Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God

Our enemy is spiritual and invisible. The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12).

There's no question we are in a struggle, but how do we fight? Are we supposed to bind the principalities and powers? Are we supposed to tear down regional strongholds? I heard of one Christian leader, who climbed one of the world's highest mountains to do this. That's a valiant effort. But is this kind of behavior true spiritual warfare according to Scripture? Let's get our Bibles out and see.

Armor of God
Let's continue with the passage I've just cited, which is Paul's most explicit teaching on spiritual warfare. He went on to write, "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Eph 6:13-17). God has given us this armor of light as a highly effective protection from darkness when used properly. Now let's review each piece of armor.

The six pieces of armor are the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. 

The Armor of God is Literal, Spiritual Armor

The armor of God is God's actual armor of light, and is not figurative or symbolic. It comes down from Him in heaven, and it goes on your spirit body. We each have a physical body made of flesh and blood, as well as a spirit body (1 Cor 15:44b). The armor of God is spiritual armor to wear on our spirit bodies.

How to Put On the Armor of God

You may be wondering how to put on the full armor of God, as Scripture instructs us to do. Here is how to do it. Pray like this: "Father, would you please put your complete armor on me now, I ask and thank you for it, in the name of Jesus."

This is what Dr. Rebecca Brown, MD was shown by her guardian angel, as she wrote in her book called, He Came to Set the Captives Free: A Guide to Recognizing and Fighting the Attacks of Satan, Witches, and the Occult. I highly recommend reading this book, which is available from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and other major retail outlets, as well as used book retailers online.

How Often Must You Armor Up

In Rebecca Brown's book, regarding the frequency with which we must put on the armor, she wrote: "Father says that once every 24 hours will be sufficient. Even as the Lord Jesus told you when He was here on earth that you must take up your cross daily, so must you put on the armor and prepare for battle daily. You must understand that this is very important. Don't forget to ask for it each day. If you don't have the armor on you will get hurt." 

Pray in the Spirit
Lastly, Paul taught that with our armor on we should pray in the Spirit. He wrote: "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." (Eph 6:18). He clarified for the Corinthians, in his teaching about tongues, what it means to pray in the spirit. "Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also." (1Co 14:13-15). When you pray in an unknown language, your spirit prays.

Resisting the devil
One way to combat the enemy is to resist him. Paul wrote: "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm." (Eph 6:13) When you take up the full armor, you are able to resist the devil.

James put it like this, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (Jam 4:7) To resist is to not back down. Don’t give up to the enemy. Don’t give yourself over to the enemy. Don’t give in to the enemy. No matter what tactics he uses, he will be unable to move you off your ground. Stand your ground. The devil will be unable to take control of any area of your life, which is God's territory.

One way to resist the devil is to act in the opposite spirit. This displaces the enemy. What do I mean by displace? When a ship is put into the water, it displaces water. Likewise, if you fill a tub with water all the way to the top, and then get into the tub, you will displace the water, and it will spill out. Where there is a stronghold of pride, walk in humility. This is real warfare. There may be pride all around you, yet in the place where you are standing there is only humility. Your life, which is God's territory, remains under the control of the Holy Spirit. When you act this way, you effectively displace the enemy. You don't have to worry about the enemy reducing you to nothing when you already know you are nothing apart from Christ. It's only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, because only the Holy Spirit can bring forth this fruit in our lives. We cannot do it in our own strength.

Likewise, where there is a stronghold of envy, walk in kindness and share with others. In place of hatred, walk in love. As Jesus said, bless those who curse you. Love your enemies.  

Pray in the Spirit

Paul the apostle taught us to pray in the Spirit on all occasions for all the Lord's people. He wrote: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." (Eph 6:18). Notice that we must be alert, too! 

Putting it All Together
Spiritual warfare is more than just casting out demons. It's not just confronting demonic entities that seek to harm, hinder, intimidate, deceive or tempt you. That's just one aspect of it.

You need to make sure that you put on the complete armor of God once per day by asking the Father to put His complete armor on you at that moment, asking for it in the name of Jesus, and thanking Him for doing so. Then walk in confidence. It's very important to do so once every 24 hours, in order to protect yourself from getting hurt. You need not be afraid of the enemy when you are wearing your armor. Pray in the spirit, especially for all the saints.

Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee. Don't back down. Stand your ground and don’t give in to the enemy. And be sure to stay alert, praying in the Spirit on all occasions for all the saints.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Quotations also taken from He Came to Set the Captives Free: A Guide to Recognizing and Fighting the Attacks of Satan, Witches, and the Occult, by Rebecca Brown, MD, copyright 1986, Whitaker House.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Home page for this blog, and you can also find my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Various Kinds of Angels

I hope you have been enjoying this series on angels. I felt it was necessary to do one more on the various types of angels. 

One of my favorite books was Angels on Assignment by Charles and Frances Hunter, regarding the supernatural experience with angels that Roland Buck had, who was a pastor that had numerous angelic encounters. In that book, he explains that there are four types of angels -- warring, special forces, ministering, and worship angels. 

Let me begin by saying that angels are not generalists, but specialists. It's the same way in the kingdom of darkness with the devil and his angels, who are all fallen angels. The demons all specialize in something, whatever sin or malice they do, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, murder, greed, bitterness, etc. They all specialize in something, having various ranks, as well as authorities and powers (Eph 6:12). Likewise, the Lord has created the holy angels to specialize in certain areas of expertise, and they too have various ranks and levels of power and authority that the Lord has given to them. Let me just mention a few of them here. 

Warrior angels 
There are angels that specialize in warfare and they fight the Lord's battles. We see this all throughout Scripture where they are involved in battles, and this is one of the types we are most familiar with. A couple examples will suffice:

The angel that brought a message to Daniel the prophet said that the evil prince of Persia had resisted him for twenty-one days, but that Michael came and helped him.

"But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia." (Dan 10:13)

This is referring to Michael the archangel, who is in charge of the Lord's warrior angels. In fact, the angel specifically told Daniel that Michael is the great prince who protects the people of God -- the saints (Dan 12:1). 

"Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven." (Rev 12:7-8)

In my previous article on Angelic Visitations in Scripture, I mentioned the angel who appeared to Joshua, who said he was the commander of the Lord's army (Josh 5:13-15). There are many other references in Scripture, but these will suffice to show that the Lord has an army, and there are obviously warrior angels in that army, fierce, heavily armed, determined to defeat the enemy, and mighty in battle. 

We know there are also guardian angels, and it would stand to reason that since guardians protect us, they are part of the warrior class of angels. But this is merely my opinion, and not explicitly stated in Scripture. 

One thing I will say about guardian angels is that even in the first-century church, the saints believed in guardian angels. In fact, when Peter was rescued by an angel from prison in answer to their prayers, and he knocked at the door to the house where they were praying, they assumed it must be "his angel" at the door (Act 12:15). Our guardian angels are always working for us and have protected us from more trouble and harm than we could every imagine. We should be very thankful to God for them. They are our friends, and they love us dearly, as do all the angels.

"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." (Psa 91:11-12). 

The Lord also spoke about the little children having guardian angels who always see the face of the Father in heaven (Mt 18:10).

Special Forces and Messenger angels

There are also angels that specialize in bringing messages from the Lord to the people of God. In fact, the very word angel (Gr., angelos) means messenger, so all angels are messengers in one sense, but this is a primary function of this type of angel. 

We see many instances in Scripture of these types, but the angels that carried messages to Daniel would be one example. We see that Gabriel brought messages to Daniel about the end times. Daniel wrote:

"...while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, 'Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:'" (Dan 9:21-23)

You can read more about the messages that Gabriel brought to Daniel in Daniel chapters 8 - 12. But Gabriel also brought messages to other people at other times in history.

