We must become identified with the victory that Jesus has won—not only with His redemptive work, but also with His Kingdom. We are very deeply concerned that not only the spirit realm, but the physical realm and the financial realm as well yield to the blessing of the Lord.
God spoke to His people through Haggai concerning a great shaking: “ ‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’ For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.’ ” (The twelfth chapter of Hebrews also speaks about the great shaking.) “ ‘And I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations; and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts. ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I shall give peace,’ declares the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:5–9.
When the prophet speaks of the glory of the latter house, we assume that he refers to a spiritual glory. Was there a spiritual glory in the former house? The glory of the Lord filling Solomon’s Temple on the day of dedication appeared like a cloud of smoke, and one hundred and twenty priests fell on their faces, unable to minister. On the natural plane, the wealth of the ancient world was represented by the gold in the Temple: pillars overlaid with gold and vessels made of solid gold. God said, “The gold is Mine and the silver is Mine.”
At the time of the invasions, the gold vessels were taken away to Babylon. Belshazzar prepared a great feast for a thousand of his lords. Ancient history tells about trained peacocks walking up and down, carrying delicacies that had been brought from the entire world. At this feast the consecrated gold vessels from the Temple were used to impress the guests with the wealth of the empire. That was the night the hand appeared on the wall, writing, “Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin”—“Weighed, weighed, and found wanting!” That night Belshazzar fell (Daniel 5). The Temple was rebuilt under Zerubbabel, but the former glory was never there. Under King Herod, another Temple was built, but the glory was not there either. In 70 A.D. that Temple was destroyed and not one stone was left standing upon another.
What about Haggai’s prophecy that the glory of the latter house would be greater than the glory of the former? That prophecy was not fulfilled in his generation. They had none of the gold or silver of ancient times. Their Temple could not begin to rival Solomon’s Temple. When the Temple was rebuilt, the old men wept, remembering the glory of Solomon’s Temple before the years of captivity. Things had shifted gears from the natural level to a spiritual level, and for almost two thousand years the Church has not been a material thing. The temple of God is made of living stones, built for a habitation of God by the Spirit.
The prophecies of Ezekiel tell of the glory coming in at the threshold of the Temple. For almost a year it hovered over the Temple, and then it moved slightly east over Jerusalem. It hung there for a while, and then the glory disappeared completely. Every Jew knows about the Shekinah glory that once surrounded the ark of the covenant—a glory that was not seen again until it appeared at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple.
On the day of Pentecost, one hundred and twenty believers, gathered in an upper room, heard a rushing mighty wind. Cloven tongues of fire sat upon each one of them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. It was God’s way of saying, “I have moved My glory now to a new kind of a temple—a temple not made with hands, but made of living stones. The Church of Jesus Christ will be where I dwell.”
What is the glory of the latter house? It is the glory that must include more than just the spiritual life of a few people. It must invade every other realm. Something has happened during the past centuries, and the Church no longer seems to have the authority and the power to heal the sick as they did in the Bible days. They do not have the concourse with angels or the openness to the spirit world. In this day the Lord wants to restore to a remnant of people His full authority, so that the glory of the latter house will be greater than the former.
The book of Revelation closes with a story of two mystical women: one a harlot (the false church) riding upon a beast, and the other a bride adorned for her bridegroom in fine linen, clean and white. Revelation 17 speaks about mystery Babylon, how the merchants and kings of the earth have grown fabulously wealthy through her merchandise. Revelation 18 gives a picture of spiritual Babylon, telling how it will come down. We are living in a day in which the economic system controls the nation. Through the ecumenical movement, religious control is centered in the World Council of Churches. Building permits that are issued to any church must be approved by this organization. The ecumenical movement is not going deeper into spiritual truths; instead, the churches are filled with less and less of the Spirit of God. In the United States today, the major part of Christianity does not even believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures. The United States has a wonderful heritage, and probably ninety percent of all missionary effort receives its support from Christians in this country. Yet most of them have a name they profess, but it is dead.
