O Nothing, Is That You?

Copyright© 2014 Frederick Otoo

Published by Frederick Otoo at Amazon Kindle

Kindle Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.  This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.  If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to amazon.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy.  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

All scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise indicated.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Chapter 2 - Katabole

Chapter 3 - What is your Name?

Chapter 4 - Leviathan, the dragon

Chapter 5 - The God of this World

Chapter 6 - The Thief

Chapter 7 - Restoration

Chapter 8 - Resist the devil

About Frederick Otoo

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INTRODUCTION

Many years ago, there was an outbreak of an epidemic. It was like no other. It killed millions of people worldwide. When a person was discovered to have that disease, it was his death sentence. People who had this disease had no hope. It was catastrophic. The hospitals were packed and the graveyards were always busy; as many kept dying. One day, one scientist determined to study this disease. He kept studying and studying. Finally, the lights turned on. This epidemic could be stopped. The cure was simple. He discovered what was causing this epidemic and how to stop it.

Through his knowledge the world was saved. Now, people boast with this disease. When a person is asked a question about his health, it is no surprise to hear the person make a statement like, ‘It’s nothing. It’s just malaria I will be alright’. Through knowledge malaria has become a nothing.

The answer then is simple- for everything a person faces in life, if the person can find knowledge about the issue, the problem is considered solved.

As Christians we must understand that we are in warfare. Whether you are aware or not- you were born into a world of war. This however is not a physical war but a spiritual one. It’s not a matter of choice. It is simple and true- THERE IS AN ADVERSARY. This adversary is not your friend and he will never be. If you try to play it cool with him, it will not change his feelings about you. He just hates you and seeks nothing but your destruction.

But like the Malaria, this adversary has falling and will fall in your life if you can acquire one thing- KNOWLEDGE. Knowledge of who he is. Through knowledge you will be delivered into your inheritance.

It is on this wise that I determine to enlighten you on who this adversary is. As you follow me through this book, I can assure you one thing- all the fear you have of him will be gone. Follow me as we unravel the mystery behind this adversary and endeavour to answer the question- Who is Satan?

Back to table of contents

Chapter 1

The Beginning

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. GENISIS 1:1-2

Our story begins with the beginning of all things. From the above scripture, we come to know that God pre-existed the beginning and at the very beginning of all things, He made heaven and earth. Actually, the Hebrew renders heaven in plural. Therefore it should have been translated as heavens not heaven. We shall come to that later on. So we can say, “In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth.” The next verse is pretty shocking. This is because it reveals something contrary to the nature of the God we know. It reads, “And the earth was without form and void…” I thought when God creates it is beautiful, wonderful and definitely has form.

JAMES 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

From the verse above we can see that there is no variableness with God. As long as it is from God, it is good and has form. So what happened for the earth to be without form and void? We can establish the fact that God made the heavens and the earth perfect and beautiful in Genesis 1:1 but in Genesis 1:2 the earth (notice only the earth and not heaven) was without form and was void of any living thing. Definitely between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 something may have happened to the earth for it to be formless and empty.

GENESIS 1:27-28

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and REPLENISH THE EARTH, and subdue it:

The scripture above gives us a little clue on this. There was an earth with beings. That is to say there was a world before. For God told man to REPLENISH the earth. The word ‘replenish’ is defined by the Longman dictionary of Contemporary English as ‘to fill something again’. That means that you can only replenish an empty vessel if it was once full. That goes to show us that for God to have said man should replenish the earth, there were beings previously existing on the earth. Who were these beings or what were they? Archaeologists have recently discovered bones of strange and gigantic animals. They call them dinosaurs. They have discovered remains of organisms not written or named in the Bible. The fact that they are not named in the Bible does not dispute the fact that they once existed because from the above we can see that there is the probability that these beings were in the world created before Adam or the Pre-Adamite world.

What were the beings in the Pre-Adamite world? Were there any men in the Pre-Adamite world? What type of trees used to grow there? I believe these are the questions you will be asking yourself by now. Well the answer is simple- I don’t know. I was not in that world but I know one thing for sure- there was no man in that world because Adam was the first man God created.

1 CORITHIANS 15:45

And so it is written, The FIRST MAN Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

God never created cave men. Neither did man come from Apes. If there is anything like cave men then they were not men in the first place because Adam was the first man God created and he looks just like you.

Now with that in mind, let’s look at something in the book of Colossians.

COLOSSIANS 1:15-17

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, VISIBLE and INVISIBLE, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

In this scripture we see two different groups of creation, the visible and the invisible. He then proceeds to mention some of the invisible- thrones, dominions, principalities and powers. These are spirit beings. We are also aware of the angels of God being part of the invisible creatures. My question then is, ‘on which day of creation did God create the angels?’ Evidently, the book of Genesis does not mention this but gives us a little light concerning this. Definitely these spirit beings were created after the beginning and before Genesis 1:2. Because from Genesis 1:2 all creations done by God is written for our knowing. Therefore we could say that between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 exists an UNKNOWN number of years and within that unknown number of years, something happened that caused the earth to be without form and void.

Genesis 1:2

…And the Spirit of God moved upon the FACE OF THE WATERS.

So whatever happened resulted in a flood- to the point that the earth was totally covered with water. This type of flood will definitely result in the death of all animals and plants. This caused God to recreate the world. What happened that caused the flood in Genesis 1:2?

Chapter 2

Katabole

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from (before) the foundation of the world. - MATTHEW 13:35

The word ‘from’ in the scripture above is also translated as ‘before’. So we could read it as, I will utter things which have been kept secret before the foundation of the world; to help us get a clearer picture of what really happened. Also there are two Greek words for the word foundation in the New Testament. The first is ‘themelios’ which means the foundation of a building or a house as in:

LUKE 6:48

He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

The second is ‘katabole’ which means to cast down, throw down or overthrow as in:

MATTHEW 13:35

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from (before) the foundation (katabole) of the world.

Most often in scripture when ‘katabole’ is used, it is used in a phrase which reads, ‘the foundation of the world.’  It’s rather unfortunate ‘katabole’ was translated as foundation because it means overthrow or cast down. I believe the reason for them translating ‘katabole’ as foundation may be because in building, one casts down a foundation. But this is not the case here so it cannot be applied. The earth is not a building with foundation and pillars. God never digged space and put some mortar in there and said I’m laying foundation for the earth. So it should not have been translated as foundation but   ‘the overthrow of the world’. When the word ‘foundation’ is used it gives the impression of origin or beginning but this is actually not the case here. So it should have read ‘the overthrow of the world’ and not ‘the foundation of the world’. This will help us get a clearer picture of what happened in Genesis 1.

We have established from Genesis chapter 1 that the overthrow of the world occurred before Adam was created. That is to say it was the Pre- Adamite world that was overthrown.

Why was the Pre- Adamite World Overthrown?

JOHN 17:24

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the ‘katabole’ of the world.

In other words what Jesus was saying was, ‘Thou lovedst Me before the overthrow of the world’. Therefore there was a world (Pre-Adamite) before and that world was overthrown. But why should God allow something like that to happen? I mean why should God create a world and allow it to be overthrown?

The answer is simple ‘love’.

1 JOHN 4:8

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

Have you ever been at the point where you felt you had love and you needed an object for that love? That is why people marry in the first place. But if you have, then I think it should be easy for you to get this. That love does not measure when compared to the love God had before the beginning. God is love and needed an object for His love. But at that moment, God was the only Being existing. So he had no choice but create ‘His Love’.

EPHESIANS 1:4

According as he hath CHOSEN US in him before the foundation (overthrow) of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him IN LOVE:

From the scripture above we can see that God chose us in Him before the overthrow of the world. That means God had us in mind before the overthrow of the world. God being love needed an object to express His love to. He therefore thought of creating man. However we must understand that true love makes room for choice. That is if it must be love then man must have a choice to either refuse the love or accept it. Man must have a choice between loving God and another.

Now let’s just put ourselves in God’s shoes for a moment. You want someone to love and this person must love you in return. There must be a choice for your love to make. You must create a choice for him. If you were light and there could be none greater than you, what would you do? If you make a lower light, he would have no option but choose you and that wouldn’t be love. So somehow you must find a way for an opposite to exist. Note that God CANNOT create darkness. So God created the world before (the Pre-Adamite world) with the primary aim for darkness to be born from it.

Now let’s look at some more scriptures to help us get a clearer picture.

JOHN 17:24

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the ‘katabole or overthrow’ of the world.

