When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils ~ Luke 11:21-22.
Introduction:
The devil incessantly seeks to encroach upon our spiritual territories. Hence, we must live ready to wrestle against him and his minions, standing our grounds and regularly launching the offensives to reclaim our stolen territories. We were made to dominate and never to be decimated (Ephesians 6:10-16).
Basically, most battles in this world are territorial in nature. They are about defending or gaining territories, and fighting for ownership or rights over a territory. Spiritual warfare is not much different. Just as Israel of Joshua’s days had territories to conquer, the present-day Christians also have territories that must be brought under the governmental authority of Jesus Christ the Lord.
However, unlike physical battles, the theater of spiritual warfare is the human mind (2 Corinthians 10:4-6). The devil always strives to pollute and darken the thinking of vast sections of the human society, building his fortresses to scare people away from divine provisions such as: salvation, healing, deliverance, prosperity, spiritual authority, and true freedom in Christ Jesus.
Spiritual warfare is a constant war between the angels of God and the agents of Satan, which always has impacts on the unfolding of events on earth. But, it is our Christian duty to take side with God, and to arrest every ugly satanic trend through our dominion exercise to bring the human mind into the obedience of Christ.
The Believers Territory In Christ Jesus
The whole world rightly belongs to God, but He has given the dominion over the earth to man (Psalm 24:1; Genesis 1:26). In an exact sense and by a simple family rule, the dominion over all the earth is bequeathed to God’s children (Psalms 115:16; Hosea 2:21). Anytime Satan acts to upturn this dominion in any area of life, he is simply acting true to his name: a pure thief (John 10:10).
There is a hierarchy among demons in the evil spiritual domain. Some of these evil angels have assignments over tribes, people groups, countries, regions, cities or business lines. Notwithstanding, God has given us the right to obstruct their grips of wickedness anywhere around us.
Indeed, it is our mission to tear down Satanic strongholds, spread the Gospel and expand the territories of God’s Kingdom in our personal lives, homes, schools, businesses, finances, Churches and nations. We have both right and power in the Holy Ghost to drive Satan out of the territories around us.
Winning Strategies for Spiritual Warfare
Brethren, it is time to take back everything the devil stole from us. For far too long, we have laid back, stood by idly and watched the steady decline of the Church’s influence in exercising her authority. We have inadvertently allowed wickedness to become a ruler among nations and homes, and we don’t seem concerned as we ought to be. It is time to stand our grounds and fight back, spiritually.
In Luke 19:13, Jesus Christ said, “Occupy till I come”. The verb “occupy” here means: “to fill up space or time, to engage or employ the mind to take possession or control, to hold a position or an office”. This suggests that we are expected to deploy our divine abilities to guard our spiritual territories. Meanwhile, we need to be conversant with winning strategies before we can be gainfully involved in this decisive battle of destiny.
Fundamentally, any strategy that must win in spiritual conflicts must necessarily involve personal and corporate repentance (2 Chronicles 7:14). It is essential that we confess our sins, asking God for forgiveness on the ground of Jesus’ blood and walking in obedience forthwith if we must gain His assistance to win in spiritual conflicts.
Furthermore, revelation knowledge needs to be embraced (Ephesians 1:17-18). Having our eyes opened to receive a revelation of who Jesus Christ really is, and who we are in Him, is absolutely vital to effective and victorious territorial Christianity. Without such revelation, we cannot pose any threat to spiritual powers and principalities.
This is the tactical reason Satan will do anything to propagate spiritual blindness and cloudy understanding in the minds, souls and spirits of people wherever possible. Thus, the substance of our battle is to make people gain understanding of their true identity in Christ.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to invade the earth with the message of heaven, just as Jesus did (Matthew 28:19-10; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; Acts 2:8). To do this effectively in our modern-day hostile communities, we need wisdom, discernment and specific guidance from the Lord.
David’s lifestyle provides us an example of the vivid importance of spiritual intelligence. Before every battle, he always inquired of the Lord for specific instructions (1 Samuel 23:2-4; 30:8; 2 Samuel 5:19, 23).
God’s instructions always lead to distinction, and the place of divine direction in advancing the course of the gospel cannot be overemphasized. The presumption of fools will destroy them, but those who hope to enjoy the bliss of victories must be fully armed with revelation knowledge.
Again, David was fully prepared for the Philistines in their malevolence and aggression by revelation knowledge. He took five smooth stones in his quiver because he knew by revelation that, even though he was going then to face Goliath, there were four other giants he needed to tackle (1 Samuel 17:40; 2 Samuel 21:22).
We are in God’s army today, and if we are going to succeed in winning territories for Christ, we need to know what we are up against, and get our matching orders right from the Lord (2 Timothy 2:2-4; 2 Corinthians 10:4; Ephesians 6). It is to our advantage to know who the evil-strongman is and his methods of operation in order to be able to bind him and divide his spoils (Luke 11:21-22).
The strongman must be confronted through strategic prayers, tackled and bound before his stolen goods — souls, glory, and so on — can be despoiled (Matthew 11:12). Confrontation is the only valid pathway between two irreconcilable kingdoms. To conquer, you must confront, and thereafter, your “bombshells” of prayer will loosen the holds of territorial spirits over the people.
Our aggressive evangelism is also a means to strategically confront the territorial spirits (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). This is the wisdom our Master Jesus left for us, and we cannot ignore it if we intend to be effectual in our spiritual warfare to gain and to occupy territories for Christ.
In conclusion, please note that God’s grace upon us to be successful and live ever victorious amidst all the satanic conflagrations is, indeed, part of His end-time strategy to establish Jesus as Ruler of the Nations before His return.
Certainly, the Church is the Light of the world that can bring spiritual illumination to minds of men that are otherwise darkened. When we pray and act aright, God’s angels will fight against the demonic powers on our behalf, and incredible victories and advancement shall be our testimonies, in Jesus Name. Amen. Happy Sunday!
Rhema Christian Church,
Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.
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