Winning The Satanic War
Dear Visionary Leader:
The word “warfare” is an important word. We are in a battle, a fight to the finish, against a sinister foe with no holds barred. We cannot be neutral, and we cannot call for a truce. General Douglas MacArthur said, and rightly said, “In war, there is no substitute for victory.” And the victory is ours in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, and because of our birth into the kingdom, we have “kingdom authority”. When we were born again, we were born to win. I pray that the Holy Spirit will emblazon that upon your heart as we read in the book of Chronicles, “The battle is not yours; it is the Lord’s.”
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In Luke, chapter 10:17–19, we read, “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through thy name.” Did you get it? Listen to it: “The seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
Now, the word “power” is used twice there in the King James Version. Yet, in the Greek, there are two different words for power. The first word means, “authority,” and it may be translated, “Behold, I give you authority over all the power of the enemy.”
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When we were saved, we were saved to win. Sin will never win and faith in God will never fail. We are commissioned to move forward with Kingdom authority to overcome our enemy and to save the lost.
Kingdom Authority Has Been Sovereignly Established
What do we mean by “authority”? Authority means, “The power or the right to command, to act, to enforce obedience, or to make final decisions. This power, as delegated to another; authorization; as, ‘He has my authority to do it.’”
The seventy disciples who highlighted in Luke 17 understood this authority. They said, “Lord, the demons are subject to us through Thy name.” In the name of Jesus, we have the victory. Our authority comes from Him. It has been sovereignly established.
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Adam and Eve were created, placed in the Garden of Eden, and given dominion over all of the earth. “Let them have dominion over the works of my hands,” God said. But Adam and Eve sinned; they yielded their dominion to Satan. They lost the crown. They became slaves of Satan. All of the children of Adam and Eve are sons and daughters of slaves, and slaves themselves. Adam lost his dominion. The Lord Jesus, the second Adam, the last Adam, came to this earth, as a man, took flesh and blood, and bought back Adam’s lost estate. Since this dominion was legally lost, it must be righteously regained.
God owes the devil nothing. But God will be true to His own legality, His own sense of righteousness, justice, and truth. God did not just simply snatch that authority back from Satan, kill the devil, and give it to Adam. It was lost by a man, and it was regained by a Man. It was lost by the first Adam; it was regained by the second Adam, the Lord Jesus. The Bible says, “In Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” Dominion has been bought back.
In Colossians 2:3-5 we read, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he made alive together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross, and, having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”
In three verses there, we have spiritual dynamite. And I want you to find out how this “kingdom authority” has been sovereignly established. I want you to see how Jesus, on the cross, brought Satan’s kingdom crashing down.
Jesus Set Us Free from Our Spiritual Death
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We were slaves in bondage. But Jesus came to set the captives free. First, we were in bondage to spiritual death. Look in verse 13: “And you, being dead in your sins … hath he made alive.” We were not just sick in our sins; we were dead. You don’t have to wait till your heart stops beating for you to be dead. The Bible says, “She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.” Jesus said, “I’ve come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.” Your heart is already beating. A man, a woman, a boy, or girl, without Jesus Christ, is dead. Right? In Adam, all die; in Christ, all are made alive. Jesus came to set us free from was spiritual death.
Jesus Set Us Free from Our Staggering Debt
We are in debt because of our sins. Heaven has sued us for damages. We are guilty before God, and in debt, because of our sin. But now, notice verse 14. Jesus was “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.”
Now, are you ready for a blessing? In Bible times, when a man was accused of a crime, a “handwriting of ordinance” would be written against him. His indictment would be written down, the crime that he had committed, or they thought he’d committed. Then, this “handwriting of ordinance” was delivered to the judge, and there would be a trial. If he were adjudicated guilty, then, they would write, on this description of his crime, the penalty, the debt, that was due.
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Let’s suppose that he was to spend ten years in prison. They would write on there: He has done thus, and thus, and thus; and here is the penalty; here is the debt that is due. It is written on this certificate of debt, this “handwriting of ordinance.” Then, they would put that man in the prison. They would nail to the prison door that certificate of debt. This certificate would tell what he had done, what the judge had sentenced him to, and what he must pay.
Once he had fulfilled his time in jail, once he had paid his debt to society, and to the king, then, he would be released from jail. The handwritten bill was given to the clerk and he would take it back to the judge. The judge would say, “Has he paid in full? Has he paid to the very last day? Has his debt been satisfied against the crown?” “Yes, Your Honor. He has paid in full.” The judge, or the king, whichever the case might be, would take that certificate of debt, and write across it one word. In ancient documents, we find this word written on certificates of debt. Even in the Dead Sea Scrolls, they found this word written. It is the same word that Jesus uttered from the cross. It is the word “tetalestai,” which literally means, “paid in full.” The judge or king would take his pen, take that certificate of debt that had been nailed to the prison door, and write across it, “tetalestai,” that is, “it is paid, it is finished,” and gave it to him. The former prisoner walks out of that courtroom, having had his debt paid. There’s nothing again that the law can bring up against him. That is gone. It is buried. It is finished. It is paid in full.
I want you to imagine almighty God going through all of the records of all mankind, from Adam right up to the last person who will ever be born, and taking all of the crimes, all of the sins, all of the lies, all of the hate, all of the pride, all of the rape, all of the murder, all of the blasphemy, all of every sin, writing it down on a certificate of debt for mankind—my sin, your sin, our sin—and what did He do with it? He said we are guilty. But, what did He do? He took it and nailed it to the cross!
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If a man was guilty of a capital crime, and he was going to die, the certificate of debt was not nailed to the cell door; it was on the cross. Remember, when Jesus Christ was crucified, what did they do? They put an accusation over His head: “King of the Jews.” What was He guilty of? What was the capital crime? Insurrection. He claimed to be a king. They said, “He’s the King of the Jews. That’s why He’s dying.” But, Paul says that He took our certificate of debt, He took the “handwriting of ordinances” that was against us. He took it and He nailed it to His cross. And when He died, He bowed His head, and what did He say? “Tetalestai.” Paid in full. Signed with the crimson blood of the very Son of God. Paid! Paid in full!
The devil is the accuser of the brethren, and Satan will accuse you to God. And he’ll say, “You see that man? He claims to be a Christian. But he’s a sinner! He lost his temper the other day. If You are a righteous God, You ought to fling him into hell.” However, my Attorney appears. His name is Jesus. He says, “Now, wait just a minute, Father. Here’s his certificate of debt. It is paid in full.” “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity.” Paid in full!
If the devil doesn’t do any good with God the Father, he’ll come to me, and he’ll say, “You’re no good. You don’t deserve to live. You think you’re so saved. You think that you’re a child of God. What about all of those bad things you’ve done? What about those thoughts? What about those failures?” And I just take my certificate of debt, and just wave it in his face. That’s the reason the Apostle Paul said, in Romans 8, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” Not only have we been brought out of bondage from our spiritual death—we have been made alive, with the Lord Jesus—but also from our staggering debt.
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Until The Last Person Has Heard,
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Dr. James. O. Davis
Founder/President
Global Church Network
Cochair / Global Networking
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