Our battles are essentially spiritual. It will therefore require a spiritual approach to have our desired victory.
There’s a spiritual dimension to those habits, those controls, those depressive moods; they are organised by hell, just to disconnect you from source.
God wants us to come to the point where when we can see certain
things constantly working against us, we should be able to say to ourselves,
“There’s a force at work here!”, and then to launch an attack against it, in order to secure our victory.
The wicked do not plan to stop…
Daniel 12:10
Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
Our role is to expose the devil and his cohorts and deal with them accordingly.
The famous Job suffered under the affliction of Satan for so long because he didn’t know the source of his troubles.
He thought it was God that was afflicting him.
He said to his wife: …What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?Job 2:10
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.
Ephesians 6:12
There are forces called rulers of the darkness of this world. They are behind all the works of darkness.
They are spirits.
They are forces in the spiritual realm, that are out to devastate the destinies of men.
Mark 1:23
And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
There is what is called unclean spirits.
What is the mission of unclean spirits? To make men walk in all manner of uncleanliness and defeat.
There are many scriptures that establish the reality of these controlling spirits.
Let’s look at them one after the other.
Spirit Of The World
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1 Corinthians 2:12
So there is a spirit of the world. What does that spirit command?
1 John 2:15-17 tells us:
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will
of God abideth for ever.
We see here that the spirit of the world commands the activities of the lust of the flesh. It monitors, supervises, co-ordinates, and organises the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
The spirit of the world has destroyed many families.
The woman wants everything money can buy, until she wears the man out! That is the lust of the eyes!
For a man or woman to be wearing clothes on credit, he or she is under the captivity of the spirit of the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes.
To look at a wristwatch that is worth thousands of dollars and go for it, while other pressing issues are left unattended to, is sickening!
Friends, these things work so subtly. You don’t hear the “footsteps” of a serpent, do you?
Who is looking at you?
The worth of a man is not in his dress, it’s in his address! Your worth is in your value to men, not in the things you put on your body.
There Is Also A Lying Spirit
And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1 Kings 22:22
So there is a lying spirit. You may even look so anointed under it’s influence!
Lying is one of those demonic influences over the lives of people, to make
them come under God’s wrath.
Listen to me, those who won’t go to heaven know from here. Since it is written
that all liars won’t go there (Revelation 21:8)
Spirit Of Bondage
Romans 8:15
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
There is a spirit of bondage.
It gets people tied down, locked up, and chained down!
This spirit is responsible for all manner of afflictions that people suffer. Talking about the woman that was under affliction for eighteen years in Luke 13:16, Jesus asked:
And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan
hath bound…be loosed from this bond…?
That’s the spirit of bondage! It is a spirit of captivity. You just get captured by it!
When Jesus was here on earth ministering, He was healing many who were oppressed of the devil. …Healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Acts 10:38
Everything binding you to what you don’t want is a spirit of bondage.
Romans 8:20
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.
“Not willingly”! It’s a force, a control, by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope.
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Verse 21
Spirit Of Whoredoms
Hosea 5:4
They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of
whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord.
There is a spirit of whoredoms. It constantly craves filthiness, sexual
immorality, making motions in the body, etc.
You have cried secretly, you have fasted and prayed! Yet you can’t break from
it. It’s a spirit —the spirit of whoredoms. That’s the spirit of adultery and
fornication. That crave for adultery in you is a spirit. It’s a control! It’s an unclean
spirit! You have power over it! Jesus gave us power against unclean spirits, to cast
them out (Matthew 10:1).
Spirit Of Disobedience
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience.
Ephesians 2:1-2
There’s a spirit of disobedience!
The ministry of that spirit is fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind
(that’s where it works, it’s domain).
This spirit works disobedience in people, going through the flesh and the mind
to take people off God’s presence, so that they can be afflicted and tormented.It
works through the flesh and the mind, to make you a child of wrath; to bring the
wrath of God upon your life!
