This week we are looking at a message entitled, “The wicked shall fall.” Psalms 27:2 says, "When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.” Here, the Bible is saying that the wicked shall stumble and fall. Sometime ago, a sister wanted to travel. Unknown to her, her enemies planned to kill her on the journey for they have already seen in the spirit that she would be traveling. The sister being a prayerful person prayed very well before she embarked on the journey. As she was waiting for a taxi with her suitcases placed in front of her, a prophet came to where she was standing, pointed at her suitcase and prophesied saying, “The owner of this luggage must not travel. If she does, she would certainly die.” But the sister who was not afraid at all, confronted him and said, “Mr. Prophet, I have already committed this journey into the hands of the living God. He knows about it and He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. He also preserves my going out and my coming in.” Apparently, her enemies who knew about the trip arranged for that evil prophecy in order to instill fear into her. Most times, the enemies employ the weapon of fear to get at their victims. But unfortunately for the enemies of this sister, she did not entertain any fear. Five days later, this so-called prophet ran into a train at a railway crossing and that was it! Nobody could explain how it happened. What the enemy planned for the sister went back to the enemy.
The word of God has very bad news for the wicked. Let us look at some of them. Job 8:22 says, "They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought." Job 11:20 says, "But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.” Job 18:6 says, "The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and his candle shall be put out with him." Psalms 7:1 says, "O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me.” Verses 5-6 say, "Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.” Psalms 146:9 says, "The Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.” Isaiah 3:11 says, "Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” Isaiah 48:22: "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." Isaiah. 57:20-21 says, "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Jeremiah 30:23 says, "Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked."
We are in the last days and the Bible makes us to understand the signs of the last days, which includes the fact that: Israel will be gathered again, there shall be false prophets all over the place, there shall be fear, the hearts of men will fail them, there will be increase in knowledge, lawlessness and corruption will increase and another sign of the last days which has been neglected is that there would be intense satanic revival and wickedness in the realm of the spirit. The devil will launch a desperate attack on the human race. When a desperate man is fighting, he fights with a strong determination. The devil is on his last desperate and final attack. My prayer is that you will not be consumed in Jesus’ name. So, any minister of God who is kind and can see the type of wickedness going around cannot sit down and pamper people by telling them to just be doing their praise worship, waving their hands and jumping up, and all their problems would be over. That is a big lie. It is often said that when there is no war, there is no peace.
The devil is enlisting the whole spirit of wickedness for his final attack against man. The Bible says that the dark place of the world is full of the habitation of wickedness and that wickedness shall increase. It did not say it will reduce. If human beings who are mortals can improve on what they are doing, it will be foolishness to believe that the devil’s agents will not improve. 1 Timothy 4:1 says, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." In the last days, the devil will have his teaching programme, his own Bible study, and all kinds of false doctrines to lead people astray. In short, wickedness will prevail.
2 Thessalonians 2:7 says, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way.” This verse is telling us that the iniquity that traps men and puts them into poverty, wrong things and leads them to hell fire is already at work but that there is somebody who is controlling it so that it does not go too far. But again the Bible says a time is coming that he who letteth shall be taken out of the way. Thick darkness is coming upon the world so the message of Peter which says, “Save yourself from this wicked generation,” becomes very necessary. I challenge you today to deliver yourself and save yourself from this wicked and adulterous generation. 2 Thessalonians 2: 8-10 says, "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." These are signs of the wickedness that would be released upon the world. Revelation 12:12 says, "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." The devil is angry because a greater power has been given to solely to the church. Luke 10:19 says, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the powers of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” It is only the church that has this power, not presidents, governors or professors. The devil is jealous because his kingdom has been taken away from him and some people are going to inherit it and become judges and God has counted you to be one of them. This is the reason for his anger.
2 Timothy. 3:13 says, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." Men are becoming even more wicked now. People collect other people’s urine or even faeces and use these things against them. Such people find that they are unable to urinate, and their stomachs start to swell. They go to the hospital, try all kinds of things and before you know it, they are dead.
