan quoting out of the Psalms when Jesus was in the wilderness fasting for 40 days and 40 nights in Matthew 4:1-11. The enemy also knows that Christians have the promise from Romans 8:1 that says: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” With this knowledge in hand, they try to craft temptations for us to fall into the flesh.
Another tactic the enemy uses is the power of agreement. We understand the power of words as we look at the book of Proverbs where it says:
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21)
The enemy uses this in terms of a negative agreement. The enemy might craft an idea into your thinking and you then you say something or think something in terms of that negative agreement. Here are a few examples:
- Saying that you’re always going to be poor.
- Saying that you’re never going to get over your sickness.
- Saying you’re never going to find your spouse.
- Saying you’re never going to get that raise you deserve.
- Saying your family doesn’t really love you.
By using negative agreement, the enemy uses the tactic of fear and doubt that leads a person to be double-minded. If a person is double-minded, this opens the door for being oppressed from the enemy and defeats you when you pray expecting something from the Lord. We can see this in the Book of James:
“That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” (James 1:7-8)
The enemy also uses distraction as a tactic. The enemy knows the more you grow in your relationship with God and the more you study then the more you grow in your spiritual maturity. This makes you dangerous in the eyes of the enemy, and he will throw distractions your way to get you on another path or have you put off what you were doing.
Tactics the Enemy has Repacked for the Digital Age
Much of what we discussed in the last section is still used today for enemy tactics. However, since technology has increased the enemy also tends to use the following:
Internet, Television, Movies, Books & Music
The Internet has a variety of different venues for us to explore but with many snares and temptations from the enemy. From the dangers of YouTube and watching a video that may have demonic themes to the dangers of social media and other websites where you can post your opinions. There are also popups and other suggestive media that can lead to addictive websites like that of gambling or pornography.
Another enemy tactic is through that of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and many others. The social media platforms make their websites addictive on purpose in order to keep a user there. However, the enemy takes advantage of what we talked about earlier, and that is the power of agreement.
Any time you come into agreement and hit that “Like” button with something or someone, you know nothing about you could place yourself under demonic influence to be oppressed by the enemy. Leaving comments under these social media posts, videos, and chat rooms can also have the same effect. Writing out comments can put you in danger of being prideful or arrogant and can lead you to be ensnared by the enemy.
Television and movies are another popular tool the enemy uses to gain access to our lives. Many movies and television shows have immoral acts, along with murder, theft, sorcery, witchcraft, and other new-age concepts.
Music is a tactic of the enemy as what we take in from our ears can have an effect for demons to oppress us. Many seemingly harmless songs may have concepts that have new-age themes or also be sung in a different language which can have demonic meaning or curses to ensnare us as Christians. Many people sing along to songs placing them under agreement with the lyrics.
The same types of concepts are applied to books and magazines. We may be reading a fantasy novel or comic that involves adultery, witchcraft, or other demonic concepts that can lead to oppression.
How to Defend Ourselves from Enemy Tactics
As Christians, we have to remember what Christ told us in Matthew 10:16 to be as wise as serpents but as harmless as doves, and we should include this in our daily prayers along with asking God for his wisdom on how to handle every situation we may face. When it comes to the “tactics that the enemy has always used,” we must remember to put on the whole armor of God each day to guard our hearts and minds as it says in Ephesians.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”(Ephesians 6:10-17)
We also have to remember to guard our tongues as believers in Christ as it says in the following scriptures:
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” (Proverbs 18:21)
“Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” (Psalms 34:13)
We have to remember that when we pray to trust God completely and have no doubt. We cannot be double-minded PERIOD. We either trust God or we don’t, choose your side and don’t give a place to the enemy.
“But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” (James 1:6)
When it comes to Modern Day Tactics of the Enemy
With the internet, television, movies, and readable materials, the traps are sometimes sly in their nature, but most of the time they are easy to spot. Again this all comes down to the power of agreement. If you are in agreement with something, it may open up a doorway for an attack if it’s demonic in nature. So be careful what you agree to.
Be careful what you watch! Watching the latest drama television shows that show adultery, murder, deceitfulness, theft, sexual acts can open us up to oppression from the enemy. If you are unsure of a program or movie ask the Lord to protect your mind from any hidden works of the enemy. A quick example of this would be as follows:
“Thank you, Lord Jesus for protecting my mind from any hidden works of the enemy that may be in this video. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.”
When it comes to social media, you should seek guidance from the Holy Spirit if it’s ok to post a comment or hit the “like” button on someone’s particular post. Sometimes it’s best to remain neutral, as it’s easy to let our emotions kick in causing us to stumble.
The good news here is when it comes to the tactics of the enemy God will discipline you to get your attention and correct our action. Typically, God will try to reveal something to you in the Bible, through a Christian friend, or you might have a nightmare as God uses dreams to reach out to us.
“For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Hebrews 12:6)
If you happen to wake up from a nightmare, pray to the Lord to reveal to you if you opened yourself up for an attack. Think back throughout your day and the events that happened, and see if there was anything that you might have done. If you find something that you may have done you should repent of that immediately.
Final Thoughts
As believers in Christ, we have the promise from Romans 8:1 that says: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” However, we also know since Christ has set us free, we strive to live Holy lives, which is our reasonable service to the Lord while not being conformed to this world as we are reminded in Romans 12:1-2. The enemy also knows this and tries to create temptations in the flesh in order to get us to stumble, and fall away from the Lord.
We as Christians pose the biggest threat to the enemy whose job is to kill, destroy, and steal. The enemy knows that when we grow in our relationship with the Lord, it strengthens our faith and boldness to share the good news about Jesus. The enemy schemes against Christians and use a wide variety of tactics to get us off track or fall into a trap, sometimes without our knowledge. We should be grateful that the Lord disciplines us in order to get us to come into repentance when we unknowingly fall into one of the enemy’s traps.
It’s up to us as Christians to be as wise as serpents, but harmless as doves and defend ourselves from enemy tactics that we covered earlier. We encourage you to join us for our next article: “Christian Tactical Strategies to use Against the Enemy” to take spiritual warfare against the enemy to the next level.
https://vijnm.org/tactics-of-the-enemy/
