Tree Of Life Ministries Association
http://www.treeoflifeinc.org
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Knowing the Enemy & Walking Through Walls
1 Peter 5:8
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I Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Some people try to ignore the devil, hoping that if they refuse to acknowledge him he won’t acknowledge them. Hoping that if they ignore him he’ll just go away. That doesn’t help! That doesn’t work because that is a plan hatched by an imperfect being that is living in an environment; 1) That was created for the devil
2) That we are intruders upon
3) That the devil has been given control of!
Isa 14:12-15
12) How art thou fallen from heaven, O’Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13) For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of GOD: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like The Most High.
15) Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
At a time before time, the devil, satan, beelzebub, the king of Babylon, the prince of this world, lucifer thought more highly of himself than he ought (Rom 12:3). In Romans 12: 13 it said, For thou hast said in thine heart….” He thought it and GOD knew it!
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that GOD, “…is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” We see through these two verses that this law applies to satan as well as man. What we see throughout the Bible is that what applies to man also applies to the angels but not always vise versa!
In Genesis 1:1-2 we see the results of the thoughts of satan.
1) “In the beginning GOD created the heaven and the earth.
2) And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the SPIRIT of GOD MOVED UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS.
I John 1:5 declares, “…that GOD is light, and in HIM is no darkness at all.”
Thus what we see in Genesis 1 is that GOD created the heaven and the earth. Then satan is placed here as shown in verse 2. Earth is “without form and void” not because it is without shape but because the SPIRIT of GOD has not yet impacted it! At this point “Darkness”, satan was all that really was present. This is the time of the dinosaurs. This is the time before time as far as the time of man is concerned.
Now, since as we read in I John 1:5 that in GOD there is no darkness, because we see that darkness was on the face of the deep and that satan is the prince of darkness, we can conclude that the earth was created for him, (to a point and in a way). Kind of as his own “deep space prison” and yet as we see in Job 1:6-7, he still can obtain access to GOD’s presence.
Then we see man intruding upon earth! As GOD creates or really re-creates the earth, HE stops at the end of each day and notices that this is good! You then almost get the impression that HE sleeps on it and decides to do something more the next day. This is NOT the case but that is the impression you could get.
Then on the sixth day GOD creates man! Here is where satan starts to get “creepy”. Genesis 1:26-31 is where man is formed and satan is informed that he is no longer in charge! For here man is given dominion.
Before I go too far let me stop and give order to things. Psalms 8:4-5 is where this comes from.
Ps 8:4-5
4) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the SON of MAN, that thou visitest him?
5) For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Keep in mind and record it in your heart that the word “angels”, in verse 5, should have been rendered “GOD or GODHEAD” but due to religious and political beliefs in the Church of England at the time of translation it was recorded as angels.
Now, there are many churches that will tell you there was no death before the fall of man and this may or may not be the case depending on how you see Genesis 1. What is your belief as to what GOD meant when HE said, “…and let them have dominion over…” (vs26) and, “replenish the earth, and subdue it…”(vs28). Then in verses 29-30 GOD tells us that herbs and fruit are to be the meat of every living thing possibly thereby stopping the killing for food! In many churches they will contend that because of these verses that pre-historic life didn’t exist. I find that harder to believe in light of fossil remains. Combining what we have read in verses 1-2 with what is written in verses 26-31 and the fossil remains, I find an even stronger argument for the re-creation theory. That is, that the earth existed “but” was void and without form or that darkness ruled. That satan had dominion and the stories that science conjures up about pre-historic times would fit the image of life without GOD in it! Why else, in verse 28 would GOD say to “replenish” the earth if death didn’t exist?
Then in chapter 2:7 GOD really stirs up the pot! Not only has HE started to disrupt satan’s kingdom but in verse 7 HE puts in place a new sheriff. A new authority and in that authority HE places some of HIMSELF. Now not only do they look like GOD, “made in HIS image”, but now HE has placed some of HIS SPIRIT in them when HE, “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;” and man became a living soul”. Prior to this point man was but a two part being; one of flesh and mind. When GOD breathed life into man he went from being something akin to pre-historic man to being a three part being of flesh, soul and spirit or “like” GOD as FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST. Now he is a creation that has been made slightly higher or with slightly more authority than the angels and has been given satan’s kingdom. He has been given satan’s house and satan is not a happy camper! Thus, now satan sees us as intruders upon his kingdom.