The angel said to [Zechariah the priest], "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news." (Luk 1:19)

"In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary." (Luk 1:26-27)

Of course, there are other messenger angels besides Gabriel, but he plays a very prominent role, since he is the archangel in charge of all the messenger angels.

Worship angels

While all angels praise the Lord, there are angels that specialize in praise and worship, and these are spoken about in Scripture.

"Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will." (Psa 103:20-21)

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: 'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!'" (Rev 5:11-12)

 

Ministering angels

Another type of angel is the ministering angel. For example, angels ministered to Jesus in the wilderness following His temptation by the devil:

"Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him." (Mat 4:11)

Another example would be the angels that ministered to Him in the garden of Gethsemane:

"An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him." (Luk 22:43)

Still another example of a ministering angel in Scripture would be the one that came and ministered to Elijah when he was running from Jezebel and was so exhausted that he laid down under the broom tree and prayed to die:

"Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat.' He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.' So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God." (1Ki 19:5-8)

While other angels spend time in heaven before the throne of God in His glory and radiate the glory of God very brightly, it has been said that some ministering angels abide here on earth and do not necessarily have the same brilliance. They may appear as humans and not be recognized as angels by some people who are unaware. They may be dressed in plain and simple clothing and even drive a vehicle. They could appear as a child, a teen age person, an adult, or even an old man. They could appear as a poor person, or as a stranger.

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." (Heb 13:2)

There are also angels that specialize in the ministry of healing and miracles, and a number of people have testified to this. But one example in Scripture will suffice, and that is the one where the angel would come to the Pool of Bethesda and stir the waters, at which time the first crippled person to touch the water would be healed.

"Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed -- and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had." (Joh 5:2-4)

"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." (Joh 5:7)

Cherubim and Seraphim

There are nearly seventy verses in Scripture about the cherubim. God sits enthroned between the cherubim, so they are very close to the Lord, and constantly worship Him. Ezekiel saw the cherubim more than once, and also referred to them as living creatures having wings and four faces each, and he described them as having four wings.

Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved. Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body." (Eze 1:8-11)

Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River." (Eze 10:14-15)

The prophet Isaiah also saw mighty angelic creatures around the Lord's throne, which he referred to as seraphim. He described them as having six wings.

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.'" (Isa 6:1-3)

The apostle John also saw these four living creatures around the throne of God in heaven. He described them as having six wings. He wrote:

"Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'" (Rev 4:6-8)

There is so much more we could say about cherubim and seraphim, but it is sufficient for this study to give these few references to them, in order to describe what they are like and what they do.

Closing Words

I hope that this brief study has helped you to understand more about the different kinds of angels. I trust it has helped to show that God has created various types of angels for different purposes. But please remember not to seek angels or pray to them. They cannot accept your worship. 

Be encouraged that God has angels on assignment helping you in your walk with Him, if you are a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus Christ His Son. All the angels, archangels, seraphim, cherubim, powers, and authorities are under His direction. For He sits at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and power in submissions to Him (1 Pe 3:22; Col 2:10). 

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright 2011 Zondervan, all rights reserved, used by permission.  "God Has My Back" and "Guardian Angel" paintings © 2022 Danny Hahlbohm of Inspired Art, all rights reserved by the artist.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy Angelic Visitations in Scripture, Angelic Encounters, Activating Your Angels, Angelic Escape from Terrorist Assassins, Gems from Heaven., and Spiritual Warfare. You can find more of my articles on the Home page of this blog. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

Activating Your Angels

In my previous articles in this series, I discussed biblical examples of angels appearing to people, as well as modern day testimonies of angelic encounters. In this brief post, I would like to explain how to activate your angels.

Each of us who has a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ as our own Lord and Savior has angels assigned to us. You could say that each of us has our own guardian angel. But there are other angels on assignment that are sent from God to serve us, as I previously mentioned.

Scripture says:

"The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them." (Psa 34:7).

"In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes His angels spirits, His servants flames of fire.'...Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" (Heb 1:7, 14).

"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." (Psa 91:11-12)

How to Activate Your Angels

There are some things you can do in order to release or activate your angels.

Faith - We walk by faith and so do the angels. When you exercise your faith in God through the Lord Jesus Christ, this activates the angels. The Lord taught us that our faith is needed for answers to prayer,  and when we use our faith, He releases His angels to perform His Word and do His bidding on our behalf. 

"Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey His Word." (Psa 103:20)

Scripture - When we speak forth the Word of God, this too, activates the angels. Scripture says that everything came into existence through the Word (Gen 1; John 1:1, 3), including the angels that He created, and they carry out His Word. God calls things that are not as though they were (Rom 4:17). So make it a regular practice to speak forth the Word by faith.

Prayer – When you pray to the Father in Jesus' name, this activates angels. We do not pray to the angels, but to the Lord, and the angels are released to carry out the answers to our prayers.

"And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people." (Rev 5:8)

You can even pray and ask God specifically for more angels for a specific purpose to carry out His will, even as Jesus said that if He asked the Father, He would send twelve legions of angels to assist Him. But in that instance, if He had done so, then He would not have gone to the cross, and we could not have been saved.

"Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" (Mat 26:53-54)

God's will - They are involved wherever kingdom business is going on.  They’re not interested in unbelief, gossip, rebellion, or any other sins. But they love Jesus, they love the Father, and they do His will. Therefore, whenever you are involved in doing the will of God, this will activate the angels.

"Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will." (Psa 103:21)

Loosing - Jesus taught us that whatever we bind on earth will already have been bound in heaven and what we loose on earth will already have been loosed in heaven. You can find this in Matthew 18. The angels can be released by your words spoken in faith when you loose them to perform His Word and carry out His bidding.

"Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Mat 18:18)

One of the ways you can do this is by thanking God each day for the holy angels that He has assigned to your life and ministry, and say out loud: "I release the holy angels right now to perform your word and do your bidding. Go to work, O mighty ones, in Jesus' name!" Or in a certain situation where you sense that you are under demonic attack, you could pray to the Lord, "I dispatch a band a warrior angels to fight against the forces of darkness that are arrayed against me right now, in Jesus' name." Alternatively, you could simply ask the Father in Jesus' name to dispatch warrior angels to help you fight that battle.

Closing Words
I hope that these simple suggestions will help you to activate the holy angels to assist you in whatever you need to do for the Lord as you serve Him faithfully all the days of your lives. If you are a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, then I assure you this is one of the blessings you and I enjoy every moment of every day. Now go ahead and put what I have taught you into practice and see the mighty hand of God revealed in your life.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright 2011 Zondervan, all rights reserved, used by permission.  "Not Alone" painting © 2022 Danny Hahlbohm of Inspired Art, all rights reserved by the artist.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy Angelic Visitations in Scripture, Angelic Encounters, Various Types of Angels, Angelic Escape from Terrorist Assassins, and Gems from Heaven, Changing the Atmosphere, Speak to the Storm. You can find more of my articles on the Home page of this blog. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

How to Pray for the Devil

In two previous posts, I discussed the importance of Divorcing the Devil and Spiritual Warfare. In this post, I will assume you have already followed those instructions, that you have a relationship with Jesus, have put on the full armor of God, and have divorced the devil. If you haven't done so, then please go back and do so before doing what I suggest in this article. If you try to do what I recommend in this post without first divorcing the devil, you could get hurt, and I don't want that to happen to you.

Now to our topic, which is "How to Pray for the Devil". Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies, and the devil is our enemy, so we need to pray for him. However, Jesus taught us to bless our enemies, but we are not to bless the devil. We should always stand against him and pray against him, as we should also do against his demons. The fear of the Lord is to hate all evil (Pr 8:13). Here is one possible way that you could pray for the devil.

Powerful Prayer Against Satan

"Lord, rebuke satan, in Jesus' name! 

