Jesus advised us about our stand in the opposition against the principalities and powers of the darkness of this world, that:
“No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.”
Mark 3:27 NKJV
We are called to bind the strong man everywhere we see him operating. If he is not being bound, we can’t ever be able to plunder the riches of his house. The plundering of his riches is what we do, to make a public spectacle of him in our victory with Christ Jesus.
Jesus never called us into His Kingdom to be socializing with demons and demon possessed people. We are called to cast them out and plunder their riches. In that manner the wealth of the sinners will be transferred into the hands of the righteous.
Some Christians are often facing defeat today, because they are not plundering the wealth of the powers of darkness after binding them. They are binding and casting out; but they are not plundering and loosing their riches. Jesus called us to plunder them and leave them with nothing, of everything that they are falsely clinging on to as theirs.
And in plundering them, it’s important to always be inclining our ears to the leading of the Holy Spirit. He will instruct us about what to do, so as to plunder them.
Many have failed to plunder the powers of darkness, even though they are binding them effectively; because they are not listening for instructions from the Holy Spirit. In most cases His leadings are being ignored, due to the works of the flesh that are not yet crucified in their lives.
It’s possible to be praying in the spirit, while not leaning to hear from the Holy Spirit. A Christian in such a situation is just as Paul said: “a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (I Corinthians 13:1).
Jesus said it again:
“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 18:18 NKJV
There is no casting out of the strong man without first binding him. We bind him on the basis of what God’s word says. What is written in the scriptures is what makes him to tremble, in fear of who you are as a child of God.
The strongholds over individuals, communities or the nations will oppose any attempt to dislodge them. As you are resisting the devil, the devil will also resist your attempt to dislodge him.
The devil doesn’t go down without a fight. This is why we are called into spiritual warfare. We are involved in a wrestling match, that had already been won for us by Christ Jesus. The devil knows that he is already defeated, but he will never give up his territories easily.
These demonic powers have been influencing the earth for a long time. That’s why they have been able to build up their strongholds, in the minds of the peoples in the regions where they are operating. They see it as their own territories.
However, that’s another lie from the pit of hell; because the Bible says:
“The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.”
Psalms 24:1 NKJV
The whole earth belongs to our God, who had indeed given it and everything in it to us, for us to be enjoying. It doesn’t belong to the devil. The devil owns nothing, and anything that he is calling his own is stolen.
He is a thief, and these strong men (principalities and powers of darkness) are working with him, to steal from the lives of people before destroying them (John 10:10).
That’s why they will never give away their territories easily, without an intense fight sometimes. You can’t stand against them effectively, if you’re not prepared to bind them. If they are not being dealt with aggressively, there will be little or no success by the believer in Christ Jesus to plunder their riches.
The riches of the darkness of this world are meant for the children of God. These demonic forces are only holding them in store, until the rightful owners shows up with the rightful use of their authority in the name of Jesus Christ to plunder them.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is now seated in the heavens:
“far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He (God, the Father) put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
Ephesians 1:21-23 NKJV
The name of Jesus is above everything and every other name on this earth. The powers of the dark ages knows this. They tremble and flee as we call on the name of Jesus.
When we call on the name of Jesus in opposition to them, the glorious light of the Son of God shines through their darkness. And since they hate the light, they will flee away in terror. They will flee, because the light of God exposes their darkness.
Light will always conquer darkness
Light shining in the darkness is the symbol of a new hope, or the dawn of a new beginning. God is the One who causes light to shine in the darkness of this world, so as to bring His purpose to stand in the lives of those who have been held captive in darkness for a long time.
The Bible says:
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”
I John 1:5 NKJV
Our God is the God of light. There is no darkness in Him at all. He rules over the whole universe with His glorious light. The dark powers of this world hates His light, because they can’t function wherever the light is shining.
Therefore since God is light, He has the ability to invade the territory of these evil forces in their dark places.
He is also called God, the Father of all spirits (Hebrews 12:9). This means that their very existence as evil spirit depends on Him. Therefore every one of their activities are seen by God. He knows everything that these evil forces of darkness are doing.
Someone may ask, why wouldn’t God just stop these forces of darkness, since He is observing them and all of the secret activities?
The answer is that God will not be justified by intervening on our behalf, without our involvement on the earth. He had given us the authority over these forces of darkness, and their activities on this earth.
And He had also given the whole world to us to dominate and rule over. The world doesn’t belong to the devil and his cohorts. It belongs to us as God’s children.
The devil stole everything from Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. But Jesus came to the earth to restore everything back into our hands. Everything that these forces of darkness are doing in secret, is just an attempt to reestablish themselves in the position that they had already fallen away from.
The Lord God therefore expects us to be exercising our authority in the name of Jesus, to reign on the earth over them without His intervention.
We have been made priests and kings on the earth to reign in Christ Jesus. It’s not up to God, if you’re not reigning. It’s up to the individual believers in Christ to be using their authority, in reigning over the works of darkness here on the earth.
In the process of reigning on the earth, God cannot intervene on our behalf, if we are not crying out to Him for help through prayer and intercession. It’s only through prayer that we can truly be reigning as priests and kings on the earth.
