Reading: Video Transcript: Knowing the Enemy's Strategies

Welcome back to this course on Spiritual Warfare, as we've been learning to identify the work of Satan. Now we're going to begin learning how to effectively come against him—how to engage in battle both defensively and offensively.

We’re at the point in this course where we're talking about the enemy’s strategies—or, as I’ve put it, his strategy and his schemes.

We’ve already looked at some of his strategies. These include:

• Subtlety

• Setting traps

• Schism

• Siege

• Surprise

• Enslavement

Now, I want to pivot from talking about the broader strategies to exploring specific schemes—the actual methods Satan uses to bring about those strategies. How does he bring about subtlety? How does he set traps? How does he create schisms and divisions in the Church of Jesus Christ? How does he set up a siege, where someone experiences limitations for years? What about surprise attacks, like the flaming arrows? How does he instigate those? And how does he bring about enslavement and inflict it on people?

There are several schemes we need to be aware of, and that's what we're going to look at in this session and in the next couple of sessions.

Scheme 1: Bitterness

Let’s begin with what I’ll call bitterness. This is found in a passage in 2 Corinthians 2, beginning at verse 5.

Paul is writing to the church in Corinth. Now, a little background here—Paul’s relationship with the Corinthian church was not the best. Let’s just put it that way. In fact, both of his letters—and there’s even a reference to a third letter he wrote—are somewhat defensive in tone. He’s trying to correct issues in the church, which was splintering and experiencing many manifestations of Satan’s work. Schism. Subtlety. And slander—especially slander against Paul himself. People were saying, “He doesn’t really have your best interest in mind.”

So, Paul writes this letter with a pastoral tone, trying to restore relationships, give clear direction, and help the church fight the battle well.

In this section, he’s referring to someone who had caused grief in the church—someone who had left or sinned in a public way.

Here’s what Paul writes (paraphrased from 2 Corinthians 2:5–11):

“If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you—to some extent, not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient.

Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.

Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.

Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake.

In order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

When I first read that last verse, I thought:
What? I am unaware of his schemes.

In fact, that’s one of the things that drove me to develop this class. Because even after all these years in ministry, I had to ask myself: Do I really have a category for the schemes of the enemy? Do I recognize them when they come? And the honest answer was—I’m pretty unaware of his schemes.

Now, in the context of this passage from 2 Corinthians, Paul is talking about someone who has really blown it—someone who has sinned and hurt the church. Apparently, the church reacted by casting him out. And Paul says:

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.”

Rather than casting him out, Paul instructs them to forgive him, comfort him, and reaffirm their love for him.

That context is very important, because it reveals something critical about the work of Satan:
Satan tries to impact the church by keeping people from forgiving.

This is one of his schemes.
Let’s call it bitterness.

Here’s another place where this concept appears—this time in the Book of Ephesians. It’s one of those powerful, practical passages. Paul writes:

“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”
(Ephesians 4:25–27)

Then Paul goes on with more directions—like urging those who steal to steal no longer, but to work, doing something useful, and so on.

But that phrase:

“Do not give the devil a foothold.”
—that’s the part I want to zoom in on.

Unforgiveness gives the devil a foothold.

Now, that’s an interesting metaphor. In fact, the term foothold is mostly used in mountain climbing. Those who do that—especially freestyle climbers—know what I mean. They climb up the face of a rock wall, and it’s terrifying to watch. They’re constantly searching for handholds and footholds.

A foothold means you find a small place where you can establish some position of strength—a place where you can push yourself upward. You can make advances from there. That’s the idea.

It’s also a military term.

In fact, one of the areas I’ve been fascinated with for years is World War II history. I’ve had the joy of interviewing some veterans from that war—listening to their stories and even hearing their faith journeys. But it was a time of horrific conflict.

Here’s a picture that captures this idea of a foothold—it’s from D-Day.

It shows American soldiers storming Omaha Beach in France, climbing out of their landing crafts and heading toward the sand dunes. They’re facing the enemy’s full arsenal—machine guns, mortars, traps. But the goal is clear:

Establish a foothold.

Once you have a foothold on the beach, you can bring in more troops. You can build from that base and press forward.

And that is what Satan is looking for.
Bitterness is one of the footholds he uses.
If he can get a foothold in your heart—through unresolved anger, resentment, or unforgiveness—he can begin to make progress.

And the idea here is that the Allies had been driven out of Europe, and now they were planning a return. They were seeking a foothold—a place to re-establish a presence from which they could push forward.

They chose the coast of France—Normandy—as the location to strike. Once they gained that foothold—once they secured even a small section of beach—they could then begin to bring in everything else needed for victory.

What happened next is shown in this photo:
Ships came in, supplies arrived, soldiers landed in waves, and soon the beachhead was transformed into a launching ground for power, might, and weapons—everything necessary for the long campaign to win the war in Europe.