However, God still has a remnant, a people who believe in the blood of Jesus Christ as the atonement for sin. They believe that the Bible is the Word of the living God, that Jesus was the virgin-born Son of God, that He came to redeem the world and will come again as the King of kings and Lord of lords to set up His Kingdom. In this day, we dare not be passive and indifferent, given to the trends that produce antichrists, false churches, and Babylon; instead, we should contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered to the saints.
This is a day of increasing demonic activity. The Church is believing less and less, while the world is believing more and more—in ghosts, in spirits and spiritism, in various forms of the occult, astrology, and mysticism. There are more devil worshipers and more covens of witches today than have existed at any time in the history of the world. More books on witchcraft have been circulated in the United States in the past decade than in all the years since we have been a nation. There are movies dealing with witchcraft, and organized churches promote the worship of Satan.
What is our reaction to the fact that the world is opening up to the spirit realm? At a time when most Christian people are not even upholding the basic tenets of their faith, we are moving toward the restoration of the truth. We want to find it. It may not have been preached heretofore, but we know that it is in the Word and we are going to find it. The Spirit will guide us into all the truth. It would help if we could be detached from our many preconceived ideas and come to understand certain basic truths.
Satan has tried to divide the whole world into areas. The book of Daniel, especially the ninth chapter, gives a clear picture of this. Jeremiah had prophesied that Babylon would hold the children of Israel in exile for seventy years. Apparently about the sixty-eighth or sixty-ninth year, Daniel was praying to see if God would open the door for them to return home. He prayed and fasted for twenty-one days. The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and explained that his prayer had been heard and he was coming with the answer, but the prince of the power of Persia had withstood him for twenty-one days. Michael came to help Gabriel, and they battled through and brought the answer to Daniel. In the book of Romans Paul tells about endeavoring to go to Rome (the center of devil power in his day), but Satan hindered him.
We know that God is almighty, and that Christ absolutely defeated Satan and his principalities and powers. We know also that Christ died for sin, yet this does not mean that all sin automatically disappears. It only disappears when we apply faith to our hearts and believe that He died for our sins. We may believe that He died for a certain individual; but only when we minister the Word to him and he accepts it, does it apply to him. It is one thing to have it provided; it is another thing to have it applied. The Word says that when Jesus Christ died, He defeated principalities and powers on His cross, making an open show of them, triumphing over them (Colossians 2:15). On His cross He defeated Satan and all principalities and powers. This has been done, but the application of it takes place every time you come against a demon-possessed person and say, “In the name of Jesus, come out of him,” because the name of Jesus provides the victory that is complete and perfect. Do you believe in that power in the name of Jesus? Do you believe that the victory which Christ won is absolute and sovereign? Do you believe that it applies to every one of you and to anyone who will open his heart and believe in the name of Jesus?
The provision is very great, but now we must be concerned about the application. Some people must come along who believe this and then start loosing areas, in the name of the Lord, from the principalities and powers that are governing them. Anyone with any spiritual perception or sensitivity can sense, when driving through the country, the different kinds of spirits that seemingly control and govern certain areas. That is why there is often an unexplainable concentration of specific types of wickedness in certain areas.
As we become sensitive to the Lord, we also become sensitive to the entire realm of spirit. If we are going to win a victory, we must believe that wherever we go, we take along the authority of the name of Jesus. If we want to plunder the house of the strong man, first we must bind the strong man. People who go about, zealously trying to win souls by passing out tracts and witnessing, forget that some of those people are blinded. The god of this world has them blinded and bound in chains, so that light will not come to them. Wouldn’t it be more effective and much wiser to first bind the satanic powers that are binding that individual, and then witness to him in the Holy Spirit? Most people who find Christ have had someone praying for them, loosing them from the spiritual bondage they are under. Then when another Christian comes along and tells them about the Lord, it is like picking a piece of fruit off a tree. They are ready to accept it because nothing is blinding them or binding them. If you want to see victory, you must first bind the enemy. Then you can go in and plunder his house. Binding the demon powers is done with Christ’s authority. We have won the victory by Christ’s victory over them, and in the name of Jesus we enter into that victory.
