The enemy of my enemy…

You may have heard this statement… that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”  Perhaps just in passing, perhaps from some movie.  But did you know that we see it in the Bible?

“The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came,” Matt 16:1a

The Pharisees and the Sadducees were both Jewish religious groups.  When they had no one to fight… they would fight each other over doctrine and the law.  They were always vying for the top spot in Religious Israel. 

Sound a little like the Church?  Denominational battles and claims.  Doctrinal divisions.  Exclusion. Arrogance… everything opposite of what love is.

But something galvanized these two groups to stand together regardless of their differences… to demonstrate unity.

They perceived a common threat to their power.

Of course, for them it was Jesus.

But for us, as the Church… it is someone else…

 “The enemy that sowed them is the devil” Matt 13:39, “the devil, [thou] enemy of all righteousness” Acts 13:10

Regardless of our denomination, worship style, doctrinal beliefs… we share a common enemy when we confess Christ.  The devil.  Satan, who… “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” 1 Peter 5:8

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Did you ever think that if we employed it as a strategy, that we might find unity in the Body of Christ?

Let us remember that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].” Ephesians 6:12

I know that for me it became harder to hate those who did wrong to me or the one’s I love (which, by the way is one of my weaknesses… If you hurt someone I love… I truly wrestle with forgiving) when I realized that they weren’t doing it to me, but to Jesus. And that they weren’t doing it to me, but it was the enemy seeking to hurt me (or those I love) through their pain.

We are caught in a spiritual battle.  If we fight each other, the enemy has the upper hand.

If we join together and fight him… we receive the nail pierced upper hand of Jesus.

How do we join together in unity against the enemy?...

“Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thess. 5:17

Prayer is the sole privilege of the Christian.  And when I say prayer I am not merely referring to making our request known unto God.  Anyone can speak to the Father.

But in Christ, who makes intercession for us, we can engage in prayer.  It becomes a weapon against the army of darkness.  We can wrestle.  You can’t wrestle without making contact.

Prayer takes us out and moves God in.

Jesus already beat the devil… with two sticks… the Cross.

If you are seeing things in yourself, your marriage, your family, your relationships… the Body of Christ… that you do not like…

Don’t fight one another.

Go after the one causing all of the problems.

Commit to a life of prayer… a life of claiming the victory in Christ over all that you see.

Let’s stop letting the enemy take ground… let’s bury him beneath it.

Pray.  And know that I pray with and for you.

Always.

SDG