Enemies of Christians

The traditional type of enemy is the one who is out to kill you.  Enemies have borne swords, spears, and now guns in order to kill their prey.  The Old Testament is full of the talk of enemies.  The patriarchs had enemies to outwit, flee from, or overpower.  The kings of the Jews had to fight using vast armies against their enemies - II Samuel 22:40-41.  These types of enemies take life from the body.  The famous 23rd Psalm mentions such foes (v. 5).  The enemies of Christians, and, therefore, of Christ, are often spiritual.  The Book of Revelation was written during a time when the church was persecuted physically and many were killed by the forces of Satan.  They were given a great deal of comfort, by language indicating that the armies of God would be victorious in the day of Judgment.  More troublesome to Jesus were enemies in the spiritual realm.  Matthew 10:28:  "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  The New Testament is the Christian's guidebook.  Because it mentions enemies of Christians, we are bound to examine the subject ourselves.

Physical Enemies

Persecutors

Let's not get too comfortable with our nice houses, cars, and police force.  There are Christians in America and around the world that may and do face the persecution that endangers their lives.  You may believe that you are in no danger from physical, political, or religious persecution today, but this is too complacent an attitude.  The New Testament certainly predicted the persecution of the saints that would cause physical, bodily harm - Matthew 5:43-44.  The enemies that Jesus had under consideration were the kind that got mad enough at you to injure an arm, leg, eye, or knock out a tooth.  Under the Law of Moses, a Jew was entitled to retribution for this injury.  Christians were warned that this rule had changed.  No longer are we to take up arms in our own defense.  We are to love our enemies and not inflict harm on them in return.

The apostle Paul, before his conversion, was a prime example of this type of enemy of Christians.  Paul related to King Agrippa that he "I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.  And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities" (Acts 26:9-11).  Christians were actually put to death under the Jewish persecution, later by the Romans, then the Catholics and even by Protestants.

What do we do with these enemies that would harm us?  Paul reflected the proper attitude when he wrote in Romans 12:20 that we ought to be good to those those seek to injure us.  Jesus gave the same instructions.  Those who take our possessions should be offered more.  Those who strike us should be offered another blow.  Those who would use us and take advantage, should be blessed - Matthew 5:38ff.  In fact, we are specifically forbidden to take part in mortal conflict by Jesus and his apostles.  Ephesians 6:12:  "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."  Paul went on to describe the weapons and armor of the Christian.  We use truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, the word of God, and prayer to combat our enemies (Ephesians 6:14-18).

To apply this to everyday life in America, we may encounter people who desire to harm or kill us for a variety of reasons.  Many men go off to battle in the US Armed Forces and defend the country with force of arms.  Christians cannot participate in such action.  Just as we are told we must turn the other cheek and bless those who abuse us, this applies in daily life and war, too.  Christians could not be police officers, who must, at times, use force, even deadly force, to execute the laws of the land.

Death

The Bible also identifies Death as an enemy - I Corinthians 15:26.  This is curious in light of the fact that we have just stated the soul-matters are far more important.  Indeed, we know that death is only a transition from this life to the next.  Those who are dead in the Lord are called blessed in Revelation 14:13.  Why would death be identified as an enemy by Paul?  The context of I Corinthians 15 reveals that the Corinthians viewed death as an enemy because they were unsure of the resurrection:  " Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.  Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we witnessed against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised.  For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;  and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.  Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied" (I Corinthians 15:12-19).  Being afraid of death, the Corinthians viewed death as an enemy.  The grief resulting from death, its apparent finality, and its silence causes death to endure as an enemy of Christians.  Sin caused death.  Sin propagates death.  When sin is gone, death will also be removed.

Satan

Satan is a unique case among the enemies of Christians.  He orchestrates both physical and spiritual harm.  He is out there using whatever means he can to destroy faith in Christ.  When torture causes Christians to curse God, Satan tortures.  When feelings of apathy and laziness can be generated by wealth, Satan doles out fortunes.  The Bible affirms that Satan is the chief and most effective enemy of God and man.  When the parable of the wheat and tares was recounted in the book of Matthew, the story was revealed that Satan was the enemy of God who put evil people among the good - Matthew 13:24-43.