When somebody dreams that a snail bit him, what can that mean? It means that the enemy is now using all those things that are not harmless against him. The person wakes up to find out that places where others go and succeed, he would go there and have problem. People send snakes to people. I know the case of a sister who was attacked by a big snake on the 5th floor of a building. There was also the case of a sister who watched as an invisible being ate her rug away. She saw the rug disappearing and was moving close to her. She jumped over it and rushed to a night vigil. There have been cases of nurses in the hospital confessing to drinking people’s blood. We have also a case of where somebody died and the members of his family who believed it was one of his eight wives that killed, took the eight of them to a shrine to swear before an idol in order for them to know the culprit. Eventually, the idol picked the wrong person because the real murderer had a more powerful idol. I have also seen people who cashed their cheques and never used the money for anything meaningful because at home, they have satanic agents who sat on the cheques. These satanic agents are sometimes their housegirls. We have seen people who have been locked up with evil padlocks. Mad people are now on the increase, and many believers are getting confused.There are many Christians who have up to fifty bondage to break and all the prayers they have prayed so far have broken only ten. Many people prayed through and received deliverance only to get into fresh bondage again. Somebody came here and after she had prayed all kinds of hot prayer points, she got back to her car and put on again the demonic bangles that her grandmother gave to her, which she left in the car when she was coming in, thereby renewing everything that had left her in the church. Many people are now asking questions like: “Why is my life like this?” “When will things ever be okay?” “Why is it that nothing seems to work?” “Why are certain spirits refusing to leave me alone. What have I done to them?” You cannot derive any good by harassing your mind. With these questions, you will only confuse yourself the more. You need to cry to the Lord for Him to turn your tears into spiritual acid and pour it on the head of your enemies.
Everybody has spiritual enemies. If you say you do not have, then you must have dropped from heaven because Jesus Himself had and they hated Him and did not hide it. They would have killed Him before His time if not that He had a ministry to fulfil. The Bible says of Him: "Who wicked men crucified and nailed on the cross." During His battle at the Garden of Gethsemane, He got to a level where He said, “This is your hour and the power of darkness.” He recognised it. If you say you do not have an enemy, then who sends evil thoughts to your mind? What makes you to forget the Scriptures you have memorised? So, do not deceive yourself about that. We have a lot of educated people, professors and doctors, who believe that this is all superstition. There was a lecturer in one of the universities who used to tell his students that there is no God. He also told them that he did not believe in charms either. He kept on polluting those boys and some of them believed him. Some even stopped going for fellowship.They reasoned that the lecturer had a Ph.D., a big car, fed well and had a beautiful wife and he was not serving God, nor consulted any herbalist. They stopped going to church and decided to emulate the lecturer. One day,one of the boys was coming from a party at 1 a.m and saw the figure of somebody. Behold, it was the lecturer naked and carrying a pot of sacrifice on his head. He looked at him and said, “Excuse me sir,” the man did not answer. So he rushed back to the church and started asking God to forgive him.
In the last days, men will become more and more wicked. The most dangerous position anybody can be is to allow the devil to make him believe that there are no evil powers when the Bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.
A sister had a dream where a man urinated inside a cup and asked her to drink it. She said, “But urine is not for drinking.” The man said, “Nobody is asking you whether they drink it or not, all I said is drink it.” She refused. So, he force fed her with the urine. She woke up feeling very bad and three days later, she developed high blood pressure and was admitted in the hospital. Shortly after, her fiance came to the hospital and called off their relationship. She started losing everything. It is wickedness.
The devil used wicked men to slay Jesus but little did he know that the death of Jesus would become his own defeat. There is a general judgment for the wicked but they can be judged even now. Deuteronomy. 32:35 says, "To me belongeth vengeance, and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." Psalms 149:5-9 says, "Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand. To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people. To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron. To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the Lord.”
WHEN JESUS WAS ON EARTH HOW DID HE DEAL WITH WICKED SPIRITS?
Matthew 8:29 says, "And behold, they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" So the wicked know their fate. They know where they are going. So if you allow them to spoil your life before they get to their final destination, it is your own fault. They said to Jesus, “Lord what have you to do with us? Leave us alone, let us destroy them in this place. Why are you disturbing us?” That was what they were telling Him. But Jesus said, “Shut up and get out.” Beloved, do you wish to allow yourself to be destroyed? If your answer is no, then you must prepare for war.
A lot of people are in a war and they are behaving as if there is no war. They just do what they like, wear what they want to wear, put on every chain available in the market on their necks, all the bangles on their hands, and even put some on their legs. They wear the type of clothes they should not wear and they are in a war. They do not know what they are facing yet. This is why I said you must prepare for war. You must make sure you put aside anything you know the enemy can use against you because it is time for war. Do you want your enemy to destroy you before they go to their final destination? No enemy can harm you without your co-operation.
