 |
The Adversary: The Christian Versus Demon Activity By Mark I. Bubeck / Moody Publishers To defeat an adversary, one must first and foremost acknowledge the existence of that adversary. Once their existence is acknowledged, one can move on to understanding who the adversary is and how they act. According to Bubeck, the church has, for long time, been unable to even acknowledge the existence of its adversary, Satan, much less understand his activity and actively work toward his defeat. He wrote The Adversary to remind Christians who are enemy is, and to remind us that our enemy is very real. And though are enemy is also very powerful, the name of Jesus and the power of God are much more powerful. Satan is our primary enemy (Satan actually means adversary), but Bubeck reminds us that we also war against our own flesh, and against the world. But no matter who or what we are fighting, be it the world, our flesh, or Satan, the weapons are the same. They are the name of Jesus and the power of God in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Thebattle will be a fierce battle, even with the proper armor and weapons, so Bubeck urges us to continually be on our guard, and he calls us to aggressive warfare through strong and fervent prayer. Through prayer, unity, and the continual activity of the Spirit in our lives, we can stop the advance Satan's kingdom; more than that, we can, in God's power, cause Satan to actually give up ground. This book is Bubeck's call for the church to return to this aggressive warfare, which it had been involved with early on, particularly in the apostolic times (and even before that with the ministry of Jesus). Therefore, The Adversary is filled with practical advice for engaging in this battle, this war. It is also full of encouragement to Christians, calling us to be confident in God's promises and power as revealed in the Bible. If we will base our strategies and warfare on the paradigm set forth in the Bible, Bubeck feels that the church will once again prove effective in pushing Satan back. Any other method of warfare, particularly those based on emotions, will bring about defeat for Christians. If we are rooted in the word of God, and we walk in His power, nothing can stand against us, not even the gates of Hell. Bubeck uses this book to remind us that God is indeed for us; who then can be against us, or who can stand against God? So join Bubeck in the valiant struggle to defeat The Adversary, a struggle which we know we will eventually win, because God has promised it. |