Why are so many people in this move of God aware of demon activity? Why don’t we just ignore that and forget it? That is what Mary Baker Eddy said too. “There is no such thing as sin—it is only error. There are no demons or angels.” According to Christian Science, an angel is a good thought and a demon is a wrong thought.
Today’s young people especially must be alert to the spirit world, because they will be living in a world with more demonic activity than any generation has known since the dawn of the world. They may also live to see the final conflict of the ages resolved in their generation, when all things will be fulfilled and Satan will be chained and thrown into the bottomless pit. This may be the generation of the Lord’s return to the earth. We believe that it is. We believe in the signs of the time: the wars and rumors of wars, the distress of nations. All of these things point to the Lord’s coming. We look for it and we say, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”
In the meantime, we are living in a world where two things are coming to a head: God’s glorious mystery of righteousness is coming forth in a remnant of His people, while at the same time iniquity is working in the earth to bring forth antichrists. God is permitting both the course of sin and the course of His grace to come to a conclusion in this age. I want the righteousness of God to reign over me, and not Satan.
Have you been freed in the spirit, so that you are not being driven, but instead the drive is within you? Do you feel an emancipation of the fullness and the richness of Christ coming forth in you? Do you feel that you are identified with what Christ wants to say and do in this earth? Do you feel as if you have almost lost your individuality and have become a great member of His mighty Body, destined to do His will in the earth, to speak His Word in the earth, to do the thing God raised you up to do?
Let us talk a little about these elemental spirits of the universe. Do you think the Indians and the primitive people knew what they were talking about when they spoke of spirits being in trees and in other things in nature? Down through the centuries, most of the world’s religions have been based on the fact that people had to deal with the elementary spirits and try to appease them with sacrifices. It is a fantastic experience to be in Honolulu on the Chinese New Year. The natives go to the cemeteries and light firecrackers to scare the spirits away. That is not as foolish as you may think. If you ever got a good look at the unseen world round about you, it would scare you so bad that you would probably crawl under the bed and stay there for a long time.
If it were possible for you to see the spirit world, to see what Satan is like—the vibrations and ferocity, the extreme hatred and the deception that is in him—you would be very frightened. Do you realize that demons very frequently come against you? You simply fight them off because as a child of God you do not have to see how big and terrible they are. All you have to know is this: Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4b. Although we know that the spirit world exists, it does not terrify us because we are aware also that the Holy Spirit is with us, that Jesus Christ’s authority and His living Word are with us.
We are moving into pure victory. We do not have to win the battle over the devil; we just come against him in the name of the Lord. When David went to fight Goliath, he said, “You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts,” and he wound up a sling and planted a stone right in the giant’s forehead. What a beautiful thing God does when He gives us victory over the devil. But do not get the idea that it is being done sovereignly by God. He sovereignly provided the victory, and He gives you the initiative of faith to bring it into manifestation. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Romans 16:20a.
We ought to be very much aware of the spirit world. Ask God to make you aware of the spirit behind any situation, so that you will understand and not be deceived and fall prey to it. This is the age of deception, and the whole world will fall under the deception of Satan, except the remnant that believes. Satan will produce false prophets that would deceive the very elect if it were possible. We do not need to be deceived. The spirit of truth, the blessed Holy Spirit, dwells within us to guide us into all truth. This is why it is so essential today that we have the discerning of spirits.
We will take all the territory that God won for us—in the spirit world, in the financial world, and in the economic world. Many businesses flourish because they are satanically controlled. Not only capital, but also labor is often controlled by demon-possessed men. I am not antilabor or antibusiness; however, I am aware that most of the labor unions and major businesses are controlled by men who are demon-possessed. As a result, the Christian spends his life working hard to get a few dollars just to exist. We ought to do something about that too. God blessed Abraham with wealth. He blessed Job with wealth, and after He tested him, He gave him a double portion. God blessed King David with a great accumulation of gold and precious stones to be used in building the Temple. God is not opposed to men having material blessings, but He does not want those blessings to possess His people, so that they give Him second place. We should loose more money for the things of God instead of skimping along with barely enough to make it. We should remember the promise, “God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20). We do not believe for enough.