Now here’s the spiritual parallel:
If we don't forgive, we allow the enemy to gain a foothold in our lives.
And once he gets that foothold, he doesn’t just stay in that one area. He expands. He brings in more influence, more attack, more destruction. Just like the Allies flooded the beach with support—only this time, it's the forces of darknesssetting up camp.

That’s why bitterness is one of Satan’s most effective schemes.

And this is also why the New Testament places such a strong emphasis on forgiveness.
Let me give you just a few key Scriptures that make this clear.

Jesus, teaching on prayer, says:

“This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
—Matthew 6:9–13

Did you catch it?

“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Then Jesus adds a warning right after the prayer:

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
—Matthew 6:14–15

This is not a minor thing in the kingdom.

Forgiveness is vitally, vitally, vitally important for our spiritual life.

Now, I know I’m talking to some people who are taking this course who have been deeply hurt. I know.
In the last church I served—and where I’m still a member—my wife is now an elder, and we just helped start a new church plant. Two women there began a Thursday night class, and the title of the class is:

“Forgiving the Things You Can’t Forget.”

The stories coming out of that class…
They’re hard. They’re raw. And they’re real.

Women who were abused as children by their fathers.
People who were raped.
A woman abandoned by her husband right after giving birth to a child with severe developmental disabilities.
People who’ve been robbed, shot, beaten, and betrayed.
People whose hearts carry unspeakable wounds.

And yet... they are seeking healing. They are learning that forgiveness does not mean excusing the evil. It does not mean pretending it didn’t hurt. It means cutting off the foothold the enemy is trying to build in their lives.

Because unforgiveness chains you to the pain, but forgiveness unlocks the door to freedom.

Wow. This is powerful. And I know—for some of you listening—forgiveness isn’t easy.
In fact, I suspect some of you know firsthand that it can feel impossible.

But let me tell you:
Forgiveness is not optional.
It’s not easy, but it’s necessary.

And here’s the key:
Forgiveness is not something you do for the person who hurt you—
You do it for yourself.
You do it to be free.

Let’s look at some more Scripture.

Jesus said:

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged.
Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
—Luke 6:37

Wow. Let that sink in.

Then there's this conversation between Peter and Jesus:

“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered: “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
—Matthew 18:21–22

In other words, this will be a repeated theme in your life.
Keep forgiving.

Paul echoes this in Colossians:

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
—Colossians 3:13

Now pause here. How did the Lord forgive you?

Paul says in Romans:

“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
—Romans 5:8

So let’s get this straight—
God initiated forgiveness while we were still His enemies.
He began that work on the cross.

Think about that moment:

Jesus—beaten, mocked, crucified—looks down at the very people who put Him there…
And He says:

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”
—Luke 23:34

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus also says:

“When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them,
so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
—Mark 11:25

This is not a side issue.
Forgiveness is central to our life in the Kingdom of God.

Now, I know I’m talking to people who’ve experienced real pain—
Abuse, betrayal, abandonment, violence.

And I want to be clear:
Forgiveness does not mean excusing what happened.
It doesn’t mean forgetting, or pretending it didn’t hurt.
It means releasing the power that pain has over you.

Lou Smedes—one of my mentors in the faith—wrote a classic book called Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts You Don’t Deserve.
He described several stages in the forgiveness journey:

1. Release your desire for revenge.
   Let go of your right—even your need—to get even.

2. See the offender as human.
   They’re flawed, like you. They have failures and frailties—like you.

3. Look for strength.
   Recognize that you can’t do this alone. Ask God for help.

4. Release the hurt.
   Give it to God.
   It often helps to talk with others who care and who will walk with you.

5. Wish them well.
   This may be the hardest step—but it’s the final act of freedom.
   You begin to pray for their redemption, not their ruin.

Now I get it—that may sound impossible.

But it’s not.

Hundreds of thousands of people have found healing and release through forgiveness.

I used to think forgiveness was a snap—something you just do and it’s over.

But I’ve learned better.

As a young man, one of my role models was Corrie ten Boom.

She and her family were arrested during World War II because they hid Jews in their home—people whose lives were in danger from the Nazis.
Because of that, she was sent to Ravensbrück, a notorious concentration camp.

There, she endured terrible abuse.
Her sister died in that camp.
And yet, after the war, Corrie became a powerful voice of forgiveness and reconciliation.

She would travel and preach the Gospel, speaking especially about forgiving those who had hurt you.

And I’ll never forget one story she told… (Let me know if you want me to include it next.)

While she was in that concentration camp, Corrie ten Boom experienced the worst kind of evil. Her beloved sister Betsiedied there. Her father died. Much of her family perished.

Yet somehow—after she was freed—Corrie began speaking publicly about how she encountered God even in the darkest places.

