READY FOR THE BATTLE

The battle for the souls of men began with a prophetic word spoken by the Father in the Garden of Eden.

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15).

The seed given to the woman is Jesus Christ. The bruising of the head of the serpent is the conquest of the enemies of God. The bruising of Christ’s heel is the crucifixion. This was the first promise of a Savior for mankind. The Lord moved in the world of men to set the stage for the coming of His Redeemer. He chose a nation through which the Redeemer was to come. The hope of the coming Redeemer was kept alive by the prophetic word spoken by the mouths of the prophets. All that we read of the Old Covenant points to Christ, even the books of songs and poetry.

Reference Scriptures:

St. John 5:39

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

St. John 5:46

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.

St.Luke 24:44

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

From the beginning the devil has waged war against the Kingdom of God. The war began in the heavens when he persuaded many of the angelic host to rebel against God. Since then there has been a constant warring between the angels of light and the powers of darkness. But why are they fighting? What is the prize? Satan’s hatred of God has fallen upon man. His objective is to utterly destroy God’s most prized possession. He remains committed to his objective and never relents in his endeavor to bring man to the lowest forms of degradation. Peter warned us of the brutality of Satan when he said, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8).

On the other hand, it is the purpose of God for us to be conformed to the image of His Son Christ Jesus. This purpose is the same for all who are called to salvation. Although we must remember that Satan is not going to roll over and play dead while we go about preaching the Gospel and winning souls. The comprehension of purpose lies in the truth about salvation. In my book “The Mystery of Christ Revealed,” we see the awesome wisdom and power of God in creating a new race on earth that will eventually rule and reign with His Son, Jesus Christ. It is not a common thing in the Body of Christ for the Sons to be referred to as a new race. That is because the truth about salvation has not been ministered to the Body since the days of the last apostle. This is not to say that there has never been a time when individuals were preaching and teaching the truth. No, I dare not imply that there has ever been a time when the Lord did not have a witness to His Word. However, that witness was not given access or the measure to affect the Body of Christ globally. It is the intent of the Father to use the church to show principalities and powers in heavenly places, His manifold wisdom (Ephesians 3:10). This is the wisdom He has wrought towards us.

Consider the following passages.

1 Corinthians 1:24

But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

Christ is the power and wisdom of God. The apostle declares however, that God has purposed to use the Church to reveal His Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-13

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

The scripture above reveals that the gifts were placed in the earth to bring the Church to the fullness of the stature of Christ. This means that the world will behold the perfected and full presence of Jesus Christ through the Church. This is indeed a prophetic word, clear and profound. Nothing less than the character and power of Jesus Christ manifested in a body of baptized believers will satisfy such a mandate. For us, the Body of Christ, it is a word of hope. It gives us the assurance that holiness or perfection is obtainable and that it is indeed God’s intent.

1 Corinthians 1:26-28

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

WE WERE THE FOOLISH, THE WEAK, THE ABASED AND THE DESPISED, BUT YET ARE WE CHOSEN BY GOD TO CONFOUND THE WISE AND BRING TO NAUGHT THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED. Bear in mind that the earth is the dominion of men and the things we are called to do are here on earth.

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (St.Luke 10:17-20).

I want to take some time here to help you see more clearly the previous teachings on the anointing. In the case of the seventy disciples who followed Jesus, the Father took of the Spirit that was upon Christ and placed it upon them. This is the first example of the splitting of the anointing we see in the New Testament. The second is seen on the day of Pentecost. There were one hundred and twenty people in the Upper Room and all of them came out with a measure of Christ.

Up to Pentecost, the Spirit of God was dwelling among or upon men, but on the day of Pentecost the same Spirit came to live within them. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you (St.John 14:17). His power is the same over the powers of darkness when He is authorized by the Father to work with those who are called and chosen to serve. The disciples’ encounter with devils or spirits was not in the heavens. These confrontations were manifested in their attempts to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to men and women on the earth. They were empowered by the Master with power over all the power of Satan. Therefore, in their confrontations with sin, sickness and demonic powers neither the devil nor any of his spirits were able to hurt them. The same is true today, when you walk in the power of the Holy Ghost, the devil cannot undo in you that which God has done. The spirits of darkness will not be able to use their power against you but will indeed be subject to your word through the name of Jesus Christ.

St.John 3:18

We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. As long as you walk in the holiness of God the enemy is powerless in his encounter with you.

Jesus was very mindful of this when He said, “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (St.John 14:30). If the enemy does have something in you, then the accusations he makes as you approach the Father will be true and you will be judged guilty and unworthy before the throne of God. It is erroneous for some to teach the advocacy of Jesus from a perspective that the Sons of God have no responsibility to live holy before God and man. It is the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man that availeth much (James 5:16).