I want to remember the devil in prayer before You. It's time for his daily beating. Crush his head like an egg. Shatter his jaw and teeth. Cut out his tongue. Fill his mouth with dung. Give him a splitting migraine headache. Put him in so much pain he won't know his own name. Cut off his horns, poke out his eyes, rip out his hair, pull out his claws. Strike him with nausea and dizziness. Roll him up tightly like a ball, lift him up and slam him to the ground. Knock him senseless. Break his neck and back in several places. Break his arms, legs, and wings. Rip his belly open and spill his guts out like mud in the street. Publicly humiliate him before all his minions and the whole universe. Give him one hundred trillion to the one hundred trillionth power times more torment than he can bear. Strike him with panic and terror. Give him a total and complete nervous breakdown. Throw him into great confusion. Detonate a nuclear explosion inside the devil's head. Bring down a torrent of blazing holy fire upon his head, and consume him to ashes. Bind him with everlasting chains, in Jesus' name!

May the devil now arise and oppose himself, and may his kingdom be divided. May all the forces of darkness now arise and attack each other relentlessly until they are completely destroyed. Let them wear each other out, so that they will have no strength left to attack the saints. Throw them into great confusion and strike them with terror, in Jesus' name!

Everything that can go wrong for the devil from this point forward, will now go wrong. Foil all his plans and frustrate all his purposes, in Jesus' name!

Lord, send forth your mighty angels to cut off all the devil's supply lines and deprive him of all energy sources. Take away all of his weapons. Jam all of his lines of communications, so that no messages would get through -- not even a word -- and so that none of them would know what's going on, in Jesus' name!"

Scriptural Basis

If you would like to know the Scriptural basis for such a prayer, then simply read the Bible. It's full of examples. Read the stories of warfare in the Old Testament. But especially read the imprecatory Psalms. Major imprecatory Psalms include Psalm 69 and Psalm 109, while Psalms 5, 6, 11, 12, 35, 37, 40, 52, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 79, 83, 94, 137, 139 and 143 are also considered imprecatory. For example, Psalm 69:24 cries out to God, "Pour out Your indignation on them, and let Your burning anger overtake them."

Another passage is in Mark's gospel, in which Jesus said, "If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!" (Mar 3:26; cf., Mat 12:26; Lk 11:18). 

There are two passages that come to mind about the enemy turning against each other. One was when the Levites of Israel stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel in song, with a very loud voice (2 Chr 20:23), whereby their enemies arose and attacked each other until they were completely destroyed.

"When they began singing and praising, the LORD set ambushes against the sons of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; so they were routed. For the sons of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir destroying them completely; and when they had finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the lookout of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and behold, they were corpses lying on the ground, and no one had escaped." (2Ch 20:22-24)

Another instance that comes to mind is when Gideon and his men blew their trumpets and the Lord caused their enemies to turn and attack each other with their swords.

"When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath." (Jdg 7:22, NIV).

Moreover, the Lord promised to throw the enemies of His holy people into confusion.

"I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you." (Exo 23:27)

"But the LORD your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed." (Deu 7:23).

Furthermore, the apostle Paul said to the saints in Rome, The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you." (Rom 16:20; cf., Ps 89:23)

And Jesus said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you." (Luk 10:18-19).

And in the context of what Jesus said in Mark 3, which I quoted earlier, regarding satan not being able to stand and being terminated, the Lord also said, "But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house." (Mar 3:27).

"But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!'" (Jud 1:9)

"When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him." (Col 2:15).

The psalmist King David said, "Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets." (Psa 18:42). The NIV says, "like mud."

The psalmist said, "The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples." (Psa 33:10)

The Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah: "He will roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die and there the chariots you were so proud of will become a disgrace to your master’s house." (Is 22:18)

Jude wrote, "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day." (Jud 1:6, NIV)

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’” (Mt 17:20)

Putting it All Together

I hope this little post has helped to give you some ideas for how you can pray for the devil, as you remember him in your prayers each day. You don't need to be a spiritual giant to do this. All you need is faith as small as a mustard seed, and when you say to this mountain, "Move from here to there!" it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB version of the Bible, copyright Lockman Foundation, all rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. Where noted, Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, all rights reserved. Used by permission. The image of the Battle for the Soul painting by Danny Hahlbohm, copyright 2011 Inspired Art, all rights reserved worldwide, used by permission, www.inspiredart.store.

Author's note:  I also recommend reading Divorcing the Devil, Spiritual Warfare, Speak to the Storm, The Name of Jesus, The Name Above All Names, Supernatural Power for All Disciples, and Baptized with the Spirit. I invite you to visit the Home page for this blog, and you can also find my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Dangers of Disobedience

I'd like to talk to you about the dangers of disobedience.  Sometimes we need to be reminded of the very serious dangers of disobedience, in order to wake us up and get us to turn away from sin.  I'm not just talking about sins you consider serious.  Even the small sins are just as bad.  They are all serious.

So let's look at five examples in Scripture of those who disobeyed and what happened to them.

Naïve ones and Fools

Let's start with the naive ones and fools.

"How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? "Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you. "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, When your dread comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. "Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD. "They would not accept my counsel, They spurned all my reproof. "So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way And be satiated with their own devices. "For the waywardness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil." (Pro 1:22-33)

Their sin:

• I called and you refused
• I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention
• You neglected all my counsel
• You did not want my reproof

The consequences:

• God says, "I will also laugh at your calamity."
• "I will mock when your dread comes"
• "They will call on me, but I will not answer"
• "They will seek me diligently but they will not find me"
• "They shall eat of the fruit of their own way"
• "They shall be satiated with their own devices"
• "The waywardness of the naive will kill them"
• "The complacency of fools will destroy them"

The Israelites
Now let's look at the nation of Israel.

"Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O Israel, if you would listen to Me! "Let there be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god. "I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. "But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. "So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk in their own devices. (Psa 81:8-12)

"Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt, SAYING TO AARON, 'MAKE FOR US GODS WHO WILL GO BEFORE US; FOR THIS MOSES WHO LED US OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT--WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM.' "At that time they made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. "But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, 'IT WAS NOT TO ME THAT YOU OFFERED VICTIMS AND SACRIFICES FORTY YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS, WAS IT, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL? 'YOU ALSO TOOK ALONG THE TABERNACLE OF MOLOCH AND THE STAR OF THE GOD ROMPHA, THE IMAGES WHICH YOU MADE TO WORSHIP. I ALSO WILL REMOVE YOU BEYOND BABYLON.'  (Act 7:39-43)

Their sin:

• My people did not listen to My voice
• Israel did not obey Me
• Unwilling to be obedient to the Lord
• Demanded that Aaron make idols for them
• They made a calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol
• They worshipped a foreign god
• They were rejoicing in the works of their hands
• They offered human victims and sacrifices for forty years
• They took along the shrine of Molech and the star of the god of Rompha

The consequences:

• The Lord said, "I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices."
• The Hebrew word for "gave over" is "shalach," which means "to send away, for, or out, appoint, bring (on the way), cast (away, out), conduct, forsake, give (up), grow long, lay, leave, let depart (down, go, loose), push away, put (away, forth, in, out), reach forth, send (away, forth, out), set, shoot (forth, out), sow, spread, stretch forth (out)."
• God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven
• The Greek word for "delivered them up" is "paradidomi," meaning "to surrender, that is, yield up, intrust, transmit: - betray, bring forth, cast, commit, deliver (up), give (over, up), hazard, put in prison, recommend."

Atheists, Idolaters, and Immoral People
Next let's look at the atheists, idolaters and immoral people throughout the ages.

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." (Rom 1:20-32)

Their sin:

• For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks,
• They became futile in their speculations
• They professed to be wise
• They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures
• They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

The consequences:

• Their foolish heart was darkened.
• They became fools
• God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
• God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
• God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, evil, etc.

Adulterous Christian Man & Corinthian Church
Next let's look at the Corinthian Church and the immoral man in their midst.