I want you to be sure that you are not your own enemy. Fornicators are their own enemies, liars are their own enemies, all angry people are their own enemies, all those who fight and quarrel are their own enemies. So, please ensure that you are not your own enemy. You may say, “Well, I get angry but I cool down very quickly.” It is still the same thing, you are the enemy of yourself. If you leave an open door in your life, the enemy will utilise it.
WHAT ARE THESE OPEN DOORS?
Wrong attitude: This is in form of anger, pride, malice, gossip, backbiting, lukewarmness in prayer and Bible study, eating while others are fasting, running away from serious programmes, self display, etc, are doors through which the enemy can enter into a life.
Darkness: The wicked loves darkness. Satanic agents work better in darkness. So, stay in the light of God ‘s word. Do not approach the world of darkness for help. If you do, you will pay heavily for it, and not only you but your children also. The devil has no free gift. If he gives you one naira, he will take back a million naira and will demand for it at a time you do not expect. He can even demand it from your children or grandchildren. You can rebuke the operation of the wicked in your life today because the Bible says whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
A lot of people’s family members are enemies in disguise. Your friends in your family are those who are born again. All others can be used against you by the devil either directly or indirectly, so you better be careful. Those who patrol their home-towns to show off their new cars and let people know that they are prosperous in the town and not for the sake of preaching the gospel are playing with fire.
Deuteronomy 7:26 says, "Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it; but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing." A believer must be careful about the kind of money he handles. Any form of bribery, or money got in a wrong way should not come into your pocket. If you take such money, it will remove greater things from you and hinder God’s blessings. Also, do not store strange property in your life and home and expect blessings. It is time for all of us to carry out a research on our lives and a spiritual inventory of everything we have in our houses. A lot of sisters say they are born again yet they are still keeping things given to them by their former boyfriends. They are strange materials and must be destroyed. Perhaps you have stolen things before you got born again and you are still keeping them. You must let them go.
The reason some people have constant headache is because they are sleeping on stolen pillows and some have backache because they are sitting and sleeping on stolen chairs and beds. Some people have ulcer because when they were in a hotel they stole plates and are now eating with those stolen plates. Those who stole spoons now have problem with their mouths. Some have nightmares because they sleep on stolen bed sheets and some are jobless now because they studied with stolen books. There used to be a market somewhere in Lagos popularly known for secondhand books. It is not bad to sell or buy secondhand books. If someone finds that he does not need a book anymore, there is no rule that says he cannot sell it but the trouble with this market was that immediately you opened your box in the class those days and you find that any of your books was missing, if you run in time to this market you would still meet it. The dealers might just be trying to clear your name off it with a sandpaper and if you had some money on you, you could still buy your book back. Anyone who studies with such stolen books will fail or when he is able to get a certificate, it will be useless.
If you are keeping the devil’s property in your house, he has a right to come and inspect them from time to time. When he gets there, he asks them questions like, “I hope you are doing very well? I hope you are punishing your host very well?” Evil spirits will never leave anyone who is harbouring strange property in his house alone. Carry out an inspection of everything in your house. Find out how you got them. If you acquired them in an unrighteous way, return them to their rightful owners that is if you want the wicked to stumble and fall. If not, he will hold on to those things and will not be able fall completely.
When you clean your house, Jesus will come in and settle there. That is what happened to Zacchaeus. Jesus said to him, “Come down. Today, salvation has entered into your house and whatsoever you have taken from people would be returned four-fold.” Zacchaeus was a thief but he restored everything he had stolen.
At a crusade a long time ago, a particular man came forward anytime an altar call was made. In those days, they had what was called the sinner’s altar and if you wanted to give your life to the Lord, you would pray your way through unto salvation, not the way it is done these days. Nowadays, when altar calls are made, you see people who come out with their tight skirts with long slits and jeans trousers. They shake the preacher’s hands, and he says, “You are born again.” It was not like that in those days. You sit down there and pray your way through and when you pray through, nobody can confuse you. You will be convinced totally. So this man continued to answer the call and prayed. On the third day, he was the last person to leave the sinner‘s altar. Then the evangelist went to him and asked: “Brother, can I help you?” And he said, “Yes.” You have been seeing me here for the past three days.” The evangelist said, “Yes, that is why I want to help you.” He told the evangelist that he had been working in a place for twenty years and every month he stole a minimum of fifty pounds. Now that the evangelist had said people should make restitution where was he going to get all that money to pay back. The evangelist said, “No problem. You just go back to your boss tomorrow and tell him everything.” The man said, “Okay, but I will be jailed.” The next morning, he went to the general manager of the company and said, “Sir, you know I have been working here for twenty years. I also have been stealing money every month but now I want to get saved. I want to give my life to Christ. Right now, I prefer to go jail and I have my peace of mind than mine present state.” The general manager looked at him and said, “Well since you have decided to go to jail, to jail you shall go.” But on a second thought, the man looked at him and said, “I want honest people like you here. Nobody has ever come here to say anything like this. I will promote you.” So he got a promotion instead. He ran back to the crusade ground with excitement.
