Contents Introduction The Deceitful One The Son of the Deceitful One The Origins and Kingdoms of the Antichrist The Satanic System and Babylon the Great The False Prophet and the Antichrist The Apostasy from the Faith in Jesus Christ The Desolation Campaign of the Antichrist The Rapture of the Believers in Christ Jesus The Signs of the Second Coming of Christ Jesus Salvation: The Gift of God The Inspired Word of God Know Your Enemy

Click the image above to download the PDF file of this book. For more information, click here

12. Know your Enemy Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places (eph c5: v12), for we are not ignorant of satan’s schemes (2cor c2:v11). Satan we know is a Hebrew word, signifying adversary, an enemy of the Most High God (Elyon), and the enemy of the child of God, he is the originator of "sin", and chief of all evil spirits, he is malignant and a foul spirit, and shall do all in his power to destroy the life giving word of God, satan was at one time the Anointed Cherub, who occupied a special place of prominence in guarding the throne of God, until pride was found in him, and he became corrupt, to know your enemy, one must first know his names and titles, that the Lord God has so graciously revealed within his word. The wicked one (the evil one) is given the name of “the serpent of old". This name given to satan is a common symbol for evil, it was used by the sacred writers as an emblem of wickedness, cruelty and treachery and be not deceived into believing that the serpent of old was a snake, for it is a word which depicts his nature, not his form. He is also given the name "the great red dragon"; this applies metaphorically to satan, for 'dragon' depicts desolation and cruelty; "great" because of his sin towards God; and 'red' because of the slaughter he has and will bring upon mankind. Dragon is mentioned 13 times within the book of Revelation, and denotes rebellion and apostasy, satan is the angel of sin, who shall make the earth tremble and a wilderness, he is "abaddon" and "apollyon" the destroyer. Only in the New Testament is satan called a "devil", devil means slanderer, he is the supreme evil spirit, the prince of darkness, who is malignant and foul and who makes false and malicious statements to win his case, and is called "the accuser of the brethren", he is the father of lies. "Lucifer", son of the morning, the morning star, who appears as an angel of light deceiving and counterfeiting the things of God, the name Lucifer only occurs once in the scriptures and it is a reference to satan’s fall from grace. "Beelzebud" the chief prince of all demons and devils; the lord of the flies; a deity of the Ekronites; the Jews polluted it by changing it to Beelzebul, meaning 'the lord of the dung or dunghills'. In the greek it is Baal-zebul meaning lord of abominable idols, the prince of idolatry, the chief of all wickedness, the Jews used these names as an Epithet for satan. Demons are disembodied spirits who serve satan their master, in opposing God and antagonizing his work upon the earth, satan is giving the title of "the god of this world" - not that he rules the world, for he is not sovereign, it is his influence that is in question. The enemy is called “the prince of the power of the air”. 'Prince' denotes ruler, and he is the prince of darkness and king of the abyss; he may be superhuman, but he is not divine; his power maybe great, but he is not omnipotent. It is satan's aim to try and destroy the foundation of God’s church, by undermining the credibility of the very elect of God, but the Lord God in his wisdom has within his word (Holy Writ), forewarned us of how the spirit of iniquity operates through the channels of satan (i.e. the spirit of antichrist (iniquity); the spirit of bondage; the spirit of divination; the spirit of error; the spirit of fear; the spirit of whoredom; the spirit of dissension; a lying spirit; a dumb spirit; a confusing spirit; a foul spirit; an unclean spirit; a familiar spirit and an evil spirit, etc). The one thing that the spirit of iniquity cannot produce is the fruit of the Holy spirit: for although it may give the appearance of righteousness, it shall inevitability always give itself away, the saint must not give the enemy rest; he is to wage war continually against satan, and one must remember that the more you are used by the Lord God, the more the enemy shall attack you; the greatest weapon that the child of God has to destroy satan is the word of God; the greatest force to overcome our enemies' schemes is prayer, praying through the blood of Christ to our father (Elyon). However, understand that prayer demands