"It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."  (1Co 5:1-5)

Their sin:

• He had his father's wife (immorality)
• The Church became arrogant and did not mourn over this sin
• They did not remove this adulterer from their midst

The consequences:

• Paul said, "I have decided to deliver (give over) such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."

Hymenaeus and Alexander
Lastly, let's look at Hymenaeus and Alexander.

"This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme." (1Ti 1:18-20)

Their sin:

• They did not fight the good fight against evil
• They did not keep the faith
• They rejected a good conscience 
• They blasphemed

The consequences:

• They suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith
• Paul said, "Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme."

Putting it All Together
In each of these biblical examples, you can see the same pattern.  Each time people neglected God's counsel and rejected His reproof, they ate the fruit of their own ways, and became satiated with their own devices. They called on the Lord for help, but He would not answer. They sought Him diligently but they did not find Him. Their own waywardness killed them, and their own complacency destroyed them.

The Israelites did not listen to the Lord's voice.  They did not obey Him.  In fact, they were unwilling to be obedient to the Lord. They demanded that Aaron make idols for them. They worshiped a foreign god, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. They offered up human sacrifices to idols.   So God gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices. God turned away and delivered them up to serve the sun, moon, and stars.

All mankind has been given the opportunity to know God.  His fingerprints are all over everything in creation.  But even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks. They became futile in their speculations. They professed to be wise. They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.  Their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts.

Whenever people do this, their foolish heart are darkened, and they become fools. God gives them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.  God gives them over to degrading passions; and they receive in their own persons the due penalty of their error.  God gives them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, evil, etc.

Do you see how the Lord gives people over to their own sin?  He gives them over to evil, since they prefer that over Him.  This is what Paul did with the immoral brother in the Corinthian Church, who had his father's wife.  Since the Church became arrogant and did not mourn over this sin, and did not remove this adulterer from their midst, Paul took action.  He administered discipline, by delivering the immoral man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Paul did the same thing with Hymenaeus and Alexander, who had professed faith in Christ at one time.  They did not fight the good fight against evil, and did not keep the faith.  Instead they rejected a good conscience, and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.  So Paul handed them over to Satan, so that they would be taught not to blaspheme. 

The pattern in the same throughout all of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments.  If you refuse to listen to the Lord's voice, look out!  He uses many means to speak, including the general revelation of Himself in His creation, as well as the specific revelation of His will in His Word -- the Holy Bible. He has revealed his love for you through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross for you.  He will use His people to speak to you, too.  He will speak to your conscience, and let you know that what you're doing is wrong.  It will bother you.

But if you refuse His voice when He speaks, and reject His counsel, He will eventually give you over to the thing you really want most.  He'll let you have it, and your mind will become darkened.  It's a type of judgment.  He'll let satan and the demons have their way with you, since you preferred their presence to the presence of the Lord. Your conscience will no longer work properly.  And you will end up shipwrecking your faith.  Eventually, if you do not turn from your sin, it will destroy you.  Those who die in this state end up in hell for eternity.

My friend, I don't want this to happen to you.  If that's what you've been doing, turn from your sin today!  The Lord does not want you to perish.  He loves you, and wants you to be with Him in heaven for eternity.  But if you continue on your way, then you forfeit that gift.  Turn back to Him today, before it's too late, and cry out with tears of repentance.  You will find Him, if you search for Him with all your heart.  He will forgive you, if you sincerely repent; and sincere repentance will be evidenced by the fruits of repentance.

I hope this lesson has helped you to understand the ways of the Lord better, and especially the dangers of disobedience.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. The "Your Move" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.

Author's Note: You may also want to see my other blogs, Sin and Consequence,  Is Obedience Optional?,Avoid Becoming a Corrupted Christian,  Demonology 101, Demonology 201 and Demonology 301. I invite you to visit the Home page for this blog, and you can also find my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Demonology 301

I am reposting this sermon by Yong-Doo Kim, pastor of the Lord's Church in South Korea, because I have benefited greatly from his ministry, and he has years of experience battling demons.  This pastor has been to heaven and hell many times, and has authored five books about his experiences in the series called Baptized by Blazing Fire.  So I think he qualifies as a sort of "subject matter expert" on this topic, or someone with firsthand knowledge, who is not simply an echo for the ideas of other men.

Message on demons, given by brother Yong Doo Kim, May 15, 2011:

Let us be strong in the power of the Lord 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel." (Eph 6:10-19, NASB)

If you read John 12:31, it states that satan is “ruler of this world”. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, satan is expressed as the “god of this world”

John 12:31 (AMP) “Now the judgment (crisis) of this world is coming on [sentence is now being passed on this world]. Now the ruler (evil genius, prince) of this world shall be cast out (expelled).”

2 Corinthians 4:4 (AMP) “For the god of this world has blinded the unbelievers’ minds [that they should not discern the truth], preventing them from seeing the illuminating light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ (the Messiah), Who is the Image and Likeness of God.”

There is a structure/system within the demonic realm. satan’s organization is composed of many different variety of fields or areas and it is countless. These enormous organizations are endlessly connected to one another. It is a thoroughly built structure. It is somewhat like how a pyramid schemes operates. There are  particular groups that plan events. It is their war department like the Pentagon. These particular groups of demons plan many events and commands. There are other groups that just reports and updates. These groups of demons create strategies, tactics and report things to satan. There are other groups that participate in the actual spiritual warfare. And then there are groups who are responsible for inciting the emotions and temperament of people. The organization is divided into what appears to be countless and endless fields of groups and positions.

When someone is filled with the Holy Spirit, the demons will come and utilize their best strategies by sowing weeds to hinder and break them. When someone is fed God’s Word, the demons will come and plant weeds to prevent the person from being rooted into good soil. The demons will come to hinder and prevent the people who are rooted in good soil from bearing good fruits. When a person is faithful to the Lord, the devil will come and apply strategies to entice the person to quarrel with other Christians so faithful one will leave the church. As people come to apprehend the Word of God, the demons will come to hinder and prevent them from walking in the Word. The demons will attempt [to keep] Christians from walking and applying the Word of God. When it comes to those who are good listeners to God and to those who obey His Word, the demons will come to stir them in an attempt to make them overreact to cause quarrel and strife among the brethren. It is the strategy of demons to make Christians make mistakes. If people are humble, the devil will attempt to make them become passive. However, contrary to passiveness, those who are aggressive, the devil will utilize that trait to cause more quarrel and strife.

satan and his soldiers will observe humans without limits to obtain ways to hinder and attack us. The demons do not roam around without purpose. The demons will generally taunt Christians in such a way.

“Hey! Will you continue to pray even though your situation is not improving? Look at your children, they are still rebellious! Look at yourself! You are still depressed! What is the use of praying?”

There are always demons working behind our negative thoughts. Remember, God has chained satan with utter darkness. He is pure darkness and evil.

Moreover, for example, demons like to stir up people by enticing certain thoughts into our minds such as, “Get on your computer. Watch the lustful videos and pictures. Get angry and fight! Break up, divorce, and leave your husband/wife!”

The outer appearance of satan is very grotesque. He does not look like human nor animal. He is very dirty, eerie and wicked looking. This is the one whom we are fighting against. This is reality. We are not able to combat such a being with our feelings, emotions, or thoughts.

There are different groups in which we spiritually fight against. In Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) [it says], "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

The first group is principalities. The principality group is formed with countless structure/system/organizations. This group is the strongest among the other groups. This group is responsible for delivering reports to satan on a regular basis. They are like staff officers that create tactical strategies. It is a very important group to satan. This group organizes all the plans and methods to carry out the work. This group’s power is very impressive. It is like the brains of the operation. On my 6th book, I level them as a first ranked group. They are right below satan. These are satan’s generals. They are very keen and plan with diligence.

