1. Encounter in Hood River 2
2. Precepts of battle 3
3. God the Father 9
4. Questions 12
5. The queen 13
6. The control spirit 25
7. Tradition 28
8. Antichrist 32
9. The "declaration of independence" 39
10. Death and Hell 41
11. The big key 49
12. The cork 52
13. Wrap-up 55

Afterword:
Who can bind principalities and powers 59

Chapter 1: Encounter in Hood River

I first encountered principalities and powers in Hood River valley where I was to shepherd a small group which had recently come out of dead tradition into life in the Spirit. Shortly before coming to the valley, I received a prophetic word which said (in part):

My son, I would say unto thee that I am power and that I am authority. My son I would have you to know that you have only walked in the shadow of everything that I could give unto thee. It has been nothing. It has been like the widow's mite. Would you trade the widow's mite for the wealth of the kingdom, my son? My son, I would have thee to grasp of the wisdom, to seek after the pearl of great treasure, my son, for I am power. I am authority. I am the supreme God and I have let you walk in the shadow of my authority and all that you have tasted have only been but fruits, just the beginnings of the fruits, my son. Oh, if you could come to me and if you could see what I have in store, my son ... Think deeply and be careful my son and trade not the kingdom for a mite.

Now personal prophecy is first of all to be judged and confirmed, and then, if it passes, believed and obeyed. This one tested out. Therefore I sought a means to act, i.e. to seek God for "the pearl of great treasure." Because most of the brothers worked during the days, I had considerable time to study and pray out at the isolated building where we held services. Once I decided to seek God in a special way according to the prophetic injunction, I began to utilise large periods in which I would simply come before the Lord and say, "I have come to receive what you have for me." Now as I approached God in this way I did not come flippantly or arrogantly: I approached with fear and trembling, aware of the awesome presence of the Supreme King of the universe. I believe we can come boldly unto the Holy of Holies, but not lightly. Even though Jesus made the way for us, we still are the creatures and he is the Eternal Father, the Creator of all that is. Many a day I stood there, shoes off in awe, unable to look up. My declaration was, "Lord, I am here by permission. You bade me come, I would have it all."
As I continued in this way, I began to be baptised afresh in the Holy Spirit. Two experiences accompanied this: the inhaling of deep gasps of air and the sense of power coming down from heaven, flooding over my body. At the time I did not understand these sensations, but shortly afterwards I read From Jordan to Pentecost by Derek Prince, and then I knew. The "gasping" was in reality "drinking" for "we ... all were made to drink of one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13) and "Jesus stood up and proclaimed, 'If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink.'" (John 7:37) The "power flowing," on the other hand, was simply that "... in the last days ... I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ..." (Acts 2:17) Here the picture is one of the Holy Spirit coming down over the believer from above. I was both "drinking" the Spirit and having the Spirit "poured out" on me. Praise the Lord.
Before I go on, I must explain that almost all of the experiences which I will relate in this book were "do and teach." What is "do and teach"? Simply that something occurs in the Spirit and then, sometimes immediately afterwards or, perhaps years later, the Lord explains the spiritual dynamic involved. The elucidation comes after the event. Now this is neither heretical nor spooky: it is scriptural. Luke told Theophilus that in the first book (the gospel of Luke), he dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach (Acts 1:1). Jesus performed, and then He taught. He works no differently through the Holy Spirit today. (Godly experiences, though, will never violate the letter and the spirit of Scripture). Persons who must have every little question answered before they experience being led of the spirit will never receive much freedom in God.
At any rate, after two weeks of "drinking" and "being poured upon," I expected a marked difference in my ministry. To my chagrin, though, the Sunday service was as tight as ever. The atmosphere seemed filled with spiritual death. In near despondency I returned to the empty church on Monday morning to face my God. As I was gazing from the window, meditating upon the day before, the Lord distinctly spoke to me: "The reason you failed to flow in ministry yesterday is because of a demonic strong man which has been assigned to you by Satan in order to destroy your ministry. His name is ______." I was stunned. But my shock was ever the greater when I turned around and saw the strong man standing across the room, looking at me.
I saw him. In the spirit I saw him. I continued to see him for the better part of two weeks. Several brethren have asked me for a description. Perhaps the best analogy is that he resembled the king on a deck of cards, except that his complexion was doughy and greenish. He was large, with thick jowls.
The Lord's allowing me to perceive this demonic creature was neither for the purpose of frightening me nor for titillating my curiosity. His assignment to me was "do war against this strong man until he stands over you no more." Fortunately around this time New Wine magazine ran a full coverage on the theme "Battling the Strong Man." (The timing was uncanny). I used the insights in the articles as a springboard for the attack; yet as I battled, the Lord taught me much about the enemy and how to defeat him. The remainder of this book is the story of my encounter and the personal and theological consequences from it which have since transformed many lives.

Chapter 2: Precepts of Battle

How could we have missed it all these years? Jesus plainly stated "No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house." (Mark 3:27) Our tragedy is that we have attempted to plunder without first binding. Now this is not to say that in past years the church has been totally without blessing; it is to say, though, that we have experienced only a trickle of power through the demonic dyke whereas God's will is that the dyke collapse and the end-time flood of revival ensue!
We in modern Western cultures have such difficulty believing in the full biblical scope of the spirit world. We are over-educated, over-psychologised, and desensitised, whereas the Apostle Paul had no difficulty with the idea that "we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph. 6:12) Even in our evangelical churches (and I have been active in them all my life) we do not confront principalities and powers; rather we fight communism, or humanism, or liberalism. (We contend against flesh and blood). Daniel's true enemy was not Darius, the King of the Chaldeans, but the demonic prince of the kingdom of Persia who resisted the Archangel Gabriel as he attempted to come to Daniel with the answer from God (Daniel 10). Are not our true foes those princes over our communities, our states, our nations? Do they not hinder and stifle us at every turn? Do they not take the blessings of God and in a few short years stagnate and pollute them? Alas! Those in pagan lands are more aware than we of the presence of personalised evil about them! Just because the strong men over America are more "sophisticated" than those over, say, a nation like Uganda, does not mean that they are non-existent, or even less active.
Now all of this is not intended to glorify Satan out of proportion. Even though the devil and his angels are mighty, God is almighty. The first verse that I used in battling the strong man over my ministry was Colossians 2:15: "He (Jesus) disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in the cross." Satan is a defeated foe.
"Why, then," some will ask, "if he is defeated, is it necessary for us to take on principalities and powers?" Perhaps Pastor Jim Croft brings forth the best answer when he compares what happened at the Cross to the two atomic bombs that ended World War II. Now when an atomic bomb is dropped, everything within a fifty-mile radius will inevitably be destroyed. But that destruction is not made manifest until the waves of power push out from the point of explosion, utilising the energy released by the initial blast to obliterate everything in their path. To apply this to the spiritual realm, the most potent of all bombs was dropped in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, and each successive generation of believers has been an extension of it's waves of power. As the Gospel gains an ever-extending mushroom of authority, each generation of Christians must call afresh upon the power of the initial blast as they level the walls of opposing satanic fortresses into rubble.'
The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, wrote that Jesus had disarmed the devil and his angels; yet under that same inspiration he stated that "we wrestle against ... principalities and powers." Divine paradox!
As I stood there in that quiet church that day, opposite my enemy, the Lord reminded me of the time when He first faced his foe. (When he asserted that one first binds the strong man, then plunders his house, He was speaking from experience.) It was that time immediately following His baptism when He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will give his angels charge of you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God."' Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, " All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve."' Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. (Matt. 4:2-11)
In this account we find three principles to follow in binding the strong man:

1. We go into the battle "full of the Holy Spirit." Jesus did not take a list of instructions with him, nor did he have a detailed battle plan. He was filled with the Spirit of His Father and with a working knowledge of Scripture. Wouldn't it have been ridiculous if Jesus had to consult the rule book every time Satan hurled an accusation or temptation at Him? No, Jesus had no written program for this, nor is there indication that he knew beforehand the tactics of Satan on this occasion. The evil one assaulted Him with "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Jesus didn't fumble in His pocket for the slip of paper which contained the correct answer. Rather, He consulted with the Spirit, Who told Him, "Answer with Scripture! Pierce him through with Deuteronomy!" And Jesus, being always obedient, did just that: "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone ..."' I believe Satan was pierced through and badly shaken by that one.
The blessed Lord wants to breathe upon us and dwell in us and flow out of us. To walk in the Spirit is to be well-equipped to bind the strong man. Let us put off religion and dead tradition and find Him who is "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named .(He) who fills all in all." (Eph. 1:21, 23)

2. We go into the battle in an attitude of self-denial. Jesus fasted for forty days. I do not believe He did this merely to prove His endurance. Instead, I believe His denial of legitimate body needs sharpened His ability to perceive the spirit world, especially His ability to hear the Holy Spirit. The more receptive we are to the Holy Ghost, the more effective we are in battle.

3. We go into the battle realising the power of right decisions and right declarations. In each of the replies to the three temptations, Jesus was not only quoting Scripture, but was affirming personal convictions. He was not just offering, as a platitude, "Man shall not live by bread alone," but full of the Holy Ghost, He was declaring for time and eternity, "I shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!" One of our greatest weapons for binding the strong man is a Holy Ghost inspired declaration of righteousness! "Here I stand, Devil! I shall worship the Lord My God, and Him only shall I serve!" Such an avowal causes Satan to flee. Matthew 12:36-37 states: "I tell you, on the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Frequently we focus on the negative aspect of this verse, and we should heed its warning. But what about the positive side? "By your words you will be justified." Now in context I believe Jesus is referring to justification and condemnation which shall come on the day of judgment; yet the principle applies in our daily lives. The anointed declaration of godly choices, these words of my mouth which I fling at the strong man, will set me (and mine) free from his grasp and justify me in God's eyes. Hallelujah!

I had a strong man assigned to me to destroy my ministry. Jesus had a strong man attached to Him. Because of Who He was, His strong man was the strongest of all. Satan himself. I believe Satan's object was to block the ministry of Jesus. After the binding of the evil one from off His ministry, Jesus was then able to return in power and proclaim:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19)

Many of our churches, as Christ's body, preach this, but, because we have not bound the strong man (or men) virtually none of us can say, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21) and show supernatural works which parallel or surpass those of Jesus. Brethren, as the revelation of binding principalities and powers becomes more widely accepted, Christ's present body on earth shall truly do "greater works" even than He did (John 14:12), and we shall find ourselves in that blessed generation which will see "the gospel of the kingdom ... preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come." (Matt 24:14)
A thoughtful study of Jesus' experience in the wilderness corrects two common errors persons fall into as they consider binding strong men. I worked with a brother once in a situation where I proposed that we, as a church, enter into a time of binding principalities. His comment was "Just bind the thing, and go on." What he meant was as we go about our "busyness for God" just look up once and say "I bind you in the name of Jesus" and assume that that takes care of it. (Actually, this was his roundabout way of telling me that he thought the whole emphasis was unnecessary.) At any rate the statement "Just bind it (once)" goes against the example of Jesus who had a season in which his total emphasis was confronting the evil one. If he had a season for doing so, should we not do likewise under the leadership of the Spirit? The other error is the opposite extreme. I was conversing with a brother concerning a strong man with which he repeatedly wrestled. His statement was, "One just has to keep fighting." But Jesus, our example, did not keep fighting in a wilderness-type experience. The season of specialised warfare for Him had a beginning and it had an ending. When He returned from the wilderness, He was able to plunder Satan's house. Now this doesn't mean that the devil just disappeared but it does mean that he was bound so that Jesus could return in the power of the Spirit. Warfare against strong men is seasonal: it has a beginning, a middle, and an ending.
Luke 11:21-22 tells us that "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace, but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armour in which he trusted, and divides his spoil." I believe these verses imply a season of warfare: one assails and overcomes the strong man, taking away his armour. Ancient armour had four main parts. First of all was the shield, then the helmet, then the coat of mail, and finally the greaves (armour to protect the leg between the knee and the ankle). In spiritual warfare, I believe we have the authority to strip the strong man of his armour a piece at a time until he stands (or falls) uncovered, defenceless, and robbed of his power, for "the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds." (2 Cor. 10:4)
In light of this, one can imagine the dismay of the Apostle Paul when he found that he had a strong man who would not go away.
And to keep me from being to elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor. 12:7-10 )

Here we have a messenger of Satan, sent to harass Paul. The verb "harass" (or buffet) is in the present tense, which in Greek indicates recurrent action; i.e., Paul was repeatedly attacked by this agent. My conviction is that the demonic setup here consisted of a strong man on the outside who controlled a demon of infirmity on the inside. But verse ten indicates that the messenger (the strong man) was responsible for more than just sickness; he caused weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities! (There is no paragraph change from verse seven through verse ten. The subject is the messenger of Satan.) I believe that this strong man followed Paul around, stirring up not only the infirmity, but the demonic bondages of his human enemies so that those persons reviled and persecuted him.
Now I believe that the Apostle Paul was accustomed to experiencing victory over the devil. Paul doubtlessly sensed that a satanic agent was accompanying him. But when he turned to assault this strong man with godly weapons, nothing happened. I believe Paul came before the Lord and asked "Why? Why do I have authority over principalities and powers, but not over this one? Lord, will you not take it from me?" The Lord replied, "because of the abundance of your revelations, I have made an exception. He will remain by my permission to keep you humble." The point here is that Paul normally expected victory! It was he who wrote "the weapons ... have divine power to destroy strongholds." People, let's put aside our spiritual poverty complex. Whereas it is true that all godly persons will suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12), we have allowed Satan to go well beyond his limits in robbing us of power and authority simply because we Christians have failed to believe the explicit teaching of Scripture concerning the evil one and how to overcome him. Through unbelief, we have failed to prepare to become the battleaxe of the Lord so that satanic strongholds can be destroyed. Yet I believe the Lord in this generation will raise up an army of blood-washed men who will go forth to "destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God." (2 Cor. 10:5) and who "for Zion's sake...will not keep silent ... until her vindication goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch." (Isaiah. 62:1)
As a preparation for becoming a part of that army, some persons may have to bind the strong men off of their ministries. I do not believe that most individuals have a specific strong man assigned to them in the same sense as Jesus and Paul had, but a man who is destined to a position of strong spiritual leadership may well have one. I know of several brothers who have discerned special enemies designed to harass them continually. A number of the brothers have since bound those specific strong men and have moved into freedom and victory. Praise God!
During my own season of battle the Lord taught me much. For two weeks after discerning the strong man I spent several hours daily in solitude. At one point toward the end of the two weeks, I experienced a deep breakthrough into joy. While in the Spirit, I saw the angels. Up to this time I was only away of the demonic prince and the Lord. But on this occasion as I stood across from the strong man, I saw the angels. As I battled, they were pinning his arms behind him and binding him with strong ropes. These heavenly visitors were not toiling in anguish as they battled; rather, they acted as if they were at a party. At first I didn't understand this, but later the Lord showed me that those of us in this dispensation of grace have come to "innumerable angels in festal gathering"! (Heb. 12:22) They are in a party mood because they know that Christ shall reign until He puts every enemy under His feet! As I broke through into joy and praise, the angels began to circle in the air and rejoice with me. Then the Lord updated for me Psalm 149.

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.
Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged sword in their hands,
to wreak vengeance on the nations
and chastisement on the peoples,
to bind their kings with chains
and their nobles with fetters of iron,
to execute on them the judgment written!
This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord! (Psalm 149:4-9)

Genuine praise unto the Lord in the time of warfare wreaks vengeance on the spiritual hosts of darkness, binds the principalities with chains, snaps fetters of iron on the demonic powers, and executes the judgment against them of the blood of Christ's Cross.
While I was experiencing this victory, the heavenly curtains parted, and I saw my father. He was standing there in simplicity and childlikeness, face beaming as it used to years ago when he was delighted about something. He was watching the cosmic struggle in that tiny church much as one in a stadium would view the action on the playing field. (We are "surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses" [Heb. 12:1]) Accompanying him were two other companions whom I was unable to identify. While neither looking at me nor addressing me directly, my father clapped his hands enthusiastically and exulted: "Atta boy, son! Atta boy!" Then he turned and, in animated conversation with his companions, strolled off into the mist ...
After that something deep down inside me broke. I sobbed almost uncontrollably for forty minutes. As I emerged from that experience, I realised that a torn corner of my soul had been mended.
Months later, during a conference, I realised the purpose for the Lord allowing me to glimpse my father. Brother Bob Mumford, in a sermon, described his emotion when his dying father pronounced a blessing upon him. when I heard that, I recognised that I had experienced the same emotion that day in the isolated church. "Atta boy, son!" was my father pronouncing a blessing on my ministry.

