You can exploit the enemy’s weaknesses.
Terry Dashner (www.ffcba.com)
Remember Rome’s victory over the Carthaginian navy during the
first Punic War? Knowing that it was useless for Rome to go
toe-to-toe with the superior Carthaginian navy, Rome devised a
plan. Since Rome’s army was the greatest fighting machine in the
entire ancient world, she needed a plan that would capitalize on
her greatest strength–the Roman army. So with a radical idea
implemented, Rome defeated the great Carthaginian navy. Rome
navigated their ships along side the Carthaginians and dropped a
spiked plank, attaching their ships to the enemy’s and thus
providing a ramp on which their soldiers walked across to fight
in hand-to-hand combat. By this method, Rome defeated the
superior navy of Carthage.
I see a parallel in this fact of history to our daily battles
against the forces of evil. The enemy of darkness is no match
for us in our own strength. He is navigating his forces of
darkness all around us, and at times he is striking serious
blows against us. We need a radical plan to exploit his
weaknesses and capitalize on our greatest strengths–the Word of
God! God has such a plan for us. I want to share it with you.
The plan consists of three radical implements of warfare that
are guaranteed to work every time.
Let’s look at these one by one.
The first key to exploiting the weaknesses of the enemy is to
find his weakness (Heb.2:14-15). The one weakness of Carthage
was their inability to fight on land. They were known throughout
history as a great sea power, but they lacked the expertise of
an army. Rome recognized this and took advantage of it. By
finding a way to launch its superior army against the Phoenician
sailors, Rome exploited the Carthaginian’s weakness of ground
fighting and won the war.
We are the children of light in Christ Jesus, but we have an
adversary who wants to defeat us at every turn. His name is
Satan. He is ruthless with his many demons, but he is
vulnerable. He has been defeated at Calvary. The blood of Jesus
whipped him good. If we are going to have any success over
darkness where the devil rules, we must recognize his
vulnerability. The blood of Jesus is our victory over the enemy.
Our stand in faith and upon the Word of God is our advantage
over the enemy. Always fight the enemy by way of the Cross!
The second key to exploiting the weaknesses of the enemy is to
take the battle to him (Luke 10:19). If Rome had not taken the
fight to the Phoenicians, they would have never moved forward
and become a world empire. This begs the question. Why aren’t
we, the children of God, moving forward against darkness? If we
have a commission to GO, then why aren’t we going? The reason we
aren’t taking the battle to the enemy is because we are too
comfortable where we are, and we don’t want to create any
negative waves. We don’t want to stir up the enemy because he
fights back. We are commanded to fight. We are given battle
armor and told to use it against the “wiles of the devil.” We’ve
got to go to battle to win out over darkness. The world is
depending on us. The world needs to be rescued with the saving
message of Jesus Christ. Take the battle to him. Go!
The third key to exploiting the enemy’s weakness is to remain
vigilant (IPet.5:8-9). Rome defeated the Phoenician navy, but
there were two more major wars to come. If Rome had not stayed
vigilant after the first Punic War, she would have been caught
off guard and defeated. What is the cost of freedom? It is
eternal vigilance. Keep your eyes on Jesus always.
Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon.
Pastor T.
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