The second group is the power group. They are second in rank. The countless demons in these groups are very active. These spiritual beings roam throughout space. satan will pray a blessing over this group of demons. “Go fill the earth and destroy! Create trials of curses!!” satan dispatches this group after he prays over them. As I was preparing this sermon, a white two headed dragon demon appeared and harassed me. He was very angry. It is like how churches dispatch missionaries. The demons do it in similar fashion.

 “We need more forces for this particular region. Speedily come help us!” When their forces become weak, they will report to satan of their situation. Then satan will fill them up again with strength and reinforcements. satan gives power and strength to replenish them. When they are replenished, they go back and start destroying again. It is like when we do our fire ministry, we can be replenished and recharged with more fire power from above. When we stretch out our arms upward and shout out, “Lord, grant us more powerful Holy Fire!” then the powerful Holy Fire comes down and engulfs us.

The third group are rulers of the darkness and spiritual hosts of wickedness. These groups of demons compete with one another for territories. These demons have their own operating areas. As a result, these particular demons engage and fight with Christians the most. They are in the sense the foot soldiers. However, this does not mean we do not still fight or engage with the other groups of demons. Previously, I had traveled to Corona to hold a fire revival meeting. But the evil spirits that were seizing that particular region pierced my head with (spiritually) sharp thick nails and as a result I was rolling around my bed in so much pain screaming. Even though they are spiritual beings, they can inflict physical pain. It does not matter where you are. All the regions and nations are seized by certain groups of demons. These demons have their own regions. They compete with one another to gain more territory to be rewarded by satan. Humans are the victims of this competition. War between humans are a manifestation of the spiritual competition among demons to gain territory.

Daniel 10:13 (NKJV) “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief [of the celestial] princes, came to help me, for I remained there with the kings of Persia.”

When Daniel fasted and prayed for 21 days, the kingdom of Persia withstood him. But at the last day of his fasting, God sent Archangel Michael to open the way and to help Daniel. The kingdom of Persia are rulers of darkness. They do the wicked works.

Mark 5:10 (AMP) “And he kept begging Him urgently not to send them [himself and the other demons] away out of that region.”

These demons had begged Jesus for them not to be sent away. These demons had seized that particular region. There are countless of regions that demons are seizing such as country, city, certain regions, provinces, and even within the churches. The demons will also seize countries with their customs and culture to influence the world or other nations in order to corrupt them.

Previously,  I had visited a museum which was located in the city of On Yang, Korea. This museum has on display many old Korean traditional costumes and cultural historical artifacts. The priests that had worshipped the sea king spirit wore certain costumes or outfits during their rituals. The shamans and the Korean village guardians were also on display. They were life like figures made from wood displayed for the audience. There were so many demon spirits in the museum. I was severely attacked and afterwards I had a difficult time praying. It had broken my normal praying rhythm.

The evil spirits dwelling and roaming in the heavenly places are the most practical workers within the demonic organization. They are the ones who will penetrate into the churches and the believers. These countless number of evil spirits are responsible for stopping the believers from worshiping God in true freedom. They are the ones who will attempt to stop the pastors from working God’s ministry effectively and will attempt to make the leadership complacent and lazy. They are responsible for stealing our joy and the willingness to serve with a grateful and sacrificial heart within the church. They are responsible for taking away the faithfulness in doing God’s work. These evil spirits are the ones that most harass the church and the body of Christ.

What are we to do to repel such attacks? We must arm ourselves with the full armor of God! We must pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty.

Offensive and defensive weapons are at our disposal. The defensive weapons are as follow, Girding our waists with Truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoeing our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and taking the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. The offensive weapon is the Sword of the Spirit or the Word of God! We must pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and entreaty.

As some people are only devoted to studying and analysing the bible without much prayer or Spirit, the demons of cult are dispatched to destroy them. When someone in the church is very devoted to self sacrifice in doing God’s work, the demons will stir up other people within the church to become envy and jealous. Once the evil spirits seizes our thoughts, it will be very hard for us to overcome such a trap. The spiritual warfare starts with a thought. We must pray asking God, “Lord! Seize my thoughts!” Then fight continues in the mind. We must have victory in this area. When we have evil things or unholy things in our minds, we must instantly shout out, “In the Name of Jesus! Get out, satan! We must shout out immediately to cast such bad seeds away without hesitation. Lastly, the demons will attempt to utilize our body/flesh to carry out what is in our thoughts and minds. Therefore, we must use our free will very carefully. When the evil spirits attack us, it is not at impulse but a well-orchestrated plan. Before they attack us, they would have already grasped our personalities and activities in all things within our lives. They already know the good and bad within us which may be physical and psychological. They have already thoroughly studied us. This is why we must become skillful soldiers.

There are patterns and flows within the demonic activities. The demons have their own name such as the spirit of lust, violence, hate, and so on. These spirits entice people starting with a thought, to the mind, and then to the flesh to carry out in action. Once a person acts upon it in the flesh, he/she has fallen deep.

We must disclose the activities of the evil spirits. The reason why we must disclose the activities and function of the evil spirits is because many Christians are ignorant in regards to them. Moreover, many Christians are seized by the demons and ignorant to that reality. As a result, the Kingdom of God is hindered by these evil spirits as many Christians do not know the identity and function of evil spirits.

Demons have different activities. For example, the demons will measure our faith to a higher standard of faith than we may actually possess in order to attack us. They may put such a thought as, “Why does your faith not even come close to Job? You must at least have faith like him! Even after we had killed all his children taking everything from him, he did not have any resentment toward God. What kind of faith is yours?”

We must go through many spiritual experiences to strengthen our faith. We do not start out with the faith of Job.

Isaiah 27:1 “In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.”

Scripture referred to satan as Leviathan. This twisting nature make people misunderstand each other by distorting and confusing many things. Snakes do not move straight but move in a zigzag motion. The demons will twist things within the churches and families. They will utilize the personality and character of a person for their gain. It is difficult for demons to use people who make choices to live holy lives. Such people will gain understanding of the spiritual realm and thus the demons will move on to other people.

If one is depressed, one should not continue acknowledging their situation or status by saying they are depressed. They must instead proclaim that they are not depressed! However, if one continues to say that they have depression and that it is hard and lonely, then they will have attracted many more such demons. Such a person will be filled with depressed demons and the demons will utilize such illness for their advantage.

When a person faithfully follows Jesus, the demons will attack in such a way. “You are no different than any other people. Since you are human and weak, you will fall and become corrupted!” They will attack anyone hoping someone will fall.

We must have the assurance of our salvation but at the same time we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. So many people are losing the battle with themselves, with their surrounding and circumstances. The demons accurately use our personality, character, preferences, emotions, and human nature to defeat us.

I pray that you will have victory and overcome with the full armor of God and with all prayer and entreaty. Have victory and overcome bad seeds of thought, mind and body/flesh!! Hallelujah!!

[End of sermon by brother Kim, Yong Doo, Author of the “Baptize by Blazing Fire”]

Translated by Steve and Yoojin Kim for the glory of God on July 8, 2012

Attributions Notice: Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Some Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified Bible. Other Scripture quotations taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Author's Note: You may also want to see my other blogs, Demonology 201 and Demonology 301. I invite you to visit the Home page for this blog, and you can also find my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."
                             _________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Demonology 201

I am reposting this sermon by brother Yong-Doo Kim, pastor of the Lord's Church in South Korea, because I have benefited greatly from his ministry, and he has years of experience battling demons.  This pastor has been to heaven and hell many times, and has authored five books about his experiences in the series called Baptized by Blazing Fire.  So I think he qualifies as a sort of "subject matter expert" on this topic, or someone with firsthand knowledge, who is not simply an echo for the ideas of other men.

Message on demons, given in 2012 by brother Yong Doo Kim:

I was just organizing some things that happened in the meeting today.  I was lying on my bed and I was just thinking and God showed me a vision of the spirits that are in control of this region.