Chapter 3: God the Father

The greatest need in our time is for strong fathers, both natural and spiritual. But what of those (and there are millions of them in this generation) who have been deprived of good fathers? I believe the ones who sincerely seek the Lord will be supplied, in time, with spiritual fathers whose anointing will bring a measure of restoration; yet the greater healing will come as we experience, over the next few years, a fresh revelation of God the Father.
The first intimation I had that there was more to learn about the role of God the Father in the end times occurred several years ago in a difficult deliverance session in which a co-worker and I were ministering to a seriously demonised woman. As we commanded the evil spirits to come out, they continually baulked or feigned indifference, or mocked. Finally in desperation I left the other brother in charge as I departed to another room to pray about the situation. When I returned, to my amazement the demons had ceased mocking and had begun cringing and leaving. My co-worker was addressing them from Psalm 18:

The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
He flashed forth lightnings, and routed them ...

We had read other Scripture passages against those evil spirits, but only Psalm 18 routed them. What was going on?
It was not until my season of battle against the strong man that I received the answer: it is God the Father who will make the enemies of Jesus a footstool for His feet, and Psalm 18 is a prophetic picture of that event. (Sometimes demons know more about Scripture than the church does.) Psalm 18 is the battle hymn of the end-time church.
Now one of the most exegetically ignored passages of the Old Testament as it is quoted in the New Testament is Psalm 110:1. In the New Testament it appears directly five times and indirectly at least twice. It states in Acts 2:34-35:

"The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,
Till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet."

Question: Who is speaking to whom?
Answer: God the Father is speaking to Jesus the Son.
Question: Where is the Holy Spirit ( in the context of Acts 2:34-35)?
Answer: On Earth.
Question: Who is going to make the enemies of Jesus a footstool for His feet?
Answer: God the Father.

Now that's simple enough, isn't it? A more complicated passage, though, is First Corinthians 15:24-28:

24. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.
25. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
27. "For God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "All things are put in subjection under him," it is plain that he is excepted who put all things under him.
28. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to everyone.

The difficulty with this passage is that in verses 24-25 Jesus Himself appears to be the One Who puts His enemies under His feet, whereas in verses 27-28 God the Father seems to be the Who does the work. Did a spirit of confusion come upon the Apostle Paul? What is the solution? I believe the key is in an understanding of the unity of and the co-submission within the Godhead.
The appearing of God the Father to vanquish the enemies of Jesus will not draw attention away from Jesus; rather, the victory will come in such a way as to cause God's people to shout triumphantly, "Jesus is Lord! He is King indeed !'' God the Eternal Father descends from His throne to serve the Son by routing His enemies; the Son then turns and subjects Himself and His kingdom for all eternity to the Father, so that "God may be everything to every one.'' Sublime community! Blessed oneness!
The idea that God the Father will yet execute the sentence of the judgement of the cross upon principalities and powers is also found in Hebrews 12:25-29:

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. His voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.

The quotation "Yet once more ..." is from Haggai 2:6-9:

For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with splendour, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The latter splendour of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.

Haggai believed that he was prophesying concerning the temple which was being constructed by the Jews who had just returned from the Babylonian Captivity. He was reassuring the builders that the temple which they were then erecting would be greater in splendour than Solomon's Temple, which had been destroyed in the overthrow of Jerusalem. But the fact of the matter is that historically no temple in Jerusalem (including the one under construction in Haggai's time) has ever surpassed Solomon's Temple in grandeur. Therefore, I believe the "house" or Temple referred to in this prophecy is the church of God (1 Cor. 3:16). I do not believe that the latter splendour which will come upon the church refers to heaven because the passage appears to indicate an earthly fulfillment. Now what shall be "shaken" so as to cause the latter splendour of this house to be greater than the former ("the former" likely referring to the early church)? Unquestionably Hebrews 12:25-29 indicates that at some point the physical universe will be shaken; yet the created material order is not that which has robbed the church of power, authority, and prosperity - the spiritual kingdom of darkness has been responsible. Therefore if the Father is going to shake something in order that the treasures come to the church, that which first of all shall be shaken is the kingdom of darkness in the heavens!
A question which will arise at this point is: "If God the Father Himself is to make the enemies of Jesus a footstool for His feet, why does the church have to pray against principalities and powers? Why can't we just wait for the Father to do the work?'' I believe Paul answers the question when he asserts that it is through the church that "the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 3:10) God the Father will use the body of Christ on earth to announce to the principalities and powers that they are, indeed, defeated enemies, and to execute against them the judgment of the cross! As the church, through the Holy Spirit, takes up the battle-axe for the Lord Jesus, God the Father descends from the throne with "devouring fire from his mouth" (Ps. 18:8) to rout the demonic princes. It is once again all a part of the mysterious metaphysics of the inter-submission and yet oneness of the Holy Trinity, the Blessed three-in-one!
We in the modern church have hesitated to discuss the distinct roles of the Three Persons of the Godhead out of fear that anything we might say about God the Father or the Holy Spirit would detract from the Lord Jesus, or out of fear that to speak of separate roles borders on tritheism (three gods) instead of monotheism (one god). Such fears show that this rebellious age needs a fresh revelation of the exquisitely beautiful pattern of servant hood and submission within the Godhead. The explicit teaching of Scripture is that the Holy Ghost came, not to exalt Himself, but to bear witness to Jesus (John 15:26). The Spirit does not speak in His own authority, but whatever He hears (from Jesus) He speaks (John 16:13). Now most people don't have a problem believing that the Holy Spirit points to Jesus, (in fact, some groups have reduced Him to an "it"). But many individuals struggle with the idea that Christ points beyond Himself to God the Father. Yet Jesus, in John 17:25-26, stated

"O righteous Father, the world has not known thee: and these know that thou hast sent me. I made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou has Loved me may be in them ,and I in them." (italics mine)

Derek Prince has pointed out that the Name which Jesus made known was "Father" which appears six times in Chapter 17. Now an interesting thing is that the Lord Jesus didn't say, "Father, I have revealed thy name once and for all." No, He said," I will make it known." People, where in the church today is there much awareness of the presence of God the Father? Derek has written:

As far as I understand the New Testament, this is the climax and goal of New Testament revelation: God the Father. Jesus is the Way, but a way is meaningless unless it leads somewhere. Jesus is the Way to the Father. If we stop short at Jesus Christ, we've really missed the main point of the gospel. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 14:6)
John 17:26 (quoted above) indicates that we will not know a true breakthrough into divine love until we grasp God the Father; for that matter, we cannot truly perceive Jesus as Lord unless we allow Him to take us to God the Father. I am convinced that, because we have failed to go beyond the Son to the Father, this generation tends to make Jesus a sentimental, sin-excusing figure. Many Christians do not want to go beyond Him to the Father because they really do not want to experience the discipline in their lives which they believe the Father represents.

Chapter 4: Questions

Questions, occasional victories, frustrations, and more questions! Such has been the lot of many of us in ministry who have taken seriously Jesus' declaration that "in my name they will cast out demons." (Mark 16:17) At one point in my pilgrimage I backed completely off from this ministry because I gleaned such meagre results from so much effort.
I remember a young man whom I tried to help several years ago. He had a history of mental problems which included at least one strong attempt at suicide; but he came to me to receive ministry. My approach was to intermingle counselling with deliverance. Now anyone who witnessed this brother during the exorcism sessions generally had no problem believing that he had demons and was receiving deliverance. The difficulty, though, was that he would stabilise for a period, but then would regress. It appeared that he could neither get free nor stay free: there always seemed to be another demon. We would complete a deliverance session, hoping that he was once and for all free, only to find that there was something else. How many demons can one person have, anyway? Is there ever an end?
One time the Lord revealed to me an extremely powerful spirit which this young man had. My hopes were that the deliverance from this demon would prove to be the breakthrough we needed to bring the brother into wholeness. The Lord showed me that the manifestation of this evil spirit would be violent; so I enlisted the aid of three other brethren to help in case things got out of hand. Sure enough, as I came against the demon the young brother went berserk. As the three men struggled to control the man, the evil spirit was shrieking, "you have no idea how strong I really am!!" Something in my spirit clicked. What did the demon mean by that exclamation? (I found out years later.) At this moment a co-worker (a man with whom we had had some conflict over submission) came bursting through the door. He immediately took charge of the session by addressing the demon in the young man, saying, "I take authority over you ..." At that point I asked the intruding brother not to interfere with the commanding, but it was too late: something had transpired in the spirit world which I did not then understand. The demon in the young man quieted to the point that I thought perhaps it had gone. At any rate , the young brother was willing to testify to deliverance; so I took him into the sanctuary where about twenty people were awaiting a report. He stood before them and stated, "I am delivered, it is gone." A few days later he left the church, never to recommit himself.
And then there was the older sister who had such promise in God. She was a registered drug addict who at one time had been a practicing fortune teller. She came, confessing her darkness and seeking the light. Her subsequent experience in deliverance was one of the most tender manifestations of God being a Father to someone I have ever witnessed.
Once in her deliverance, we encountered a "false personality" spirit which was powerful. Now this sister was one of those who experienced a complete submersion of personality when demon power manifested; so when the spirit of "false personality" surfaced, the woman's true self receded somewhere within her to the extent that she was unaware of what was transpiring. At any rate, there we were, faced with this "false personality" spirit which was budging not at all in response to our commands. Finally two of us adjourned to another room to cry out in intercession. When we returned, we witnessed an amazing thing: with no one commanding the demon, it suddenly began crying out, "Oh no, Lord Jesus! Do not torment me before the time! I will yield! I will yield!" and the woman fell to her knees, and the evil spirit left.
In the following days, the Lord became a Father to her. She would be like a small, innocent child before Him, and He would communicate with her on an intimate level which (save for one other example I witnessed) surpassed anything I had ever seen. During those times her testimony was:

He reached from on high, he took me,
he drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
They came upon me in the day of my calamity;
but the Lord was my stay.
He brought me forth into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:16-19

But even in the midst of all this sovereign help, she could not stay free. Repeatedly the "false personality" would regain entrance. The whole experience with her was a strange mixture of God's miracle and the demonic. Once, when she was overwhelmed by the demons, she ended up at the medical clinic where she used to undergo psychiatric treatment. Now the horror of this was that the psychiatrist would take one look at her charts, note that she was a registered drug addict, and prescribe medication. (At that time she had been delivered of the drugs.) So my co-worker and I jumped into the car and sped away to the medical centre, praying all the way. As it turned out, they could not find her medical records. She had been to that clinic at least twenty-five times, but they could not find her records. After we arrived, the psychiatrist in charge turned to me and said, "I put her over into your hands. You have the help for her," and we walked out with her.
Yet she didn't make it. She, too, left, and returned to her bondages, leaving me with many questions: Was the whole thing a rip-off? What was the significance of that "false personality" which was so powerful and kept re- entering? Why was her experience such a mixture of the sublime and the satanic? I realised that, both in her case and in that of the young man, personal responsibility (the ability to will a correct choice) played a part, yet I could not believe that that was the whole story. What was missing in our understanding of the demonic kingdom and of the ministry of deliverance?
Not long after my encounter with the strong man in Hood River, I became an elder in Faith Fellowship Church in San Jose, where over a period of several months and through many experiences, the Lord answered all of these questions. He gave to us (and I do mean "us," for I see this as a community revelation) the key to set God's people free from the kingdom of Satan. At first He gave us several smaller keys, not all at once but one at a time; then, He took those keys and merged them to form one big key. I believe this key is the "pearl of great treasure" which is mentioned in the prophecy in Chapter One.
Chapter 5: The queen

I received a general answer to the questions in the last chapter when I realised that we were attempting to minister deliverance before we had bound principalities and powers. The clear scriptural injunction is "first bind the strong man, and then plunder his house. "We were trying to "plunder the house," i.e. break the demonic strongholds within persons, without first binding the greater enemies over the churches and the communities. The demons within individuals are under the control of the regional strong men. No wonder delivered persons had trouble staying free! Yet in order for the revelation of binding the strong man to have practical effect, we had to know what we were up against and how to fight it. Therefore we were blessed as the Lord began to give us technical insight both into the demonic kingdom in the heavenlies and into the ones within individuals.
We had had some contact with teaching on the "Jezebel spirit." We had heard it described largely as a witchcraft which leads to (or stems from) the female domination of men. Brothers who grew up in situations where the mother was strong and the father passive were pointed to as likely candidates for a "Jezebel" spirit which makes them female in their emotions. Women who rebel against men, on the other hand, were seen as having "Jezebel" as a spirit of witchcraft whereby they manipulate the wills of others. In our experience we had seen some good fruit from "Jezebel" deliverance. Our belief was that perhaps one person in six needed to be freed from this bondage. But were we ever to learn more about that evil queen!
Shortly after my arrival at Faith Fellowship Church, I brought a general teaching on principalities and powers which was to be followed by several weeks of united prayer against the strong men over the church and the community. But one of my co-workers could not receive the teaching. He wanted to hear it and to believe it; yet he couldn't. His problem was neither intellectual nor theological ... he had a spiritual blockage. When the brother later went through deliverance, the chief demon which manifested called itself the "queen." It was the jezebelic spirit; yet however it did more than what we normally thought Jezebel did because, when it left, my co-worker was immediately able to receive revelation about principalities and powers. Why was this "queen" so powerful as to stop the brother's spiritual ears so that he could not hear the teaching?
A partial answer was that during this time the Lord revealed to me that Jezebel was more than just a demon which a few had: it is a power, a strong man over the entire San Jose area. From Revelation 2:18-25, I discerned the work of this power.

18. And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: "The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
19. I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
20. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
21. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality.
22. Behold, I will throw her on a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her doings;
23. and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve.
24. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay upon you any other burden;
25. only hold fast what you have until I come."

Here I saw five things for which Jezebel in the heavenlies was responsible:
1. v.20. She calls herself a prophetess. Most religious demons are submitted to Jezebel.
2. v.20. She teaches and beguiles my servants. Here is manipulative witchcraft which we before had labelled "jezebelic."
3. v.20. she teaches them ... to practice immorality. The Lord showed me that spirits of sexual lust and perversion are submitted to Jezebel.
4. v.20. She teaches them ... to eat food sacrificed to idols. Now the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 8 teaches that to eat food sacrificed to idols is a matter of individual conscience. However, the church at Thyatira evidently had direct command from the Lord not to eat the food. Jezebel, though, said, "That's all right. Go ahead and eat. God understands!" Jezebel in the heavenlies promotes a lightness towards sin. It portrays God as having the emotional approach of a mother rather than the disciplined, rational approach of a father. A mother in her emotions tends to love and accept her children regardless of what they do, whereas a fat her, though he loves his children, sets standards for them and shows disapproval and/or anger and executes discipline if the standards are not met. Jezebel promotes unconditional acceptance. But God says, "I love you, but if you persist in sin, I shall destroy you!"
5. v.24. "... this teaching ... what some call the deep things of Satan ..." Occult spirits are submitted to Jezebel.

One night during a deliverance session, I saw the relationship between Jezebel in the heavenlies and Jezebel in a person. I was praying against a strong spirit called "Christian Science practitioner" which a brother had picked up in babyhood when he was set apart for such an office. At one point I was led to ask the spirit, "Who is your father?" The answer revealed not a father, but a mother: "Eddy!" (Mary Baker Eddy - founder of Christian Science). I then began to command the spirit to leave; but it baulked and went nowhere. In the midst of this frustration, the Lord said, "This is a jezebelic religious spirit. You must cut the five cords between it and its 'mother' in the heavenlies." (At this time the church had not bound the power of Jezebel). So I opened the Bible to Revelation 2; Then I took each of the five areas and cut those cords between the strong man and the demon: "You Jezebel in the heavenlies, I see that cord of religion which extends from you to the evil spirit in this man! I assault that cord in the name of Jesus! I hack it, and hack it, and hack it!" In like manner I went through each of the five areas. Before I began, the brother was sitting on the sofa with some degree of composure; but the minute I began to chop the cords, the demon became quite agitated, causing the brother to pitch to the floor and writhe. The demonic convulsions continued until I completed cutting the five cords; then immediately the brother became calm, stood up, and said "What happened?" The demon was gone, and it has never returned.
The next night we four elders stood before our congregation to bind Jezebel. We realised that later we would need a more concentrated season of prayer in order to reap the full plunder, but we wanted to begin rolling that strong man off of our people; so the four of us joined hands and cut the cords. The thing which happened over the next several days, though, was not that our people began to receive help: we elders began to perk up jezebelic spirits! We were seeing the glimmer of a breakthrough in the deliverance ministry, and the key was binding specific strong men, especially Jezebel.
But all of this was just the beginning; so much more was yet to come.
The Lord showed us the difference between a principality and a power. A principality is a strong man which is assigned to a specific geographical area. For example, the United States has a demonic prince which is in charge of Satan's activity in this country. The various states have princes over them which are under the authority of the principality over the United States. Then each state has its own organisation of principalities over cities, etc. The strong man over the United States, however, has no authority over Mexico or Canada, because those countries have their own principalities. A principality is limited by geography. A power, on the other hand, is in charge of a pervading evil influence or an evil realm, and is not bound by geographical limits. The powers work under the principalities to execute Satan's evil plans. Jezebel is a power, not a principality: its influence is found world-wide. Now this does not mean that Jezebel is an omnipresent strong man. Instead, I believe there is one extremely powerful jezebelic strong man which has myriads of assistants spread over the world to work with the various principalities.
We were confirmed in our revelation of Jezebel's influence when, at a conference, we heard Bob Mumford point out that there is a concentrated, determined attack on maleness, and particularly fatherhood. Have you noticed how many television programs there are about one parent families? They are telling us that the traditional family is no longer necessary. If there is a program with a two-parent family, the father is a bumbling idiot who doesn't know how to walk around a coffee table. He can't administrate his home, balance a cheque book, or handle the children. Commercials, especially, represent the man as an idiotic moron who can't remember to take his vitamins, doesn't know what to wear, doesn't know what to wash his hair with, or what to take for a backache. He needs his wife and children to mother him and take care of him just so he can cope with life. The message is clear: We don't need real fathers anymore!
I found a bumper sticker recently that says, "Trust in God; she will provide." A recent article in a San Jose paper reported on a group of Christian theologians who had declared the Bible a "sexist" book. They suggested that Christians begin to pray, "Our Mother, which art in heaven."