The devil makes people believe that if they make restitution, they will get into trouble. A lot of people who are now crying that they are not prospering have forgotten that at one time or the other, they cheated. You must make restitution if you need to before you can have your breakthrough. Ecclesiates 10:8 says, AHe that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.” I tell you God does not allow satan to just attack like that. God always protects His people. It is the devil that attacks people. If you have power over the devil, you should be the one chasing him. God built an edge around Job and the devil could not tear down that edge. But Job tore down the edge with his own mouth. You alone can tear down the edge that God is using to protect you. If by your own words of fear, you tear down the edge of protection that God put around you, the Bible says the serpent shall bite you. God hates this and does not want His people to do it.
Another important fact is in Matthew 11:12 which says, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Great miracles happen when you get violent. You have to get violent to get your freedom. The moment you get mad at the devil you will receive your healing from whatever sickness you have. So get violent today and receive that which is yours. We have allowed the devil to confuse us in so many ways. Some people even believe that the game is all over, that they just have to manage life. That is wrong. You may lose a battle, that does not mean you have lost the war. You cannot put up a defence against the power of God in your life and expect Him to help you. You must open up to Him and get violent with the enemy. When you get violent, God will fight for you. No battle is over until God says it is.
Beloved, I want you to think about everything the enemy has done to you. That should be enough to get you mad. The Bible says, “When my foes, (I do not know about you) and my enemies come upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumble and fall.” A good reader of the Bible would recognise that God does not tell useless stories and that anything that He allowed to go into the Bible must of spiritual significance.
LET US LOOK AT SOME PEOPLE IN THE SCRIPTURES WHO HAD ONE THING IN COMMON:
a. Jezebel: We do not have Jezebel the wife of Ahab here now but the spirit is around.
b. Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon): We do not have the kingdom of Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar ruled over now but the spirit of Babylon is here.
c. Goliath: The Goliath who challenged the Israelites is no longer alive physically but many people have Goliaths troubling them now. Goliath is what we call giant enemies that challenge people.
d. Saul: We do not have Saul here again but Saul pursued David for years. Likewise the Pharaoh of Egypt pursued the children of Israel to destroy them. We do not have Pharaoh here now but the spirits of Saul and Pharaoh are here with us. They are the stubborn pursuers. The interesting thing about Pharaoh and Saul is that they were both kings who had power at their disposal but made a mistake by chasing God people.
e. Ahitophel: Ahitophel was a fake friend to David. He was an evil counsellor. We do not have Ahitophel now but we have the spirit of Ahitophel which operates in the lives of people who will smile at you and tell how you are ever so fine but behind you they are biting serpents
f. Absalom: We do not have Absalom here again but the spirit of Absalom is in operation. It represents household enemies. Absalom was the enemy within the son that fought against his father.
g. The enemies of Daniel: We do not have such people now who can throw you into a physical lion’s den. But that is the spirit behind evil observers.
h. Haman: Haman was against Mordecai and effectively planned his death and got the instrument of death ready. We do not have Haman now but the spirit of Haman is working in those who plan the death of others. All these are the agents of satan.
The Lord has revealed these things so that His people can have complete deliverance. So, pray the following prayer points aggressively so that every oppression against you will stop.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Every evil association against me, be scattered, in Jesus' name.
2. Let all wicked spirits working against me fall by their own wickedness, in Jesus’ name.
3. Every wickedness that has been done against my life, stumble and fall, in Jesus’ name.
4. Any good thing that the enemy has removed from my life, my home, and my work, be restored immediately, in Jesus' name.
5. I command every spirit of wickedness that has ever had anything to do with my life right from the womb to gather together now, in the name of Jesus.
6. You forces of wickedness that have gathered now, receive the judgment of God, in the name of Jesus.