much, and its price is high, and the attacks from the enemy shall be often (i.e. physical, emotional and spiritual). To be mighty in prayer is to be mighty against the enemy, for the Holy spirit operates with the full force of the Almighty behind it; therefore we must be militant in our prayer and christian lives, for the character of our praying shall determine the character of our Godliness. Prevailing prayer is our pleading to our heavenly father, for prayer is humility at work. It is looking to God, and away from self; a negative christian shall achieve nothing. The Lord is calling for a praying people, the Daniels of this world. Let us become like Daniel in persistant prayer, so that our prayers may prevail against our enemy; and we shall become overcomers through the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! Note: sin originated in the angelic world, for satan the accused; realising his downfall; cursed the Lord God and turned his attention to Adam, the crown of God’s handiwork. It is revealed that they (the fallen angels) kept not their own principalities; satan knew that sin would enslave man, and that the wages of sin was death, he knew in his heart that sin is a transgression of the law of God, and that it was an attack on the Lord God Himself, for the Lord God was the Great Law Giver, and sin; satan knew; would be a revolt against the righteousness of God and the very foundation of His Throne, satan knew that the moment Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, he would automatically place himself in opposition to the Lord God, thus trusting no longer in the Lord God, but in his own ability. This action of Adam brought him into subjection to the authority of satan. Satan was quite aware of the unhappiness that sin would bring, and that through sin, man would become corrupt and depraved by his sinful nature, commiting sins such as murder; immorality; impurity; sensuality; idolatry; sorcery; enmity; strife; jealousy; envy; drunkeness; etc. Thus satan's devised schemes were possible through his spirit (the spirit of iniquity), to prevent man from turning from his ways! The spirit of iniquity shall with all wickedness deceive those who are foolish enough to reject the truth, this spirit which is called the spirit of iniquity is the third person of the evil trinity, he is the spirit that brings death and destruction; he can be found at the heart and root of all religion, opposing the truth of the Almighty God and all that is Holy (2thess c2: v7; rev c16: v13; 2cor c11: v3-v4). First we must ask the question "what is iniquity?", and the answer is “sin!” Iniquity is all unrighteousness and ungodliness towards the Lord God by all that was created, it is to transgress and violate his word, throught disobedience or neglect by an act of wickedness or depravity of the human nature, in mind, body or soul. It would therefore be true to say that iniquity is evil at its worst; iniquity comes in many forms and in many disguises, for evil has many faces. Remember that satan can appear as the angel of light and his messengers as messengers of righteousness (2cor c11:v14-v15); remember that when one walks in the spirit of the Lord God, the spirit of iniquity shall declare war upon you (rom c5:v3; john c15:v20; 2cor c4:v9); for no longer do you belong in the kingdom of darkness but reside within the kingdom of light, and it is the renewing of the mind that satan and his host fear (rom c12:v1-v2); for it is the light of the Gospel (the knowledge of the truth) that destroys the works of satan, bringing his kingdom of darkness to nought, and the overpowering of all his schemes. We are not to be ignorant of his ways nor his thoughts, lest he should gain advantage over us (2cor c2:v11). Let us now look into the word of God and see what his light has revealed concerning the workings of the wicked one (evil one), and we find that because of our fallen nature we are children of disobedience (unbelief), who by nature walk according to the course of this world; by the power of satan and his spirit; therefore without the grace of God, we are by our sinful nature sons of satan; filled with unbelief and walking in accordance to his spirit, being led by the spirit of iniquity into outer darkness and separation from the Lord God (eph c2:v3). So from the day of our birth, we are born into the kingdom of darkness, as if we had a veil covering our soul keeping us from the truth (2cor c3: v13-v14). After all you do not need to teach a child to tell lies, but thank the Lord Jesus Christ for his grace over children. However for those who come to the age of understanding, they must open their