So here we come to know that before the ‘katabole’ or overthrow of the world, God loved the Son, Jesus. Let me mention that the word ‘world’ here does not refer to the earth as much as it refers to you being Mother Theresa. The Greek word is ‘kosmos’ which means orderly arrangement or social world. The Greek word for earth is ‘ge’ not ‘kosmos’. As in:

MATTHEW 6:10

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth (ge), as it is in heaven.

Therefore it was not the earth itself that was destroyed but the content of the earth. It was the content of the earth that was overthrown. Now let’s go back to earlier on. So from Ephesians 1:4 and John 17:24, we notice God chose us and loved Jesus. Let’s do some more scriptures to help us get a clearer picture.

1 PETER 1:20

Who (Jesus) verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Foreordained for what?

REVELATIONS 13:8

8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb SLAIN from (before) the foundation (overthrow) of the world.

That means before the overthrow of the world, the beginning, God chose us to express His love to. He loved the Son Jesus and foreordained Him to be slain for man. So when we put all these scriptures together, it tells a pretty nice story:

God had love but needed an object of that love. He thought of creating man to love Him. Love should be received and reciprocated. So there has to be a choice for man to make between God and someone else. But God has no option than for that person to be darkness since He is the Highest Light that can exist. So He created a world (the Pre- Adamite world) and said, ‘I will make a being called Lucifer. I will give him beauty and glory. He will be lifted to the point that he would even think of overthrowing Me. By that he will rebel against me and I will have to withdraw from him and he will become darkness. Then man can choose between Me and him’.

So the day Lucifer fell, he thought God would be angry and bitter for creating the world and him but instead he looked up to heaven and saw the El-Elyon laughing and throwing a party and before he could say ‘jack’, he heard God say, “ let Us make man…’’ Genesis 1:26.

What a shock! To his surprise, God was excited for his fall. God now had darkness available for man to choose between light and darkness. Now God can really show love to man whom He will make. God therefore recreated the world and everything in it.

He created a beautiful garden called Eden for ‘His love’ but had to give him a choice to choose who he wants to love- Light or darkness. So He put a tree in the middle of the garden for this purpose.

GENESIS 2:8-17

8And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil…

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die

This tree I think should be called tree of love. The situation was simple and short. Eat this and you reject Me (Life). And we know what happened man ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and fell thereby choosing death and darkness. However, God knowing man would eat of it even from the beginning also made provision to redeem man back to Himself in the beginning. So He foreordained the cross. That once man rejects me, I will shed my blood on a CROSS since, ‘almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin’ (Hebrews 9:22)

REVELATIONS 13:8

…the Lamb slain before the overthrow of the world.

So in the mind of God, even before the beginning, the Lamb was considered slain. So God knowing that man will eventually eat from the tree foreordained the cross to bring man back to Himself.

From everlasting the story has been the same THE CROSS. In other words, God knew ahead of time that man will fall. So He foreordained the cross even before the beginning that when man falls He would use the cross to restore man back to Himself. That means the final decision to accept or refuse the love of God will no longer be the tree of knowledge of good and evil but the tree of life which is Jesus Christ. Man ate the tree of knowledge of good and evil and died but man now can eat the tree of life and live (Revelations 2:7). Hallelujah!

The Reason for Darkness

Let’s say you saw a man walking 12 noon with a torch light in his hand. What would you think? Either he is mentally retarded or he is sick of an unknown disease. I heard the story of a teacher who was teaching his kids about blood circulation. He told his kids, “Now class, if I stood on my head, the blood as you know it would run into it and I would turn red in the face.” “Yes,” the class said. He continued, “then why is it that while I am standing upright the blood does not run into my feet”. One of the kids replied, “Because your feet are not empty”. Ok forget I said that. You can deduct it from your offering next Sunday.

No one walks 12 noon with a torch in hand. The reason is that there would be no need for the light from the torch because it will not be visible. In other words, there can be no light if there is no darkness. For light to exist there must of necessity be the existence of darkness.

Therefore in the beginning, God knowing that we should shine as light has to make provision for darkness. That means darkness must of necessity exist in order for us to shine as light. That was the reason for the Pre-Adamite world. God cannot create darkness but He needs darkness so He purposely created the Pre-Adamite for darkness to be born from it. For a person called Lucifer to be transformed into darkness. We must understand that from Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, Lucifer was a cherub and a guardian angel in the Pre-Adamite world. But his fall resulted in him being darkness and therefore making it possible for light to exist. God is not in heaven regretting for creating Lucifer. His creation was not a mistake neither was his fall. The One Who Sits In The Circumference of His Own planned it all for our sake- for love’s sake.

Shine As Light In the Midst of Darkness

MATTEW 5:14

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

We, children of God, are the light of the world. If we are light then there must be darkness. The darkness in the world only exists for God’s people to shine as light. Do you get the picture now? The reason for darkness is for you to shine as light.

Some have the erroneous idea that God has it all in a mess. These folks do not really know who God is. For His sons to shine there must of necessity be the existence of darkness. There would be no light if there was no darkness. So the darker the world, the brighter our light shines. The reason for darkness is because of YOU. So don’t complain but rather take advantage of it and shine.

ISAIAH 60:1-3

1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.

2 For, behold, THE DARKNESS SHALL COVER THE EARTH, AND GROSS DARKNESS THE PEOPLE: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

Why did He say our light is come? - Because gross darkness shall cover the earth. In other words, when there is gross darkness then our light can shine even more. When you shine in the midst of darkness He says, ‘the people of the world shall come to the brightness of thy rising’.

The reason for the crisis of the world is not the second coming of Jesus neither is it the presence of the devil but for you to shine as light and dispel the darkness. Don’t sit on the fence and fold your arms and say they are the signs of the endtime because they are not. You have to understand that the presence of a wicked Pharaoh does not mean the destruction of Israel but the liberation of Israel. The darker the world, the brighter our lights and the more the knowledge of Christ and His Glory will cover the earth.

Chapter 3

What is your name?

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:-PHILIPPIANS 2:9

A name is one of the most powerful forces in the world. The name of a person gives identity to the person. That means either the person is what he is called or eventually will become what he is called. Jesus said, ‘you shall have what you say’ (Mark 11:23). Whether the person calling you by the name knows the meaning or not, you are or you will become who you are called. No farmer goes to his farm and throws plants maize and after some months goes to the farm expecting to harvest cassava.

In the same way words are seeds of prophecy. Your name is a prophecy. As you keep calling yourself by that name, that is exactly who you will become. For example if your name means confusion, check your life- everything about you is confused. If your name means failure that is the reason you have always been failing. Who you are is defined by your name and you cannot rise above your name.

Search the scriptures you will notice whenever God wanted to take a person to a higher level; He first changes the name of the person. Don’t let people call you what they want. Let people call you what you want. Give yourself a name and you would have given yourself a destiny.

Come to the point where you let God give you a name. Find out the meaning of your name and if you don’t like it change it. Don’t say ‘it was given to me by my parents.’ If your parents were not smart enough to give you a good name, then you should be smart enough to change it. It is your name not theirs’. How can you call yourself by a name which means bitterness and not be bitter in life? How can you call yourself by a name which means struggle and not struggle in life? If you have a name that has a meaning you don’t like, feel free and change it. Get yourself out of the box. The world is too big for you to be limited by a name.

What does Lucifer mean?

In Scripture several names are used for the devil. These names give us his identity and help us to know who he is. In chapters that follow we are going to take his names and use them to identify who he really is. Before the fall of the devil he was called Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12) but after his fall he was never again referred to as Lucifer. He lost his name with his fall.

Notice after his fall he was called Satan, devil, dragon and serpent. Lucifer was a good name which in Hebrew meant morning star. Jesus even called himself morning star in Rev 22:16. Jesus never said His Name is Lucifer. He only said He was the Morning Star.

REVELATIONS 22:16

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

I met one guy who was confessing out loud, ‘I am a Lucifer’. I really admired his courage but I thought to myself then we should all confess ‘I am Hitler’. For Hitler means shepherd. And Jesus said He is the Shepherd. Therefore Jesus said He is Hitler (if that were the case). I think Lucifer will be a nice name for his children.

We have to understand that it is through knowledge that we can be delivered into our inheritance. When you know who Satan is now, all fear of him will automatically disappear from your life.

Chapter 4

Leviathan, the Dragon

Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?- JOB 41:1

In Jobs trials and suffering, there was a point in time he began to boast against God. He began to justify himself and to say that God had not dealt with him justly. At this, God began to question Job for him to know whom he was talking to. In His questions, God used a person or a being called leviathan to show Job the relation between He and leviathan and for Job to know how mighty He is. So in order for us to really come to a level of knowledge of God we have to know who leviathan is.