Science tells us that before Adam there not only was pre-historic life (dinosaurs) but there was pre-historic man. With this view (as previously stated) you can see how there could have been something to resemble what we now refer to as man. The important thing to note is that even though it resembled common day man it was only a two part being. It was missing the life of GOD breathed into it. It was missing a spirit. Thus cloning is an attempt by satan to replenish the earth with the kind of life forms that existed upon the earth before GOD’s SPIRIT moved. Replenishing it with something he has authority over.
Since satan is a spirit being (an angel, albeit fallen) and is able to see in the spirit, he sees us as similar to GOD. Yes he recognizes us as a fleshly being but he sees a spirit given by GOD within us and he hates that. He hates that we look like GOD and that we are on his turf. And that we are to exercise authority over it and him. Thus he goes to and fro upon the earth seeking whom he may devour (Job 1:7; I Peter 5:8). Then when he confronts a born again believer; one who has willing laid his life down and put on the life of JESUS, he really goes ballistic.
Now you have stated, through your confession, that you will be like JESUS and “go about doing good” (Acts 10:38). That you are willing to go about destroying the works of the devil! That, you are willing to exercise your authority! That, as in Genesis 1:28, you want to actively carry out mankind’s original commission; “Be fruitful, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Therefore, not only are we to have and exercise our authority or dominion over the fish, the birds and animals but “over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Satan is a living ‘thing”; that moves upon the face of the earth.
Job 1:7
And the LORD said unto satan, whence comest thou? Then satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
I Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
This attempt by us to allow GOD’s SPIRIT to be resurrected within us really angers satan for two reason. One because we are legally taking back something that he had obtained legally but through deceitful means. Secondly because in order to do it we resemble the SON of GOD!
Remember when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden? Adam was told that they could eat anything that grew except from the Tree of Good and Evil. Then satan comes before them and noticing that Eve’s spirit is more sensitive to things she sees and hears. That her being is more dominated by her emotions and that she can be reasoned with more. He attacks these areas in her.
What is her strength is also her weakness. What areas she is most able to use to help others with; what areas are the strongest within her are exactly the areas he attacks. Why? If he is unable to find a glitch or a weakness within an area then he can strengthen it until he creates an imbalance that he can use to easily push it over. A prime example of this can be seen in those who choose to live a gay lifestyle. Satan takes their strength and deceives them into believing that this strength is normal only if you are of the opposite sex. Since you are not, you should have been and that because of this it is ok to live the way you should have been. That GOD just made a mistake.
GOD doesn’t make mistakes! As you look back through Genesis 1 where do you see GOD making a mistake? Where do you find HIM saying, Whoops? You don’t! What you find, is that at the end of each day, HE noted how what HE had made was good!
In the Garden satan creates an imbalance in Eve’s thoughts by making her believe that he has the ability to give her something that GOD has but is holding back from her. She fails to realize that what he is offering her she already has. If she were to resist him beyond her first answer and he left she would have been choosing to do good rather than evil. She would have chosen to stay obedient to GOD. She would have demonstrated superiority to the angels by using the WORD to defeat his attempts to destroy her. She would have demonstrated that she would prefer a lifestyle based upon dependence on GOD rather than one based upon independence from GOD as satan had chosen for himself. She would have demonstrated that GOD was her sufficiency.
If Eve had been able to see through her emotional desires to “be like GOD” and had been able to see with the SPIRIT within her, she would have discovered that, “greater is HE that is within me than he that is in the world!” She would have discovered that all she needed was GOD’s word! She would have obtained eternal security through the Tree of Life. If she had been able to resist the devil she would have looked just like JESUS. But, she didn’t and neither did Adam! This made satan the legal ruler of earth again!
