THE ADVERSARY IS REVEALED

1. “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
2. And the DRAGON was enraged with the woman, and he went to make WAR with the rest of her OFFSPRING, who keep the COMMANDMENTS of GOD and have the TESTIMONY of JESUS CHRIST."
   Revelation 12:13,17 (NKJV)

• The devil is the archenemy of believers, he is out to destroy whatever God has interest in.

• If you belong to God and you want to follow the ways of God, the devil would be ready to stand against you.
• To outwit the devil, you have to know his works and operations, that is, know what he does and his strategies:

• The devil deceives:

• He deceived Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, he told them they would not die as God had told them if they did eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. He further said their eyes would be opened if they ate it (Genesis 2:17; 3:4,5).
• The devil is still in the business of deception, and deceit is one of the major weapons of His—the Bible calls him the father of lie (Revelation 12:9).

"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a LIAR 🤥 and the FATHER of IT.”
John 8:44 (NKJV)

• He deceives people to believe that whatever happens to them is normal, it is part of life experience.
  Evil is not part of life. It was not so in the beginning, the devil does it. Sickness, poverty, affliction, barrenness, failure in all areas of life, are not part of life.
  Sorrow is not part of life.
• God is not the author of evil, do not be deceived—whatever is not good is caused by Satan (1 Corinthians 14:33).
  His purpose is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).

• Another thing the devil does is: he blinds the people's minds.

• If someone is disputing the Word of God, takes sides against it; know that, it is not the person, it is because the mind of such has been blinded (2 Corinthians 4:3,4).

1. “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
2. WHOSE MINDS THE god OF THIS AGE HAS BLINDED, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”
   2 Corinthians 4:3,4 (NKJV)

• Do not allow the devil to blind your mind, believe the Bible and all that is written in it—the Word of God is Yes and Amen.

"For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us."
2 Corinthians 1:20 (NKJV)

• He also resists and opposes the people of God.

• The devil resists, opposes, the people of God. He makes accusations against the elects.

“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the ACCUSER of our brethren, who ACCUSED them before our God day and night, has been cast down.”
Revelation 12:10 (NKJV)

• He resists believers and accuses them to God that they might not be favoured by God.

1. “Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD. THE ACCUSER, SATAN, WAS THERE AT THE angel’s RIGHT HAND, MAKING ACCUSATIONS AGAINST JOSHUA.
2. And the LORD said to Satan, “I, the LORD, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.”
   Zechariah 3:1,2 (NLT)

• In the above passage, Satan made accusations against Joshua the high priest, but God rejected his accusations.
• He does accuse every believer to God, he resists believers from receiving their blessings (Revelation 12:10).
• For the devil accusations to be foiled in your life, you need to walk in the light of God's Word, live a holy life.
• The devil 😈 stood to object, oppose, Joshua the high priest, but God over ruled his objections.

1. “Now Joshua clothed with filthy (nauseatingly vile) garments and was standing before the Angel [of the LORD].
2. He spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from him. And He said to Joshua, "See, I have caused your wickedness to be taken away from you, and I will clothe and beautify you with rich robes [of forgiveness]."
   Zechariah 3:3,4 (Amp.)

• God did reject Satan's accusations against Joshua the high priest and forgive him all his sins.
  There is forgiveness in Christ Jesus for everyone who repents, confesses, and forsakes his or her sin (1 John 1:9).
• However, God would want whoever claims to be born again, to depart from sin—you cannot continue in sin and say grace should abound (Romans 6:1,2; 2 Timothy 2:19).

• Also, the devil attacks increase.

“But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.”
Exodus 1:7 (NKJV)

• The increase of the Israelites was a threat to the devil, he instigated Pharaoh to stop their increase.

1. “Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done.
2. He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are.
3. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.”
   Exodus 1:8-10 (NLT)

• One of the works and operations of the devil is to attack the increase of the people of God.
• If any opposition rises as a result of your increase or progress—the devil is the one behind it.
  It is not the people who are opposing you really, but the devil is the one instigating or urging them to do it.
• Do not see the people as your enemies, but the devil; you resist him in prayer and he will flee (James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8,9).

• He sows tares—weeds

1. “Another parable He [Jesus] put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
2. “but while men slept, HIS ENEMY CAME AND SOWED TARES AMONG THE WHEAT and went his way.”
   Matthew 13:24,25 (NKJV)

• Sowing of tares or weeds is one of the devil's operations.
  The purpose of weeds is to retard the growth and fruitfulness of a plant—the wheat.
• When Jesus' explained the meaning of the parable, He said, He, the Son of Man, is the farmer who sowed the good seed, while Satan is the enemy who came to sow the weeds (Matthew 13:37,39).
  Satan sows tares, weeds, to retard the growth of the church of Christ.
• The good seeds, wheat, are the people of God and the good things that God has for them.
  While the tares are the people who yielded to the devil, who came to mix with the people of God—to pollute their blessings, retard their growth, and hinder or limit their fruitfulness.
• There are humans beings who are instruments in the hand of the devil, to fight the growth and fruitfulness of the people of God.
• There are also demons assigned by the devil to afflict the people of God.
  Sickness is a weed, it is not planted by God.
  Poverty, failure, barrenness or any oppression, are weeds that the devil has come to plant in the lives of the people of God (John 10:10).

• Having known the works and operations of the devil, you need the knowledge of the Word of God to counteract him.

• The Bible admonishes us to put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles [schemes] of the devil (Ephesians 6:11).
• The devil 😈 uses wiles, tricks; you can only outwit him with the knowledge of the Word of God.
• Believers are to fight the good fight of faith. The fight of faith is standing on the Word of God to resist the devil (1 Timothy 6:12).
• And faith comes through the knowledge of the Word of God (Romans 10:17).
• Through the knowledge of the Word of God, you refute deception and blindness of mind—you counter the devil's lies and tricks.
• You quote and confess the Word of God that speaks about your situation. You ask the devil to move because the Word says it—he has to move because the Word says it (1 Peter 5:8,9).

1. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
2. RESIST HIM, STEADFAST IN THE FAITH, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
   1 Peter 5:8,9 (NKJV)

• The devil is a defeated foe, use the Word of God to silence him.
• Having said that, do not allow the devil to find any incriminating thing in you. Live the Word, do not put your hands in sin.

"I [Jesus] will not speak with you much longer, for the ruler of the world (Satan) is coming. And he has no claim on Me [no power over Me nor anything that he can use against Me."
John 14:30 (Amp.)

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.
Peace!