In intervening on our behalf the Lord God will show us what needs to get done. Or He will reveal to us the things that we are not doing right; so that we can correct ourselves and start reigning on the earth with Christ Jesus.
God therefore needs our consent, for Him to be able to intervene on our behalf. That’s why prayer and intercession is crucial to the victory of the people of God over these forces of evil. And those who are not praying are not reigning with Christ on the earth.
The Lord God had spoken through the Prophet Isaiah that:
“Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy.”
Isaiah 54:16 NKJV
In other words the very weapons of the spiritual warfare that, the devil is using against us were created by God. The devil himself and his cohorts are all God’s creation.
When Lucifer rebelled against God as mentioned last week, he took the weapons of spiritual warfare also with him. There is therefore nothing that the enemy does with those weapons, that are not known to God.
Even though the Lord God had created the blacksmith, who blows the coals in the fire, and brings forth the instrument for his work. Even though He had created the spoiler also to destroy; it is however impossible for us to resist them and their activities, without having God being on our side.
And this is where many Christians are missing it in their stand against these demonic forces. There are many who are involved in spiritual warfare, but who are actually not well positioned in the will of the Father for their lives. There is no way anyone can win in this spiritual warfare against the devil, if he is not in the will of God.
There is also no way we can have God to be on our side, if we are not submitting to His written Word as the final authority in our lives. There are a lot of people who are resisting the works of the devil, without being submissive to God’s Word as the last say, that settles all things in their spiritual warfare.
Even the devil himself recognizes God’s Word as the final authority, and he trembles at it. The scripture says:
“You can believe all you want that there is one true God, that’s wonderful! But even the demons know this and tremble with fear before him, yet they’re unchanged—they remain demons.”
James 2:19 TPT
The devil and his friends believes God’s word. But they are not going to change in their ways and activities just because of this. It’s up to us as the people of God on the earth to bring them into subjection, to the word of God with the use of our spiritual authority over them.
And since Jesus had given authority to every believer in His name on this earth, there is nothing else that the Father can do to stop these evil spirits, without our intervention as Christians on the earth acting on His behalf. God depends on us as His people on the earth, to be using our authority in stopping the works of evil.
The least of the Kingdom of God on the earth, can put all of the activities of these evil spirits to nothing on this earth. It takes the willingness at heart, and the obedience to God’s word in doing this.
If a Christian is doing these things, then as the scripture says:
“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.”
Isaiah 54:17 NKJV
This is how the Light of God can shine through us in overcoming the darkness of this world. This is how every child of God can begin to reign as priests and kings on the earth with Christ Jesus.
Being spiritually lazy is a sign of surrender
That’s why as Christians we are supposed to be building up our individual spiritual houses always. Spiritual laziness is never to be tolerated in God’s Kingdom.
There are many who are spiritually lazy about renewing their minds with the word of God. A Christian who is not doing this is weak, and doesn’t have any or just a few spiritual ammunition against the devil.
A soldier cannot go out and expect to win in a war, if he is not properly prepared with the right ammunition for winning. It’s the same thing for us in the spiritual realm. If God’s word is not being allowed to renew your mind, there is no way you can ever win against the devil.
The devil knows those who are dangerous to him and those who are not. He knows those who are praying, and those who don’t pray at all. And he knows those who are only relying on others to be praying for them.
Being dependent on others to be praying for you is a sign of your spiritual weakness. It’s an act of spiritual laziness not to be praying always. Jesus commanded us to be praying at all times (Luke 18:1-8).
Our faith gets stronger with prayer every day. We get bolder in confronting the works of darkness, when we are praying in the Holy Ghost daily. Our spiritual houses are protected from the evil ones through those prayers.
The Bible says:
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
Jude 1:20-21 NKJV
God’s word is our sword of the Spirit against the enemy. Whenever he sees us declaring it, he is terribly disturbed. Not to even talk about you being able to be praying always in other tongues; which makes him really confused.
Jesus highlighted what happens to a person who is spiritually lazy, but who has experienced the salvation and deliverance of the Lord with these words:
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”
Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV
With the last sentence of Jesus in these scripture texts, we can see that spiritual laziness is being equated with wickedness by Jesus. A Christian who is spiritually lazy is spiritually wicked, because he is giving room to the devil in his life.
We are responsible for keeping our spiritual houses clean and safe from the evil spirits; but not empty without anything to fight against the enemy. How are you as a Christian going after the works of the devil? Is your spiritual house being stored up with the spiritual ammunitions, to use in resisting the devil and his friends?
Watch out and be very careful not to allow the spiritual laziness of others, to affect your faith in God’s word to perform for you. There are a lot of believers in Christ these days, who loves the world and its social life more than they do love Jesus and the word of God. They will prevent you from building up your spiritual house. Their own houses are not in order, so they don’t care about making you a son of the devil like them (Matthew 23:15).
Your enemy is real, and the spiritual warfare is real also. You will however come through triumphantly, if you are not going to compromise your ground. Your victory is sure and guaranteed. Stand strongly and boldly in it.
