The Great Opposition

(1 Thessalonians 2:1-2)

If you are going to follow Jesus Christ you have to be prepared for the great opposition that will come against you.

Many of the big evangelical ministries today push the line that if you come to Christ everything should be “sweetness and light.”

Now while the Bible tells us there will be cause for joy and that we will find peace, it also warns we have to prepare for the great opposition. And this is even more important today than it has ever been in the past.

The Source of the Great Opposition

When you consider all of the forms of opposition that come against Christians you might wonder why anyone would choose to follow Christ. But despite the great opposition that is arrayed against the people of God, the offer of the Lord so vastly outweighs everything else that Christians can learn to put up with anything as they walk with Christ.

Let’s first consider the source of the great opposition.

9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world–he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:9-10)

Here is the source of the great opposition. The devil is the one who accuses and opposes the people of God. He accuses us day and night before God and his desire is to destroy all mankind, and especially those who seek God through Jesus Christ.

We also see this in scripture which explains even further why the great opposition exists against the people of God.

Now is the judgement of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out. (John 12:31)

This is why this world is so filled with evil and why there is such opposition against Christians. The devil is the ruler of this world and he was thrown down to the earth in great wrath to make war on the saints and believers in God.

So the devil is the ultimate source of the great opposition that comes on this world and Christians in particular.

The Great Opposition

So knowing the true source of the great opposition we should briefly look at the way he operates.

The devil will throw up anything he can to try to bring you down and destroy your faith in Jesus Christ. He will sow lies and doubts into your heart to try and turn you away from the Lord. He will use those closest to you to try and tear you down.

Over the past two thousand years the devil has infiltrated the church too. He has filled parts of the church with lies and false teachings to try and supplant the truth and make it hard for the people of God to be able to even find the truth.

And this was prophesied to happen as these words tell us:

15 The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood. 16 But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Revelation 12:15-17)

The river that poured from the mouth of the serpent, who is the devil, was a flood of false teachings to try and sweep away the woman, who is the church. Those false teachings have flooded both the world as well as the church. There are many things taught in the church today that have no basis in the scripture.

But God has ensured that anyone who wants to find the truth will be able to find it. It won’t come easy as we have to search, seek, ask, and knock on God’s door with diligence. That is the only way to find the truth. We have to look for ourselves.

A battle in the mind

To add to the difficulties Christians have in the great opposition is that the devil tempt us both physically, and more importantly, in our mind.

It is the mind that he sows seeds of doubt, tempts us, leads us astray with lies and half-truths. We have to be on our guard every moment of the day to fight his attacks.

This is why we are told we must take every thought captive to obey Christ.

What to do about the great opposition

The way we overcome the opposition is through Jesus Christ. He has overcome the world and has given us the way to do so also.

First we need to take every thought captive, as I mentioned above and as is stated in 2 Corinthians 10:5.

But you may ask how that is possible. We do this by learning how to walk in the Spirit. We learn to use the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the passions and desires of the flesh that would tempt us and lead us astray.

12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– 13 for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:12-13)

We are able to learn to use the power of the Holy Spirit to put to death the deeds of the flesh. When we are led by the Spirit we are effectively walking in the Spirit and drawing closer to God.

And then we also have the armour that God has given us to fight this war. The armour is spiritual and not physical because the great opposition is spiritual and not physical. It may be manifests physically but the source of the great opposition is spiritual.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; 16 besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints (Ephesians 6:11-18)

So we have not been left without defences in the fight against the great opposition. The Lord has provided all that we need to be able to fight and wage war against the enemy so that we can stand in the presence of God.

All we need to do is to be prepared and follow the directions given by the Lord to be able to fight and win this war.

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