It was like something bigger than the whole earth and it was controlling this region.  And it looked like some kind of snake with eyes and nose and teeth and the teeth were like dracula’s teeth and he had a lot of hair on his body.  We didn’t meet each other, so we are just looking at each other, ignoring each other and it looked like it was bigger than a dragon.  And we were looking at each other and then I saw it start flying.  And this spirit it was giving, (inserting) thoughts into the people in this area.

And it was giving thoughts to the people so that they can just act however they want.  And when these people were effected by these thoughts in their hearts and minds they just started kind of acting up.

They were drinking, eating and doing whatever they want.  I was looking at it and it started coming to me and it attacked my right side.  And then I screamed and I kind of fell and my right side shoulder was really attacked.  It’s kind of aching a lot even my lower back too.  Every place I go I experience similar things.

Today I want to talk to you about the attacks of the evil spirits.  Before we do that we are going to worship.  No matter how much the devil attacks us we need to be faithful.  We may look weak on the outside, but we have to be strong on the inside.  We are physically tiring but our inner side is filled with God.

It’s ok to lose to our fake enemy.  The fake enemy is the people and the things we see but the real enemy we can not see.  It’s ok to be slapped and to be mistreated by the fake enemy.  But with the real enemy we need to fight and to overcome it!  So God and the devil, they move in the same passage way.  But there is a difference in how they operate.

Its a little different, the world of satan moves through confusion and disorder and disorientation. But God works through order, perfection and harmony.  So through the actions of the other people you need to see and know if they are operating through God or through the devil.

God is testing us through different ways.  You know when you go to a factory that manufactures steel, they do a lot of testing.  They do a lot of testing on heat, they also test steel on how it does under very cold weather.  Sometimes they compress the steel really a lot and see how much it can endure.  Sometimes they put it in the fire and see how long it can stretch.  And depending on how much it can stretch and endure the pressure, it determines the use of the steel.

Sometimes the steal is used for the towers, or the cars and body of the car.  And the most strongest steel, they use it for making bridges.  In the same way, God deals with us.  And for people with strong faith, you know they use us fight the demons.

That is why it says, the strong man guards his house but a stronger man comes and takes those possessions.  So a stronger man, which is Jesus and the Holy Spirit come and overcome the strong man and take care of the possessions.

And when the Lord He gives us this kind of ministry, some people they don’t like it.

People are very self-centered and have their own perspective and the Lord wants to change that.  And the people who are mature in faith they need to be able to understand people with beginning faith.  You know babies are little children that tell everything to their parents but parents a lot of times, they don’t share everything with their children about what is going on.

The devil he really messes up the expansion of God’s kingdom.  And he tries to mess up the order by sending spies and all these forces.  And the devil knows who to attack in order to be the most efficient.  And he knows the fastest way to destroy the people of God through who to attack.

The devil does not attack just ordinary churches.  He does not touch people who are both in the world and in the kingdom of God.  Because they are heading off to destruction so he just lets them be.  And he uses people who are disobedient to God’s word.

There’s something that the devil hates.  It is that they are set free from their bondage’s and they become the people of God.  And people who don’t pray, when they try to pray there are tests.  And you and I are being watched 24 hours a day.  When the evil spirits leave us, they don’t just leave.  And then the devil never just gives up his prisoners easily.  And then when we impart the fire to you, in some people the spirits are not exposed.

And then people you know they point fingers and they say look at the person they have a lot of demons but they don’t realize that they have demons inside of them as well.  And pastors and some people they stop people from doing this kind of ministry.

There are many famous actresses in Korea that commit suicide. And when they commit suicide when I am in hell I actually see them being tormented.

And this person she was a Christian and she went to this church and she also received counseling from a pastor before she committed suicide. When you strike the wall you feel the vibrations and he knows who to strike in the church so that others will be shaken.

And then the devil raises up sports figures, politicians or entertainers and when they become really famous, he uses them.  And then sometimes when very famous people they commit suicide, a lot of their followers and fans they commit suicide together, and they follow after them.  And he makes them follow after them so that they can go to hell.  And when my eyes were opened I began to experience this.

I was praying with the music really loud and when your eyes are really opened you don’t hear the music, and then we turn off all the lights and we kneel down and that’s how we pray.  We turn off all the lights because when the Lord appears it is easier for us to see Him clearly, and it is also so that we can focus better.  Then we will raise our hands as long as we can, and we pray in tongues.

I was praying in tongues and I was being sucked into a really really big tunnel, I just went deeper into the tunnel.  And I was being sucked into that black hole kind of thing, I could not feel the weight of my body, and I could not tell if I am in the body or outside the body.

And I understand why Paul described it like that.  And then as you go into the tunnel it is so scary.  And you can not see anything you are by yourself and your going into it.  When I touch my body, I’m in the physical body in the church, but my spirit is being sucked into this tunnel, and even if I try to open my eyes I can’t.  I just keep praying in tongues.  And then after a while you start spinning, and then the darkness starts to spin around me.

It’s like a tornado and black hole and I just keep spinning.  And I try to wake up but I will be just spinning and spinning.  You know, my physical body cannot take it and because of the sins in my body I just keep on calling out, LORD, LORD!  I have experienced that for days and actually months.  Sometimes you become so scared and you ask the Lord to help you and I’ll be back in my body.

And then one day at 3:30 AM with my youth after our service we went to have some sea food.  And I decided to pray more and I came back.  And when I pray I will be sucked into that again.  And then because I have a very full stomach, I will be spinning in darkness.  And then my body will be in the physical realm but then my spirit will be spinning and driving me crazy.  And if you are spun around by a centrifugal force the things inside of you will come out.

And I had this spicy seafood with all this like vegetables and I started spinning and it was trying to come out.  And then I try to wake up, but I am still spinning.  And I opened my eyes and I was still spinning.  And then I went to the bathroom, I crawled, and then I just threw everything up.

And as I was praying I got really scared so I called my daughter, but my daughter said, “What’s going on?  I’m sleeping.”  I replied, “Oh it’s so scary here, please come to me.”  My daughter was saying that you have to go through that to have your eyes opened, you have to go through that.

And I said, “I’m a Pastor, that’s why I have to go through all these scary places.”  And then my daughter said, I already went through that.  And then I thought that since I am a pastor that everything would be more serious and more difficult for me.  I have a lot of fears.  And then when I pray, God will keep on taking me to those places.

And then you know, even if we pray that God will open our eyes, actually when He starts to take you to those places, you’ll be so scared that you don’t want to go.  And even though you say, Lord I want to experience hell, if He really tries to take you, then even if you go near it you will be just like, oh no, I can’t go there.  And then our hypocrisy and our double mindedness is exposed.

Then you realize how weak your faith is.  And you feel like you can do all these things for the Lord, but then at the most crucial moment you collapse.  And then the Lord wants to show us but at the most critical moment we back out.  And that’s the same for most people.

And then having your eyes opened is so frightening.  And as I pray the Lord will take me again.  And then I wish I could only see good things, but He makes me go through all these scary places.

You know it would be great for me if all the members and my eyes are opened at the same time but my eyes they open when they leave and I am praying by myself and there’s nobody to help me.  Whoever the people are there, they sleep in the pews.  And when I was praying, the Lord took me to a more scarier place and I was calling on my wife, "Honey, Honey come by my side and help me."

My wife woke up and she was very groggy, and she woke up and she said, “Do whatever you can, I don’t care if you go to hell or not.”  And then after the prayer, my daughter rebuked me.  She said, “Awe you’re a pastor and you can’t even go through that?”  And I held her hands and said, “You know it’s so scary there.” And my daughter said, “Hmm..your a pastor, and you don’t have faith.”

And I told my son, “Joseph, you know um, because I am a pastor, you know the Lord takes me to very scary places.”  And my son said, “I already went through all those places. What are you talking about?” You know, my children they mistreat me, because at the most critical moment, you know, I fall back.