As we heard Bob Mumford's words, we realised anew that Jezebel in the
heavenlies is quite busy.
As time passed, we continued to find jezebelic spirits within people. One evening we were ministering to a sister when I discerned that she had a "mother" spirit, which, through commanding, identified itself as "madonna." Then I saw in the Spirit a child which this "madonna" was holding. The child had a glowing, strange face, and hypnotic eyes. Radiating from the top and sides of its head were tiny beams of light which resembled porcupine quills. The baby's name? "Terror!" Then the Lord showed me that the mother-child combination is typical of jezebelic spirits, although the child may not always be named "terror." This revelation shortly opened a floodgate of biblical insight which ultimately gave us the complete (and startling) picture of Jezebel through history on into the end times.
What we discovered is that "Jezebel" is not really a broad enough name for the power which we are encountering. As Ahab's evil queen (I Kings 16:29-II Kings 9:37) she opened the door for Israel to be polluted by the religion of Satan: Baal worship. Now what has been the devil's plan in religion since the fall of man? To imitate, as closely as possible, the promise that mankind would be saved through the seed of a woman (Genesis 3:15). In Genesis 10:8-9, Nimrod is called "a hunter of men against the Lord" (the literal translation of the Hebrew). He was the founder of Babylon, which came to be a scriptural symbol of all that is evil and demonic (as over against Jerusalem, the city of God). In the religious mythology of the ancient Near East, Nimrod married Semerimus who had a male child by him. Nimrod died before the birth of his son; but the son was considered a reincarnation of his father, "the mighty hunter of men against the Lord." This reincarnation caused Semerimus to declare "mourning I shall not know." Semerimus was the forerunner of all the pagan goddesses of the ancient Near East, including Astaroth, the mother (or wife) of Baal. Jezebel was from Sidon (I Kings 16:31) where Astaroth was worshipped. (Significantly, Astaroth means "she who sits upon many waters.") In Semerimus, with her god-son, we have the devil's perversion of God's plan to bring salvation through the seed of a woman. Virtually every religion which, through the ages, has raised itself against the truth has had this mother-child pattern somewhere in it. The amazing thing we have found is that the jezebelic power which we are encountering both in the heavenlies and in individuals is none other than the demonic "queen of heaven" which historically has been called Semerimus, or Astaroth, or Venus, or Diana of the Ephesians, or something else! The modern fruits of the jezebelic strong men and their demons are spiritually identical to the pollutions of these ancient idols. The devil hasn't changed his intentions through the ages; he is just more subtle.
In Isaiah 14, a taunt is taken up against the king of Babylon which, in verse 12, obviously takes on deeper spiritual significance.

How are you fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will make myself like the Most High."
But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the depths of the Pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15)

Most evangelicals believe that this passage refers to Satan himself, who is the King of Babylon" inasmuch as Babylon represents the realm of fallen angels. What many do not realise, though, is that there is a "Queen of Babylon" mentioned in Scripture who is none other than the demonic false goddess described in the preceding paragraph. This queen has a taunt hurled at her in Isaiah 47:
1. Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called tender and delicate.
2. Take the millstones and grind meal, put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers.
3. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your shame shall be seen.
I will take vengeance, I will spare no man.
4. Our Redeemer - the Lord of hosts is his name -
is the Holy One of Israel.
5. Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans;
for you shall no more be called the queen of kingdoms.
6. I was angry with my people, I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand, you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy.
7. You said, "I shall be mistress for ever,"
so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end.
8. Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely,
who say in your heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me
I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children":
9. These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day;
the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you
in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.
10. You felt secure in your wickedness, you said, "No one sees me";
your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me."
11. But evil shall come upon you, for which you cannot atone;
disaster shall fall upon you, which you will not be able to expiate;
and ruin shall come on you suddenly, of which you know nothing.
12. Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries,
with which you have laboured from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed, perhaps you may inspire terror.
13. You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth
and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars,
who at the new moons predict what shall befall you.
14. Behold, they are like stubble, the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before!
15. Such to you are those with whom you have laboured,
who have trafficked with you from your youth;
they wander about each in his own direction;
there is no one to save you. (Isaiah 47:1-15)

Verse five states: "... no more will you be called queen of kingdoms." When the spiritual significance of this dawned upon us, we saw another dramatic breakthrough in deliverance - we no longer were satisfied with occasionally encountering Jezebel; we began to head for the "queen of kingdoms" in everyone to whom we ministered. The results were amazing. Persons were able to get free and to stay free of bondages which were never touched before. Through experience we have found that the "queen mother" is indeed in charge of kingdoms - the demonic kingdoms within individuals. Unless one uncovers the queen in deliverance (v.3 "Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your shame shall be seen ...") and casts her out, a person will never know complete freedom, for she will continually call her children back to her! (v.8 "... I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children.") We have found the queen to be a very powerful spirit. People who previously have manifested little in deliverance get stirred up when we go after her, for it is she who has declared, "I am, and there is no one besides me ..." (v.8).
Now what is the devil up to through the "queen"? Essentially he wants to deceive people concerning the nature and character of God. The queen's statement, "I am, and there is no one besides me" is a claim to deity, which is why Isaiah in verse 4 declares, "Our Redeemer - the Lord of hosts is his name - is the Holy One of Israel." Only one can make the claim "I am that I am" and that is the Lord God Omnipotent Whose Name is revealed by Jesus in John 17 as "Father." Satan's attempt through the queen is to feminise God to the point where we believe that He is tolerant of sin. As I mentioned before, Satan has never changed his intentions; he has just become more subtle. He came to Eve in the garden and declared, "God said that if you eat of the tree you will die, but you will not die ..." In other words, God didn't mean what He said. The essential pollution of the Canaanite religion on the Israelites is that it gave them license to sin without fear of punishment. The true and living God became no god at all. The false prophets said, "You shall not see the sword nor shall you have famine, but I (god) will give you assured peace in this place." (Jeremiah 14:13) The true prophets said, in effect: "God is exactly as He revealed Himself to be to the fathers. Your sins are an abomination. Repent or perish!"
Historically Jezebel sought to slay the prophets of Jehovah, especially Elijah. It is no different today. The "queen," both the ones in the heavenlies and the ones in individuals, works to stifle the prophetic voice of the church. It has preachers exuding love and unconditional acceptance, when, because there is sin in the camp, they should be preaching the discipline and judgement of the Father. It causes fathers to be passive in the home, rather than to be the head of the wife as Christ is head of the church, and to "love (their) wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ..." (Ephesians 5:25). Jezebelic men delegate to their wives the responsibilities of being the prophet, priest, and king over the home, they want their wives to mother them, which, whether we are aware of it or not, is the practical expression of the feminisation of God. (Astaroth was both the wife and mother of Baal.) The queen is certainly at work in this generation!
Isaiah reports that the queen boasts "no one sees me" (47:10). And, as far as I know, no one has, up until this generation! She has sat there for centuries, patiently awaiting the time when she would become more active and destructive. How many deliverances have we performed where we had no intimation that she was even there? "No one sees me," she bragged as she reached out to snatch back her demonic "children." But, by the grace of God one day we saw her, and that was the beginning of the end of her reign among our people. Hallelujah! Our God reigns!
Isaiah 47 indicates that the queen is responsible for:
1. The senility of old age. v.6 "... you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy."
2. Drug abuse. v.9 "... in spite of your many sorceries ..." The word "sorcery" as it appears in Greek is "pharmakia," which means the use of drugs.
3. Occult witchcraft. v.9 "... the great power of your enchantments."
4. Illicit sexual sins. v.8 "Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures ..."
5. Fear. v.12 "... perhaps you may be able to succeed, perhaps you may inspire terror." When I first saw in the Spirit the mother-child combination, the child was "terror." The Lord has shown us that, in the next several years, the queen will instigate a wave of fear across America that is unparalleled in its history. Mass murderers such as the "Son of Sam" will become commonplace as Jezebel strikes back in anger because she has been discovered.
6. Astrology. v.13 "... let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars ..."
I mentioned in a previous chapter that God the Father shall make the enemies of Jesus a footstool for His feet. Hebrews 12, which indicates the godly shaking of the heavenlies, declares that "our God is a consuming fire." Isaiah 47:14 indicates that the queen's counsellors "are like stubble, the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before!" Praise the Lord! Their doom is sure.
The last mention in Scripture of the demonic queen is in Revelation 17:1-19:2, where she is revealed as having a significant role in the end times. One portion reads:

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgement of the great harlot who is seated upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and with the wine of whose fornication the dwellers on earth have become drunk." And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her fornication; and on her forehead was written a name of mystery: "Babylon the great, mother of harlots and of earth's abominations." And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
When I saw her I marvelled greatly ... And he said to me, "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues ..." (Rev. 17:1-6, 15)

The harlot who sits on many waters is none other than the demonic false goddess which has been around since the fall of man. It is significant that Astaroth, Jezebel's goddess, was also "she who sits on many waters!" Verse 15 tells us what the expression means: "The waters that you saw ... are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues." No wonder we find the queen everywhere! In the demonic realm she is the "queen of kingdoms," and that is that. One cannot by-pass her in deliverance and see individuals come to complete and lasting freedom.
The Apostle John saw the woman "drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." (v.6) Even though we can bind the queen in the heavenlies and experience subsequent deliverance from her evil co- workers in God's people, we can't destroy her. She will be allowed to persecute the godly until the Lord God burns her with fire. (Rev. 18:8)
A New Testament example of both plundering Jezebel's house and in turn being persecuted by her is found in Paul's experience at Ephesus. I believe that it is safe to assume that Paul and his party bound the principalities and powers over Ephesus before attempting to minister. The fruit of this binding was that Paul argued daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. (Acts 19:9-12)

But even though Paul plundered Jezebel in a glorious way, she was given freedom to persecute him.

About that time there arose no little stir concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, "Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable company of people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may count for nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship." When they heard this they were enraged, and cried out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" So the city was filled with confusion ... (Acts 19:23-29)

Following the riot, Paul left Ephesus (Acts 20:1), probably to preserve his life.
Some day Jezebel will suffer the final judgement of God; but the church of God is not to sit idly by until fire falls from the Lord.
Our orders are found in Revelation 18:4-8:

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double draft for her in the cup she mixed. As she glorified herself and played the wanton, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning. Since in her heart she says, 'A queen I sit, I am no widow, mourning I shall never see,' so shall her plagues come in a single day, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she shall be burned with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who judges her."

We are to come out of Jezebel with all dispatch unless we want to share in her plagues. Not only this, but we are to turn our spiritual guns on her and bombard her twice as hard as she has bombarded us! I believe the church accomplishes victory through binding Jezebel in the heavenlies, through delivering God's people from her kingdoms, and through preaching which exposes her works. Increasingly the world society will label as good the fruits of Jezebel (women's liberation, homosexuality, the occult, etc.). The true church of God must resist the pull towards compromise, and, through the anointing of the Holy Ghost, proclaim loudly what the living God is saying to this generation about sin, about righteousness and about judgment! The church which refuses to throw down Jezebel will share in her plagues, which are described in Revelation 2: 22-23: "Behold I will throw her into a sickbed, and all those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her doings; I will strike her children dead ..."
1. "I will throw her into a sickbed." Most cancer is jezebelic judgement. Isaiah 3:16-17, 24 points out that

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet; The Lord ... will lay bare their secret parts ... Instead of perfume there will be rottenness ...

I believe that the church which successfully wars against Jezebel will be given an unusual healing anointing against all kinds of cancer (not just female).
2. "I will strike her children dead." Homosexuality (which is living death) is a judgement on tolerating Jezebel. Most psychiatrists believe that the main root of homosexuality is a home where the father is passive and the mother is smothering or domineering. Now "gay rights" people can proclaim how natural they feel and how free they are all they want: the truth of the matter is that the homosexual is dead, and way down deep he knows it. I believe that each of us (even before we are saved), has a natural law within, placed there by God, which tells us that to lust for a member of the same sex is wrong. We may stifle that inward witness or, as Paul puts it, "suppress the truth" (Romans 1:18), but the truth remains: homosexuality is living death. The husband (even though a Christian) who continually refuses to become the man of the house and the protector of and father to his children runs a high risk that his son will be homosexual. The wife who usurps her husband's authority and who conveys to the children the idea that their father is some sort of fool is developing a cosy nest for sexually perverted children. The Lord God means what he says: "I will strike her children dead!"
Divorce is a product of Jezebel; her emphasis on the female domination of men robs the home of its chief agent of stability: the father. Our observation through many deliverances is that persons who come from broken homes frequently have strong spirits of death. Divorce is a fruit of Jezebel, and the spirit of death is an accompanying judgment on that fruit. A child's light goes out when daddy informs him that he is leaving, never to live with him again. Our society is filled with "dead" children because Jezebel is allowed to tear up homes, even within our churches! In the San Jose area alone, there are over 10,000 divorces a year. All of this accumulated death in the children is bound to affect our society. A visible outcome is that, in America in 1976, over 38,000 teenagers killed themselves. That number is several hundred percentage points higher than just a few years ago. Awake and arise, arm of the Lord, and take on that one in the kingdom of darkness who is largely responsible! "Render to her as she herself has rendered, and repay her double for her deeds ... give her a like measure of torment and mourning!" (Rev. 18:6-7) Snatch her victims out of her clutches! Let the battle cry be against that witch, "Our God is a consuming fire!"
3. "... those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation ..." Schizophrenia is a jezebelic tribulation which abounds today. Psychiatry defines schizophrenia as a type of mental illness characterised by loss of contact with reality and by disintegration of personality. Most schizophrenics are incapable of relating to life without occasional periods of hospitalisation and without strong medication. Schizophrenia is nearly always demonic; it is an extreme judgment of tribulation on tolerating or using Jezebel in any of her forms, even through the schizophrenic himself may be the victim of his parents' or grandparents' sin ("I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me ..." (Deut. 5:9). Many of God's people suffer from a demonically induced lesser form of schizophrenia known technically as schizothymia. Psychiatrists define schizothymia as a schizophrenic-type condition remaining within the bounds of normalcy (i.e., the person is not considered insane.) The Bible labels this condition "double-mindedness" (James 1:8) which literally means "having two souls." The overriding characteristics of this problem are doubt and instability (James 1:7-8). The double-minded man will make a positive declaration: "I do not believe in evolution!" But then the inner questions come: "Are you really sure? Who are you to take such a stand?" Or there are inner accusations: "You are not showing love by being so dogmatic!" Perhaps a person decides to change jobs. The doubts rise up: "Did you really make the right decision? How do you know you heard from God?" I know of little else in the church today which robs us of confidence in our message and authority in our proclamation than does this double-mindedness. it is as if a person has two people in him in constant debate: "You did right!" "Are you sure?" "Yes!" "No!"
Now the tragedy is that many of God's people who have this double- mindedness (the intensity varies from individual to individual) believe that it is just part of being human. I used to think that. One day, though, I was with a co-worker when a problem associated with double-mindedness surfaced in me. The brother said, "I believe the devil is at work." He began to command the evil spirit in me to name itself. My head began to swim as the demon called itself "false Travis." Now I had experienced deliverance before, but I was one of those who just didn't manifest. This time though, to my amazement, as the brother commanded the spirit to leave, I pitched out into the floor and emitted a piercing scream. As I picked myself up, I realised something big had gone. From that point on, the inner questions and accusations stopped. Now I do not mean that presently I never have a doubt or a fear, but it is different: I can treat double-mindedness as the flesh and have victory. One does not crucify a demon - one expels it!
So I had "false Travis" - a false personality which caused weakness and insecurity. When it left, I instantly found myself. No longer was there the problem of asking "Will the real Travis stand up?" and having both the true and the false stand up at the same time!
Later the Lord showed me where this "false personality" fit in the demonic scheme of things. Essentially it was the "offspring" of the strong man over me (which I had defeated several months before the deliverance described above) and the "queen of kingdoms" within me. The devil's purpose was to cripple my personality so that I could not function to the highest degree in my ministry. My "false personality" was Jezebel's child. I mentioned previously the deliverance where the jezebelic "madonna" had a child called "terror." At that time the Lord revealed to me that this "mother-child" combination is common. In many people, the "child" is an alternate personality. My "false person" was weak and insecure; other individuals "false selves" can be fearful, or rebellious, or sexually deviant, or any other characteristic which is over against the true self.
The phenomenon of the "false self" is a judgment of tribulation because of tolerating Jezebel. A home where the mother is dominant and the father passive will likely produce double-minded children. I believe there is something instinctive in each child which causes him or her to look to the father to lead. ("A child's glory is his father." Proverbs !7:6 Living Bible). If, then, the father is weak and the mother strong, the result will be spiritual and psychological confusion of which the devil will take advantage. For example, it is not uncommon for a man who has had a domineering mother to have a "false self" called "recklessness," or "breakout!" or "revolution!" Such demonic false personalities are expressions of the men's attempts to throw off the smothering blanket of feminisation which comes from their mothers.
The schizophrenic pattern also can develop if both parents are strong and vie against each other for leadership. The spiritual dynamic which comes upon the child in this circumstance is described in Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." The product of this out of order situation is also psychological confusion with the subsequent formation of jezebelic "false personalities" in the children. The wife in the two strong man situation must repent of her rebellion and submit to her husband lest the home suffer the tribulation of tolerating Jezebel. The judgment on the home is sure if the sin persists, and that is that!
But Jezebel will not have the final word among those who sincerely want all that God has for them. The Lord is raising up a specialised ministry in these last days to drive out the false goddess from among His true people. In Revelation 2:23 the Lord, after pronouncing the judgments on tolerating Jezebel, proclaims that "all the churches shall know that I am He who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve." Now the Lord's method in this New Testament dispensation is to work through men: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11). Which of these five ministries specialises in portraying the Lord as "He who searches mind and heart ... and (who will) give as your works deserve"? The prophet! It is true that scripturally Jezebel was the archenemy of the prophets: once she caused Elijah to flee for seventy miles. What is equally true, though, is that the prophets are the archenemies of Jezebel! God is going to deliver his prophets from Jezebel's pollution, and set them aflame with the message of holiness and righteousness. This generation has a beautiful promise in Malachi 4: 5-6:

"Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."

The spirit of Elijah is coming!
Now the promise of the return of Elijah was initially fulfilled in John the Baptist, of which it was prophesied that ''... he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him (Christ) in the spirit and power of Elijah ...'' (Luke 1:16-17) But Malachi teaches that Elijah will come "before the great and terrible day of the Lord." What is "the great and terrible day of the Lord"? Virtually the same expression is found in Peter's quote from Joel in Acts 2:16-21:

16. " ... but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17. 'And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
18. yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days
I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.
19. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath,
blood, and fire and vapour of smoke;
20. the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day.
21. And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'"

Verses 19-20 mention "blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke ... darkness ... before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day." Now obviously we haven't yet experienced these manifestations in nature. They will occur just before "the day of the Lord ..." which in Acts 2 must refer to the second coming of Christ. On this basis we can conclude that all of Joel's prophecy has a double fulfillment: the day of Pentecost was the first instalment, but this generation shall see the pouring out of the Spirit plus the wonders in the heavens above! Using the same reasoning, the first instalment of the spirit of Elijah was John the Baptist, but Elijah shall come "before the great and terrible day of the Lord" (the second coming); therefore this generation shall see a fresh outpouring of "Elijah" which shall "turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers ..." Hallelujah!
Now I do not believe that the returning Elijah is a single individual. Rather, "Elijah" is a prophetic emphasis of the Holy Spirit which exposes Jezebel and drives her out of God's people. Although the prophets will specialise in "Elijah," the emphasis ultimately will permeate all God's servants. It will do three things: (Luke 1:17)
1. Turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Among the committed people of God there shall be a glorious resurgence of anointed fatherhood!
2. Turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. John the Baptist did that. He did not preach holiness in generalities, but gave specific answers to specific questions in Luke 3:10-14:

And the multitudes asked him, "What then shall we do?" And he answered them, "He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise." Tax collectors also came to be baptised, and said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than is appointed you." Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages."

God's people are looking for definite answers. But I believe that the disobedient who truly want to be turned to the wisdom of the just will be required by God to submit to spiritual fathers (who are being raised up, too) who will not merely point them to the right way, but will take them by the hands and lead them into righteousness.
3. Make ready for the Lord a people prepared. Jesus will come back for a bride which He shall present to Himself "in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:27)
We had come a long way from experiencing occasional good fruit in deliverance (mixed with much frustration) to the breakthrough involving the "queen of kingdoms." There is always a tendency when new revelation comes which produces good fruit to say "This is it! We have arrived!" But we were to find that the uncovering of the queen was but one aspect of the whole demonic picture: more revelation was on the way.
Chapter 6: The control spirit

Most persons believe that the characteristics of a demonised individual entail mental torment, uncontrollable passions and/or violent behaviour. But the truth of the matter is that the devil can bring peace as well as turmoil. In fact, a common device of the evil one is to infest a person with tormenting spirits such as anger, lust, or fear, and then give him demons which bring counterfeit tranquillity. Satan doesn't mind if we are calm as long as he, and not the Lord, is producing the calmness!
Once we were dealing with a brother whom I believed was neglecting the emotional and spiritual needs of his wife. In the name of "ministry" this man had taken into his home an attractive young woman who commanded much of his time and attention. Not uncommonly, the brother would allow the woman to display toward him "daughter-like" affectionate rubs and pats. He sometimes would call her "sweetheart." In the meantime the wife (who didn't quite share the affection for the new "daughter") had only the emotional and spiritual crumbs of her husband's relationship to the young woman. I knew in the Spirit that the wife was hurting because there were two "sweethearts" under her roof; so one day I confronted the brother. He denied that there was anything wrong with his relationship to the young woman (he was being a "spiritual father" to her, he said) and he double-denied that his wife was in any way bothered by it. In fact, he called his wife in so that she could answer for herself. I outlined to her what I had observed and what the Spirit had shown me, to which she replied, "Oh how ridiculous! There's nothing wrong with me." And that was the end of that.
But I knew through common sense and through the Spirit that I was right. (Much later the young woman herself testified to serious abnormalities in the relationship.) I couldn't understand how the wife could so calmly deny what was happening deep in her spirit. Was she afraid of her husband? She didn't act fearful at the time. What was going on? Some time later I was just awaking from a night's sleep when the Lord told me, "______ ( the wife's name) has an evil spirit called 'It isn't real.'" The spirit allows the woman to deny to herself unpleasant facts: whole sections of her childhood are completely blotted out. No wonder she could say that she wasn't bothered by having two sweethearts under the same roof. In fact, she wouldn't even accept that there were two sweethearts!
It was not until after the revelation concerning the "queen" that I understood the full implications of "it isn't real," and demons similar to it. One night a brother and I were parked, overlooking the vast sweep of twinkling lights which is Greater San Jose. Our interest was not in the view, but we were analysing interpersonal struggles Specifically we were discussing the brother's inability to deal with, or even recognise, offences within his spirit. At one point he stated, "I have a difficult time getting in touch with my feelings." When he said that, the Lord began to reveal to us the dynamic of what we have come to call the "control" spirit (which he had and from which he was later delivered.)
The function of the control spirit is twofold: 1) to shield the human spirit from hurt, and 2) to bring calmness. This demon frequently comes in during childhood as the result of trauma. For example, if the child's father one day says, "I'm going away and I will not be back," the youngster may well take on a demon which eases the pain. This agent of the evil one from that point on will act as a deflecting shield over the person's spirit. If hurt or offence comes, it strikes the shield and bounces off. The problem, though, is that, because the devil is a betrayer, the deflected offence still enters the person's spirit: it bounces off of the "front door" but sails around and enters the "back door!" The Lord showed me that behind the demonic shield is a quiet pool. The offence enters the "back door" and, like a small pebble, drops into the pool and sinks to the bottom. Persons with strong control shields have layers upon layers of "pebbles" (offences) beneath the surface of their pools. The hurts haven't been dealt with in a godly way; they have merely been camouflaged by the devil. These "pebbles" can manifest through chronic mistrust, unbelief, lust, or depression which seem to have no cause. The wife who has "it's not real" is plagued with bouts of hopelessness even though she remains "calm."
The brother said, "I have difficulty getting in touch with my feelings." Such a statement is common among those with control spirits. It doesn't necessarily mean that they never feel anything; it does mean that they don't always feel what they normally should feel in a given circumstance. The devil gives a control demon which generally sits on top of much turmoil. When it suits the evil one's purpose, he lets some of that turmoil out! At times a person with a strong control spirit may feel as if he is going insane.
It is difficult for an individual with a control spirit to enter into close personal relationships. The demonic shield not only "protects" the person from hurt; it encloses him in an almost impenetrable shell. A common complaint of those around the "controlled" individual is that they cannot really know him. One can imagine the difficulties which come in a marriage when one or both parties have strong controlling shields.
God's purpose for His church in this age is that we know one another after the Spirit. I am tired of churches where people have masks. Now I don't believe it to be God's will that we all wear our hearts on our sleeves; yet the Lord would have His people to be genuine and transparent. The only way that this can truly be accomplished is through the ministry of deliverance which drives out of God's people such enemies of fellowship as the control spirit! My experience is that a person cannot "obey" out a demon of this type; it must be exorcised through the blood and name of Jesus. The "control" spirit becomes so much a part of the personality that the individual himself cannot possibly draw the line between the true and the false. Only after the demon is gone can he tell what was the evil spirit and what is he.
I have been a Christian all of my life. Even though I made a public profession of faith at seven years of age, I can never remember a time when I didn't know the Lord. I have also been active in evangelical churches all of my life, and my observation is that there is a tremendous need of deliverance among God's people. Many are enslaved by such demons as "control" (in varying strengths) and they aren't even aware of it. I am not interested in knowing a person as interpreted by his demons; I am interested in his receiving deliverance so that I can know him as he is made in the image of God!
Now when I say that the control spirit cannot be "obeyed" out, I do not mean that the person enslaved by this demon does not need to make a renunciation. The control spirit is an accuser of God the Father. We as Christians believe that "in everything God works for good with those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) If, then, a brother permits a demonic shield to stay over his spirit to protect him from hurt, he is saying, "I believe that God the Father will allow something to be hurled at me that He will not give me the grace to handle." God wants us to put away all false props of security and trust in His infinite goodness. He wants us to put off demonic "control" and put on "the shield of faith, with which we can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one." (Ephesians 6:16) Therefore in deliverance from the control spirit we have individuals confess that God the Father will give them sufficient grace for every trial. Frequently when we minister to women in this area, we have them confess also that God the Father will not permit anything to come through their husbands to them that He will not give them grace to handle. As for men, we sometimes have them confess that God will not permit anything to come through the spiritual authority over them (the elders of the local church) that He will not give the grace to handle. Our experience is that the control spirit works not only as an accuser of God the Father, but also as an accuser of the earthly representatives of God the Father (i.e. husbands and elders). Therefore frequently the renunciation must mention a willingness to submit to the authority of husbands and/or elders or the person will not get free. Vulnerability to those over us in the Lord is a powerful weapon against the devil.
The control spirit, if not dealt with, can hinder deliverance from other demons. "Control" does just what the name implies: it controls emotions and it controls demonic manifestation. Our experience has been that a person who has a strong control spirit will not manifest in deliverance until that demon is gone. It works like a shield over the demonic kingdoms, and especially does it hide the jezebelic queen who all these centuries has boasted, "no one sees me!" We have seen brothers and sisters who never exhibited demonic manifestation in deliverance become stirred up after the shield has been expelled.
As our generation progresses inexorably into the end times, the phenomenon of the control spirit will become more widespread. In fact, the Lord showed me that, in a few years, people will be divided into two camps: those who have demonic shields, and those who have the shield of faith. Times will become so fearful that no one will be able to have his human spirit uncovered. Even now the devil is selling control spirits on a wide front. (A control spirit can come in not just through trauma, but by our invitation.) Persons who go in for Transcendental Meditation, "success" seminars, est, mind control, drugs, hypnosis, or any of the other diverse pursuits of peace, self-control, and good self-image are picking up demonic shield spirits. Modern men will either find these fruits God's way, through the way of the cross and the blood of Jesus, or increasingly they will fall prey to the devil who will give false peace for a price!
And what is that price? Enslavement to the coming man of lawlessness. Second Thessalonians 2:9-12 tells us that

The coming of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false, so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

As the pressures of these days continue to build, people will increasingly seek that which will give them stability. Those who turn away from the Lord and His deliverance will take on the devil's peace. I believe that ultimately the reins of these demonic shield spirits will be handed over to the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist. Have you ever wondered how the Antichrist will gain such authority over the minds of people? He will be a man of false peace! Those who submit to him can retain their demonic peace of mind; those who rebel will experience the removal of the demonic shield and will be engulfed by the torment and fear of the age to such an extent that they will come running back. Those who refuse the Lord Jesus and His peace will find peace only in the presence of the Antichrist. Second Thessalonians tells us that because they will refuse to accept the Prince of Peace the Lord himself will send them strong delusion to believe the Antichrist, the man of false peace. I believe that the delusion will work through control spirits. The greatest sign that the Antichrist is not too far away is the proliferation of methods whereby persons can receive counterfeit peace and deliverance from their problems.
Now all of this is a challenge to the church of God. The forces which are at work in the world today will not be stopped by words, even though those words are soundly evangelical. We must have the spiritual power to expose the devil and to deliver people (even our own church people) from his work. The church that has to send all of its mental cases to the psychiatrist and all of its sick to the hospital and all of its serious counselling to the state social services department is helpless against the coming onslaught of evil. Either we have the spiritual power as God's church to help people or we don't. And it isn't enough just to get them saved, for Satan's emissaries live and move even among the people of God. We need to get people saved and delivered. Let us drive the darkness out of God's people so that we can indeed shine forth as lights in a wicked and perverse generation. May our testimony in the face of demonic false peace be:

Thou, O Lord, art a shield about me; my glory, and the lifter of my head! (Psalms 3:3)

Chapter 7: Tradition

As I talked to the brother that night on the hill overlooking San Jose, I not only received enlightenment concerning the control spirit, but I learned about the spiritual dynamic of tradition through another problem which beset him: he had difficulty being a spiritual pioneer. His tendency was to find a predictable religious rut and to settle into it. In our churches we had been teaching on principalities and powers, which is a new emphasis. The brother realised that God was calling him to be on the leading edge of this thrust, but something in him longed for the warm, comfortable nest of the traditional and the predictable. His problem was not intellectual: with his mind he could believe in principalities and powers and could see the necessity of binding them. His problem was in his emotions - he feared the unknown and the unproven to the extent that it crippled his spiritual growth. As he talked, the Lord revealed to me that the brother was enslaved by a demon of tradition that bore the name of the particular denomination of which he had been a part.
The next day the brother and I received further proof of the presence of this "tradition" spirit. He was sharing with me that he might have to miss many of the Wednesday night services of his church because of work commitments. Inasmuch as his church group is small, I suggested to him that the brothers move the service to Thursday night to accommodate him. When I said this, something in the brother winced. His thought was; "But I have always worshipped on Wednesday night!" Bound by tradition! Yet here is a case where the devil went to far, for the brother, after sharing his thought with me, remarked, "Why that's the religious rut demon I have." Shortly afterwards he received deliverance.
A few mornings later as I was awaking, the Lord spoke: "Tradition is more than just a demon within a few persons - it is a power in the heavenlies. The power of tradition is what has shipwrecked the modern pentecostal movement!" Needless to say, I bolted upright in bed. I realised that each church which wants to flow into all that God has in store for this generation must bind the strong man power of tradition in the heavenlies. The evil one does not care if we come into new truth and life if, after we come into it, we stop growing and listening to the Spirit, and turn the new thing into rigid tradition.
What are some examples of religious tradition in our society? Perhaps the best way to answer this is to make a partial list: Sunday School at 9:30 or 9:45; church buildings; pews facing the front; hymn books; Sunday night church; the order of service where one sings two hymns, has a prayer, sings another hymn, gives the offering, etc.; printed bulletins; robed choirs and ministers; sitting, standing, or kneeling at appointed times; the alter call; Wednesday night prayer meeting. The strong man power of tradition subtly brings people to believe that these things are sacred in and of themselves, (even though persons generally will not admit that they feel this way) whereas the truth of the matter is that none of the above-mentioned items is vital to knowing or pleasing God. All of them can be instituted or disposed with as the Spirit so leads. We need to bind the power of tradition so that we can hear what the Spirit is telling us to keep and what he is telling us to change or shelve!
In Colossians 2:8, 16-17, 20-23, we have a discussion of tradition:

See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (referring to things which all perish as they are used), according to human precepts and doctrines? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigour of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value, serving only to indulge the flesh.
Two observations can be made from this passage:
1. "They ... only ... indulge the flesh." The elemental spirits of the universe were likely gnostic religious demons which inspired legalism. The Colossian Christians were judged by the Gnostics because they did not observe rules concerning food and drink, nor did they go with festivals or new moons or sabbaths. Paul states that such rules and observations look good from a religious point of view, but in reality they only feed the flesh - they make us feel as if we have done something to please God.
Now just because a person is a Christian doesn't mean that his tendency toward fleshly religion is dead. How much do we do in our evangelical and pentecostal churches which feeds our religious flesh? The answer is that any form or tradition for which we do not have the immediate permission of the Spirit will automatically become a "religious work"! It was never God's intention to give us a permanent blueprint of how to do things, for
2. "The substance belongs to Christ." What does this mean? Simply that the leadership of a church is to stay on its knees before God so that they can hear moment by moment instructions from the Lord of the church. Biblical principles will never change, but methods and structures will change from situation to situation. Relying upon structure or programs (even though evangelical) which have lost the immediate sanction of the Spirit insulates us from the necessity of hearing God continually. The tendency to sanctify traditional methods and approaches is one of the greatest causes of spiritual death in our churches.
The Apostle Peter tended to be trapped by religious ruts. (Acts 10:14, Galatians 2:12). He even wanted to institutionalise the transfiguration experience.