minds to the spirit of truth, and receive his grace with a repentant heart; for to do less shall leave you in your unbelief and in direct disobedience to the will of God (rom c5:v19; eph c2:v2), held in bondage by the works of the spirit of iniquity (gal c4:v3; heb c2:v14-v15); and be not deceived for the spirit of iniquity can work miracles; can possess; can afflict; and can blind the minds of mere humans, keeping them in bondage by ignorance and superstition; so that it produces its' fruit of arrogance and hatred. It is this spirit of bondage by the third person of the evil trinity that puts the recipient in total slavery to satan, paying him homage; homage for which they are not even aware of doing (john c8:v44; rev c13:v3). Look at the habits that we form through iniquity, not the norm like smoking or overindulging in alcohol nor the taking of drugs; but the indulgence of over eating; whether it be by chocolate, cream cakes, etc. The sin shall be the same, it is called gluttony and reported to be one of the seven deadly sins, gluttony is eating for the sake of eating and will kill you just the same as drug abuse; remember the Lord said your body was to be a Holy temple, not a cathedal for obesity (1cor c3:v16-v17; c6:v19); and when we criticise another and claim its because of their pride, when in reality it is down to our own envy of that person, we dishonour the Lord God and his word (prov c3:v30,jam c3:v14-v16, 1cor c3:v3). So with our tongue we proceed to murder those around us by assassinating their character, and we never call this slander; we don’t even called it gossip; for such has the spirit of iniquity blinded our minds (1john c2:v9; c3:v15; 2pet c1: v7-v9). Yet the Lord God has said it is an abomination before his eyes (prov 6:v16; c12:v22; luke c16:v15); for slander comes from lying lips, and the father of lies is none other than satan (john c8:v44); the Greek rendering for slander is traducer meaning accuser, satan himself. The spirit of iniquity shall travel down all avenues in which to ensnare you, such as putting you in bondage to the spirit of fear (2tim c1:v7); or the spirit of error (1john c4:v6); the spirit of whoredoms (hos c4:v12); the spirit of antichrist (1john c4:v3); the spirit of divination (acts c16:v16); a dumb spirit (mark c9: v17-v19); the foul spirit (mark c9:v25); even unclean spirits (matt c 12:v43; mark c7:v25); and it is the spirit of fear that produces one of the greatest sins within christiandom, it is one of the most destructive powers alive, for it produces hated and bigorty, intolerance against others, especially those of another race or tribe, fear breeds hate and not love, and sadly fear can also produce cowards, those who are too afraid or timid within their christian faith; taking no stand for Christ Jesus; being faithless to their calling, too shy to offend, just going to church and sitting quietly in thier own little corner secretly hidden away from others, heavenly bound and of no earthly use, stuck in the trenches while the battle rages all around, not having the sword of the Holy spirit in their heart or in their hand; just gripped in the fear instilled in them by the spirit of iniquity to keep them in bondage and on the road to becoming a worthless servant (prov 28:v1; eph c6:v19v20; 1john c4:v17-v19;, who shall be cast out into outer darkness away from the presence of the Lord God; but remember, perfect love casts out all fear. The spirit of error is one within the church who is led by the spirit of iniquity, a leader or teacher who does not place Christ Jesus at the center of their life (gal c2:v4; matt c7: v15-v20), or their fellowship with others, this is so widespread today among many so called christian fellowships. We know the obvious such as those who put an emphasis upon money, but there is a more dangerous error that has gone unnoticed within christendom and that is the emphasis that is place upon the gifts of the Holy spirit, but bear in mind the Lord Jesus did not say you would know them by their gifts, he said you would know them by their fruit, remember the Holy spirit's role is soley to point to Christ Jesus, as the only way for salvation. The spirit of error (delusion) does not point to Christ Jesus, but points to the gifts of the Holy spirit, yet the gifts cannot bring salvation to anyone, only Christ Jesus has that right (1cor c1:v1-v30; c3:v11; c13:v1-v13; c14:v19; c15:v3), for he alone is the way the truth and the life; therefore when so much emphasis is put upon a gift of the Holy spirit; or for that matter; one of its fruits, Christ Jesus no longer becomes central to salvation or our worship for which he alone