His influence in the spiritual realm cannot be overstated.  He tempted Jesus with sin after the Saviour had been in the wilderness for 40 days.  He is the father of all lies (John 8:44), and he used his lies to trick the first man and woman into sin.  Ever since then, he has used trickery to get people to sin.  He made Judas believe that 30 pieces of silver was more important than allegiance to the son of God.  He convinced Ananias and Sapphira to lie about the money they recieved from the sale of their property.  It is said that Satan "fashioneth himself into an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14).  All people who teach deceptive doctrine were taught by Satan (Revelation 2:9).  He can't stand it for people to know the truth, and he tries to steal it from their hearts before they can obey it (Luke 8:12).  In fact, all sin is pinned on the devil (I John 3:8).

Spiritual Enemies

False teachers

Although all sin is from the Devil, he most often uses plain ordinary men and women to carry out his puposes.  Satan bombards Christians with all sorts of temptation from outside sources.  Paul and Barnabas had to deal with a false teacher soon after they became traveling companions.  Acts 13:6-10:  "And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.  But Elymas the magician (for thus his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.  But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze upon him, and said, "You who are full ofall deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?"  Although Elymas may have been a special type of false teacher, all false teachers are spiritual enemies of Christians.

Our primary emphasis is on our souls.  A false teacher directly endangers our souls.  Matthew 7:15:  "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."  False prophets are called ravenous wolves because they inflict the same type of spiritual damage on a Christian as a wolf does on a sheep.  False teachers are enemies and must not be tolerated in the church because they slowly inflitrate the flock and soon have everyone headed for hell - Revelation 2:14.

Good teachers

In a bizarre turn of events, the Galatians had turned this concept around and were actually angry with a preacher of the true gospel - Galatians 4:16.  Paul had to correct the errors into which they had allowed to creep in from Judaizing teachers.  They were apparently angry at Paul for rocking the boat.  People tend to get in a rut, even a rut of false doctrine, and allow themselves to become calloused to it.  Our true spiritual enemies are false teachers, but we sometimes become indignant if a person reveals the truth to us.  It's difficult to accept that we have let our lives and teaching slip into error.  The Jews hated Jesus for showing them their departure from the Law of Moses.  We have to keep the true enemy in our sights.  It is not Jesus' words that rebuke us or the words of a kind brother showing us an error.  The true enemy is those who leave the scriptures and invent their own doctrine.  Teachers who expound the truth of the gospel ought to be supported morally and financially - I Corinthians 9:14.

Family

A little suspected enemy that the Bible names can be our family.  Matthew 10:35-36:  "For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;  and a man's enemies will be the members of his household."  This is an extremely delicate subject to approach.  The Bible, however, doesn't leave us without guidance.  Perhaps a divorce is the best solution?  Maybe verbal abuse?  I Corinthians 7:12-14 teaches that in the uncomfortable situation where an alien sinner obeys the gospel, but his spouse does not, the marriage is to remain intact.  In such a case, gentleness and kindness should reign, even if the unbelieving spouse is a significant problem.  In fact, Peter goes so far as to uphold the divine order of headship (God-Jesus-Man-Woman) even when a Christian woman is married to an unbeliever - I Peter 3.  Familial relationship should be honored in every case where they do not break the laws of God.  Wives should submit to their husbands; husbands love their wives; children obey their parents; and parents raise they children in the Lord.

Ourselves

You heard the phrase "He's his own worst enemy."  This can become literally true of Christians.  James 4:4:  "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."  If I pursue the things of this world, I become an enemy of God, or all Christians, and myself.  Enemies injure their victims.  We may injure ourselves by being friends with the world - Galatians 5:15.  Enemies also kill their victims.  The worst enemy of all, ourselves, can kill us spiritually - I Corinthians 11:30.