Who is leviathan?

The Hebrew word for leviathan is livyathan. It is derived from an Arabic root Iwy which means to twist or to wreathe. Therefore leviathan was a wreathed animal. Some think this is a crocodile but from the description in Job 41 this is patently absurd. It appears to be a large fire-breathing animal of some sort. From Job 41 it can be deduced that it was a large aquatic animal. Its description matches that of a sea dragon as in Revelations 12.

ISAIAH 27:1

1 In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

In the above scripture, leviathan is called a serpent and a dragon. Now let’s look at something in the New Testament.

REVELATIONS 12:9

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

So from this scripture we come to know that the one referred to as the serpent and dragon is the Devil or Satan.

Let’s look at another scripture to further sink it.

JOB 41:34

He (leviathan) beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.

Who do you think is king over all the children of pride? Satan. So this should settle it but let’s look at one more scripture.

JOB 41:3

Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?

Here we see that leviathan, the destroyer, begs God to allow him to destroy. He tries to speak soft words to God. In all scripture there is only one person who did that and that was Satan.

JOB 2:1-5

1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

2 And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

These three proofs I’ve offered should settle it once and for all that leviathan is indeed Satan. Now let’s look carefully at Job 41 verse by verse as God questions not only Job but us all.

How wise is he?

JOB 41:1

1 Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or (bore through)his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?

What a question? God says, “The guy they call the dragon, leviathan and Satan. Can you catch him like a man catches a fish with a hook? Can you bore through his tongue as with a cord? Job, who do you think I am?”

I wonder what your answer will be if you were Job. Definitely, God never boasts or says something He cannot do. God says, “Hey My son, why do you doubt me but express fear in someone I can trap like a fisherman does to a fish? Why do you think I will fail you? The one you fear, Satan I hook him in the nose whenever I want. I can hook him in the nose and bore through his tongue with a hook and line. What does this go to show us?

One day, two fishes were in the river. One believed in fisherman and the other did not. They began to argue. The smart fish who believed in the fisherman said to his friend, ‘nowadays not every worm you see is safe for food be careful there is fisherman out there. Most of them are attached to hooks and you can die if you eat them’. The other fish said, ‘I can see you are not very hungry. What nonsense? How can you believe in someone you don’t see’? Whiles they were talking a nice looking and gorgeous worm came dancing. It called out to the fish, ‘hey Mr Tilapia, check out my head and hip’. The wise fish tried telling his friend to wait for them to be sure. He did not get the words out of his mouth when he saw his friend bleeding and struggling on a hook.

For God to say ‘I can hook the devil when I want’ should tell you something. Satan is not very smart. He is like a foolish fish to God. This is clearly seen in scripture over and over again. If he was smart he wouldn’t have let Jesus die on the Cross. The irony of it all is that he was the one who crucified Jesus on the cross. Whenever he thinks he has victory and is laughing he is met with disappointment when he discovers it was a set up by the Most High.

For example he thought he had won when he caused you to lose that job but he didn’t know God was using it to give you a better one. When he threw that stumbling block before you he wanted you to fall but what he did not know was that God was using it to get you to a higher level. He is just like a fish that is trapped by the Most High at His will.

He is just a slave

JOB 41:3-4

3 Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?

4 Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?

Let’s look at it in other translations to get a clearer picture.

Job 41:3-4(AMP)

3 Will he make many supplications to you [begging to be spared]? Will he speak soft words to you [to coax you to treat him kindly]?

4 Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever?

JOB 41:3-4(THE MESSAGE BIBLE)

3 Will he beg you over and over for mercy,

or flatter you with flowery speech?

4 WILL HE APPLY FOR A JOB WITH YOU

TO RUN ERRANDS AND SERVE YOU THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

In order words leviathan begins to beg God and say something like this, “this is why you created me- to destroy. Please just allow me to touch so and so small; only once. I beg you. I promise I won’t kill him. I will just knock him in the head. Sorry, I will just chat with him.”

Before I carry on let me mention that in the New Testament after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, leviathan can no longer go before God. This was because he was operating then in place of Adam who had fallen. That is before man fell, man could appear before God but after the fall of man, his place was taken by the devil and the devil was now using it to appear before God. However, after Jesus died the devil can no longer go before God and accuse us before God. He has been rendered jobless.

Notice the Message Bible says this was his job- to serve God by causing darkness and trying to flatter God to allow him to destroy. Remember what we discussed earlier on about the reason for the darkness in the world. God needs the darkness in order for Him to be light and love. We as children of God also need the darkness for the same purpose. So Satan is just an employee of God.

Now let’s see something in the book of Hebrews

HEBREWS 2:14

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

The Greek word for destroy in the above verse is ‘katargeo’ which means to render entirely idle. That means to make someone unemployed. That implies that Jesus sacked him from his job of going before God to accuse people and flatter God to allow him to destroy. So he can no longer do that in the New Testament.

Now in the New Testament, should believers mature to their place of adoption as sons, he will actually beg and make supplications to individual believers to allow him to do damage. That means he will apply for job with you.

Let’s take another look at the verse 3 of Job 41

Job 41:3(AMP)

Will he make many supplications to you [begging to be spared]? Will he speak soft words to you [to coax you to treat him kindly]?

Look at what happens if he goes out of line or behaves silly. He begs for mercy. He begs for God to treat him kindly. As I said earlier on, in the New Testament he can’t do this before God but it is matured sons he does it before. Imagine, Satan on his knees before you begging you to spare him for behaving silly. Don’t you think the Church can mature to that? I agree. The time is coming when this will happen- believers who know who they are. Believers who treat the devil like the slave he is. So it is the devil that needs deliverance. But we have it in reverse now. It is only because Christians don’t know who they are. It is time for God’s people to oppress the devil. It is time for God's people to rise up and treat him like the slave he is.

He is a pet

Now let’s continue with our next question.

JOB 41:5

Wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?

Job 41:5(AMP)

Will you play with as with a bird? Or will you put him on a leash for your maidens?

Job 41:5(TLB)

Can you make a pet of him like a bird, or give him to your little girls to play with?

When I was much younger, we used to travel to visit other family members in the village. One of the reasons I liked going there was; one cousin of mine used to make a cage for me. He will then take me hunting for birds. Once we get one, I would put it in the cage and keep it as a pet. I just enjoyed watching the bird fly in the cage. I liked to have a bird as a pet.

What this verse is saying is that God can do exactly that to Satan- cage him and keep him as a pet for His kids to play with him.

If that were not enough, look at the next phrase in the amplified ‘leash him for your maidens to play with’. No wonder the scriptures says resist the devil and he will flee. Hallelujah! Imagine how we even treat a dog when we leash it. We drag it to wherever we want it to go. We have to learn to treat Satan like a leashed dog. If he shows up in your finance, drag him out. If he shows up in your marriage, drag him out. Move him around like your pet because he is your pet, a leashed puppy.

I heard the story of Smith Wigglesworth, a mighty Apostle of faith. One day, Smith was at the train station when he saw a woman with her dog. The woman wanted to get on a train but her dog was still following her. She spoke softly to the dog and said, ‘please go home’ but the dog did not listen and was still following. She turned behind and said, ‘well now, you can’t follow me please turn around and go home’. But the dog followed her even closer. Finally she turned, stamped her foot and screamed; ‘get!’ and the dog took off. Smith said without thinking he shouted, ‘that is the way you’ve got to do the devil’. This Man of God had the revelation of who the devil was- a leashed puppy.

One day, this same man was asleep in his bedroom in his house when he heard someone rocking a chair in his living room. At that moment, his wife and his kids were away so it was strange since no one was in the house but him. So he got up to check what was happening. In those days there was no electricity. He picked up his lantern and walked straight to his living room. To his surprise, there was this ugly, dark figure, Satan, in his rocking chair rocking back and front. He went very close to it, positioned the lantern right in front of him and said ‘you are too small, go and get others with you. If I knew it was you, I wouldn’t have bothered, mtcheew’ and turned and went back to sleep.

You see it is because you don’t have this revelation that is why you are scared of him. Imagine if you were Jesus in the wilderness and Satan appears. You will just give up the ghost. But looking at how Jesus related with him we can understand that Jesus had this knowledge. When he shows up in your house, give him a chair and serve him coffee. Don’t fear him. Treat him like the puppy he is.

Let’s look at some passages in the New Testament to know how to use this pet.