deserves, and “delusion”, the spirit of error has succeeded in robbing the Lord Jesus Christ of his rightful place and majesty, scripture clearly teaches us that it is the Lord Jesus who is worthy of power; riches; wisdom; strength; honour; glory and blessing (rev c5), for he alone is the “Risen Lamb”, and worthy of our worship. The spirit of whoredom is always connected with idolatry and unfaithfulness towards the Lord God and Christ Jesus by those who claim to be the children of God, idolatry is not just referring to the worship of statues or images that man has conjured up within his own imagination, for idolatry became universal after the floor, for it was satan working through the spirit of iniquity, that the true knowledge of the Lord God was forsaking by man, who was himself deceived and corrupted by the great deceiver at the fall (gen c3). The reason why man lost his special relationship which he had with the Lord God within the garden of Eden, was because he believed in satan's lie; that if he would eat of the tree of knowledge he would become like God; and so from that time mankind has been worshiping things made by his own hands or things within his own imagination, right up to this present time, where he is generally worshiping himself through science, placing himself equal if not above the Lord God, and this was accomplished by the simple art of seduction by satan who is a pastmaster. What does the spirit of iniquity place within the mind, but to believe in “yourself,” and what is the sin of idolatry, putting anything before the Lord God, for he alone must be first and the only Lord of your heart, for in him the Lord Jesus is revealed (john c14:v9-v11). He is the image of God the Father, and in him and him alone, love is revealed (col c1:v15; c3:v10). The spirit of antichrist, which is the spirit of iniquity opposes the word of God and Christ Jesus at every opportunity, it appears as a substitution or in the place of the Lord Jesus, this spirit of antichrist always denies the diety of Christ Jesus (i.e. His virgin birth; His bodily resurrection; etc) (titus c1: v15-v16, 2pet c2: v1-v3; jude 4). The spirit of antichrist is mainly to be found within christendom rather than in the world, by the so called friends of Jesus, they come under many names such as agnostic, humanist and even atheist, they are what the Lord God calls worthless shepherds who scatter the sheep, they are wise within thier own eyes, they call themselves theologians (rom c1:v21-v23; 1cor c1:v25-v31), yet they take a simple message of salvation and turn it into a set of rules, then they proceed in debating the very oracles of God, taking out what offends them and adding in what is in their own minds acceptable to society, yet the only thing that they have achieved is in accordance with the spirit of iniquity, for they no longer teach or preach in accordance with the Holy spirit; their gospel is not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; for Christ Jesus was but a mere man according to their own testimony, for which they have no shame nor do they feel any need for repentance, but according to the word of God no man can be saved of himself, not by works or deeds or by clean or good living, so the gospel that is taught in many churches today is the gospel of death, hell and the lake of fire, for if Christ Jesus was not the only begotten son of God, who then can be “saved”, and from where does one receive “salvation” (acts c4:v10-v12). Denial and confusion is how the spirit of antichrist works through the spirit of iniquity, but this can only be achieved by the spirit of antichrist if you do not study your Bible and pray for divine guidance through the Holy Spirit (john c16:v13; c8:v32), the spirit of iniquity can only operate through ignorance. The spirit of divination is one who is possessed or controled with by a demon i.e. a medium (spiritualist) who is controlled by a supernatural power in the pretence of talking to the dead, or soothsaying (i.e. fortune-telling), all forms of divination are denounced by the Lord God(deut c18: v10-v13), and no child of God is to have many dealings with any of it, for it is satanic and pays homage to satan, the occult takes in all forms of magic, black or white; wizards; witches; chanters; sorcerers; charmers; astrology. Satan can only delude you if you are foolish enough to believe that a horoscope or to gaze into a crystal ball or by reading cards, etc can predict your future; don’t live your life by the movement of the stars or by what someone says; live your life by what the Lord God says within his word, and you shall be free (john c8:v32). Foul or unclean