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them, and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah and Moses; and they were talking to Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." For he did not know what to say for they were exceedingly afraid. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." (Mark 9:2-7)

Peter wanted to set up three tents of dwelling. Why? I believe in his spiritual immaturity he thought that to set up permanent shrines would ensure the continuation of the experience. But God the Father was not then (and is not now) interested in attempts to establish structures which are designed to perpetuate the anointing of a moment. His answer to Peter was, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." I believe God the Father was telling Peter, among other things, not to focus on the event, for "the substance belongs to Christ": follow Him!
Yet in another sense I can believe that Peter did not really want the experience to continue in such intensity. He and his companions were "exceedingly afraid." In his thinking, the tents could well perpetuate the ecstasy of the transfiguration while shielding him from such naked exposure to the Majestic Glory! In this respect, Peter was like the children of Israel at Sinai who heard "a voice whose made (them) entreat that no further messages be spoken to them," Hebrews 12:19) and like Moses (also at Sinai) who exclaimed, "I tremble with fear" (Hebrews 12:21).
Now many church people want to be shielded from immediate dealings with the Spirit of God. They want God (they say), but in reality they do not want the raw exposure to God which will truly set them apart as His people. Therefore they insulate themselves in comfortable and predictable tradition. The rule-laden Pharisees of Jesus' time represent an extreme form of this. On one occasion Jesus asked them, "Why do you not understand what I say?" Then He answered His own question: It is because you cannot bear to hear my word." (John 8:43) How many today will not break religious moulds because they cannot bear to hear what God is really saying to them? Yet God the Father still proclaims over against the tendency to erect tents of dwelling for protection: "This is my beloved Son; listen to him!" And He expects each of us to obey Him moment by moment.
Now I am not saying that we do not need structure and organisation. Paul in First Corinthians 14:40 states: "... all things should be done decently and in order." But is it not true that when we come to set a thing up, we tend to listen more to the dictates of tradition than we do to the living Spirit? Just because a denomination has done something the same for thirty or fifty years does not mean that it is the method which the Spirit will sanction now. God is looking for men of courage who, under His leadership, will break spiritually outdated moulds.
Yet God may well take an old method and use it today. Jesus in Matthew 13:52 stated "... every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." Now only that tradition or method or office which is clearly revealed in the spirit and letter of Scripture is unchangeable - everything else is subject to the establishment by, and the removal by, the Spirit of God. An example of that which is unchangeable is the ministry of a teacher (Ephesians 4:11). To remove the teacher from the body of Christ is to violate a biblical absolute. On the other hand, an example of a tradition which is changeable is the Sunday School. The Lord may tell a church to have a traditional Sunday School beginning at 9:45 for the instruction of its members. But, nine months later, the Lord may tell that same church to disband the Sunday School and to institute an entirely different approach. The teacher will always be in the body of Christ; the method whereby he conveys his gift is highly flexible. We must listen carefully so that we can bring out of our treasure what is new and what is old as the Lord leads!
We must not make the error of thinking that the tendency to settle into a religious rut is just a fleshly problem, for the devil is up to something. I believe a cursory look at church history reveals that every move of God since the early church has died out because after a generation or so the leaders seemed unwilling or unable to discern what the Spirit was saying to do next. Because certain methods were blessed by God during times of revival, the tendency was to believe that those methods were the timeless keys to success. Thus the modes became tradition, and the Spirit passed on by. Now who has so effectively stopped the church of God by causing it repeatedly to bog down in the mire of dead works? Scripture tells us that "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers ..." I believe the power of tradition in the heavenlies is responsible. It is time for God's people to rise up and take him on, believing that "whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 18:18).
I mentioned earlier that the devil doesn't care if we come out of tradition into new life and truth, if after a while we make a religious tradition out of the new thing. Thousands in this day are coming out of the doldrums into the renewal of spiritual gifts. Yet my observation is that many who come into the Charismatic Revival are content to think, "This is it! We have arrived!" But can we believe that God does not want us to stop at the gifts? There is so much more He longs to lead His people into in this generation. The devil is attempting to make a religious rut out of the Charismatic Renewal.
I believe that God wants all of His people to be pioneers. Now I realise that some will lead and some will follow, but God wants all of us to be willing to enter new truth as it is revealed by His Spirit in His Word. Many persons are bound by tradition demons which make it difficult for them to avoid the comfortable rut. We must bind tradition in the heavenlies and then free our people from the strangle hold of religious mode spirits or every new truth we enter will in a few years become encumbered with tradition and legalism.
Scripture indicates that before the end of time, we will come into a revival which carries on from generation to generation.

"And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord; my spirit which is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your children, or out of the mouth of your children's children, says the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore." (Isaiah 59:21)

Past revivals have seen one generation on fire for God and the next one cool down. Isaiah prophesies a move of God which is unending. I believe that a key to this outpouring is the binding of such powers in the heavenlies as tradition, which has so plagued the church of God for centuries. May we gird up our armour!

Chapter 8: Antichrist

One day I was struggling to bring deliverance to a woman who had been in our congregation only a few months. She had come our way with a man who had been her pastor for several years. He had disbanded his congregation and had entered our fellowship to find new direction for his ministry. Several of his ex-members (including this woman) had come with him.
The problem on this occasion was that the ex-pastor would not allow me to take the lead in the deliverance of the woman; he wanted the reins of authority, although it was clear in the Spirit that the authority was not his. He kept usurping the leadership until in frustration I asked that he leave the room to pray for success in the deliverance. He huffed out and closed the door not too gently. But shortly afterwards, just as I was on the verge of a breakthrough with the sister, the door flew open and the ex-pastor stormed in. Without acknowledging me, he proceeded to address the woman in an entirely wrong spirit. Once again I asked him to leave, this time to go to my office which was at the rear of the room. He reluctantly plodded off and disappeared through the office doorway. But shortly after I resumed ministering, the brother re- entered, taking a seat at the back of the room. Now to my knowledge the sister did not see him come in; yet, while under strong demonic manifestation, she turned and pleaded, "______, take me home!" Then I realised something: the demons in this woman were submitted to an evil spirit in the ex-pastor. As I looked up from the woman to the brother at the back of the room, I saw his demon. I do not mean that I saw it in my minds eye; I saw the evil spirit in the face of the man in much the same way that one would see an image on a somewhat snowy television screen. At the precise moment of this vision, the Lord told me, "The name of the spirit is 'top dog.' It makes the man strive for authority and prestige."
Several years later the Lord revealed to me the more biblical name for this demon: Antichrist!
Even though Scripture teaches that just before the second coming of Christ the one Antichrist will appear, the Apostle John indicates that this spirit "is in the world already." (I John 4:3). But our generation of Evangelicals has an incorrect view of the present operation of the spirit of antichrist: we tend to think of it as manifesting chiefly through false teaching. Therefore we sit in our churches and vilify the Mormons or the Christian Scientists or the liberal Protestants as antichrist. The truth of the matter, though, is that false teaching is only a secondary aspect of this spirit; its primary characteristic is one ugly word: rebellion!
The Apostle Paul in Second Thessalonians 2:3-4 writes of the coming Antichrist:

Let no one deceive you in any way: for that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

Ultimately the Antichrist will be a man of false theology, but initially he will be a man of rebellion and lawlessness. The perverted teaching does not lead to the rebellion; the rebellion paves the way toward the false theology! We must get this straight in our thinking or we will miss much of what the devil is up to in this generation.

The Apostle John is the only biblical author to mention antichrist by name:

18. Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.
19. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us.
20. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know.
21. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth.
22. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
23. No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.
25. And this is what he has promised us, eternal life. (I John 2:18-25)

Now a surface reading of this passage would indicate that John is primarily equating the spirit of antichrist with false teaching which denies the Father and the Son (v.22). But the key verse in discerning antichrist as it is operating here is not verse 22, but verse 24: "Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you." What really was at issue here was the authority of the Apostle John. Those who were manifesting antichrist were not abiding in what they heard from the beginning. Why weren't they? Because they believed that they were as capable of hearing God as was John. The Apostle had stood before these Christians and proclaimed authoritatively the doctrine of the Father and the Son. The antichrist people said, "How do we know he's right? We can hear God as well as he;" so they gave themselves over to seducing spirits. The deception began when they determined to rebel against the authority of the Apostle John. The spirit of antichrist is primarily rebellion!
I should point out that no leader in God's church today has authority in revelation which compares with that of the apostles who formulated the New Testament. All doctrinal statements now must be judged by God's ultimate written revelation, the Bible. If a man in spiritual authority through his theology violates the letter or the spirit of Scripture, he is not to be heeded.
But the Apostle John had the permission of the Spirit of God to require his converts to submit to his doctrinal pronouncements. This is clearly brought out in I John 4:1-6:

1. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are of God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2. By this you know the spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3. and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already.
4. Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5. They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them.
6. We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

John here flatly states that those who listen to them (to the apostles) have the spirit of truth; those who do not listen to them have the spirit of error. The issue here is submission versus rebellion, which is always the basic issue when antichrist is around. The problem is not primarily false teaching.
When we once understand that antichrist is basically rebellion, I John 4:2 is more easily understood. Those of us who have worked in the ministry of deliverance these years have experienced frustration over the injunction to test the spirits by asking them to confess that Jesus has come in the flesh. The problem is that I have heard demons readily confess that Jesus has come in the flesh! Now either (1) John is wrong, or (2) we are deceived; or (3) we have not understood the spirit of this verse. I now realise that the answer is (3). The gnostic heresy (which John was combating in his epistle) taught that Jesus on earth was merely a phantom-like being (not in human flesh). But I do not believe that the declaration "Jesus Christ has come in the flesh" refers only to this doctrinal aberration. If the essence of antichrist is rebellion, then the spirit of the confession is "I believe that God gives authority to human flesh today." Was not the refusal to confess this the real issue with the antichrist people at the time of John? They would not submit to the authority of Christ as it was invested in the Apostle. I believe that their doctrinal error which said Christ on earth was but a phantom (God would not invest His authority in flesh) came as a result of their refusal to acknowledge Christ's present authority through John. My observation is that people today who have strong antichrist spirits will not submit to God's authority in human flesh, either.
Even though it is true that no man today has the absolute word on doctrine as the New Testament apostles did, God still places Christ's spiritual authority in men. Hebrews 13:17 reads, "Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account." The word "leaders" here is better translated from the Greek "those who have the rule over you." Clearly God intends His children to be answerable to human spiritual authority even today. "Rule" is a strong noun; "obey" and "submit" are strong verbs. If we do what our "ruler" wants us to do only when we feel like it, we are not obeying, for we are still insisting on ourselves being the ultimate authority: such is the essence of the spirit of antichrist.
Now when antichrist is seen to be primarily rebellion and only secondarily false teaching, our complacency is shaken. No longer can we sit and point to antichrist as if it is outside our church fellowships (i.e. in the Mormons, the Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.). Rather, we must become alarmed to realise that the church of God manifests antichrist within itself because it is riddled with rebellious people. The enemy inside is more dangerous than the one outside. Our dilemma is that we have spiritual leaders who will not keep watch (as rulers) over the souls of God's people (they don't want the responsibility), and we have many of God's people who will submit to no man. The spirit of antichrist is not coming on God's church: it's already here in force.
An interesting fact is that rebellion does not become obvious until confronted by authority. In a church where there is little or no scriptural emphasis on submission, rebellion can reign almost unnoticed (although it still does its destructive work). But begin to bring in teaching concerning divine order, and every antichrist spirit in the place will sooner or later raise its ugly head. My observation is that these spirits manifest in five basic ways:
1. They cause a person to ask the question, "Where do I fit?" Now on the surface this is a harmless query. It is not wrong to ask where you fit if indeed you absolutely and honestly do not know where you fit. But if you realise, way deep down, that you belong under the authority of a certain brother and yet you rationalise that perhaps you belong somewhere else, or you convince yourself that you are at least that brother's equal, you are manifesting antichrist. My observation is that there is a hierarchy in the Spirit: we are not all equal in authority. Our responsibility in a local fellowship is to humble ourselves under those who are ahead of us in God. We even found it necessary at Faith Fellowship Church to rate the four elders according to spiritual maturity. We four agreed on who is number one, who is two, three, and four in authority and maturity. It puts an end to competitiveness and striving for place! (I am not number one, by the way).
2. An antichrist spirit will drive a man to be the "top dog." To the brother who persists in asking, "Where do I fit?" even after God has shown him where he belongs and what he is to do, the devil gives an answer: "Why, at the top, of course!" Then sets in an unteachable spirit and an underlying resistance to the authority of the ones over him in the Lord. The ex-pastor at the beginning of this chapter who had "top dog" was sent our way by God to receive help. God's will for him was to submit to us for character correction and for ministry to his family. Yet in the early days with us he was forever saying, "I just don't know what God is going to do with me." He knew what God wanted to do with him: bring him in to the shop for repairs! But he really didn't want to submit to that because he had a thirst for power and prestige. He was unwilling to lay down his ministry so that he could receive help.
The demon of antichrist through "Where do I fit?" and "top dog" reflects the attitude of Satan himself as expressed in Isaiah 14:13-14: "You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high ... I will make myself like the Most High.'" The man who has a strong antichrist spirit has a demonic anointing which makes him push for position and authority in much the same way as Satan who declared, "... I will set my throne on high ..."
3. An antichrist spirit will cause a man to find his "Jezebel." The spirit of antichrist which is already in the world foreshadows the characteristics of the coming "man of lawlessness" who will be the incarnation of evil. Most Evangelicals believe that the "beast" in Revelation is the "man of lawlessness" of Second Thessalonians. An interesting aspect of the beast is his relationship to the jezebelic queen: "... I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast ..." (Rev. 17:3). The beast will use the queen to accomplish many of his goals. Now a man today who has a strong antichrist spirit seeks for an individual (usually a woman) to be joined with him in "spirit," in much the same way that the harlot of Babylon will be joined to the beast. The function of the jezebelic person is to help the antichrist man build his kingdom. (He may have several persons at once). If the man is married, the "Jezebel" is almost always a woman other than his wife. This demonic liaison can have strong sexual overtones: the queen in Revelation is the "great harlot." I believe that the greatest single cause of ministers becoming involved sexually with women other than their wives is due to this tendency of an antichrist man to seek his "Jezebel"! The basic problem is not one of lust, but of ego: demonically-empowered ego.
Now I mentioned that the "Jezebel" to the antichrist man is usually a woman, but not always. A brother I know who has a strong prophetic ministry was at one time under a man who has an antichrist spirit. On one occasion the brother was teamed up with another prophet to minister at a home meeting. But just before the meeting, the antichrist man telephoned the brother and said something like this: "Now just listen carefully to me. I do not want you to answer. Just listen in your spirit. You are my prophet. You are not _____'s prophet (the brother with whom he was to minister). You are mine." And then he hung up. Until recently the brother was unable to understand the significance of the phone call. Now he realises that the man's antichrist spirit was attempting to find a Jezebel.
I now understand the ministry situation which I described at the beginning of this chapter. Why were the demons in the woman submitted to the "top dog" in the ex-pastor? Because in the "spirit" she was his "Jezebel"! There was a need for this sister to break all unnatural spiritual ties to her former pastor in order to receive lasting deliverance.
What about these jezebelic assistants to antichrist men? Are they innocent victims? Generally, no. They have within their demonic kingdoms that which draws them to the power of antichrist. My observation after watching this dynamic for years is that those that tend to become Jezebels to the antichrist spirit go from situation to situation where antichrist men are in control. They are drawn to these men as metal filings are drawn to a magnet. In their own way they are looking for power and promotion, too. They sense the antichrist man's empire-building tendencies, and they want to be part of that empire! The only permanent cure for this demonic drive is deliverance from the kingdoms of Jezebel and antichrist.
Revelation 17:16 reveals yet another aspect of the dynamic between the beast and the harlot: "... the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire ..." Just as it will be, so is it now: the antichrist man will turn on his Jezebel, if necessary to save his own reputation or career. I have seen it happen. We must realise that the antichrist man is loyal only as long as it suits his purpose to be so.
There is a need for introspection among God's people. The antichrist man several paragraphs back who telephoned the prophet has had a reasonably fruitful ministry in the past. To say that he has an antichrist spirit is not to discredit his entire career: it is to say, though, that he has a demonic pollution which seriously hinders his effectiveness. I need to ask myself: "are these antichrist tendencies within me?" You need to ask if they are in you. My observation is that these spirits (which have their roots in fleshly sins) are widespread among the people of God. May we all seek cleansing so that we can be that church without spot or blemish!
4. An antichrist spirit leads a man to believe that he does not need to submit to anyone; yet he himself tends to demand strong obedience and loyalty from those under him. Now a brother with antichrist demons may show some semblance of submission (i.e., to a board, to a denomination, etc.) but he will manage somehow to be independent in spirit. Just because a person says he is submitted does not necessarily mean that he is: The letter of submission and the spirit of submission are two entirely different things. By a brother's fruits shall we know him. Does a man who claims to be submitted exhibit any of the five characteristics of antichrist which we are outlining in this chapter? If he does his submittedness is questionable.
Antichrist spirits resist submission and promote independence. I was ministering to a brother once in the area of the antichrist kingdom when a demon surfaced which called itself "mind control." Do you know how this evil spirit functioned? It would give the brother ten logical reasons why he did not have to submit in any given circumstance. Do you know why it was called "mind control"? Because through the rebellious rationalisations of his mind, the man could retain control of his own decisions and do his own thing. Many of God's people need to be delivered from demons similar to "mind control."
5. An antichrist spirit leads a man to "revile the glorious ones." This expression is found in the epistle of Jude where the writer is characterising certain false teachers: "Yet in like manner these men in their dreamings defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile the glorious ones." (v.8). These men committed immorality, rebelled against spiritual authority, and reviled the glorious ones. Now who are the glorious ones? The remaining verses give us a clue:
But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you." But these men revile whatever they do not understand, and by those things that they know by instinct as irrational animals do, they are destroyed. (Jude 9-10)

