THE STRONGMEN OF THIS MILLENNIUM
Dr. D. K. Olukoya
The enemy has released certain powers into this millennium and these powers have started to do a lot of havoc since 2000 AD. Our message this week will focus on “The strongmen of this Millennium.” Zechariah 1: 1 says, “In the eight month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, the son Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet...”
In that passage, we identify Zechariah and his father. And we also identify that it was the word of the Lord that came unto him. Every other thing in the Bible was a direct message from the Lord to a particular group of people. Beloved, pray and tell the Lord to speak to your situation now, in the name of Jesus.
Now that we have identified whom Zechariah was talking to, verses 18-19: “Then lifted up I my eyes, and saw, and behold four horns. And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.” Four horns were sent into the midst of Israel and they scattered Israel, Judah and Jerusalem. So what we are looking at now are the horns, which have been sent into these millenium years. Mark 3: 27 says, “No man can enter into a strongman’s house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strongman and then he will spoil his house.”
WHO IS THE STRONGMAN?
1. The strongman is the controller over a group of spirits.
2. The strongman is the ruling spirit over a group of evil spirits.
3. The strongman is the principal evil spirit or leading demon.
4. It is the dominant or the head demon in a particular department. Therefore, for you to set some particular situations free, the strongman is the key.
5. It is the power source in a particular situation.
In this millenium, the enemy has released all kinds of strongmen into the midst of men and a lot of people have strongmen attached to several departments of their lives and these wicked powers have started harassing them.
Let us identify these strongmen in order to prevent them from operating against us this year.
1. The spirit of heaviness: Isaiah 61: 3 says, “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”
Under the spirit of heaviness, you have broken heart, continual sadness, defeatist attitude, discouragement, depression, hopelessness, sorrow, tiredness, troubled spirit, laziness of the mind and sleepless-ness. These things have started to do a lot of havoc. It is for you to decide that the strongman of the spirit of heaviness will not have a hold in your life this year.
2. The spirit of death and hell: This is a terrible spirit that the enemy has already set in motion this year. Although the year has just begun, many people that shouted happy New Year on the first of January have, all of a sudden, been snatched away by the devil. There have been accidents and other forms of tragedy that have taken away many lives. That is the work of the strongman of death and hell. They are also responsible for ritual killings and kidnappings. A lot of people are surprised at these happenings because they do not understand that it is the activity of a spirit that has been released into this millennium. Under the spirit of death and hell, we have sicknesses, cancer, arthritis, exhaustion, incurable diseases, heart attack and high blood pressure. These things are now on the increase starting from last year. Young people of 16,17 and 18 are talking of high blood pressure. It is the spirit of death and hell. Close your eyes and pray like this: “Every arrow of death and hell fired into my life, die, in the name of Jesus.
3. Lying spirit: This spirit is so much in action now that you also see some Christians telling lies. It is the spirit of the age. Adultery and fornication come under this because for you to be an adulterer or fornicator, you must have some demonic intelligence and some lying spirit. Under this lying spirit, you also have people who commer-cialise the word of God. I was told that a certain prophet sold anointing oil to a rich man in Lagos for N50,000. In spite of that, the anointing oil did not work. The correct price of the anointing oil was probably only N100.
Spirits of deception and all kinds of exaggeration and hypocrisy are also released into this age. Many went into business only to discover that their best friends were not their best friends again and that the person they thought was going to help them had destroyed everything they sweated for. I pray that, that shall not be your lot this year, in Jesus’ name.
4. Familiar spirits: These are spirits of the dead working in the family. They dealt with your father, dealt with your mother and are now dealing with you. You notice that the problems of your father and mother are becoming your problems. The enemies that were pursuing them are now pursuing you. You need to pray to get them off your back.
5. Perverse spirit: Isaiah 19: 14 says, “The Lord hath mingled a preserve spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof: as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.”
The perverse spirit has also been released. Under this spirit, you have abortion, child- abuse, false teachers, sexual perversion, homosexuality, incest and stubbornness.
6. The spirit of pride: You will find this manifesting in anger, unnecessary argument, boastfulness, bragging, domineering attitude, irritability and a lot of confusion. The spirit of pride causes many of the unrests and public disturbances that we have. It is a spirit released to the age.
7. The spirit of infirmity: You find people roaming around the hospitals with diseases that nobody understands. The spirit of infirmity is doing a lot of havoc. This year, I pray that it shall not have a hold over us, in the name of Jesus.
8. The spirit of fear: The Bible says, “The Lord has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind.” But then there are a lot of fear around. And fear leads to anxiety, apprehension, resentment, quarrels and bitterness.
9. The spirit of bondage: A lot of people find that they had a dream which put them in trouble by the time they wake up. The enemy has put them in one bondage or the other. Romans 8: 15 says, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby ye cry Abba, Father.” Spiritual blindness, unnecessary violence, inordinate quest for money, etc, come under the spirit of bondage.
10. The spirit of anti-Christ: This is now very rampant because as the days are drawing to an end, the spirit of the anti-Christ is so much with us. It makes people to act against God. It makes people to act against the correct teachings of the Bible. It makes people to attack the saints. It makes people to blaspheme. It makes people to exhibit powers of darkness like the kind of open attacks of the powers of darkness recorded in 2000 AD.
I have a question for you: Do you want these strongmen to be moving about in your life the way they want? Do you want them to continue to pursue you this year? The decision is yours. When God created Adam and Eve, He left the forbidden tree in the garden. If He wanted to remove it, it would have been removed, but he left it there. So the Lord will not clear away the witches and wizards. He will not clear away those who are harassing people. We will co-exist with them and as we do so, we learn how to resist them so that they are not able to prosper in our lives.
OUR DEFENSIVE TACTICS
You must surrender your life to Christ completely. This is not negotiable. Don’t continue in this New Year without being a true child of God. To live in this year without the power of God is to register for disaster that is about to happen.
Depart from every known sin. Any sin in your life will encourage the enemy to fight you harder. Perhaps you are reading this and you spent the whole of last year smoking cigarette and running after strange women, you have a wonderful opportunity for a new beginning, as this year is still very young.
Completely yield your life to God. A life completely yielded to God will be barricaded against the powers of darkness.
Beloved, make up your mind to wage war against these ten spirits. I don’t know what they have already done in your life. But I know that there is a power that can defeat them.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Thank God for what He would do in your life this year, in Jesus’ name.
2. Ask the Lord to forgive you for any sin that will hinder His move in your life this year, in Jesus’ name.
3. Lay one hand on your head and the other on your chest and pray like this: Holy Spirit, overshadow my life, in the name of Jesus.
4. Holy Spirit, arrest every prosperity arrester, in the name of Jesus.
5. Tell the Lord to remove your name from every register of failure, in Jesus’ name.
6. Lay one hand on your head and the other on your stomach, close to your belly button, as you take this prayer point: Every power that has acquired witchcraft spirit for my sake, what are you waiting for? Die, in the name of Jesus.
7. Every power that has acquired familiar spirit in order to fight me, what are you waiting for? Die, in the name of Jesus.
8. Every power that has acquired marine powers for my sake, what are you waiting for? Die, in the name of Jesus.
9.Year 2001A.D, you will not swallow any of my blessings, in the name of Jesus.
10. Every arrester of progress this year, be arrested, in the name of Jesus.
11. Every power that is poised to pursue my destiny this year, what are you waiting for? Die, in the name of Jesus.
12. Every witchcraft meeting taking place against me now, be scattered, in the name of Jesus.