1 CORITHIANS 5:5

To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

1TIMOTHY 1:19-20

19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

I wonder what ‘I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn’ means. This I believe is the last resort by God or a man of God to stop a believer from slipping into hell. Notice God doesn’t have to use that measure or a man of God does not have to use this measure but it sure beats going to hell.

I heard the story of one brother who served under my overseer. According to him this brother was among his best sons in the Lord. He was the sharpest in the prophetic among all his sons. His zeal was unmatched. As God began to lift this brother, he began to indulge in immorality (You see, a man of God should fear nothing but sin.). This brother will get up from bed with a sister and go straight to the pulpit and begin to prophecy. He thought as long as he was prophesying he was okay. He was warned, cautioned and even threatened but he wouldn’t listen to anyone. He was just like a dirty, smelling he-goat who was always on heat. He was just unstoppable when it comes to sin. Well to cut the long story short he died at 29 years. On his death bed he could not stop weeping and regretting for his actions.

Notice, I didn’t say God makes you sick so you can learn. Neither did I say God makes you poor so you can be humble. A man of God can be forced to deliver a brother or a sister to Satan for the destruction of his flesh so that his soul may be saved.

Let me repeat that sickness and poverty is not caused by God neither is it used by God to teach anyone a lesson. You have to understand this distinction so you don’t misinterpret anything I have said so far.

One day, one man of God was approached by his member to pray for him. He had been diagnosed by the doctor of having cancer. This was how he asked for the prayer, ‘Pastor, I thank God for this cancer. Ever since I was diagnosed of cancer, I have become very humble. I am no longer that arrogant person. Please, can you ask God to take away the cancer’? This was the pastor’s response, ‘kneel down let me pray for you.’ The brother kneels and the pastor continues, ‘O God, please multiply this cancer so that my brother can become more humble.’ The man got up obviously angry at the prayer and asking why. The pastor’s response was simple, ‘don’t you want to be more humble?’

Let’s look at the verses that follow

Who then can stand before Me?

JOB 41:8-10

8 Lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.

9 Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?

10 None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?

JOB 41:8-10(TLB)

8 "If you lay your hands upon him, you will long remember the battle that ensues and you will never try it again!

9 No, it's useless to try to capture him. It is frightening even to think about it!

10 No one dares to stir him up, let alone try to conquer him. AND IF NO ONE CAN STAND BEFORE HIM, WHO CAN STAND BEFORE ME?

Job 41:8-10(AMP)

8 Lay your hand upon him! Remember your battle with him; you will not do [such an ill-advised thing] again!

9 Behold, the hope of [his assailant] is disappointed; one is cast down even at the sight of him!

10 No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up [the leviathan]; who then is he who can stand before Me [the beast's Creator, or dares to contend with Me]?

Have you ever come across some people like that? If you dare talk their matter you will always remember the battle and you will do no more. If you dare touch them, your hope is disappointed. You will never do such an ill-advised thing again. I’m not talking about unbelievers but Christians. None is so fierce to stand before them. What a shock!

Well, that was how leviathan was, a terror. If you try to touch him, you will always remember the battle that ensured. Now God speaks and says, “If you can’t stand before this pet of Mine who then can stand before Me.” Don’t fear the devil. Fear God. Let’s look at some more verses in Job 41

JOB 41:22-24

22 In his neck remaineth strength, and sorrow is turned into joy before him.

24 His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone.

I once saw a preacher on TV praying. He knelt before God in prayer and said, “O God, if even Satan offends You and asks for forgiveness, forgive him.” What a joker! Satan’s heart is as hard as millstone and when people sorrow; to him it comes as joy. Can you imagine? The pain and sorrow of others give him joy. He is wicked to the core. He will never repent.

What God is saying is simple- if no one can stand before this beast. If no one dares to stir him up. If the hope of his assailant is vain and he is my pet-my caged bird, my leashed puppy and my trapped tilapia, who then can stand before Me? Don’t fear him. Fear God.

JOB 41:11

WHO HATH PREVENTED ME, THAT I SHOULD REPAY HIM? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.

Job 41:11((THE MESSAGE)

Who could confront me and get by with it?

I'm in charge of all this — I RUN THIS UNIVERSE!

What a question. Look carefully at this verse. All God is saying is, “It is by My Own choice that he is still running around. The day I choose to strike against him no one can save him from My hands”. What a mighty God we serve.

EZEKIEL 28:19

…never shalt thou (leviathan) be any more.

So the verse above makes us aware that God by His Own choice has left him. Not so that he would repent but that He will strike leviathan at a particular time and he will be no more.

Isn’t God just amazing? God has an unending and inexplicable tolerance that sometimes we wonder. It is called GRACE. He can do anything He wants but chooses to keep quiet on issues. He is indeed LOVE. Imagine how you messed up, mess up and will mess up but He just loved you, love you and will love you. Do you know why? It is because the Blood of Jesus is an overpayment for our sins. (Where in the world did that come from?) Let’s get back to our story.

Job 41:13((THE MESSAGE))

13 Who would even dream of piercing that tough skin

or PUTTING THOSE JAWS INTO BIT AND BRIDLE?

Can you imagine? God is saying here that He can use and control him like a horse.

JOB 41:8-10(TLB)

And if no one can stand before him, WHO CAN STAND BEFORE ME?

Brothers and sisters, we have looked down on the power and majesty of our God. We have overlooked His personality and allowed fear into our hearts. Remember, ‘fear is faith in the devil’. Don’t give the devil that treatment but rather give it to God. God says to us all a simple question- ‘IS IT BECAUSE I HAVE KEPT QUIET? WHY DO YOU NOT RENDER UNTO ME WHAT IS DUE ME?’

Who do you think you are worshipping? You even fear your boss at work more than God. You fear your husband even more than God. You fear your lecturer even more than God. You look at zealous people as fools. You laugh and mock the sermon on Sunday and treat your pastor like a doormat. REPENT!

God doesn’t want us to run from Him but know the extent of His love for us. Imagine how big He is and yet He dies on a cross for you. He treats you like a friend and a brother and holds you firm in His warm embrace. Look at the universe and you will see how small you are but look into His eyes and you will see how significant you are to Him. The story is short and deep and His Words always the same- ‘I LOVE YOU’.

Take time and read the whole chapter of Job 41 you will be inspired.

Chapter 5

The God Of This World

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.- 2 CORINTHIANS 4:4

It’s interesting how almost everybody who reads this verse attributes the god of this world to Satan. We have to understand that we cannot take any verse out of context and make it say what we want it to say. In order to get a clear picture of what the writer wants to communicate we must make sure we understand the context very well. Let’s begin from chapter 3

2 CORINTHIANS 3:12-18

12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.

16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 3 the Great Apostle makes a comparison between the Old Testament and the New Testament- the Law of Moses and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then from the verse 12, he begins to talk about a veil. This veil according to the Apostle blinds the mind of people and prevents them from seeing the truth.

Notice in the verse 14 that the veil which Moses put over his face was a prophetic act or parable which meant that every time they read the law there would be a veil over their heart. Now in the verse 18 he makes us aware that for those of us who are saved, the veil is removed.

Nowhere in chapter 3 does he attribute the blinding of the people’s eye to the devil. Notice, I have not said that the devil does not blind the eyes of people. Through deception we know that the devil does blind the eyes of many. But we cannot use assumption to explain the Word; scripture explains itself.

So it is an established fact that the veil or the law is what blinded the people’s mind in chapter 3. Now let’s go on to chapter 4

2 CORINTHIANS 4:4

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

The Greek word for ‘world’ in this verse is ‘aion’ which means age. We can therefore substitute this into the verse and get a clearer picture. This will make it read, ‘in whom the god of this age’. We have to understand that at the point of Paul’s speech the Law was the main hindrance to the move of God. The law was the veil that blinded the eyes of the people and it was the god of that age. But there are many ages and we are not in the same age as the one Paul was in.

EPHESIANS 2:7

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

In other words, different ages have different principles and different gods. I don’t know why in the world men of God all over the world are giving the devil position he does not deserve. If the devil is the god of this world then I am the president of the United States of America.

The fall of Man

GENESIS 1:26-27

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: AND LET THEM HAVE DOMINION over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

When God created man, He gave man dominion over all the earth and everything on the earth. In other words, He made man the god or the ruler of the world. However we should remember that the devil was around all along. God is love and love makes room for choice. Man must therefore choose between God and the devil whom to obey. God put a tree in the garden to ensure this. If man eats of it he has disobeyed God and therefore obeyed the devil. Man fell and chose to obey the devil. But there is also a spiritual law which states, ‘that who you obey becomes your master.’