She told incredible stories—stories of God’s provision, His nearness, and His peace in unimaginable suffering.

She also preached about forgiveness.

And one day, after giving a message on forgiveness, something happened that tested her deeply.

A man approached her—one of the former guards from Ravensbrück, the very concentration camp where her sister died.

He didn’t recognize her. But she recognized him.

He held out his hand and said, “Isn’t it wonderful that we have a God who forgives?”

Corrie said in that moment, she froze. She did not want to shake his hand.
Memories of humiliation, abuse, and her sister’s death flooded her.

But she felt the Lord nudging her: Forgive.

So slowly, reluctantly, she lifted her hand.
And as she did, she felt the flood of forgiveness surge through her—not from herself, but from God.

Now, that’s an amazing story.
But not all of us experience forgiveness like that—in a single, sweeping moment.

I didn’t.

For me, forgiveness has taken a long time.
And during that time, I had to make a conscious choice—again and again—
I will not let this pain control my life.

I remember a couple from my first church.
Their daughter had been deeply hurt—abused.
And over time, bitterness consumed them.
The husband eventually died of a heart attack.
The wife developed ongoing digestive issues.

It wasn't just physical—it was spiritual.

Unforgiveness binds. It breaks us down.

That’s why Paul says in Ephesians:

“Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”
—Ephesians 4:26–27

Don’t give Satan a foothold. Bitterness is one of his schemes.

And now, here’s another of Satan’s schemes:
Pain and suffering.

If he can get people to hurt long enough, some will eventually give up.

In Acts 10, Peter preaches in the home of Cornelius, the Roman centurion.
Here’s what he says:

“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right...
You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached—
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power,
and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”
—Acts 10:34–38

Did you catch that?

“Healing all who were under the power of the devil.”

There are real powers of darkness that afflict people with pain.
Jesus came to set them free.

We talked last time about the woman who had been bound by Satan for 18 years—enslaved physically, socially, spiritually.

Pain and suffering, prolonged over time, can be a scheme of Satan.

But that raises a good question:

Is all suffering from Satan?

If you read the book of Job, you might think so.
After all, it was Satan who afflicted Job.

But let’s look deeper.

I believe there are four sources of suffering:

1. A twisted world.
   After the Fall, the creation itself was subjected to futility. (Genesis 3, Romans 8)

2. Twisted people.
   We live among sinful people—people capable of great harm.

3. Spiritual attack.
   As we see in Job and throughout the Gospels, Satan seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.

4. Training and testing.
   Sometimes God allows suffering to refine us, to develop character, and to prepare us for deeper ministry.

The key is discernment.

You won’t always know what’s behind a given trial.
But you can always know this: God is with you in it.

And no matter the source—Satan doesn't get the last word.

In the next session, we’ll keep exploring the schemes of the enemy—and how we overcome them with God’s power.

Let’s pray.

Lord God, we lift up those who are suffering right now.
Those who feel abandoned.
Those who feel broken.
Those who are under the weight of grief, pain, or sickness.

We pray for their deliverance.
We pray for Your presence, Your healing, and Your strength.
And we ask You, Lord, help us forgive—
So the enemy may have no foothold in our lives.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

And so it's not just the twisted world—not just hurricanes, tornadoes, or floods—that causes suffering.

Often, it's people who hurt us.
Sometimes, it's our own choices that open the door to suffering.
We put ourselves in positions where we're vulnerable—where we're in danger.

And let me just speak plainly here:
There are people out there—and maybe it's you—who are playing around on the edge of things that can destroy you.

I'm talking about things like:

• Pornography

• Alcohol or substance abuse

• Secret sins that seem small now but grow into strongholds

These things don't just enslave the body.
They enslave the heart.
They erode your spiritual life.
They make you easy prey for the enemy.

When we play with sin, we’re giving Satan access.
He loves to step in when we’re weak, confused, or addicted.
He turns pain into despair.
He turns isolation into enslavement.
This, too, is one of his schemes.

So how do we begin to fight?
It starts with asking:
Where is the suffering? What is broken?

One of my favorite quotes comes from the British journalist and satirist Malcolm Muggeridge.

A newspaper in London once posed this question to several public thinkers:
“What is wrong with the world?”

Muggeridge wrote back with the shortest—and maybe the most profound—response:

“Dear Sirs, I am.”

What’s wrong with the world?
I am.

It's humbling, isn't it?

We must recognize that sometimes we ourselves are the problem.
And when we don't address our own sin, our own temptations, our own complicity in brokenness—
Satan will gladly use us.

So be alert.
Don't just look outward.
Look inward.

Make sure, as we'll see when we study the defensive weapons of spiritual warfare,
that you're following Jesus closely—
That you're staying under His authority,
and in step with His Spirit.

We'll explore more in the next session.

See you next time.