• An army is trained to know the enemy, to know how to advance against the enemy, and to know how to keep the enemy from advancing against it. The church does not know this.
• Pastors are firing and the fire comes back at them. Pastors need men firing with them. Lieutenants have a higher rate of mortality. Pastors are leaving the pulpit because we are firing against them, not with them. Pastors need people fighting with him.

Know the Enemy

• Rev 12:7 tells us that there is a war being waged in heaven. It states clearly that the army was in place before the war began. Why wait until the battle starts to gather the army?
• Know the two names of the Evil One:
1. Devil, one who divides without a cause, a slanderer. The result is division. Jesus refers to Judas as the devil.
2. Satan, one who opposes purpose. Jesus refers to Peter as Satan.
3. The Evil One has two purposes: division and opposition.
• There is a new level of intensity among our men when they know the enemy.
1. There will be no division! Men are the first line of defense. The light for their neighbors.
2. There will be no opposition!
3. We will protect the man of God!
4. This is warfare!
• John 10:1-10
1. Thieves and robbers do not enter in by the door
2. Jesus does not mention the devil or Satan. He refers to evil shepherds.
• A boxer is in trouble when he prepares to fight one person and that person is replaced by another. We are looking for the enemy to kill, steal and destroy, not to divide and oppose.

Know How To Advance Against the Enemy.
(Matt 16 – When we know the enemy we know how to defeat him.)

• Understand the enemy – we can never defeat the enemy with the same spirit he has.
• We must have an opposite spirit. – go the second mile, give up our coat, turn the other cheek. Somebody must go low, be humble. We must be wrong even if we think we are right. Christ became wrong so that we can be right.
• Matt 16:13 – “Who do you say that I am?” The Holy Spirit revealed Christ’s identity to Peter. Take the halo off of Christ for a moment. Wow! Christ was excited by Peter’s response!
• The church is the vehicle for advancing against the enemy. This is an offensive scripture. The gates of Hell are unable to withstand the onslaught. The church is on the offense.

Know How To Defend Against The Enemy
(protect the ground).

• The armies of Hell cannot defend against it. One cannot score on defense. When the defense has the ball it becomes the offense. The kickoff is the best place to see it. The kicking team has the ball and is on offense. When the receiving team catches the ball they becomes the offense.
• Need to teach men to play offense in the church
• Men need to learn to work as a team in the church. They are part of a team in many other areas of their lives, but not the church.
• Jesus had teams: 3, 12, 70, 120, 500.
• We catch men with a pole, not a net. It takes men to catch men.
• Christmas is an undercover, covert mission. Satan understands that in order for a man to come to earth he has to come through a man. God came through a man putting him under the authority of Satan. God who came as a man, looking like a man, acting like a man – Emmanuel. God who happened to be a Jew. We are men who are men of God – reborn to advance his cause. We have power against powers and principalities. We must think warfare! The best defense is a good offense. We must take the offense! Men, we must be engaged.

• In the Navy, the leaders exhort their men to think about their shipmates first, then the ship, and if they have anything left, think about themselves. When the challenge comes, we need to think about our pastors and brothers, then the church, and if we have anything left, ourselves.
• Think warfare not church!