These verse seem to indicate that the "glorious ones" are fallen angels, for obviously the archangel Michael was not contending with a good angel over the body of Moses. Further confirmation comes from the parallel passage in Second Peter 2:10-11:

... those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and wilful, they are not afraid to revile the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a reviling judgment upon them before the Lord.

Here it is clear that the "glorious ones" are not good angels. The only logical conclusion is that they are the principalities and powers, the world rulers of his present darkness, the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
What does it mean to "revile the glorious ones"? I worked with a brother once whose oft-repeated boast was that he mocked demons. It was no idle brag, either, because many times I heard him in deliverance address a demon somewhat like this: "You think you are smart, don't you? You know you are nothing. You are stupid! You are so weak a pantywaist could take you on. You are not even capable of throwing slop to the pigs!" Now it is true that the evil spirits are defeated enemies and that we have the victory over them. Yet as we approach the point of exorcism, we must use spiritual weapons, not carnal. To do otherwise is to run the risk of reviling the glorious ones. As a young man, this brother enjoyed a good fight and delighted in baiting a bully. Therefore it is obvious that all he was doing in deliverance was moving in the flesh, which is a very dangerous thing. The devil is not afraid of our natural strength or of our ability to pick a fight; in fact, if we use carnal weapons in spiritual warfare, we are certain to be overtaken by the evil one ourselves. It is no puzzle as to why today this man is under serious demonic deception.
Jude and Peter in the passages quoted above indicate a relationship between rebellion (the spirit of antichrist) and the tendency to revile the glorious ones. It seems that a refusal to acknowledge and submit to godly spiritual authority blinds one to the recognition of the authority in the demonic kingdom. We as believers do have power over the devil, but we must engage in warfare according to the rules. A person with a strong antichrist spirit tends to bend those rules to suit himself. I have yet to meet a rebellious minister who in spiritual warfare did not overestimate his own ability to subdue the forces of darkness.
So there we have it: five main ways in which the spirit of antichrist pervades the church today. Yet not everything that this spirit does among the people of God fits under these categories. For example, there is the problem of timidity and inferiority.
The Apostle Paul reminded Timothy "to rekindle the gift of God that is within you ... for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:6-7). He also exhorted him to "Let no one despise your youth ..." (I Timothy 4:12). Timothy's problem was not in pushing to be "top dog" but rather in retreating from the position which was legitimately his. Without insinuating that Timothy had a demon of antichrist, I must comment that I have seen those spirits lead people to retreat from responsibilities to which God is calling them. If you are supposed to be number two and antichrist can't lead you to strive to be number one, then he will tell you that you are really number five. He will inspire you to give away your responsibility and your authority.
Now as strange as it may seem, this tendency to retreat is rebellion, too. If God has called us to be number one in authority in a situation, it is rebellion against His will for us to refuse to move into that position. It is amazing how disobedience can wear the mask of meekness and humility! When God called Moses and he replied, "Who am I that I should go to Pharoah, and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?" he wasn't being humble: he was showing rebellion and unbelief. The only place today where we will be completely safe from rebellion is in the exact position where God wants us.
I also have seen this dynamic of inferiority manifest in husband-wife situations where the man retreats from his responsibilities as prophet, priest, and king over his home. The antichrist spirit leads him to give in to feelings of insignificance and unworthiness. But I repeat: to back off from godly responsibilities (and every husband is to be the head of his home) is rebellion. Passive husbands need to repent of spiritual laziness and need to be delivered from antichrist who is the enemy of divine order everywhere.
Antichrist can manifest through the wife, too. Generally it leads her to have a deep mistrust of her husband's motives and of his authority; therefore she moves to take matters into her own hands. Because she cannot believe that her husband really has her best interests at heart, she tends to close off her inner spirit from him. A fleshly manifestation of this dynamic is the inability of the wife to give herself sexually to her husband. In fact, I believe that the manifestation of a demon of antichrist in a wife is the greatest non-medical cause of frigidity.
Now through Christian counselling, couples who have these problems can be lead to a measure of help. Yet I must insist that behind the outward manifestations are the forces of darkness. Until the husband and wife are delivered from antichrist spirits, they will not and cannot come into the full union which God intends for them. The demonic barriers, even though weakened by obedience and godly discipline, will still be present. I repeat what I have written several times: there is a tremendous need of deliverance among the people of God. Let us press on into all of the Lord's blessing!
Over the antichrist demons which infest people are the antichrist strong men in the heavenlies. My conviction is that these antichrists in the heavenlies are neither principalities nor powers, but the third category mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 6:12: "the world rulers of this present darkness." Their assignment is to pollute and destroy genuine godly authority, and to prepare the way for the coming "man of lawlessness." The plan can go two ways: promote rebellion in those under authority, or put the wrong man in authority (the wrong man can get in when the right man refuses to take authority). At any rate, these strong men in the heavenlies must be bound if a church is to see much deliverance from antichrist within individuals.
As we have seen many set free from the minions of antichrist, one fact presents itself over and over: a person must subject himself to divine order or he will not get free. A wife must submit to her husband and a man must commit himself to spiritual overseers. The individual who desires to be independent will get to keep his demon! To say, "Jesus is my spiritual cover and I need no one else" is to open oneself to the spirit of the age: lawlessness!
Yet we have found that many times it is not enough for a person to render submission; the individual must in turn be received by a community of believers. Once we were ministering deliverance to a sister who had a strong antichrist spirit. She realised that in order to get free she had to will to submit to her husband (even though he was not saved) which she did. But afterwards as we attempted exorcism, the demon still stubbornly resisted. Finally, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we took the woman's arms and announced to the evil spirit that we were leading her out of his grip and receiving her into our fellowship. At this point the demon offered stout resistance by causing the sister to attempt to pull away from us. Yet as we persisted, the power of the spirit was broken and the woman received deliverance. Thus our local Christian community (represented by us who ministered the deliverance) literally rescued this sister from the grasp of antichrist.
Why is it so important that we do something about the pollution of antichrist demons in our churches? Because if we do not deal with these minions of rebellion in our own ranks, we will be powerless to confront the spirit of antichrist as it increases in the world. I believe the Apostle Paul points this out in Second Corinthians 10:3-6:

3. For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war,
4. for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
5. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
6. being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

Paul says that through spiritual weapons he is able to destroy demonic strongholds, especially those which inspire prideful unbelief and rebellious arguments ("mind control"?). He indicates that this elimination of demonic kingdoms begins with God's people, for He will punish every (worldly-demonic) disobedience after the obedience in the church is complete (v.6). We must clean up our own act before we can authoritatively confront the devil in the world and pull down his strongholds there.
Chapter 9: The "Declaration of Independence"

Revelation which God intends to give me does not always come during times of intense prayer; sometimes the Lord speaks to my spirit apart from the prayer season while I am occupied with something else. Such was the circumstances when I received the word about the strong man over America. Specifically I was in our apartment in Hood River preparing myself a sandwich when, unexpectedly, the Lord spoke: "The strong man over the United States is the 'declaration of independence.'"
The "declaration of independence." I had to ask the Lord, "Why would a demonic principality take the name of the most sacred document in American history?" The answer was simple enough: The American Revolution, notwithstanding the issues which spawned it, was a rebellion. The revolt against British rule gave the devil permission to place a strong man of rebellion and selfishness over this country. Therefore, it is no surprise that rebellion and selfishness are the two root sins behind most of what is wrong in the United States today.
Now I do not want to be misunderstood. I am a patriotic American and I love this country. I believe wholeheartedly in our form of government. Yet I repeat what the Lord showed me: The American Revolution gave permission to the devil to place a strong man of rebellion and selfishness over the country. I have no idea as to how this nation could have achieved its independence apart from revolution. My concern here is not to second-guess history: my purpose is to expose the strong man so that, in due season, he may be pulled down by God's people.
As I look at American history subsequent to the revolt against Britain, I can see the strong man at work. His basic assignment has been (and still is): destroy the United States! Perhaps his most concerted attempt at this was the Civil War. The strong man inspired the South to rationalise: "One good split deserves another. If you don't like a thing, break off! Is that not what we did when we couldn't agree with British policies?" The one man who was most responsible for preventing the tragic separation was, of course, Abraham Lincoln. It is historical fact that Lincoln during his presidency suffered extended periods of deep melancholia. When one understands that this great man was resisting not just flesh and blood, but the demonic prince who was set on destroying the union, the bouts of depression are understandable! (There is no evidence, however, that Lincoln was personally aware of the strong man. He knew that he was fighting for principles, but likely had no concept of battling principalities even though we now realise that the "declaration of independence" was at work.) It is ironic that as Lincoln fought for the godly principles (apart from rebellion) which are put forth in the written Declaration of Independence, the perverted "declaration of independence" in the heavenlies opposed his every move.
Why does the devil so want to destroy this country? I believe that the answer is found when one investigates the intentions of the Pilgrim Fathers. Derek Prince in Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting points out that the essence of the Pilgrims theological position "is indicated by their very choice of the name pilgrims. They did not claim to have arrived at a final understanding of all truth. They were on a pilgrimage, looking for the further revelation of truth that lay ahead as they walked in obedience to truth already received." (p. 135). Their purpose in coming to America was that they had "... a great hope and inward zeal ... of laying some good foundation ... for the propagating and advancing of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world; yea, though they should be but even as stepping stones unto others for the performing of so great a work." (p. 132). The Pilgrims wanted America to be a nation where God could reveal more and more though His Word, and from where the gospel could be spread to the remote parts of the earth. Without a doubt they prayed fervently that these two things be accomplished through the coming generations. I believe that the God Who answers the prayers of the righteous has honoured, and will continue to honour, these noble petitions of the Pilgrim Fathers. Because of their faith, the United States has a unique destiny in God ... a plan which includes both the restoration of the church and the evangelisation of the world! But the devil, through the "declaration of independence" would like to prevent its fulfillment.
What specifically is this strong man up to in our day? A partial list includes:

1. Divorce. What is divorce? It is one member of the marriage covenant saying to the other, "I declare independence from you. Your needs are not my needs. Your future is not my future. I absolve myself of all responsibility for you. From this point on, I will keep to myself. I don't care what happens to you."
This dynamic of divorce works not only against marriage, but is active in every aspect of American life where sacrifice and commitment are required. For example, it instigates betrayal among business partners and disloyalty among employees. The attitude of the average employee today toward his employer is "I will get what I want regardless of how it affects you." Ultimately such selfishness will destroy our economy. Tragically, the United States is rapidly becoming a nation whose people refuse to commit themselves to anything or to anybody. Each seeks his own way. The "declaration of independence" is hard at work!

2. Abortion. Logos Journal recently bemoaned the fact that each year in America between a half-million and a million human lives are snuffed out through this act, and labelled its legalisation as "declaring independence from God" (interesting choice of words). (Logos Journal Jan-Feb., 1978. p. 31).

3. Abuse of human rights. One has but to read the Old Testament prophets to realise that the Lord is angry at injustice, whether racial or sexual. But the Lord is not the author of the type of "rights" emphasis which, as Bob Mumford points out, secular humanism is moving us toward. He writes:

men are saying there are no classes, no ranks, no distinctions - not even those which God has made among men. I don't believe in some sort of cast system which breeds discrimination or oppression. I am talking about the kind of "equal rights" that allow a worker to say to his boss, "I feel like drinking coffee rather than working, and if you try to fire me, I'll call the American Civil Liberties Union." It is a that destroys respect and responsibility for the sake of "rights"

By "spirit" here Bob Mumford means "attitude." Yet behind all this is indeed a "spirit," the "declaration of independence"!
Such a clamour for "rights" these days! The homosexuals want the right to teach my children. Women's liberation makes all kinds of demands. Then there are the labour unions which insist on more and more money even if inflation spirals completely out of sight. Also there are the youth in revolt who last year (1977) inflicted bodily harm on sixty thousand classroom teachers, according to a survey by the National Education Association. Can anyone deny that America is in danger of being consumed from within by selfishness and rebellion?

In the midst of all of this comes a call to God's people:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus ...
(Who) emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:5, 7, 3-4)

God's plan for this generation is to raise up a people who walk in true covenant with one another. As we earth-bound pilgrims who have paid the price of commitment approach that time (and we are now on the threshold) when "many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another ... and because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold" (Matthew 24:10,12), we experience gratitude for what we have. The other day I was in a service where masks fell off and grown men, in tears, confessed their weaknesses and their hungers and their need of, and commitment to, one another. As I participate in meetings such as this, i am thankful to be a part of that kingdom which is once again moving toward the fulfillment of Jesus' observation that "all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)
I have a vision: all is not lost for I can see God's people in unity destroying the stronghold of the "declaration of independence"! Now we can engage in politics and sign petitions and make our protests known - all of these things are legitimate and worthwhile . But the ultimate victory over the forces of darkness which seek to bury this nation will be supernatural. God even now is raising up, across the land in the face of selfishness and rebellion, groups of His people who submit to divine order and who commit themselves one to another. These churches someday will unite as the army of God and will train their spiritual guns on the "declaration of independence" in order to bring him down. Those in godly spiritual commitment will take on that one over the nation who fosters ungodly disloyalty and self-centeredness, and the godly shall win. The fruit shall be a revival which sweeps the land, and all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered ..." (Joel 2:32). Our God reigns!