ROMANS 6:16

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey.

Therefore man’s father or master became the devil and man lost his dominion and authority to the devil. That is why Jesus told the Pharisees, ‘Ye are of your father the devil’ John 8:44. That means from that time the devil became the god of the world or the ruler of the world.

The Temptation of Jesus

LUKE 4:5-6

5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: FOR THAT IS DELIVERED UNTO ME; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

During the temptations of Jesus, at one point, the devil took Him up into a high mountain and showed Him all the Kingdoms of the world. The devil then told Jesus he would give all of them to Him if He would just bow because it was delivered unto him. The phrase ‘it was delivered unto me’ suggests a previous ownership. In other words, the devil stole the ownership of the kingdoms of the world from someone else. Who was this person to whom dominion was given over the world? Yeah, you are right- Adam. Adam was the rightful owner but he lost his dominion over the world when he fell. That means Adam was the god of this world and he lost his authority to the devil.

Notice, Jesus didn’t argue with the devil or deny this statement. So in other words, the ownership of the kingdoms of the world was indeed stolen and it was in the custody of the devil. However let’s see if the devil still has this authority.

MATTHEW 28:18

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ALL power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

The Greek word for power here is ‘exousia’ which means authority. What do you think ‘all’ means? What about ‘all authority on the earth’? In other words by Jesus death, burial and resurrection he stripped the devil of all his power. He took the authority he stole from Adam from him.

Adam’s Lease

From the dictionary a lease is a rental contract allowing somebody exclusive possession of another’s property for a specific time in return for a payment. From what we’ve studied so far we can conclude one sure thing- Adam never leased anything to the devil. The devil stole it. What do I mean by this? In the first place Adam was not owner or the one to whom the property belonged to. The world was leased to Adam by God.

PSALMS 115:15-16

15 Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.

16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

Therefore if there is anything like a lease belonging to the devil, it was the lease of Adam which he stole. Adam never leased anything to the devil for a particular period of time. So why is it that many men of God say that Adam’s lease has not yet run out? No, God leased the world to man forever and ever. Satan just stole it and Jesus took it back for us. Hallelujah!

The Prince of this World

JOHN 14:30

Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

The Greek word for prince in this verse is ‘archon’ which means ruler. That means when man fell the devil became the one who had the dominion over the world. He became the ruler or the prince of the world. But going through scripture we come to a time when he was judged and cast out.

JOHN 16:11

Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

JOHN 12:31-33

31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

33  This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Here we can see Jesus referring to His death. We have to understand that there were two casting downs of the devil. The first was before man and the other was at the Cross of the Master. After the cross, the devil was never again referred to as the prince of this world. He lost his dominion over the world.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:11

Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

Actually this verse literally refers to human beings. That is the scholars and professors of our age. However using the law of double reference we could say the dark spirits of the world. The Greek for nought is ‘kartageo’ which means to render jobless or idle. So if Satan is the prince of this world, he has lost his job. He is now a pet-servant, leviathan.

How can somebody who is not even the god of his own home be the god of this world? Satan does not even have authority over hell; how much more earth?

REVELATIONS 1:18

I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Can you imagine? He lost the keys to his own apartment. Even in hell he has no authority. The question now is, ‘if Satan is not the god of this world, then why is there so much evil in the world?’ The answer is simple the true gods of this world are sleeping. They left the dominion and reigning to the thief.

The True Gods of This World

PSALMS 82

1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

6 ¶ I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Let’s take it verse by verse to get a good understanding of the question- why the darkness?

The verse 1 reads, ‘God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods’. The Hebrew word for congregation means assembly and that of mighty is ‘el’ which means god. So in other words, ‘God stands in the assembly of gods to judge them’ and this is what He says: ‘How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?’

Whatever this assembly was, God was trying to correct them. They were the ones who determine whether there should be evil or good. In other words they had to allow wickedness or stop it. They were judges. And God’s question to them was, ‘How long will you let robbery continue, how long will you let rapes, prostitution and murders continue?’ Then God continues, ‘defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked’. You can see that God is talking with pain in His heart. I wonder what these gods were thinking. Yeah, ‘they were thinking Jesus will come down from heaven and put an end to them’. But God asks them ‘wake up, deliver the poor, preach the Gospel, heal the sick, cast out devils and raise the dead. What are you waiting for? Preach to the lost and prostitution will stop. Preach and robbery will stop. Don’t fold your arms and sit on the fence and say they are the signs of the second coming of Christ’.

God then shakes His Head, ‘They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness’. In other words, ‘They don’t know the extent of their abilities. They don’t know who they are and they allow darkness to prevail’. What then happens, ‘all the foundations of the earth are out of course’. That is- there is total disorderliness. These gods are really bad caretakers.

God then hangs His Head and says, ‘I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High’. What a shock! His Own children are the gods.

I wonder where in the world some people get their sermons from. Most of the so- called end time messages are not scriptural. There is nothing godly about them. They are just to scare people and take their minds off the truth. But they shall advance no further.

If you are still thinking that the devil is not the god of this world but the god of the systems of this world; that is the god of the entertainment system, the god of the political system or the god of the educational system, then you missed the whole show. If I am in the educational system Satan has no business to claim dominion there. I have the power to change things in the system.

REVELATIONS 11:15

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD ARE BECOME THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

I heard one preacher give his interpretation of 2 Corinthians 4:4. According to him the Greek word for world (which is ‘aion’) means the systems of the world and that of the earth is ‘kosmos’. So according to him the devil is the god of the systems of the world but not the god of the earth. However this is not true. The Greek word for world in 2 Corinthians 4:4 is indeed ‘aion’ but ‘aion’ does not mean systems of the world at all. ‘Aion’ simply means age as in a period of time. And ‘kosmos’ means orderly arrangement or the harmonious order of things on earth. The Greek word for the earth is ‘ge’.

We have to understand that no matter how long a lie stays in office it never becomes truth and just because a famous TV minister said it does not mean it is so. We have to get into the Word ourselves. We have to study the Word ourselves. The devil is not the god of the educational system if a saint is there. Neither is he the god of the entertainment system if saints are there. He is not even the god of the political system if just one saint votes. Can you imagine? We call the devil the god of the political system and still vote or take part in elections. As I said before if the devil is the god of this world then I am the president of the United States.

I remember the story of the Late Archbishop Benson Idahosa. One day, witches and wizards all over the world decided to have a meeting. Their venue for this meeting was where the Headquarters of the church of this mighty man of God was. The city was Benin in Nigeria. This man of God was not very calm as most preachers are today. To him the devil has no business to hold any form of meeting in ‘his city’. He called Benin, ‘my city’. So he made a public announcement that should any witch or wizard step foot in Nigeria, he will kill him. We are talking here of thousands of witches meeting for a festival. The Archbishop said he will kill all of them not even one will be spared. Can you imagine? What a man? He was indeed the ‘god of Benin City’. The chief of these witches also challenged the Archbishop that no matter what he does they will have their meeting. So the media called for a showdown on live TV between Archbishop Idahosa and the chief of witches. When the show was about to begin the Archbishop asked the host the duration of this event. He was told 60 minutes. He then told the host to alert him when it is 55 minutes because he was going to kill the witch five minutes to the end of the show. The interview started with the witch who spent roughly about 30 minutes explaining how powerful he was. When it was the turn of the Archbishop he said he changed his mind he will kill the witch now. He then turned to the witch and asked him a simple question. If his answer is yes, he will die. If his answer is no, he will live. So he asked him, ‘are you a witch?’ and the man replied, ‘no’. I guess nobody wants to die. The meeting was cancelled and there was no festival of witches in the ‘city of the Archbishop’.

From this we can see that the Archbishop was the god of Benin City in Nigeria. So he could determine what should be done and what not to be done. If the Church of Jesus would come to the reality that we are the gods of this world, there will be a dramatic turnaround in events as at now. The reason for the seeming ‘triumph’ and prevailing of darkness in the world is not because there is a devil but because the saints are sleeping. They have left their work of running the world to the devil. This should not be the case. We must rise to our place of dominion and put the devil where he belongs- under our feet.

I understand that Satan is the prince of the darkness of this world. But the word ‘darkness of this world’ and ‘systems of this world’ are not related as much as you being the virgin Mary. I’m sorry to bust your bubble but there must be a change. We must get this ‘lie’ out of office and bring in the truth. The devil may be in charge of demons or unbelievers but he has no business in education, politics, entertainment and other systems in place if even one saint is there. Let’s rise up and change things. Let’s restore all things as God would have it because then and only then will Jesus come.