Remember in Genesis 1:28, GOD told man to subdue and have dominion over all of the earth. Since Eve was unable to resist the temptation of the serpent (satan) he gained and demonstrated that he had authority over mankind. He showed what GOD says of him in Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD GOD had made….”
In Genesis 1:2, The earth was void; it was missing GOD! Darkness was upon the deep; satan was authority over everything until GOD’s SPIRIT started to move! With HIS SPIRIT moving GOD demonstrates HIS authority to satan within satan’s kingdom. Then GOD sets within satan’s kingdom a new authority (Gen 1:28) and satan then wrestles back his authority from this new creature.
Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Through the subtle deception of Eve, satan legally re-obtained his authority over all of the earth and in doing so, as GOD had said, man died! He died spiritually. Unlike his pre-historic predecessors he still had within him a spirit provided by GOD but it was dead to GOD. This explains two scriptures.
First, John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…”
Note that in this scripture GOD has John use both “kill” and “destroy” and he uses kill before destroy. When you understand the term “killed” as applied to the spirit only, you can understand that GOD places more importance on your spiritual life than HE does on your physical life.
Now turn to Matthew 10:28;
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear HIM which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
There is only one who can do this and that is GOD! Remember the story of Job? Satan must get permission to touch us. Satan goes about “seeking” whom he “may” devour. By our actions, thoughts and beliefs we place before GOD whether to allow satan access to our lives or not. Since GOD desires that none “should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)
When in the Garden, while confronted by “the serpent”, Adam and Eve (Adam in the Hebrew means “mankind”) had a choice to make. Would they be dependent upon GOD or independent of HIM? Their decision was the same one we face every day and contained within it the same consequences. If they were to be dependent upon HIM they would have everlasting life! If they were to be independent of HIM they would die spiritually and no longer have HIM living within them!
In Genesis 3:4-5, satan shows that he is unable to kill their spirits. He shows that “they” must choose to be independent of GOD for their spirits to die and this is what he convinces Eve to do.
So why did Adam choose to become independent also? Man is “sight” oriented, we are most influenced by what we see. When Adam sees that Eve has eaten from the fruit and still physically alive he believes that it is all right to eat of the fruit. Thus she holds the fruit out to him and he takes it without a question. This is only part of what is meant in I John 4:1 when we are instructed to, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits….” Adam didn’t have this instruction to draw from. All he knew was what he had heard or seen. He knew that GOD forbid him to touch or eat from the Tree of Good and Evil and he had heard that if he did he would die but he saw that Eve had done this but that she was still alive. He was confronted by whether to believe GOD or what he saw! Remember I Peter 5:8, satan is seeking permission! Adam’s and your choices are that permission.
Now that you understand that this earth was created for satan; that we are in his eyes intruders upon his kingdom and that we (mankind) gave him permission to control it, we need to look at how he controls it in order to break free from his influence.
Now in Ephesians 6:12, we have a description of the kingdom of darkness and try like he wishes even satan cannot shake GOD’s influence. Even in his kingdom satan and his demon angels operate in a structure just like we and the angels do in GOD’s kingdom. One that is designed by GOD of rank and order, rules and discipline. Satan rules over this kingdom of darkness as “the prince of this world”(John 12:31); “the god of this world”(2 Cor 4:4): “the great dragon” (Rev 12:9) or “that old serpent” (Rev 20:2).
Let’s look back at Eph 6:12 now!
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Principalities:
Principalities are rulers. The definition of a principality is a, “princely power: supreme rule.” The prince is the highest authority within a lesser kingdom. Thus, when as indicated in John 12:31 satan is called “the prince of this world” he is recognized as “the” authority in this subkingdom. Now even though I call it, earth, a subkingdom it is a sovereign kingdom. A kingdom which satan has legal permission to operate as long as he operates legally.
Powers:
When satan was still an angel in heaven, indicators are that he was the ruler of music or praise and worship. He was “the” authority over this area of the angels. Over this area of GOD’s kingdom! As the “power” or “authority” over this area he carried with him the power to require and receive submission: the right to expect obedience: the superiority derived from a status that carries with it the right to command and give final decisions.