And later my eyes began to open and it was so scary.  And as you pray there will come a moment where you will not hear the music or the people around you.  And as you pray in tongues you feel the presence of God from top to bottom.  And then the part that you feel the presence of God, you do not feel the weight of your body.  You know it’s like the people we live below the earths atmosphere you don’t feel the gravity, it’s in the same way.

Sometimes my arms open and I fly to heaven.  Sometimes when I pray an angel will come and clothe me with a robe.  Sometimes a demon will come and (?).  Sometimes he will come in the form of a snake and he will coil around me.  And as we pray sometimes God sends His angels to take us.

Sometimes the Lord will come and take us to heaven and sometimes the devil will disguise himself as Jesus an he will try to take us to heaven because we like it but he ends up taking us to hell.  But these experiences there’s so many of them, this is just like a grain of sand in the sea.

My first books are about the process of how our spiritual eyes were opened.  And the third one is about the secret chamber.  Also in the following books it shows you how the king cobras are in the liquor and how they will enter peoples bodies.  And also the fourth book is about the spiritual gifts like store houses in heaven, and me and my son we went  to those places and we wrote about them.

And we have seen those images from Revelations of 7 plates (bowls), and 7 trumpets.  And the fifth book is about the prayers that have been answered.  And then I could not finish the 6th book but it’s almost finished and it will be published.

And then the 6th book is about me and my son going to the secret chambers and the last chamber, there’s weapons we can use to fight against the devil, and there’s so many rooms there and chambers, and we have to pray many days to be there.

And then one day at 4:30 after prayer I was just sitting and resting and lucifer came.  And there are scenes where he stabs me with his fingernails and he stabs my intestines.

And then I had the sword of the blood of Jesus on my side and when I started to reach for it, he stabbed me.  And the Lord was near me and lucifer was in front of my face and he stabbed me with his fingernails and said, “I’m going to kill you.”

Then he actually left and came back and he wanted to kill me again.  And this is the part where He baptized me with fire and He takes me up to the universe and He baptizes me.  There is a scene where He clothes me with fire and He throws me out to the universe.  And also Jesus comes and He puts fire around me and he throws me to another universe.

There’s a part where the Holy Spirit comes out of the trinity and baptizes me with fire.  Also there’s a part where Father, Son and Holy Spirit they come together and baptizes me.  And then the next ones going to be the spiritual warfare around the world.

God has given me a unique calling to expose the identity of the devil, and how people go to hell.

There is nothing in the word that says you will go to hell if you don’t keep the Sabbath holy.  It doesn’t say that if you don’t tithe you will go to hell.  But the Bible we need to look at it, there is a lot of paradox’s in it.

In Mal. 3:10 it says that a lot of people did not keep the tithe, so test me with the tithe, but it does not mean to test God with the tithe.  It is because the Israelites did not tithe well and the Lord wanted them to really tithe and not to test Him with the tithe.  And that is why He said, “Test me with the tithe.”

People who are blessed are not those who just tithe, but on top of that they give more.  The tithe belongs to the Lord, it is not (for us) to be blessed, but it is the Lords.  And the blessings come through the offerings that’s on top of tithe.

And also in our world there is a tree of good and evil.  The tree of good and evil is if you touch and eat it you will die.  Tithing is like financial tree of good and evil.  And if you touch the tithe it means you must be prepared to pay the consequences.

There’s a tree of good and evil between human relations, and if you have adultery and have an affair that is like touching the tree of good and evil.  It means if you touch others besides your husband or wife, you are touching the tree of good and evil.

And then when I went to heaven and met the Lord I realized that sometimes people commit adultery they could not repent.  Not that you cannot repent of the sin, but that many people they don’t think about the seriousness of the sin.  In the Old Testament they will actually stone you to death or you have to sacrifice animals.

In the Old Testament it talks about the physical atonement but in the New Testament, the Lord says that if you commit adultery in your heart you have already sinned.  I also visited a place in hell, it was a place where a lot of people that commit adultery went.

There were a lot of men and women who were naked. There was a huge like a frying pan, and it was like a size of a (?) (possibly foot ball field?).  There was like a fire beneath it and there were all these naked people who were on the pan.  And just like you would fry fish, all these people were packed in there.

And I said, “Lord, who are these people?” And He said, “These are the people who commit adultery, and people who had abortion who did their own will.”  And there was this long stick, really huge like 6 feet tall.  And then there were all these huge demons around the pan and they were piercing the center of the men and women’s bodies.

And they pierced them with some kind of needle stick and the people would scream and they would run.  When they pierced them they would be in so much pain and when they took it out they would be back to normal.  And they kept on doing this over and over.

And there were also doctors who participated in the abortions.  And there were also people who sponsors who went with it.  And there were parents who overlooked the unwanted pregnancy and they erased the baby.  There were a lot of people who didn’t want to have the baby so they had the abortion.  And then they were full of people like that.  And then there are so many places like that in hell.

There is also a place in hell where people are who sinned with their mouth.  And people who sinned with their tongue and with their words they will put needles on them and they will cut them with a knife.

And every night that I prayed, the Lord would make me visit those places.  And when he leaves me there, He disappears.  And then I’ll be dragged away just like the other people there (this happened to others like this also), and I will be tormented.

And then in my church I will pray on my platform and then I will collapse, and then he would put like a black veil over my face and he would drag me.  And then in hell there is also a human eating competition.

The Lord has allowed the demons to operate in our world and in hell.  And hell is prepared for the fallen angels and the devil.  Christians who didn’t believe right they end up there.  In the Bible it talks about those people who couldn’t go to heaven.

We need to be aware of how the demons operate.  We will look at the passage that talks about the identity of the devil.  Jude 1:6,7, so they abandoned their own home, and they are bound kept in darkness bound with everlasting chains reserved for judgment on the great day.

Isaiah 14:12  And then people ask me where’s heaven or hell, look at verse 12 where it says: how you have fallen from heaven and it talks about the north.  And sometimes when people experience this there will be two angels that will come and take them to like a passage way like a couple of feet wide and it will be endlessly made out of gold.   In Ezekiel it talks about how the devil was.

This is very important; I want to share with you.  Ezekiel 28:  It talks about how the devil was before he fell.  It says he was made and created and he was perfect.  He was anointed cherub, and he walked in the mount of God, and he was perfect when he was created.

And then because of this (?) (Widespread trade?), he was filled with violence.  And it means a lot of angels followed him.  And it says you guardian cherub, and then his heart became proud and he corrupted his wisdom because of his splendor.  He was perfect in beauty and it talks about spiritual beings that are higher than humans.

You know these were like almost perfect next to God.  In Isaiah what we looked at before it talks about the bright morning star.  And in King James it says O you son of morning lucifer, how you have fallen from heaven.  The Latin origin of the meaning is Lucifer.

In Rev. 12:17 it says, there was a war in the heavenlies and they fought against the dragon and he couldn’t win so he was actually cast on the earth.  It’s a huge dragon and old serpent and it’s the devil, and it’s satan and he deceives the whole world.

He was cast down to earth and his followers came with him.  He was upset and his time was not there but he was cast out.  Don’t think that the devil is far away, and then he will scream and he will jump at you (pastor Kim screams), what I am screaming is nothing compared to him, its maybe like a thousand times of what I screamed.

Rev. 12:3 It’s a red dragon with 7 heads and 10 horns, and it swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth.  And then the one third represents the fallen angels.  Some people interpret differently.

I want to talk to you a little bit more about the identity of the devil.  Satan has a position, his title was that he was the guardian cherub.  And he’s like anointed cherub which means he guards the guardian angles for God.  And they are like one of the strongest of the angels.  And satan he was part of that.

You know Gabriel and Michael they are the same.  And there are the group of people who proclaim the glory of God, and there are a lot of those arch angels in heaven.  And then it shows the kingdom of God a long time ago.  And because he was so perfect and beautiful, he had pride in his heart.