ACTS 3:21

Whom (Jesus) the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

Chapter 6

The Thief

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.- JOHN 10:10

Before we begin our study on the thief, I will like to tell a story that happened a chapter before this (that is John 9).

One day, Jesus was passing by when He saw a blind man by the roadside. He drew near to him and cured him of his blindness. However, the Jews were not very pleased with this because He (Jesus) had done this on the Sabbath. So the Pharisees took the man and began to query him. They became angry at the man’s responds and threw him out of the temple. When Jesus heard of how they treated this man, He went to him and told him who He (Jesus) really was. After this, in the presence of the Pharisees who had driven this man out of the temple, Jesus began to give a speech from which we get the verse above (John 10:10). So to really understand this verse we have to take a close look at the whole speech.

JOHN 9:39-41

39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?

41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

What a statement by Jesus. He came to make the blind see and those who could see blind. No wonder they thought He was insane but He wasn’t. So He definitely was not talking about physical blindness. The ‘smart’ Pharisees noticed this and asked if they were blind. Looking at this we can see the Pharisees tried to justify themselves and say we are not blind. Jesus then begins to tell them who they really are. First, He calls them blind and full of sin. Then He proceeds. Let me mention that originally the Bible was not written in chapters and verses. Translators however did this for us to easily understand.

Jesus continues…

JOHN 10:1

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

Who do you think Jesus is calling a thief here? You guessed right. I mean Jesus is really pissed at these folks. He begins to tell them who they really are. But Jesus is too smart for them so His words are confusing to them. But let’s not draw conclusions yet.

From this verse we can identify four key words- the door, the sheepfold, thief and robber.

Each of these is a person or persons but the role they play gives them their name.

Let’s consider each of these in the order Jesus mentions them.

The Door

JOHN 10:7

Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

Notice Jesus calls Himself the door; door to what? - Door to the sheepfold. Notice Jesus didn’t say ‘I am one of the doors’ or ‘I am a door’ but ‘I am THE door’. That means you cannot be in the sheepfold unless you come through Him. He is the only door to the sheepfold of God. That is why He said, 'I am THE way, THE truth and THE life'. So it is impossible for anyone to come to God without Jesus. He is THE door.

JOHN 10:9

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Can you imagine? - A door that converts human beings into sheep. What a door this must be. You enter Mr. so and so and you come out, a sheep. I wouldn't like to enter through such a door if it was literal. But Jesus is talking figuratively that once you come through Him, you will become a member of the fold or family of God. So if any man will enter through this door, he shall be saved. Hallelujah! Are you saved? Did you enter through this door? I know you have been baptised and you read your Bible but baptism is not the door, neither is reading your Bible or going to church the Door. The Door is a Person, Jesus Christ. He is the only one who has the power to save you from your sins and make you born again as a sheep.

The Sheepfold

What is a sheepfold? From the Dake’s Bible, in the days of Jesus what was called a sheepfold was the place of shelter for flocks where they might repose at night and be safe from the attacks of wild beasts. They were low buildings opening into a court, surrounded by a stone wall of fence with a layer of thorns on top for protection. A doorway carefully guarded the entrance to the sheepfold. So what does a sheepfold refer to now?

JOHN 10:16

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Here Jesus makes it clear that He has many sheepfolds worldwide. He is not running a local business but He is an international farmer. Taking a look at the chapter we can see that Jesus calls Himself the Shepherd and those who belong to Him His sheep. Therefore the sheepfolds I believe represent the different families of God scattered worldwide. Let’s just say the denominations for now. But ‘denominations’ are not really the sheepfolds for different denominations have different animals in them. Some have scorpions, dogs, goats, pigs and even snakes.

EPHESIANS 3:14-15

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 Of whom THE WHOLE FAMILY IN heaven and EARTH is named,

So we can say the sheepfolds represent the denominations we have. In other words if a man accepts Jesus as His Lord, He becomes a member of this wonderful family. Are you sure you entered through this amazing door?

The Thief

With that in mind we can proceed to investigate who the thief really is.

JOHN 10:1

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

Here we see who Jesus is calling a thief. The thief is the one who comes to the sheepfold without using the door. He explains himself

All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.(John 10:8)

Wait a minute. The thief can talk. See, he talked but the sheep didn’t hear him. Imagine Jesus in the company of Pharisees and talking like this. No wonder in the same chapter, they wanted to stone Him. Don’t preach like Jesus you could get yourself killed. What a preacher! He looks at His congregation in the eye and calls them thieves and He does it so eloquently that they only understand it when they get home.

And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. (John 10:5)

Looking carefully at the stranger, we can see it’s the same thief been referred to as stranger. He is a stranger to the sheep and they refuse to follow him. Notice the stranger or thief is trying to lead the sheep.

So who do you think are the thieves in our day? Yes, you are right. The man in suit and tie who stands behind the pulpit and tells you poverty is from God. He is the thief.  Don’t follow him. He is stealing your money. The man on TV who tells you sickness is from God. The man on the internet who tells you, ‘don’t pay your tithe’. The man who carries a Bible and goes door- to- door telling people Jesus is Archangel Michael and that there is no hell. Don’t follow him. He is an armed robber. His bag hanging from his side is full of killing devices.

JOHN 10:10

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

A thief who can kill is armed and is called an armed robber. As you keep listening to him every day in church, watch him on TV or on the internet, I can assure you one thing- he is killing you softly.

To destroy, you need weapons like bombs and missiles. The thief who possesses such weapons is called a terrorist. See, you keep watching and listening to terrorists. Talk about the Osama Binging boom boom of the Bible. They sit you down and by the time they are done you are wondering whether God even exists.

2 John 10-11(Weymouth Bible)

10 If any one who comes to you does not bring this teaching, do not receive him under your roof nor bid him Farewell.

11 He who bids him Farewell is a sharer in his evil deeds.

Notice what the great Apostle said, don’t receive such people into your house or even bid them farewell. Don't let them steal your joy. Don't let them steal your peace. Protect yourself from these thieves. Spend time studying the Word for yourself. They are thieves who come to kill you with poison. They feed you with food that will kill you slowly. Don't eat their food.

The Ark

Let’s look at a passage in the book of Hebrews.

HEBREWS 9:4

… the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;

Notice the content of the ark- golden pot, manner and Aaron’s rod. Golden pot represents prosperity, manner represents the Word of His grace and Aaron’s rod represents power and authority. Now let’s consider something that happened in the Old Testament. After the ark was brought to Solomon, this was the content.

2 CHRONICLES 5:10

There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

When the ark was returned, everything was gone remaining only the law. This represents the state of many denominations worldwide. All they have is the law. The thief has stolen everything. Prophet Uebert Angel of Spirit Embassy once said, ‘not everywhere there is power that there is God, but everywhere there is no power, there is no God’. How true. Prophet TB Joshua of the SCOAN also once said, ‘the result of our relationship with God is power’. It’s simple. Any preacher who has no power does not have a genuine relationship with God. Let me explain. The more the man of God spends time fellowshipping with God, the more potent his words become. He may not even need to pray for the sick but his presence alone will be enough. But if you see a preacher who is ALL talk and no power, you have to watch yourself he may be a thief. If there is no power, I can assure you one thing- God didn’t come to church!

Chapter 7

Restoration

And I will RESTORE to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm (JOEL 2:25)

Restoration in scripture is an unexplored field. It however summarizes the workings of this Great God that we serve. Restoration is defined by the dictionary as the return of something that was removed or the return of something to its former condition. However looking deep into the scripture we see that this is actually not the case when God talks about restoration.

In scripture, we see three different kinds of restoration mentioned. First is what I call ‘restoring what was lost’. Second is ‘restoring multiples of what was lost’. The final restoration is what I call ‘restoration by the El- Shaddai’.

Let’s take our time to go through each of them.

Restoring What Was Lost

MATTHEW 8:16(AMP)

When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons, and He drove out the spirits with a word and RESTORED to health all who were sick.

From this scripture we can conclude that sickness occurs when the health of a person is stolen. We have to come to the understanding that Satan cannot create sickness. He cannot create poverty, he cannot create death but he can steal the health, the prosperity and the life that God gives to His people. When he steals the health of a person, the person becomes sick. When he steals the money of a person, the person becomes poor and when he steals the life of a person, the person dies.

How does he steal the health of a person? Actually all the devil does is to use the creator against himself. Let me explain.