spirits are the most grievous and wicked evil spirits that can possess a human being, for they take full control of the person and set out to destroy with great malice not only the person in question but all who are around them (luke c8: v27-v29; matt c17:v15), this is not just any demon possession it is of a higher order of demons and can be called a devil; the one who rules over these foul spirit is given the names of Abaddon and Apollyon (rev c9:v11); meaning destruction and destroyer. Also note that in the book of Revelation three unclean spirits came out from the mouths of satan, antichrist and the false prophet which where the spirits of devils (demons) (rev c16:v13-v14); their mission is to bring all the nations of the world to destruction, do not underestimate the workings of evil spirits; for they can bind a persons tongue that they should be dumb (mark c9:v17-v25); or give them a lying tongue that they may deceive (2thess c2:v9; isa c19:v14); one has only to look at the church of this generation to see just how much damage satan and his messengers have achieve; many within the free churches believe that you can cast out a demon by the name of Jesus, this in part is true, but in truth it is a lie. First the title, that is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is not just Jesus, it is Christ Jesus, or Jesus Christ , his true title is, “the Lord Jesus Christ”, and all the epistles within the new testiment confirm this fact, such was the power of his ressurection (rom c1:v4; 1pet c3:v21-v22), that through it we received power from above (luke c24:v45-v49); it is in these names that the child of God is granted any request within the Fathers will, and secondly the Lord Jesus told the disciples that some demons can only be cast out by fasting and prayer (matt c17:v21). Demons we know through scripture can be found in heavenly places (eph c6:v12); in the air (eph c2:v2); on the earth (gen c6:v4; jude 6); in the sea (matt c8:v32); in dry places (matt c12:v43); in swine (matt c8:v32); in people (luke c11:v24); and in leaders of the world (rev c17:v12); in religion (rev c17:v4); it has always been the intentions of demons to destroy the souls of men by delusion, temptation or by affliction; physical, mental or spiritual; body, mind or soul (rev c16:v14; c13:v15). The gospels also bear witness to this truth, and in the 'end times' many within the church shall fall away from the faith; and this shall be achieved through seducing spirits and the doctrine of demons (1tim c4:v1). We live in times where the word of God is no longer relied upon for guidance, for we have what can only be called mysticism within the church, a self-interpretation of scripture, no longer having a need for studying the word of God or; for that matter; even reading it. It is enough to allowing your inner spirit to led you into the truth, if it feels right then it must be right (jude; 2tim c3:v1-7; 1tim c1:v4). This is like building a house upon sand; satan will have no problems at all in decieving the masses; if he has not decieved them already, for great is his craftiness (gen c3:v1). Remember he was once the guarding angel of the throne of the Lord God, he was the seal of perfection; full of wisdom and perfect in beauty (ezek c28); he can appear as an angel of light (2cor c11:14); he can quote scripture (luke c4:v3); he can afflict (job); cause strife among the brethren (1cor); he can led you into temptation (matt); he can use persecution against you; oppress you; snare you; sift you; lie about you and use more immoral schemes than your finite mind could comprehend; he can make good to be looked upon as evil and evil as good. That’s why millions are fervently religious but totally Godless (read the scriptures for proof). When was the last time you heard about Holiness? Is it not by Holiness that we are called to live? It is for this reason that the Lord God tells us to be aware of satan and his schemes; not by our own interpretation of scripture (2 tim c3:v16; 2pet c1:v20-v21); but by the renewing of our minds daily (rom c12:v1-v2), and walking in the light of his word (eph c5:v8). Do not be foolish and lean upon your own understanding (prov 3:v5), but trust in the Lord God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy spirit shall led you into the truth of their word (john c17:v17). These are just some of the fruits that the spirit of iniquity produces in its bid to destroy the souls of men and to undermine the gospel of the Lord Jesus within the church (i.e hypocrisy), those who are devilish (having a bad attitude towards others) can be called naturally demonic, filled with jealously and self