Great Exploits...

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 alongside 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.