Chapter 10: Death and Hell

Years ago in a church where I was an elder, we had a young man who suffered considerable personal turmoil. He would approach the eldership with the complaint that "something on the inside is chewing me up." At the time, even though as a church we moved in deliverance, we were unable to help him. It was as if Satan had exerted extra effort to discredit the young brother's ministry. And what was his calling in God? Evangelism! The brother was consumed with the zeal to witness. Neither fear of man nor concern for personal safety kept him from spreading the word about Jesus. His only hindrance was that in addition to evangelistic enthusiasm he also was consumed by inner torment! While he was attempting to lead others to the Prince of Peace something within was robbing him of his peace.
Not long after we received the revelation on Jezebel, the Lord showed us the spiritual dynamic behind the harassment of persons such as this young man: These tormented individuals are under the demonic kingdom of "Death followed by Hell." God revealed to us that "death" was more than a physical and spiritual phenomenon and "hell" more than a place of punishment in the afterlife. Rather, Death and Hell are strong men in the heavenlies.
Scriptural evidence of this is found in Revelation 20:13-14:

And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades (hell) gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire ...

Now there is no indication that the Lord will throw either philosophical abstractions or inanimate objects into the lake of fire. But in addition to the wicked dead, He will throw in "the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41). Death and Hell are demonic angels!

The Old Testament has one word for the realm of the dead (both righteous and evil) which is Sheol. But in the New Testament, there are several words and expressions used to indicate hell: gehenna, tartarus, nether gloom of darkness, eternal fire, lake of fire, hades. The only one of these expressions that is referred to as having power is hades; the other terms are always used in reference to a place. Therefore the technical name for the strong man of Hell is "Hades" (as over against the other terms.)
In Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus said:

"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The expression "the gates of hades" can be translated "the powers of death" (as in Revised Standard Version) which intimates the connection between death and hades. (Death is considered the doorway to hades.) A "gate" in oriental thinking is a center of legal authority. Therefore, Jesus is saying here that when the church exercises its authority properly, the strong man of Hell is robbed of his authority and of his ability to keep people in spiritual prisons.
As I mentioned in a previous chapter, I have been in evangelical churches all my life. Repeatedly I have heard it blithely stated that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church." Yet my observation over these years is that there is a great deal of the power of hell among God's people. We have in the church demonically-bound individuals, sick bodies, and anaemic evangelism. Let's face it: the promise of Matthew 16:18-19 is neither automatic nor unconditional. Somewhere down the line the church has forgotten how to use the keys which unlock hell! What are the keys? Binding and loosing. "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Jesus said, "first bind the strong man, and then plunder his house." Because the church has lost the concept of binding and loosing, the power of Hell roams, to a great extent, at large. Therefore we have people sitting even in our very midst who are harassed by this strong man.
What can we expect to happen when we bind "Death followed by Hades"? ("Death followed by Hades" is the literal translation of the term "Death and Hell" in Revelation 6:8; 20:13-14).
1). Lost people are set free to hear the gospel. Scripture indicates that those outside the body of the redeemed are not just bound for hell, but are in the grasp of Hades already. The epistle of Jude, in speaking of certain false teachers, states that they are "wandering stars for whom the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved for ever" (v.13). Those who are headed for eternal hell already have their reservations! I believe it is logical to conclude that the "reservation clerks" are the strong men powers of Death and Hell.
A careful study of Jude's description of the false teachers (who were not saved individuals) gives some idea of the characteristics of those who are presently bound by Hell because they are bound for hell. Jude 1:8-13,16:

8. Yet in like manner these men in their dreamings defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile the glorious ones.
9. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgement upon him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
10. But these men revile whatever they do not understand, and by those things that they know by instinct as irrational animals do, they are destroyed.
11. Woe to them! For they walk in the way of Cain, and abandon themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error, and perish in Korah's rebellion.
12. These are blemishes on your love feasts, as they boldly carouse together, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;
13. wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame;...
16. These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own passions, loud-mouthed boasters, flattering people to gain advantage.

Those lost people in the grasp of Death and Hell:

1. commit immorality, v.8
2. rebel, v.8, v.11
3. are not afraid of the kingdom of darkness, v.8
4. follow their instincts and so are destroyed, v.10
5. commit murder, v.11
6. are covetous, v.11
7. are selfish, v.12
8. are empty, v.12
9. are restless, v.13
10. are full of shame, v.13
11. grumble, v.16
12. are malcontents, v.16
13. are boasters, flattering people to gain advantage, v.16.

As the church binds "Death with Hell following" the lost will have their ears unstopped so they can at least hear the gospel. Now this is not to say that everyone who hears will believe, but until we bind Death and Hell, many who would believe can't even hear! The power of Death and Hell stands between them and the truth.
We know very little of what transpired in the upper room before the day of Pentecost. The only detailed information we are given concerns the appointment of Matthias to replace Judas. For the remainder of the time, all Luke tells us is that they "with one accord devoted themselves to prayer ..." (Acts 1:14). The content of those prayers is not given. Yet I believe that it is safe to assume, on the basis of Jesus' emphasis about binding and loosing, that those upper room disciples stormed the gates of hell on behalf of the kingdom of God! I believe they bound Hell and loosed evangelistic power. The result was that, after Peter's sermon on Pentecost, the crowd cried out, "Brethren, what shall we do?" and three thousand persons were saved. The continuing testimony about that early church was that "the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47)
But today in our churches we hobble along with programs of evangelism which smack more of Madison Avenue than they do of Pentecost. Why are we so inept? I believe it is because we have neglected to do our prayer homework. And it isn't enough just to set people to praying either - we must teach them to pray aright! Intercession for the lost is important and will bring forth some fruit; but the flood tide of evangelism will come only when God's people effectively bind "Death followed by Hell" in the heavenlies so that the prisoners can hear that they need to be released.
Now I realise that there are seasons in God: there is a time of inwardness in a church while a foundation is being laid, and there is a time of outreach and growth. Therefore a large influx of new converts may not always come immediately after binding Death and Hell. What will come to the church, though, is clarity in discerning the seasons of God. One of the functions of Death and Hell is to plug up the spiritual ears of God's people so that they can't hear what the Lord presently wants them to hear. Thus they misjudge the season. (Jesus told the Pharisees, whose converts were "twice as much a child of hell" as themselves [Matthew 23:15], that "you [Pharisees] know how to interpret the weather, but ... cannot interpret the signs of the times." [Matthew 16:3]). Therefore it is important for committed members to bind Death and Hell early in the life of a church so that the seasons be according to God's plan.

2). Evangelists are set free to proclaim the gospel. The testimony and the ministry of the evangelist is reflected in Psalm 18:4-6, 16-19, 30.

The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help,
From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears ...
He reached from on high, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
They came upon me in the day of my calamity; but the Lord was my stay.
He brought me forth into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me
This God - his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

The evangelist is one who, having been snatched from the "torrents of perdition" and the "snares of death" broadcasts to unbelievers the good news that the Lord "is a shield for all those who take refuge in him." Therefore the plan of the devil is to discredit this testimony by preventing the evangelist from experiencing complete freedom from "perdition'' (hell) and "death." Satan injects him with a good dose of "Death with Hell following" in order to keep him from turning people from eternal hell! This inner torment can manifest in four basic ways:

1. physical infirmities, especially lung difficulties. I know of at least three individuals with strong evangelistic tendencies who have lung problems. It seems that, because the evangelist seeks to verbalise his message, the devil attempts to rob him of the breath necessary to do so.

2. doubts. It's amazing how many evangelists are plagued by doubts concerning their own standing with God. Even the peerless English evangelist John Bunyan (the author of Pilgrim's Progress) was constantly plagued with the fear that he wouldn't make it. In his autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, he describes his struggle with the temptation to deny Christ:

Sometimes these words would run through my thoughts a hundred times together: Sell Him, sell Him. And for whole hours at a time I have been forced to stand guard, leaning and forcing my spirit against it for fear that before I was aware of what was happening, some wicked thought might arise in my heart that would consent to this temptation. Sometimes the tempter would make me believe that I had consented to it, and then I would be as though tortured upon a rack for whole days together ...
... one morning as I lay on my bed, I was, as at many other times, fiercely assaulted with this temptation to sell Christ. The wicked suggestion ran through my mind as fast as a man could speak: "Sell Him, sell Him, sell Him, sell Him, sell Him." As usual my mind answered: "No, not for thousands, thousands, thousands, thousands." Twenty times together I repeated it, but at last after great struggle I felt this thought pass through my heart: "Let Him go if He will," and my heart agreed.
And, suddenly, Satan had won the battle and down I fell, as a bird that is shot from the top of a tree, into mighty guilt and fearful despair. Getting out of my bed, I went out into the field with as heavy a heart as a mortal man could ever have. There for about two hours I was like a man bereft of life and past all recovery, bound over to eternal punishment.
This is the Scripture that seized my soul: "Profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears" (Hebrews 12:16, 17).
Now I was bound over to the judgment to come. There was nothing for all the years ahead but damnation.
Months went by and the sound of that verse concerning Esau went continually through my mind ...

John Bunyan would experience occasional times of joy and release, but those times would be interspersed with lengthy periods of guilt and despondency. He was truly a tormented man for much of his life. Doubtlessly Satan discerned that Bunyan's influence would carry on for centuries through Pilgrim's Progress; therefore the evil one, in order to discredit the evangelist's witness, gave him an extra dose of persecution through "Death, with Hell following." Bunyan himself made an interesting observation when he pointed out that
Martin Luther discussed carefully the rise of temptations such as blasphemy, desperation and such like. He showed that the law of Moses, as well as the Devil and death and Hell, had a very great hand in bringing them about. At first this seemed very strange to me, but after thinking about it and watching my own experience, I found that it was indeed true. (italics mine) Did the evangelist (and did Luther) have some inkling of the powers of Death and Hell? Possibly so.
Now I realise that Bunyan's torment was somewhat unusual; yet I have known several evangelists who have had inner doubts and condemnation to the extent that their ministries were hindered. In fact, my observation is that even if a person is not an evangelist by ministry but still has evangelistic tendencies (i.e., an evangelistic prophet or an evangelistic teacher) that individual also is likely to be harassed by some aspect of Death and Hell. Let's face it: the devil wants to stifle and discredit our witness on all fronts!
3. fears. Doubt and fear overlap somewhat; yet I believe there is enough difference to warrant a separate category for fear. Most of the fears which harass evangelists are actually aspects of one overriding problem: the fear of death. Hebrews 2:14 -15 reads:

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself (Jesus) likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.

The message of the evangelist is: "Jesus delivers us from the fear of death which produces lifelong bondage." Therefore the ploy of the evil one is to torment the evangelist with some aspect of the fear of death so to discredit the message. He may be plagued with the fear of disease. He may suffer various phobias, such as the fear of heights or the fear of close places. He may have chronic apprehension concerning the safety of his family. He may from time to time be tormented with the thought that he has committed the unpardonable sin. All of these fears are disguises worn by the underlying fear of death which produces lifelong bondage. Can we see how these things in the lives of those who are zealous to witness discredit the message which they proclaim? May God bring deliverance to our evangelists so that they can become sterling examples of the power of the "cross" which they proclaim.
4. worldliness. Of the five-fold ministries mentioned in Ephesians 4:11, the one most susceptible to enticement by the pleasures of sin for a season is the evangelist. The reason is obvious: his ministry is to call the worldlings out of their sin into the forgiveness and holiness found in Jesus; therefore the devil through Death and Hell pressures the evangelist to succumb to the allurement of the same iniquity which he is called upon to denounce! I listed earlier in this chapter the characteristics in the epistle of Jude of those who are bound by Hell. If one modernises and condenses this list, he has the categories of worldly temptation which beset the evangelist:

a. pride b. rebellion
c. money d. wine
e. women f. song (revely)

Most of us who have been Christians for several years know of evangelists who have shipwrecked their ministries by succumbing to at least one of the above worldly enticements. We have not understood, though, the full scope of what besets the evangelists. We have exhorted them to avoid lustful situations and to abstain from alcoholic drink. We have encouraged them to be open in financial dealings and to submit to governing boards. Now these admonishments are good, but the apostasy rate among evangelists is still appallingly high. What have we missed? We have failed to bind Death and Hell in the heavenlies and to bring the subsequent deliverance to the evangelists. We have tended to treat symptoms rather than to attack the demonic strong men behind the problems. We have applied bandaids to cancer.
So "Death followed by Hell" can harrass evangelists in these four ways: through illness, through doubt, through fear, through temptation to worldliness. The purpose of the devil, as stated before, is to bind evangelists by the power of Hell in order to prevent them from turning people away from eternal hell. Jezebel in the heavenlies attempts to stop the prophets: Death and Hell attempts to stop evangelists!
Now all of this is not to imply that every evangelist everywhere is overwhelmed by Death and Hell. Perhaps there is one somewhere who is free from all inner torment. On the other hand, though, I have never been acquainted with an evangelist who did not suffer an inordinate amount of inner pressure in at least one of the four areas. So to the young evangelist whom I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, I write: brother, there is good news today! Death and Hell can be bound, your torment can cease, and your mouth can be set free indeed so that you can speak the gospel far and wide!

3). The ministries of healing and miracles are released. When a church binds Death and Hell, not only are lost people set free to hear the gospel and evangelists unshackled to proclaim the same, but the gifts of healings and miracles gain momentum.
The demonic strong men Death and Hell are mentioned in Revelation 6:1-8:

Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say, as with a voice of thunder, "Come!" And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and it's rider had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" And out came another horse, bright red; it's rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given a great sword.
When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and it's rider had a balance in his hand; and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm oil and wine!"
When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and it's rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

This passage describes what are commonly known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The white horse likely carries Christ Himself as conqueror; the red horse with its rider brings war; the black horse and rider spreads famine; the pale horse (ridden by Death with Hades following) fosters war and famine also, but adds destruction through pestilence and through the wild beasts.

Now I do not refer to this passage in order to speculate concerning events in Revelation; rather, I believe that we have a picture of one of the primary functions of Death and Hell: pestilence! These strong men bring illness and disease. Because of this, a church cannot move to the extent that it should in the anointing of healing and miracles until Death and Hell are bound in the heavenlies. These demonic angels and their lesser cohorts have been responsible for robbing many of God's people of their healings and for frustrating and discouraging those who would move in the ministries of healing and miracles. Remember, "First bind the strong man, and then plunder his house."
Can we believe that it is not the will of God for the body of Christ to be harassed with illness? Now I realise that sometimes God permits sickness to occur in an individual in order to achieve His purpose, and our place is to submit to God's will in such cases, even though at the time we may not understand His plan; yet in the early church "The people ... gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick, ... and they were all healed." (Acts 5:16). Why can't we have this? I am tired of the devil robbing us of that which is rightfully ours in God. I do not want a mere trickle of blessing in healing and miracles; I desire the flood! May we rise up and, with one accord, blow the demonic lid off of our churches so that God's full anointing can come.
The night our church bound Death and Hell, I received a jolt. Following the prayer period, several brothers brought forth the word of the Lord which said (in part):

... It is not my desire to deliver you completely from Death ... I would say that My hand has been placed between you and Death ... when I choose to raise My hand up, I will raise My hand up. But when my hand is down, you will operate freely from Death ... there will come a season in the future when this enemy (Death, with Hell following) shall return and you must be diligent, not be slack.

My surprise came from the realisation that we could not bind Death and Hell once for all. (I knew, of course, that binding Death and Hell would not alter the fact that each of us will suffer physical death some day, if the Lord tarries.) When we as a church took on Jezebel and antichrist, there was no indication of a partial binding. In fact, the subsequent fruit in deliverance indicated a through defeat of these two strong men. Yet that night I was hearing prophecy which indicated Death and Hell could not be vanquished completely. I didn't want to receive the words.

