Some Christians claim to be ‘fighting the devil’ all the time, yet the crux of spiritual warfare is overcoming our flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us. We cannot ‘cast out’ the flesh, it must be crucified on a daily basis. Spiritual authority and power are both referenced in scripture, for the purpose of overcoming our flesh and doing the works of Christ. It’s important we know the difference. You’ll need to activate both for victory in Christ. Tune in now as Carl continues this exciting series on spiritual authority…
Here is a complete transcript of the podcast…
It is desirous that we not only understand our authority in Christ Jesus but know how to use it as I’ve said in previous broadcasts. We have no spiritual authority in and of ourselves of course, but the authority is found in the name of Jesus Christ, as I will shortly explain. Now, the first measure of authority we must enforce; is authority over our flesh. Any context of spiritual warfare in the Bible is first and foremost addressing the war between our flesh and the Spirit. They are at enmity, with each other; they are hostile to one another as the bible says. If we take full control over our flesh, then we hereby give no place or foothold to the devil, and he has no means to devour us. Wrestling with the devil and demon forces is a secondary skirmish, after we’ve crucified the flesh and they cannot take any ground in our lives if we maintain our flesh’s crucifixion.
Remember we can cast out evil spirits for sure, but we can’t cast out our flesh, it must be crucified, daily. Whenever we cast out a spirit, without dealing with the underlying fleshly root or access point, it’s like mowing the grass, it will keep coming back. We must deal with the root of the issue or the heart of the matter always, whenever we seek to perform deliverance in a person’s life or confront strong addictions that seemingly cannot be overcome. I must also warn you, that if you repeatedly give in to the flesh in your life, then over time you will reap corruption and in some rare instances, we may grant access to demon forces if we’re not careful. No-one likes to talk about this, but it is a Biblical fact.
Settling the flesh issue is not a onetime affair. The flesh’s crucifixion requires steadfast diligence and ongoing discipline to keep it under. But how do we do this? By walking in the Spirit. Some people are so focused on everything being caused by a demon; they get off track when they do this. Demons are real certainly but they’re not our major concern, the flesh is our major concern. Maybe some of us need a kick in the pants! I’m speaking metaphorically now of course. Not everything is caused by a demon friend; there are spiritual laws, the laws of cause and effect, sowing and reaping, law of agreement etc. If we become fixated with the hordes of darkness, you’ll find they will become more real to you because whatever you magnify or focus upon will become more real to you. Magnify Jesus, friend, and He will become more real to you, but magnify the devil and his demon forces and you will find out their dark presence will be strengthened in your life. And we don’t want that. Our thoughts should be towards the Lord all the time, not fear or anxiety or worry or doubt. Remember friend, the mind is the battlefield.
Now Satan commonly utilizes the same three temptations on man today as he did to Christ 2000 yrs. ago and to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden…why? Because they work, that’s why. Why change your tactics if they work right? These effective satanic weapons are identified as the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and pride of life. These can be found in 1st John 2:16 and are prevalent throughout humanity. The temptations you encounter in this life stem from these three sources. When Satan tried to offer Jesus, the “Kingdoms of this world” in exchange for bowing down to him; that was a temptation in line with the lust of the eyes, when Satan offered Jesus food, when he was very hungry after a long fast, that was the lust of the flesh. And when Satan tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the high place so angels could catch him… that was the pride of life. Friend, the first measure of spiritual warfare is keeping our flesh under with discipline as I mentioned, and the next arena is the realm, of evil spirits. It’s no use trying to fight the demon hoards if there are still some fleshy things that need to be resolved in your personal life. We need to do both of course. Satan unfortunately doesn’t take vacations, but there are seasons of temptation in our lives, followed by seasons of rest.
