Never Ridicule Your Enemy
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion." — 1 Peter 5:8
A Sarcastic Remark and Its Cost
A man was touring a new lodge in a region dominated by the imagery of a particular local deity — a figure whose face appeared everywhere, on dish towels, hot pads, shirts, carvings, and refrigerator magnets in the gift shop.
Walking past a display of magnets bearing that face, he reached out, touched one, and said sarcastically, "See that? She's not as great as she thinks she is."
The group moved on. Nobody gave the comment another thought.
Within two hours he became profoundly ill — severe stomach pain and violent vomiting that continued for hours without letup. Those with him anointed him with oil and prayed repeatedly. They were convinced it was a curse of some kind, and they were entirely unable to break it or stop the affliction.
He was dehydrating badly. He refused the hospital because they had a train to catch.
He vomited without stopping until they boarded. As the train pulled out of the area, the Holy Spirit was finally able to speak to him and show him what had happened: through his sarcasm and lack of respect, he had given that power a legal right to curse him. He had violated the Scriptures in Jude and 1 Peter.
When he confessed the sin of reviling, asked forgiveness, broke the curse in the name of Jesus, and commanded the associated spirits to leave, the vomiting stopped instantly.
The Attitude Behind It
It is easy for believers to develop an arrogant attitude — to sit safely in a church pew and thumb our noses at the enemy, assuming that once we are born again nothing can touch us.
That attitude has no scriptural basis whatever, and it creates an opening.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith." (1 Peter 5:8–9)
Peter says resist. He does not say mock.
The Verse People Skip
Jude is even more pointed:
"Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'" (Jude 1:9)
Michael. An archangel. On assignment. In a direct contest.
And he dared not bring a reviling accusation. He deferred entirely to the Lord.
Jude sets that against people who "speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves" (Jude 1:10).
We cannot stand against our adversary in our own power. Only the power of Jesus Christ enables us to stand. The moment we treat the conflict lightly, we have stepped out of that power and into our own — which does not exist.
Point to Ponder
An archangel would not mock the enemy. Our casual bravado deserves a second look.
Verse to Remember
"Michael the archangel… dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'" — Jude 1:9
Question to Consider
How do I actually talk about the enemy — and would Michael have said it?
Today's Practice
Examine your speech in this area over the past month.
Have you joked about the devil? Made light of demonic activity? Spoken with a swagger that came from your own personality rather than from Christ? Taunted, insulted, or performed for an audience?
Confess it as sin, specifically:
"Father, I confess the sin of reviling. I have spoken about my adversary with contempt and arrogance rather than with sober respect for what You have warned me about. Forgive me and cleanse me through the blood of Jesus Christ. In His name I break every curse that came upon me through it and command every spirit that gained access to leave now."
Then learn Michael's sentence and use it instead. "The Lord rebuke you." Four words. All the authority is in the Lord, and none of it is in you.
Prayer
Father, I have been arrogant. I have spoken about my enemy the way a man speaks who has never been in a real fight.
Forgive me for every careless, mocking, insulting word. I did not know I was giving ground. I know now.
Cleanse me by the blood of Jesus Christ. Break every curse that came upon me through reviling, and drive out every spirit that gained access.
Give me sober vigilance instead of swagger. Let me resist steadfastly in the faith and let every rebuke I speak be Yours rather than mine.
The Lord rebuke you, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Resist him. Do not mock him. The two are not the same.