Kingdom businesses are being established to make money to send the Word of God to the ends of the earth. We are believing for apostolic companies like Joel’s army, sons and daughters who will prophesy, who will speak the Word of the Lord. In the business ventures that have come forth, we have seen the people involved being tested almost beyond endurance. How Satan hates it!
God is concerned about good businesses and enterprises being established, where His people can work and make a living, instead of sweating it out for some demon-possessed company. It should be possible for our young girls to go to work some place where they do not have to work for a lust-filled boss. We may be in this world, but we need not be of it.
We know that there are demon-possessed people in government circles also. Satan is doing everything he can to put demon-possessed people and nephilim in places of authority; but we are not victims of this age, without recourse. We are children of the King with the privilege of using the name of Jesus.
Be prepared to bind the wicked one and to plunder his house. More than any other generation in the history of the world, Satan is intent on destroying the young people in this generation because they are marked as the sons and daughters who will prophesy, who will see visions and dreams and move into the will of God. We will see one age end with a groan and a sigh, as it dies and sinks with all of its fury, and the King comes and sets up His Kingdom. Let us not simply wait passively for the Lord to come. This is not a time for bomb shelters; it is the time for spiritual centers that can stand and judge demon power in the name of the Lord and believe God to bring it down.
Why will the devil bring forth so many false prophets and antichrists in the end time, when most of the Christian world does not even believe in prophets? Suppose one of our young prophets, while traveling through the state, were to stop at every Christian church along the way, and go in and say, “Folks, God raised me up to be a prophet. I have a Word from God for this place.” Do you think they would turn the pulpit over to him? Conversely, if a stranger walked into one of our churches and said, “I am a prophet and I have a Word from the Lord,” do you think we would permit him to speak? Yes, we would try the spirit; and if we discerned that he was a true prophet, we would ask him to give his word.
In this move of God, there will be so many prophets coming up—people who really have a Word from God and believe the Word—that the average Fundamentalist of this day will be considered almost like a Modernist by comparison. The Modernist says, “I don’t even believe that the Bible is the Word of God.” The Fundamentalist says, “I believe that it is the Word of God, but according to my version, we are caught in a crack between dispensations. All the miracles are either past or reserved for the sweet by-and-by; consequently, we don’t have much right now.” Avoid dispensational teaching! If you see a promise in the Word, believe for it. Do not allow your faith to be pried loose from it by a footnote. All the promises of God are yea and verily (2 Corinthians 1:20). Every one of them is yours! Even those specified for the seed of Abraham are yours, for according to Galatians 3:29, as many as are in Christ are the seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise. Let us contend for all of it!
Just think—the devil will have to produce all of those false prophets as a countermove against all of you true prophets. We have our work cut out for us, don’t we? The young girls whom God has redeemed, in whom He is bringing forth righteousness and sweetness, will stand and prophesy the words of the Lord. They have a glorious future ahead of them. As good submissive wives and mothers, they will bless their babies, saying, “God bring forth a prophet; God make you a handmaiden.” They will give birth to something else besides just a selfish fulfillment. The young men will look right into the fury of the storm and bind it in the name of the Lord. Preach His Word!
The elemental spirits of the universe are going to be bound. A new order is coming. We should put up some signs reading, “Attention! This territory is under new management. The King is taking over.” This is the day of deliverance. The first thing you have to do by the name of Jesus Christ and by His holy blood is to overcome the foes within and come into that complete new nature. Then you will start radiating the victory and carrying it with you.
It was no wonder that the early Christians were persecuted. They upset everything. When they came walking into town, the people ran down the streets crying, “Look out, everyone! These who have turned the world upside down are coming.” It can be done again. There is nothing to stop it.
In spite of industrial and scientific advances, in spite of the creature comforts and the affluent society of which you can be a member, nothing in this world has meaning except the call of the Lord. Everything else is only ashes.