And then his wide spread trade means that through his words he deceived many of his fellow angels.  He wanted to be an independent ruler besides God.  And in Isaiah it says I will go up to the throne of heaven, and it means he’s going to rule over the angels just like God.

The angels have their own free will and they were corrupt in their heart and they were kicked out of heaven.  He abused the power that God has given him, and he begins to turn the world upside down.  He trembles the earth.  He does not release the captive.  And the demons they will not let you go until there is a strong power upon you.

And then satan has this position and power.  In Rev. 8:4 it says he was a murderer and a liar from the beginning, and in 1 John, he continually lies, he deceives nations, he causes us to sin.  And then the devil means, it means accuser, accuser of the brethren, and that he has a very dirty mouth.

Another definition is that he scatters seeds, another expression is that he throws the dice. You know I believe that you will be saved and go to heaven.  Do you truly believe that?  It means that the devil will throw the dice at you: Maybe you will go to heaven, he says really, I can mess it up.  What if you don’t have assurance of salvation, I’m going to make you fall back at the trials and the tests.

He makes our salvation dull.  Another meaning is like a furnace, in other words, he corrupts the people.  And the devil and satan is the same word but satan has some other meanings.  King of the devil, attacker, he hides , he’s a dissenter, he traps people, he deceives the whole world, he makes you get lost, he makes you wonder, deceiver, he insists his own will, and it means that when you exert your will too much, that the devil can be involved.

There’s a red dragon that we saw in Rev. 12 the big dragon that was the devil and the other one it talked about was the arch angel.  And then we read through the descriptions about the devil.  It has some words more important.  Isaiah 27 it talks about: and in that day God is going to punish Leviathan, it means like coiling serpent, coiling enemy.

I am telling you the Hebrew origin of the word, it’s huge like serpent.  Huge monster of the sea.  Violent foe, serpent, devil, somebody who accuses who is possessive, who imitates and has those meanings, and coiling means like he twists corrupts, the serpent in Hebrew it means (?), it means the dragon in the north of the sky.  And it means you do sorcery and you do tarot cards, you predict the future, you prophecy, fortune telling.  Satan was created long time ago before us.  He does not have a physical form that we can see.

The media has a great impact on us.  And eve she was deceived in the garden of Eden by the devil but if she was Korean woman she would not have been deceived by the snake.  If Adam and Eve were Koreans they probably would have grabbed the snake and cooked it in a soup, snake soup.

You know, we Koreans will eat anything that makes you healthy.  How unfortunate that they were not Koreans.  Then we would not be suffering like this. (Interpreter-I don’t eat snakes, I don’t), he does.

I want to talk about how the devil approaches us.  Galatians 5:6 It tells about the life of the spirit and the flesh.  This is very important so please pay attention.  Evil spirits they live on energy.  The energy comes from the flesh, sometimes we supply the energy.

People with the spirit of anger, he’s the one that supplies that spirit.  And people with the spirit of anger, he will start asking the body, he’s hungry, he will be like, feed me, feed me I’m hungry.

And the food they eat is when you get angry and you explode your anger, they eat it.  And when they make you get angry and you blow up they are full.  And then the spirit will go into deep hiding, and it does not need to be fed for a while.  And they will go into like hibernating in their body, and they will start eating away your soul, our thoughts, our hearts, and then it makes you do things you don’t expect yourself to do.  It’s the same with other spirits.

And people with the spirit of lust, and then they attack us periodically.  It would be like, I’m hungry feed me, what is the food they like?  It is the lustful thoughts.  Lustful thoughts and what’s in your heart and you decide to move to action.  And then they are fed and they are full and then they go into hiding.  And they will go into hiding for a time.  And you don’t think about that for a while.  And just because you don’t feel their activity does not mean the have left.  And these spirits when we do the things that they like, they feed on them.

They make you do all those things they like and they are being fed.  Same with the spirit of anger, gossip and dissension.  He makes us the flesh to do that.  It is us who supply energy to those spirits.  As we talk about lustful things we enjoy it and we think it is us but it is the devil, he is doing that.

So it is us that is making those spirits full.  Our body is just the cover of it, we are being used by them.  Same with venting on other people and then showing off and being prideful, its the same way.  Same thing as gossiping.  We supply these demons with food and energy that they need.

What is the solution for this?  It is to change the habits that they like.  And it is determining in your heart that you will not do those things, then praying about it.  And then now there is a war.  And then the spirits inside they will go crazy and they will ask for food.

Give me some anger I’m hungry, have some lustful thoughts, I want to eat some lust, do some pleasures, fill me with worries, worry a little.  I need some frustrations.  Why don’t you try to pick a fight.  Also there is a spirit of exhaustion, and they really stir our body.  So when we get angry and do those kind of things they are full and they go into hiding.

And when we impart fire, because they know they will be exposed they will go into deeper hiding.  And you need to receive more fire deeper and they’ll be cast out.  And just because you don’t feel anything or sense their activities inside you shouldn’t be putting down your guard.  And when they continually try to stir us up we have to fight against it.  When you have those kind of thoughts and temptations you have to pray hard.  Pray more diligently.  I’m not done yet.

The demons have their ranks.  And in Ephesians 6 it talks about that.  There are about two different kinds of titles.  In my 6th book I talk about the ranks as much as I know.  Satan and the devil they are one and they don’t have rank.  And after satan there are like thousands and thousands of ranks.  Largely I divided them into about 7 or 8 ranks.

And when I try to expose his identity I get attacked.  And when we began this ministry the Lord made us fight against the small demons.

And when we overcome them, He made us fight the bigger demons.  And then the demons with higher ranks they came.  I didn’t know that they had ranks.  It took a long time.  No one told us, we didn’t read anything about this.

One type of rank that they have is like the army.

In the army there is like different titles and positions.  They are like titles, sort of like topical.  Another thing is by numbers.  An the numbers is in levels.  An the demons in the level are more stronger than the ones with the titles.  Like if you are a level 30 you can be so much higher than the other title.

An the demons with this kind of levels they are the strongest.  An even the demons have a structure and system.  An they have great strategies and plans.  They also have a promotion system.

The requirement for promotion is for them to hide in Christians and not be found as long as they can.  Imagine this demon went into this person and he lived this very passive Christian life, and then he prays very passively, and we are not even sure if he is saved or not, and he has never really had a great walk with God.

He says the Bible a lot but he does not have the power of the Holy Spirit. In appearance he is Christian, but inside the devil has a hold on him.  An these people when they come at a critical moment they fall.

God’s word is like a boomerang an it spins and then comes back.  And even if you read the word and you don’t keep it, it will go out and then come back and it will strike you.

An that’s why if we don’t live according to His word we will be judged.  Are you guys bored?  Should we wrap it up for the day?  You don’t seem too excited.  It’ll be very difficult to hear these kind of things any other place.  I’m not boasting but this is spiritual reality.

There is like how the demons are promoted.  And there was no chance to really expose the demon that was in him and he is full of demons.  But he does not know that he has a demon, but he lives his Christian life.  He prays a lot but his prayers are being perceived by the devil and he does not live a victorious Christian life.

Then later he marries and he has children.  And this spirit that works with other spirits will actually be transferred to the children.  The demons that was effecting the parents can effect the children.  And then the devil goes, good job, good job, you were not exposed, so I will give you a promotion.

And they meet the requirement when they take hold of living Christians and they are not being exposed. And when you live a very victorious Christian life they try to live with prayer then they are exposed. (The rest of the audio has too much echo to hear it properly so I am leaving it off.)

[end of message by Kim Yong-Doo, author of Baptize by Blazing Fire]

Author's Note: You may also want to see my other blogs, Demonology 201 and Demonology 301. I invite you to visit the Home page for this blog, and you can also find my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."                     

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.