SATAN'S CURRENT SYSTEMATIC WARFARE AGAINST THE CHURCH!
TEXT:
"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." (Matthew 12 verses 43 to 45, King James Version)
This is absolutely amazing! Today, this prediction of the Lord is fulfilling literally!
This generation is one that is generally wicked. The evil one who is the god of this world (2nd Corinthians 4 verses 3 to 4) has increased his wickedness so terribly because he knows that he is running out of time (Revelation 12 verse 12). Towards this end, demonic activities abound everywhere and are on astronomical increase. "And we know that ... the whole world lieth in wickedness.", the Bible says in 1st John 5 verse 19.
But the interesting thing is that there is systematic warfare going on. Only a select few understand it. The devil is waging a spiritual war against humanity, especially the Church, and the main place or venue of this warfare is the mind.
Today's Scripture reading tells us that when a demon is cast out of anyone who is lax about spiritual matters, especially in the area of renewing the mind very constantly as enjoined by scriptures, such is empty, and risks being invaded by eight demons in contradistinction to his initial state before the one original demon was cast out. This is serious!
This end time has seen an increased rate of demon casting like never before. It would appear as though the devil now anoints his servants to cast out demons. This should not be a surprise because he is a deceiver and is the architect of lying wonders, so powerful that if it were possible, the very elect would be deceived (Matthew 24 verse 24).
The desperation of satan to deceive mankind in these end times is of immense magnitude and of considerable importance to his kingdom that it seems of no much significance anymore if in so doing, his kingdom is portrayed as divided against itself. With a short time left for him, it seemed well served should misery and torment be multiplied on mankind at the expense of an apparent unified demonic kingdom. This proves that the one we have to contend with is an arch enemy who hates mankind with intense passion and would stop at nothing to destroy us!
God's Word is known to be a potent and effective antidote against satanic manipulations. In today's Scripture reading, the Lord Jesus, after letting us know the dangers attendant to having an empty mind, one that's not properly garnished or furnished with the Word, said, "Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation". This shows that we are not only in a wicked generation, but one that is lukewarm concerning the things of God. It's a generation with no hunger for God and His Word.
According to the Message Bible translation, the Lord Jesus highlighted the emptiness of this generation saying,
“That’s what this generation is like: You may think you have cleaned out the junk from your lives and gotten ready for God, but you weren’t hospitable to my kingdom message, and now all the devils are moving back in.” (Matthew 12 verse 45). This shows that one may be born again and at the same time suffer demonic manipulations because of failure to properly embrace and utilise God's Word in his life.
This accounts for why some people lose their healing or deliverance. It's unfortunate that most Christians can't maintain their deliverance or healing; and honestly, it's such an embarrassing situation to us as ministers of the Gospel because it portrays us as liars. After the Lord has healed or delivered someone from demonic oppression, according to Scripture, we should expect the demons to try to regain control of their former host from whom they were cast out (Matthew 12 verses 43 to 44). At such moments, it's by the Word of our testimony (God's Word in our spirits) that we overcome them and maintain our deliverance.(Revelation 12 verse 11). Anything short of this will not do!
For us who are true ministers of God's Kingdom, let us have an understanding that it amounts to disservice to God's cause toward mankind and especially to the Church to cast a demon out of anyone without putting in place first, mechanisms for filling that mind with the Word of God, through the process of renewal of mind. The reason I say this is that this generation is lukewarm and apathetic towards God and His Word. In other words, we are basically empty and void of God's Word. For this reason, the Lord Jesus called this generation an "evil" or "wicked" generation (Matthew 12 verse 45).
Although at our rebirth, the Holy Spirit has cleaned us up, "swept, decorated and put in order" our spirits, we need to occupy our minds, renew our minds constantly with God's Word; or else we could witness a resurgence of demonic activities in our lives, such that is worse than we'd ever experienced.
PRAYER:
Lord, deliver me from this warfare that is currently ongoing, in Jesus name.