But the hour of your liberty has come. It’s over now! The answer is here!
So what can we do?
Break That Control!
For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your
fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
Jeremiah 4:3
Your fallow ground is the hardened area of your life that you have not
been able to find an answer to.
Now, God has shown you that it’s some forces in the air that have been
responsible for those negative habits and lifestyle.
“Break…!” That connotes a force.
So God must have made available to us provisions required to enable us break
those things, and “Seek the Lord.”
By destiny you’re an overcomer!
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith.
1 John 5:4
So, there is no way for the devil!
Cast Off!
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Romans 13:12
“Cast Off!” That is the same word that is implied in Mark 16:17:
And these signs shall follow them who believe; In my name they shall cast
out devils…
Many are heavily oppressed. By that oppression they are under influences that
are, as it were, stronger than their ordinary will.
Put Off!
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy
communication out of your mouth.
Colossians 3:8
Just the same way you put off your clothes, you can put off unrighteousness.
I’d like you to see the weakness of these spirits. Because when a strongman,
armed, keeps his goods, his goods are in safety. It now takes a stronger man to
come upon him and overcome him.
The moment you see Satan as stronger than you, you will remain a captive.
The Bible says, “Put off!”, not, “Struggle to put off” ! “Put off all these…”
So you can put off anger, malice, wrath, blasphemy, filthy communications out
of your mouth, etc.
Put On…
In that same Colossians 3, verse 10 says:
And have put on the new man…
Can you see now?
It’s just like changing clothes! You put off this and you put on that. You put off
the old man with its deeds, and put on the new man.
Verse 12:
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.
And then in verse 14 it says:
And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
So you can put off anything you don’t want and you can put on that which you
want.
Lay Aside!
Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:1
You can lay aside that spirit of bondage, that spirit of whoredoms, that lying
spirit, etc. You have a choice.
You have the power to lay it aside, or God wouldn’t ask you to do so.
You can handle it! You can deal with it!
The Bible says:
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to
fulfil the lusts thereof.
Romans 13:14
That means it’s only your provision that grants it entrance. But as far as God is
concerned, it has no power over you.
Mortify!
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of
disobedience.
Colossians 3:5-6
To mortify means to destroy.
You can destroy fornication, you can destroy lasciviousness, you can destroy reaenvy and all the likes of it.
Purge Yourself!
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour,
sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
2 Timothy 2:21
And 1 John 3:3 says:
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is
pure. Who does the purifying? You!
Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
1 John 5:21
Who keeps himself? You! You have to accept that responsibility.
Verse 18 also says:
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is
begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
Who keeps himself? You!
Accepting personal responsibility is what establishes a man’s dignity.
Stop looking out for who to blame.
Exercise Yourself
Paul, writing to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7, said:
But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto
godliness.
The same Paul makes it clear in Acts 24:16 that:
And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense
toward God, and toward men.
No one excels in anything without exercise. You have to put yourself on line
for victory! Every sportsman positions himself by doing appropriate exercises, in
order to excel.
Godliness is not cheap, the opposition is tense! It calls for lots of exercises.
So, the holiness adventure demands a personal responsibility. There’s no one
to blame.
Say to the Lord: “Lord, help me to accept total responsibility for a life that
pleases You.”
Isaiah 51:7 says:
Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness…
Righteousness is a thing to know. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free” (John 8:32).
So, righteousness is a thing to follow after and a thing to learn, so you can
know. When that is in place, everything else works.
Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him…
Isaiah 3:10
Walk In or after The Spirit
…Walk in the spirit and you will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16
In addition, look at Romans 8:3-4:
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh:
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The righteousness of the law is “fulfillable”. How? By walking after the Spirit,
by engaging the law of the Spirit of life in battle.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they
that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be.
Romans 8:5-7
It is impossible to be free from the law of sin and death, without the law of the
Spirit. It takes the law of the Spirit to break the law of sin and death, because:
…they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he
that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his
Spirit that dwelleth in you.