ambition, possessed with deceitful spirits to seduce the gullible, these are the ones who have been snared by satan and held captive by him to do his will (2tim c2:v26); they are not hard to distinguish from the true child of God, for they do not manifest within their walk the fruit of the Holy spirit (gal c5:v22; jam c3:v17-18), they may talk about Godly things; but talk is cheap (jam c2:v15-17). They may even possess spiritual gifts; but what they cannot hide is their true nature, for such is their egotism that their very nature always produces its fruit revealing them as lovers of self; lovers of money; lovers of pleasure (2tim c2:v2-7). They are the carnal minded, who harbour bitterness within their hearts; not all who claim christianity have faith in Christ Jesus; that is why you must test the spirit of everyone who seeks fellowship within the church instead of welcoming all with open arms (1john c4:v1), for the true children of God will always have Christ Jesus on their lips, minds and hearts (matt c22:v38). It is said within scripture that the mystery of iniquity; the spirit of iniquity; is at work within the church (2thess c2:v7). The word mystery means secret, to conceal, to lie hidden, yet the Lord Jesus clearly states within scripture that we are not to be ignorant of satan's schemes, revealing that whatever is concealed; whatever is hidden or whatever is a mystery, shall be revealed to the child of God (john c16:v13). Therefore false brethren, false teachers, those who never give of themselves, those who are always quarrelsome, those that teach strange doctrines that are not biblical, those whose deeds are so evident of the flesh, should be put out and ostracized from having christian fellowship (eph c5:v11; 1cor c10:v20; 2cor c6:v14). The child of God has only to read what the apostles have recorded within their epistles, to come to an understanding of just what harm the spirit of iniquity can do within any christian fellowship if allowed a foot within the doors of any church, but sadly many christian fellowships today are suffering great hurt within themselves simply because they have come away from sound doctrinal teaching (the bible), and the only cure for this apostasy is total repentance (a turning away from sin) and the seeking of forgiveness from the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the church (the child of God) is forbidden to be friends with the world (man in his fallen state) for the world is the enemy of the Lord God, and any who call themselves friends of the world place themselves in direct oppostion to both the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord God (jam c4:v4), and ignorance of the word of God shall not be an excuse, especially by those who call themselves christian, remember the words of the Lord Jesus, the road is narrow and few shall find it (matt c7:v14), pointing to the fact that the responiblity to form a relationship with the Lord God and Christ Jesus soley depends upon the recipient, for Christ has fulfilled his side of the promise; we in turn must respond to this great out pouring of his love, and rid ourselves of all false humility and hypocrisy (matt c11:v28; eph c2:v8). The spirit of bondage (iniquity) always produces bad habits and bad habits are hard to break, simply because satan through his spirit instilled them within our nature corrupting the mind of mankind, that is why the Holy spirit tells us that we are to renew our minds daily, because of our fallen nature we are at birth already conformed to the world and its ways, we are children of wrath (eph c2:v3), and if one cannot admit to this fact, then the chances of putting to death the habits of the world are nil, the spirit of iniquity from the fall has been able to influence (through temptation) man's thinking, satan knowns that through his deceit he has polluted and corrupted the heart of man, making mans heart deceitful beyond imagination (gen c6:v5); for mans depavity as history reveals gets worse with every generation, spiralling downwards, hell-bound. This curse has come through satan's influence, a curse that has seen man become selfish and conceited, trapped in the bondage of his sin, and this is why satan's intent to have you chasing after your habits, for it places you in total slavery, for through his deceit he has deceived you into believing it is called liberty, freedom for you to make your own decisions, yet how can one make a decision when they are blind to the truth, yet know this truth: the way you live and the decisions that you make in this life, shall determine where you live in the next life.

< Previous Chapter

Our Books

Next Chapter >