Remember in Genesis 1:26 God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’. The Hebrew for image means ‘resemble in appearance’ and that for likeness means ‘to resemble in actions and deeds’. That means man is a ‘carbon copy’ of God. If God is a Creator, man must of necessity be a creator. How did God create everything we see? We understand that the worlds were fashioned by the word of God (Hebrew 11:3). God spoke the whole universe into being. He creates with His Word. If we are made in the likeness of God, then it means we as creators also create by our words.

…you shall have whatsoever you say (Mark 11:23)

Satan is very much aware of this verse so all he does is bring symptoms of a sickness or disease you know of for you to say it. Once you say it with your mouth, you create that sickness and reject the health God has given you. This implies that, you are not sick until you say with your mouth that you are sick. You are not poor until you say with your mouth that you are poor. Through ignorance many have been destroyed by this destroyer.

HOSEA 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…

The Hebrew for destroyed is the word ‘damah’ which means to be dumb or silent. It is also translated as ‘to be cut down or cut off’. In other words what God is saying is, ‘My people are cut down because they are silent about what I have done and are talking negative’.

In other words, ‘My people are sick because they are saying they are sick. My people are poor because they are saying they are poor. My people are dying because they are saying they will die’.

God is not the author of sickness. Neither is He the author of poverty or death. If God causes sickness then every doctor, every pharmacist, every nurse and every physician is a rebel. No, the devil steals the health that God gives.

What have you lost? What has been stolen from you by your ignorance? What has the enemy cut off from your life by your ‘damah’? Don’t worry we serve a God who restores what is stolen.

God’s Therapy

Let’s take another look at Matthew 8:16

MATTHEW 8:16

When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

The Greek for the word ‘healed’ in this verse is ‘therapeuo’ which means therapy.  In other words, they brought to Jesus all that were sick and possessed for therapy. Hallelujah! You may have an appointment with the doctor for a therapy, whether chemotherapy or any kind of therapy but there is someone whose therapy has never failed. He is the best therapist you could come across and his therapy works for all and I mean all sicknesses. Glory to God!

Restoration of Multiples of What Was Lost

EXODUS 22:1

If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

This was the Law of Moses- if any man is found out to have stolen a cattle or sheep, he must restore five times for the cattle or four times for the sheep.

This was also another type of restoration and it refers to restoring multiples of what was lost. What do you think has been stolen from you? How much money do you think you have lost by your disobedience and negligence? What have you lost that was very dear to you? Don’t limit God. He can give it back to you in multiples you can’t understand.

May be you did not lose anything but in your case it was opportunities that you didn’t have. Don’t lament over them. For it is not over until you say it is over. If you can bring your matter before God, He will place you at levels beyond your imaginations. He will restore multiples unto you.

Restoration by the El-Shaddai

GENESIS 17:1

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God (El- Shaddai); walk before me, and be thou perfect.

This is the first mention of this Name, El- Shaddai. It describes who this great God we serve is. El- Shaddai is from the Hebrew word ‘Shad’ which means ‘the breast of a woman’. El- Shaddai means ‘the Strong and Breasted One’. In other words He is the Strongest to protect and the Most Breasted to nourish. Simply put He is Jehovah El- Shaddai, the More than enough God. Hallelujah!

No matter the situation we find ourselves in, we serve a God who is more than enough to provide. And when He says He will restore you can imagine what He is talking about. Let me show how He does His multiplication.

MATTHEW 13:8

but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an HUNDREDFOLD, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Have you ever heard the phrase, hundredfold harvest? Hundredfold to many people means ‘times hundred’. That is multiplied by hundred. This is not actually true. We have to understand that Jesus was communicating to Hebrews here. He used a term which they knew to let them get the picture. Actually to a Hebrew, hundred fold means the total or complete blessing one could have. That is, the last or highest multiple there could ever be. Literally hundredfold means ‘times hundred times’. That is in our modern day English, exponent hundred.

Can you get the picture now? This is how the El- Shaddai does His multiplication. In other words when He says I will restore to you what was stolen, what He means is for everything you have lost, I’m about to shock you to the bones with abundance. Glory!!

He is the One who makes an illiterate a Prime Minister. He is the One who makes a shepherd a President. He is the One who makes an onion seller, an International Prophet. He does His calculations on a whole different level. His multiples are in exponent hundreds. What can you believe him for? What you just thought of is too small for Him.

EPHESIANS 3:20 (AMPLIFIED BIBLE)

Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]

He does His restoration infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams. When He says I will give you money, this is how He does it:

EPHESIANS 3:8 (AMPLIFIED BIBLE)

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints (God's consecrated people), this grace (favor, privilege) was granted and graciously entrusted: to proclaim to the Gentiles the unending (boundless, fathomless, incalculable, and exhaustless) riches of Christ [wealth which no human being could have searched out],

Why do we limit the CEO of the Universe? He has unending, boundless, fathomless, incalculable, unsearchable and exhaustless riches. How much do you think you can take to make Him broke?

Time Restoration

JOEL 1:3-4

3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

What a terrible state. Palmerworm, locust, cankerworm and caterpillar are life cycles of the locust?

JOEL 1:3-4 (AMPLIFIED BIBLE)

3 Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.

4 What the crawling locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; and what the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten; and what the hopping locust left, the stripping locust has eaten.

This is the state people look at you and write you off. They look down on you and say it is game over for you- you are finished. But I have news for them.

JOEL 2:25-26

25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

The Hebrew for ‘sent’ in verse 25 is the word ‘shalach’ which means ‘to send away’. In other words, God does not send them to you; He sends them away from you. If God is the one who sends them we have to welcome them with a big hug. If God sends sickness, we should never go to the doctor. No! God sends them away from you. Hallelujah!

Notice God didn’t say I will restore what they devoured but the years they devoured. That is much bigger. Have you ever met people who regretted for years they wasted? These people have limited revelation of who God is. He restores time that is lost. Maybe you wondered off at the age of 15 but fortunately for you, you came to your senses at the age of 40. God is saying, ‘I will restore unto the 25 years you lost’. Notice He didn’t say I will restore you to your old self. That would have been splendid but He says- ‘I will give you back the 25 years you lost’. And to think that is mind-blowing, He says, ‘I won’t stop there I will give you a hundredfold of your lost years’. Hallelujah!

When your cup is full, He keeps pouring and pouring until you lose track of how blessed He has made you. What a Mighty God we serve.

MATTHEW 8:16(AMP)

When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons, and He drove out the spirits with a word and RESTORED to health all who were sick.

That is to say every sickness you suffered, every cold and every headache was theft of your time. When you lied down and could not move, your time was being stolen. But God says I will restore all that lost time unto you. For every headache, for every stomach pain and for every fever; I will restore the time unto you. It will be as though it never did happen. I will restore every second you lost.

By now you may be wondering- what does God demand from me in return? Do I have to do forty days and night dry fast to have this? The answer is a big NO!

ROMANS 8:28, 31

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

All He says is, ‘Can you love Me?’ If you can only focus your heart on me and give me your life and affection, I will work all things in your favour. Hallelujah! That is, you are not to do anything. It is not in your power. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. This is what is called grace.

Predestined unto Adoption as Sons

EPHESIANS 1:4-5

4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

5 Having PREDESTINATED US UNTO THE ADOPTION OF CHILDREN by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

From the scripture above, we come to understand that even before the overthrow of the world, God had us in mind, chose us and predestined for us to be His adopted sons. In other words, before the beginning of all things, God predestined for us to manifest Christ in the earth. This is what the whole creation is waiting for- the manifested sons of God.

What does the phrase ‘whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate’ mean? To foreknow means to know beforehand. It means God has given everyone freewill. But not everyone will accept Him with the freewill he has being given. Now, God knowing that ‘this’ will accept Him and ‘that’ will eventually refuse Him, chooses a path for ‘this’. At the end of his path, he will become a placed son or a matured son. Say at the age of 13 he must be born again. At the age of 17 he must be at so- so place. At the age of 30 he must be a millionaire.

He chooses a path for him. This path is what we call ‘the perfect will of God’. Within it there is what he will accomplish for every second of his life. No matter how big anyone’s dreams are it does not compare to that of God for him. Once you think big, it means God has thought bigger.

Predestined unto Perfect Love

ROMANS 8:29

For whom he did FOREKNOW, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Notice he says here that, ‘He predestined us to be conformed unto the image of His Son’. We know that the image of His Son is what is called perfect love. In other words, by the time you are through with your predestined path, you will arrive at perfect love. For everyone you meet, for every place you go to and for everything you do, it is for you to have the image of perfect love. That is to learn to walk in love. This is what will be demanded at the end of the race. The final question at the end of days will be, 'did you learn to walk in love?' It is not going to be, 'how many demons did you cast?' or 'how many sick people did you heal?' It is not even going to be, 'how many souls did you lead to Christ'. The question will be simple and short, 'did you learn to walk in love?' How do you treat the people around you? How do you react to issues? Remember, attitudes don't jump on us we make them. I don't care how gifted you are; as long as you are not matured in love, you are not matured in Christ.