Rulers:
Rulers of the darkness of this world! These are lesser authorities, ones whose power, authority or influence is derived by the assent of others. They are “Rulers” by the fact that others have appointed them powers or voted them authority.
Spiritual Wickedness:
Spiritual wickedness in high places! These are what we refer to as the “demons”. The occupying armies of satan. Those who derive their authority by force. Who through threats, fear tactics and intimidation retain a hold over an area. These are satan’s angels (Matt 25:41; Rev 12:9). These have no physical bodies, they are smart but very evil, unhappy and vicious spirits! These are the soldiers of satan. They come in and dominate mankind as well as animals (Matt 8:28-32; 12:43-45; Mark 5:8-13). Their tactics are to impose physical disease (Matt 9:33; mark 9:38-42) or to torment, produce mental illness and/or to drive people to corruption and destruction (Mark 5:4-5). This is a well-organized army that does not divide against itself (Matt 12:25-26).
As we have seen this world has a structure of darkness controlling it. It has a hierarchy of powers and forces of evil controlling it. In it they apply a unified effort to control us and to have us conform to the image of darkness!
JESUS understood this! HE understood that any kingdom divided in its own purpose was a kingdom that was divided against its self and that if not destroyed from outside forces would then destroy itself. This is why JESUS never established a “church” or “religion”, instead HE attempted to establish within us our purpose and our focus. HE attempted to bring us together in the unity of our faith. HE told us to, "…love the LORD thy GOD with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”(Luke 10:27)
In John 16:32; speaking to HIS disciples HE warns them, ” Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the FATHER is with ME. “ Basically this warning is to inform them of the soon coming scattering that they will experience and yet it is more! It is also a comfort for them! Through this warning JESUS is also showing them that HE knew this would happen and for them not to lose faith. They can gain comfort from the fact that through HIS warning and the subsequent happening that HE really was who HE said HE was! Once they had gathered their thoughts they would then do that which HE had next wanted them to do which was to gather themselves in unity of purpose and wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with power.
Throughout the 16th and 17th chapter; during the time while HE and the disciples are taking a final walk through the vineyard, JESUS is re-affirming within their hearts that HE knew this would happen and that it was all right! That it was all part of the FATHER’S overall great plan. That it was all part of the strategy of warfare laid-out by the FATHER to restore and re-establish dominion of this world to man. To spoil the plans and strategies of the enemy!
In order to do this they must first understand who their enemy is! They must understand his kingdom structure! They must understand his strategies and desires for their souls! They must understand that he will try to divide them by way of outside forces, (Roman soldiers, Sanhedrin, Pharisees, Scribes and Levites) or by way of forces within their ranks, (Judas, Mary and HIS half brothers and sisters when they were standing at the doorway when Joseph had died or the difference in view as to what should be done by Mary and Martha when Mary poured the ointment from her Alabaster box upon JESUS at the Passover supper).
JESUS understood the power of unity! In John 17:11, while praying HE says, “HOLY FATHER, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.”
HE then declares this over all the generations to come in verses 20-23,
20) Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on ME through their word;
21) That they all may be one; as thou, FATHER, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22) And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23) I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Satan has divided the body of CHRIST over multiplied millions of details. He has entered our ranks, comforted us and raised himself through the body and then over details divided us! He has caused division and differences that we now call “denominations”! We say, “Well I don’t believe this or that! We have taken scripture and so divided it that we can prove anybody wrong over just about everything! We have made the power of GOD of none effect by the teaching of the traditions of the word as we see it! (Mark 7:13 paraphrased)
We will see JESUS come again when we learn to “Walk Through Walls”! When we learn to step past those things which so easily beset us (Heb 12:1). When we learn that all scripture can be used for doctrine (II Tim 3:16). When we learn to love thy brother as thyself (Luke 10:27). When we learn to come into the unity of the believers (Eph 4:13). And when we finally learn to preach JESUS CHRIST and HIM crucified (I Cor 2:2)
When we learn this; then and only then we can say, “Even so, come LORD JESUS.” (Rev 22:20)