Now you have authority because you have a physical body. Having a physical body enables you to have dominion on this earth. Evil spirits and Satan himself, or other angels for that matter do not have authority on this earth, so their strategy is to oppress or even possess men in order to gain influence and ultimately control. Believe it or not, Jesus himself had to be born through the natural birth gate in order to have authority on this earth. Psalm 115:16 says, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s: But the earth hath he given to the children of men.” And that is why Jesus had to go through the natural birthing process if he wanted authority on the earth because God the Father had granted the earth to the children of men. We read about this process indirectly in John’s Gospel, chapter ten. If you recall Jesus was often called the Son of Man, particularly in the Gospel of Luke and this conforms to the view that man had authority and dominion, Christ was born into this dominion and Christ also laid aside his divinity to function as a man, baptized with the Holy Ghost and operating in the Gifts of the Spirit as a result. John 10:10 says “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”
Jesus entered this earth through the sheepfold. He entered through the legal means of natural birth with the seed of his Father and through the womb of Mary. Jesus entered through the natural birth gate, so he had physical authority to minister on this earth as YOU DO, filled with the HOLY SPIRIT. Man has dominion on this earth and therefore we have authority because we have a physical body. But someone who climbs up, ‘some other way’ does not have dominion; he is a thief and robber. That ‘other way’ described here is through demonic oppression or possession. A spirit being needs a physical body in order to manifest himself. If Satan can influence a national leader, then he can cause great harm in the earth, because he would be circumventing the rightful authority God had conferred to that leader. That is why in the Garden of Eden, Satan appeared as a serpent, he needed a physical body, he possessed a serpent and spoke to Adam and Eve through the creatures’ vocal cords. And this is a prime example of climbing up “some other way” in verse ten that I just read.
Evil spirits have the power to either oppress or even possess both man and animals, and this is usually coined under the term Demonization. This is well documented in the bible and for those who do not know Jesus as Savior; then you’re certainly more vulnerable to demonic attacks than those of us in Christ Jesus. We have authority over Satan and his demon forces, this is a scriptural fact, whether you believe it or not (Luke 10:19). You have authority over Satan in your personal life and it’s a tragedy to leave that authority dormant through either ignorance or unbelief. In these sessions I can solve the ignorance aspect, you will know by the end of this broadcast beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have authority in Christ but enforcing that authority is entirely up to you and I cannot do it for you. We must know and do, not just know; knowing by itself is not good enough. Knowing how to use a weapon is not enough, we must use the weapon, or it is no weapon at all.
Now in the time of Christ, Zeus was the King God of the pantheon. He was the King of Greek Gods and the Greek speaking people of the world at that time and in direct opposition to God himself. He is the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter. If you recall in the book of Revelation there is mention of the “seat of Satan”, this was referring to a throne set up for Zeus in Modern day Turkey. Revelation 2:12-1312 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat (throne) is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.”
Satan felt at home in Pergamos which was a Mecca for false Gods, they made him feel welcome. Pergamos itself means, ‘elevated’ or ‘exalted’. Satan loves the high places and the dry places. In fact, in the lovely mountains where we live above 7000 ft in elevation; we have counted at least 4 shrines to false Gods in the region. Pergamos even had a counterfeit healing spa called the “Esclepia”, based on the serpent God” Asclepius” which the public would visit for healing in the waters. Now, Antipas in this passage was the Bishop of Pergamon and ordained by the Apostle John. At the top of the altar to Zeus was a bull shaped idol made of bronze, designed for human sacrifice. This is how sick and twisted Satan is, he loves human sacrifice, whether they be adults or children. Antipas died because he would not acknowledge Zeus as God, He was a Bishop and a martyr. It’s no different today friend; America has sacrificed 59 million children by abortion in the altar of Zeus and Europe is no different.
Interestingly, Karl Hueman discovered this very monument to Zeus in 1864, and transported it for display in Berlin, Germany in 1930, and guess who took a liking to it? You guessed it, Adolf Hitler himself. He used this throne as a template for the design of his inaugural Nazi party speech platform at Nuremburg. It became known as the “Zeppelin tribune”. …Evil is as evil does as Forrest Gump nearly said. Is it any co-incidence that evil men are drawn to these evil monuments, or unbeknownst to them, were evil spirits influencing them to erect such a platform as a symbol, from to launch their desire for world domination? And look what happened to that. As I said before, we need to pray for leaders in authority because unknowingly they may be subject to the principalities, powers and rulers of this world in the heavenly realms, and this is the ultimate example of being falsely led by evil forces.
The point I’m making friend, is that Satan and his forces are real, this isn’t fantasy, this isn’t Star Wars or make believe; the church must not be blind to his devices, schemes, traps or snares. Someone once said, If Satan can’t destroy the church through persecution, he will try through compromise…which is perhaps a far more dangerous weapon because of its subtlety. And if you’ve witnessed the corruption of recent Bible versions and the Emergent Church movement in recent times, and the joining of Apostate Christianity with Islam, then you know this to be true. Friend, the authority lies in the name of Jesus. Philippians 2:8-11 says, “8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Friend, every knee must bow to the name of Jesus whether it’s voluntarily in this life or involuntarily in the next. Jesus’ name is above cancer, aids, arthritis, fibromyalgia, Celiac Disease, Chron’s disease and everything else for that matter; that Satan can conjure up. It’s time to start speaking to those things that would come against you.
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