Let’s say you are a shot tempered person. This is not like Christ because 1 Corinthians 13:4 says, ‘Love endures long and is patient and kind’. So in your path, this has to be gotten rid of. To do that, you will meet men and go to places that will squeeze out that nature from you until you become like Christ. One man of God rightly said, “In the school of God no matter how brilliant you are there is no double promotion. You must pass every test.” That means if the men you meet and the places you go to do not make you like Christ, you will keep meeting similar men and being at similar places and nobody wants that. You will meet people who will always make you angry and until you learn how to control your temper, you will keep meeting them over and over again. That is why some people can be in ten relationships before finally they can settle down. It’s because of their bad attitude. Learn to change your attitude and learn fast to be like Christ; otherwise, you are going repeat the tests of life over and over again. It’s simple, ‘there is no double promotion’. You can't jump any class. You can't defer any exam. You have to take every test and pass and if you fail, you will repeat the test. Your predestined path is for you to have the image of Christ- Perfect Love. So endeavour to walk in love and make things easier for yourself.

However, there are very few Christians on the predestined path. Most Christians have drifted from God’s plans for them. For these people who have drifted, God says to them don’t worry. Once you can love me I can restore you to that path and all shall be well.

All Things Work Together

Let’s look at it scripture to help us get a clearer picture.

ROMANS 8:28

28 And we know that ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Maybe you drifted off the path and went to the wrong school, did the wrong course and worked at the wrong work place and married the wrong wife. God says don’t worry, “Can you love Me? Once you love Me, I will take the wrong school, the wrong course and the wrong people and use it to work for your good. I will restore you to your predestined path. I don’t care about your age. I don’t care about what you’ve lost. If you can love Me, I will use all the ‘wrong’ things to restore you to your predestined path.”

So God positions everything in a person’s path to end him at the destination, perfect love. But even if he goes off and begins to do other things not predestined and he surrenders to God; God says, “I will take that thing and use it to work together for his good. No matter what it is, I will use them all to work together and bring him back to the destination. I am the One who called light out of darkness and I will call the light to shine out of that situation” What a mighty God we serve. Hallelujah!

Then he says

ROMANS 8:31

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

So you may think you are in the wrong school. You may think you are at the wrong work place. You may even think you are in the wrong marriage but if God comes into the situation, nobody, no living and none living, no dead or alive, nothing and I mean absolutely nothing can be against you. He will take them all and use them to work for your good. He is that big. Hallelujah!

What do you think you have lost and how many years of your life do you regret to have wasted? Don’t give up yet. God is about to show you that He is the God of restoration. He will give you everything you could have gained if you had not wasted your time and even more. His Name is Jehovah More Than Enough, the El- Shaddai.

Chapter 8

Resist the Devil

Submit yourselves therefore to God. RESIST the devil, and he will flee from you- James 4:7

As children of God we have been given authority over the devil. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus gave us authority and dominion over the devil. And besides, Jesus paralysed and defeated the devil on the cross. Therefore it is illegal for a person to be oppressed by the devil. You cannot stop a bird from flying over your head but you can stop it from building a nest on your head.

Notice the verse above never said pray for God to do something about the devil for you but you resist the devil yourself. Asking God to deliver you or stop the devil is unscriptural and a waste of time and effort. God CANNOT resist the devil for you. He is bound by His Word and His Word says WE should resist the devil not God.

Remember, Leviathan is just a leashed puppy. Drag him out of your life. Rise up and free yourself; of every demonic oppression in your life. The day you say, ‘enough is enough’ is the beginning of your freedom. If you give the devil an inch, he will go a mile. The ultimate purpose of every demonic activity in a person’s life is death and not only death but to drag the person to hell. It came to kill you and if you don’t wake up and do something about it, soon enough you will not have it easy. Stop playing with the devil. Don’t pamper the devil, hammer him into shape.

How do I Resist the Devil?

Demons operate on commands. So to resist them is very easy. All you have to do is give them a new command. The problem with most people is that they command the devil alright but are not able to hold on to their words.

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering

It is through faith that we resist the devil. Hold on to the commands you give to them and keep giving the commands until there is a turn around. Look the devil eyeball to eyeball and tell him, ‘Mr Devil, I’ve had enough of this nonsense. I will not let you have my children. I will not let you have my husband. I will not let you have my health. Get out! And never come back again’. Stamp your foot on the ground and say to yourself ‘enough of this addiction’, ‘enough of this medication’, ‘enough of these disappointments’, ‘enough of this rebellion from my child’, ‘enough of failure’. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. This nonsense must stop. Rise up and give a new command. Tell the devil, ‘Mr Devil, I think you missed your way. You are not welcomed in my home. Get out!’

Jesus Defeated the Devil on the Cross

COLOSSIANS 2:14-15(AMPLIFIED BIBLE)

14 Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.

15 [God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].

The book of Colossians makes it clear where the battle took place. It was on the cross Jesus stripped or disarmed the devil. It was on the cross Jesus defeated the devil. The price was paid on the cross. Jesus went to hades as a victor. That is why He shouted, ‘IT IS FINISHED’. In other words, ‘the battle is over. We have won’.

The Greek word for disarmed in Colossians 2:15 is ‘apekduomai’. ‘Apekduomai’ has a two way application or meaning. Firstly it means to wholly strip off for oneself (for one’s own advantage) or to despoil or to disarm. Secondly, it means to wholly put off from oneself.  For the fact that he did not say Jesus disarmed Himself but rather Jesus disarmed principalities and powers. That means He stripped principalities and powers of their arms and rendered them powerless. He spoiled principalities and powers. If the devil is a dog, then he is a toothless dog. He cannot bite. He only makes noise.

Therefore we can say that by Jesus death on the cross, the devil was paralysed, de-feeted and rendered toothless. Jesus finished it all and restored the lost dominion and authority of man. Satan has no longer right over anybody to oppress anybody.

Who Is Satan?

Finally, I will like to end this volume by telling exactly who Satan is. I will let the Apostle Paul help me do this in his words in 1 Corinthians 2:6 (AMP)

…rulers of this age, who are being brought to NOTHING and are doomed to pass away.

Who do you think he is? - A nothing. All he wants is your attention but don’t give it to him.

I heard the story of Rev. Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy Church. One day, this great man of God was in prayer before God. His prayer point was simple and concise. He kept praying for hours and all he kept saying was, ‘O God, how do I give the devil a knock-out’. Can you imagine? What a prayer! After sometime, God finally spoke. He was shocked when he heard God say, ‘by treating him the same way you treat Me’. He did not understand so he asked, ‘God, how do I treat you’? And God said, ‘by ignoring him just like you do to me when I speak’. This man of God was shocked by God’s answer and this led him to preach a message titled, ‘How to give the devil a T.K.O’. What a shock!

If you want to give the devil a knock-out, treat him like the nothing he is. When he stands before you, walk right through him as though he was not present. He is defeated, paralysed and reduced to nothing.

I mentioned earlier on of Smith Wigglesworth. This same Apostle of faith was one day sleeping comfortably in his bedroom when he heard someone cursing and cussing. He woke up only to see the devil standing right beside his bed and saying words like, ‘I will destroy you. I will kill you. I will finish you’. He looked the devil in the face and said, ‘O NOTHING, IS THAT YOU’? And turned and went back to sleep.

Knowing your adversary is paramount to winning the battle because when you know who he is, you will know where to direct your attention and how to treat him should he show up in your life. Who is Satan? Yeah, you are right- A NOTHING.

End of Volume 1

Back to table of contents

About the Author

Through an anointed teaching ministry, Pastor Frederick Otoo ministers to many across the globe. He is currently a Pastor at the Fullness of God Ministry Kumasi, Ghana. His vision is to see ‘the glory of God cover the earth as the waters cover the sea’. He is the Founder and President of Pleroma Campus Ministry- an outreach that ministers to students on various campuses.

Connect With Frederick Otoo

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Chapter 2 - Katabole

Chapter 3 - What is your Name?

Chapter 4 - Leviathan, the dragon

Chapter 5 - The God of this World

Chapter 6 - The Thief

Chapter 7 - Restoration

Chapter 8 - Resist the devil

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