Later, though, the Lord showed me that Death and Hell cannot be completely bound by a church because He uses those strong men and their emissaries to chastise and to mould His people. In I Corinthians 11:27-32, the Apostle Paul writes concerning the Lord's Supper:

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

For those who partake of Communion without discerning the body is the judgement of Death and Hell (weakness, illness, and even death itself). We can attempt to bind these two demonic strong men all we please: God still will use them to punish His people who profane the body and blood of Jesus.
What does it mean when Paul talks about eating and drinking "without discerning the body"? Earlier in Chapter 11 he mentions that the Corinthian believers are guilty because "there are divisions ..." In eating together in the assembly "each one goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry and another is drunk." He rebukes them soundly: "What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not." (I Cor. 18, 21-22). The gist of all this is that when one does not provide for (materially, if needed) and love and forgive and flow with the brothers and sisters in the fellowship, he is not discerning the body and God will use the paddle of Death and Hell on him. It's as simple as that. We in the modern church tend to take God's warnings here far too lightly!
Jesus emphasised the need for forgiving those about us. He told the story of the slave who owed his master ten million dollars and could not pay it. But
"his master's heart was moved with pity, and he let the slave go free with his debt cancelled.
But that slave went out and found one of his fellow-slaves who owed him twenty dollars, and he caught him by the throat and began to choke him, demanding, 'pay me what you owe me.'
And his fellow-slave fell down before him and pleaded, 'Give me time and I will pay you.' But he refused and went out and had him put in jail until he should pay the debt."

The upshot of all this was that "the master was enraged and turned him (the first slave) over to the official torturers, until he should pay the whole debt."
Then Jesus applied the story to real life (our lives) by stating: "This is the way my heavenly Father too will deal with you, if you do not each one, heartily forgive your brother." (Matthew 18:27-30; 34-35, Williams). Now who are the "official torturers"? The demons under the strong men of Death and Hell. When people repent of deep bitterness, frequently they need deliverance from the "torturers" which are in them by the permission of God. In addition to the demon of bitterness itself, such "torturers" as "sorrow," "hatred," "anger," and "guilt" can be found, along with addiction spirits such as "drugs" and "alcoholism."
But illness is not always exclusively punishment. I have discovered that the Lord can use the pressure of Death and Hell to mould His body together in love and service. About a month before I began to write this book, I developed a stomach and intestinal problem which manifested like a "24-hour bug," except that it did not end after a day. In fact, the illness dragged on intermittently for at least six weeks. Several times I submitted myself to the elders for prayer, but no release came. In the final session, though, I discerned the problem: I was being harassed by a demon of death. I saw him in the Spirit as a skeleton cloaked in a dismal shroud. Then one of the brothers had the word: "We do not have your healing._____has it." As a matter of fact, I had had some difficulty believing in the healing ministry of the brother whose name was mentioned. But, receiving the word of the Lord, I went to his house for prayer. There he laid his hands on my head and, after a time, declared: "You are healed." And I was. Instantly and completely. It is the most definite and thorough healing I have ever received.
Now what was God doing through all of this? He was turning my heart towards a brother in the fellowship. It was wrong for me to stand back with a critical eye and to judge the man after the flesh. God's cure for my suspicion was to bring me under the brother's ministry. I truly believe that, had I not submitted to the word which directed me his way, I would yet be sick. God uses Death and Hell to turn us toward each other and to make us realise our utter dependence upon the body of Christ. He makes us know that "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you,' nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you'" but rather that "God has so composed the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior parts, that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another." (I Corinthians 12:21, 24-25).

Chapter 11: The Big Key

I mentioned at the end of Chapter Four that, over a period of several months, the Lord gave us several keys to unlock the kingdom of Satan, but that later He merged them into one big key. ("Key" as used here can be defined as "the spiritual understanding of a demonic bondage coupled with the anointing to deliver people from that bondage.") The various keys included those which freed individuals from Jezebel, antichrist, and Death and Hell. Auxiliary keys unchained people from control spirits and from demons of tradition. We were grateful that our spiritual key ring jangled as we walked around the devil's house but was there a master key which fit all of the locks?

Yes. One day in the space of about five minutes the Lord melted all of the keys into one in my spiritual understanding. What He showed me was this: the essence of the demonic kingdom, both in the heavenlies and within individuals, is an unholy trinity. The Holy Trinity consists of the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. The unholy trinity consists of antichrist, Death and Hell, and Jezebel (the queen mother).
We must remember that Satan declared, "I will make myself like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:14). Almighty God is Three-in-One. The devil, through the unholy trinity, has attempted to become three-in-one, although he is incapable of doing so because he is a creature and is neither omniscient nor omnipotent and omnipresent. Nevertheless, he has tried. The spirit of antichrist is the counterpart of God the Father, Death and Hell stands over against Jesus the Son, and Jezebel is the substitute for the Holy Spirit.

In the Holy Trinity, all authority issues forth from God the Father. Therefore, the assignment of the spirit of antichrist is to pollute and destroy all godly authority in order to make way for the coming man of lawlessness, whose authority will be completely satanic. The devil will give to antichrist "his power and his throne and great authority" (Revelation 13:2). The highest expression of the authority of God the Father is the sending of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who through His death and resurrection totally disarmed the powers of darkness. The greatest expression of the counter-authority of Satan will be the establishing of the man of sin, the Antichrist (whose spirit is already in the world), who will "open his mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming His name and His dwelling ..." (Revelation 13:6).
Opposite the Lord Jesus is not Jezebel (as we might think) but Death and Hell, which holds the prisoners in sin, and kills through war and famine and pestilence. Those in the grasp of this strong man are described in Psalms 107:10-12, 17-18:

Some sat in darkness and in gloom,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the council of the Most High.
Their hearts were bowed down with hard labour;
they fell down, with none to help ...
Some were sick through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
they loathed any kind of food,
and they drew near to the gates of death.

Over against this, Jesus announced (Luke 4:18-19) that the Spirit

"... has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

The Lord Jesus was sent to preach the good news; one of the cardinal functions of Death and Hell is to gag the proclaimers of the good news (the evangelists).
In the face of Death and Hell, Jesus stated: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)
In Ephesians 4:8-10 we are told that

"When he (Jesus) ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men." (In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is he who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Now without attempting to answer all of the questions which are raised by this passage, I believe I can make this observation: Jesus tasted death and confronted Hell (both the power and the place) and ascended out of the depths as a conqueror indeed. In fact, He can proclaim in Revelation 1:17-18: "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades ..." Hallelujah! He sets the captives free!
Jezebel (the queen mother) is the counterpart of the Holy Ghost. In John 14:26, Jesus stated, "... the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you...'" Jezebel, as a false counsellor, has wisdom and knowledge, but it is so perverted as to even lead her astray! (Isaiah 47:10) She calls herself a "prophetess'' in Revelation 2:20 and so puts herself in the role of interpreting and clarifying God and His will to her listeners. In this she is the demonic parallel to the Holy Spirit who ''will teach you all things.''
The Holy Ghost is called ''the Spirit of holiness" in Romans 1:4. By walking in the Spirit, we can be filled with ''love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.'' (Galatians 5:22-23). The queen mother, who throughout scriptural history has sought to corrupt God's people from the inside, is characterised by fornication, drunkenness, blasphemy, and all other of earth's abominations (Revelation 17:1-5). These are the fruits which she produces in all those who have her as a ''counsellor.''
The Holy Trinity is the model (minus the sexual aspect) for the earthly family. I believe that we shall marvel throughout eternity at the sublime inter-submission of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The Son submits to the Father, and the Holy Spirit to the Son, while the Father in turn serves the Son (and, in a sense, the Spirit) by making the enemies of Jesus a footstool for His feet. Each member of the Godhead has a particular function, yet the Three are in total and unfathomable union. Should this not be the pattern for our earthly family? The wife submits to the husband, and the children to both. The husband, in turn, loves, cherishes, and honours his wife, and provides for and instructs his children. Within each family should be a recognition of separate functions, yet such a flow of inter-submission and mutual service that the world looking on sees ''oneness''!
Now the devil, in the unholy trinity, has attempted to parallel the inter-submission and unity of the Godhead family. In a sense, Jezebel is the "wife" of antichrist, and Death and Hell is the "house" where they place their victims. Each of the three has its own realm, yet they flow together to achieve the work of Satan on earth. The three overlap: for example, the bondage (and sin) of homosexuality is a judgement of Jezebel, yet it is a manifestation of antichrist, too, because the "gay" person is in rebellion against his God-ordained sexual role in life. Also, homosexuality is an aspect of Death and Hell because those who have this malady are dead while they yet profess to live. But, as I mentioned before, Satan, because he is merely a creature, can come up only with a weak imitation of the Holy Trinity. In fact, Antichrist ultimately will betray the queen mother (Revelation 17:16). There can be no lasting and true loyalty in the kingdom of darkness. What a contrast to the exquisite love among the blessed Three-in-One which is flowing inexorably toward that eternal day when "God (will) be everything to every one"! (I Corinthians 15:28).
What are the practical implications of our discovery of the unholy trinity? We have found that when a church binds this unholy trio in the heavenlies, the demonic kingdom is then wide open to be plundered. Herein is the reason that I call this revelation "the master key." A group of believers can bind the principality over a church, a city, a state; but until they break apart the unholy trinity, the victory will be only partial, and God's people will be unable to receive complete deliverance. (I believe that principalities, inasmuch as they represent the counter-authority of the devil over geographical areas, are under the spirit of antichrist.)

I mentioned earlier that the unholy trinity is the essence of the demonic kingdom not only in the heavenlies, but also within individuals who need deliverance. Here again Satan has attempted to copy God. As believers, the Holy Spirit dwells within us; because we have Him, there is a sense (and this is a mystery) in which we have the Father and the Son also: the Holy Trinity resides within our breasts - glorious thought! Thus the devil, out of jealousy, wants to place within individuals his trinity. Therefore within every demonised person we will find the kingdoms of antichrist, Jezebel, and Death and Hell. We have discovered that every person to whom we have ministered deliverance since our revelation of the unholy trinity has had his demonic system organised around the three kingdoms. There have been no exceptions. In fact, one of my co-workers who has ministered deliverance to well over six-hundred persons over the years, has observed that in every case the demons which he encountered could have been categorised under one of the three areas. Truly the Lord has given us the key to set God's people free!
Even though each demonised person has within him all three kingdoms, generally one kingdom will be dominant. For example, the evangelist likely will have an overriding bondage in the area of Death and Hell, with lesser roles played by antichrist and Jezebel. The prophet, on the other hand, probably will be bound more by Jezebel than by the other two. At any rate, it is important to bring deliverance from the entire trio, or the individual will not come into complete freedom. The three, as much as they are capable of doing so, work as a unit.
We have found that the order in which we exorcise the three is important. Jezebel comes first, as she is "the queen of kingdoms." Then frequently we will pursue her "child," whatever it may be. Antichrist is next, followed by Death and Hell. When we originally received the revelation of the unholy trinity, we attempted in several cases to exorcise Death and Hell before the kingdom of antichrist. We found, however, that in some way antichrist guards the door of Death and Hell. Therefore we began to remove him and his kingdom first (and, in some cases, take the keys to Death and Hell from him) and then approach Death and Hell. Through this switch in the order of deliverance, our effectiveness was increased considerably.
Shortly after the Lord gave us the order of deliverance, we realised that it paralleled the judgements upon the three as given in Revelation. The queen mother is burned with fire (Revelation 17:16), followed by the beast (the Antichrist) who is thrown alive into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). Then finally Death and Hell are thrown into the fire (Revelation 20:14). When we first began to deliver persons from the unholy trinity, our inclination was to conceive of Death and Hell as the weakest of the three kingdoms. Gradually, through, we came to realise that it is actually the strongest and most tenacious one, for "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." (I Corinthians 15:26).
The revelation of the unholy trinity has increased our appreciation for the baptismal instruction which Jesus gave in Matthew 28:19: "... Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..." In baptism we are "buried ... with (Christ) ... into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4). The formula which expresses the Holy Trinity is important; it signifies that we are dying to the unholy trinity and being raised to live in the power of the Holy Trinity! Not long ago a young man who came our way was saved out of a Buddhist-like cult. Due to circumstances, he immediately needed to return to the town where he had been involved in the cult in order to settle business affairs. Following the urging of the Holy Spirit, we had him baptized in water before he departed. When he arrived in the town, he encountered a young woman who was in the cult-group. She was frightened, believing the young man to be a ghost. Why did she believe this? Because she and others in the group had searched for him in the spirit world, but could not find him. They thought that he had died. And they weren't all that wrong, either, for he had died: he has died to the unholy trinity, but has been raised to live forever in the power of the Holy Trinity! Praise God!

Chapter 12: The Cork

We had been involved in ministry to the young woman for several hours. The session up to that point had consisted of our taking notes on the demonic kingdom within her, but the time of actual deliverance had arrived. We had determined earlier that one of the evil spirits was "witchcraft," which I believed the Lord said would be the first demon to be exorcised. Therefore we began commanding it to leave in the name of Jesus; but to our bewilderment nothing happened. I left the others in charge as I adjourned to the back room to pray. Again clearly I sensed that the Lord was giving us victory over that "witchcraft." So with renewed vigour I returned to the ministry situation and began to command the spirit to leave. But once more, nothing. In discouragement, I turned away from the girl and just happened to glance at a blank wall directly behind us. At that precise moment, I had a vision. I saw there a five gallon jug. Within the bottle were hundreds of minnow-like creatures moving slowly about. In the narow mouth was a black cork, firmly pressed in. The Lord spoke: "This is a picture of the demonic organisation within this young woman. The cork is the spirit of 'witchcraft.' The creatures swimming about are the other demons. Nothing can leave until the cork is removed. Command the demons underneath to stir up and the cork will blow out." It seemed a strange instruction; yet I followed along: I turned to the young woman and commanded the spirits under "witchcraft" to stir up and push it out. To my amazement the girl began to puff and blow, expanding her cheeks, and the "witchcraft" left! She then was able to receive further deliverance.

What has been true of many experiences which are related in this book is the case with this one: I did not understand fully what had transpired until some time afterwards. In fact, the implications of the "cork" spirit did not hit me until after the revelation on the unholy trinity; one day I was sitting in my car with another brother when he said: "I believe everyone has a control spirit." Suddenly I understood the vision which I saw long ago: every demonised person has one spirit which serves as a cap over the demonic kingdom within. The "cap" can be the same as the control spirit which is described in Chapter Six, or it can yet be something else (such as "witchcraft" in the young woman mentioned above). The name of the "cap" or "cork" will be descriptive of the make-up of the entire demonic kingdom in the person. The girl whose cork was "witchcraft" had many occult demons. A young man to whom I ministered not long ago had a cork called "fear and trembling," which described in general terms his entire demonic harassment. He had other spirits such as "rebellion" and "anger," but when one looked at the total scope of the devil's plan for him, it was to fill him with "fear and trembling." I could mention many other examples where the name of the cork spirit identified the basic flavour of the oppression within.

Now through the ages Satan has not changed his method of organising the demonic kingdom. He has always placed within demonised individuals the unholy trinity and has sealed it in with a cork. (This is not to say, though, that deliverance can never occur until the cork is removed. In times past, the Lord has allowed us to exorcise isolated spirits without removing the cork.) In fact, even the Gadarene demoniac had a cork demon:

Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him; and crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me." For he had said to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion; for we are many." (Mark 5:5-9)

Which spirit was Jesus addressing when he asked, "What is your name?" Antichrist? Jezebel? No, he was addressing the cork demon which replied, "My name is Legion; for we are many." He was the spokesman for the entire group! His name was descriptive of the devil's plan for the man's life: to fill him with a legion of demons. Jesus knew that to deal with the cork spirit was , in effect, to deal with the whole bondage. He did not go after each demon separately, nor did He even address the unholy trinity. He had the full anointing of God; therefore He commanded the cork to "come out of the man..." and expected everything to follow (which later happened).
What is the significance of all this? Simply that the understanding of the cork demon gives us the possibility of fulfilling the dream of all who cast out demons: one-command deliverance. We are approaching that glorious day when, through discernment, we shall know the cork spirit within a person, and, through the power of the Holy Ghost, we shall command that cork to leave, and everything within, including the unholy trinity, will go into dry places and the person will be set completely free! Hallelujah!
Now I still insist that the revelation of the unholy trinity is the "master key" to deliverance, for until that demonic trio is bound in the heavenlies, one (or two) command deliverance is impossible. Yet, in another sense, if the understanding of the unholy trinity is the "master key," then the revelation of the cork demon must be the "front door"! (Actually, the cork is generally an arm of one of the three kingdoms.) At any rate, I believe that we now have a basic understanding of the dynamics of spiritual warfare, including the ministry of deliverance. God has been so gracious to us! No longer do we grope through frustrating experiences in deliverance that raise many questions for which we have no answers. I am not saying that we know everything that there is to know, but we can exult with King David:

The Lord lives; and blessed be my rock. and exalted be the God of my salvation,
the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me; who delivered me from my enemies; yea, thou didst exalt me above my adversaries; thou didst deliver me from men of violence. For this I will extol thee, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to thy name. (Psalms 18:46-49)

Chapter 13: Wrap-up

Why have I written this book? Actually, the idea did not originate with me: the brother to whom I am submitted requested me to write it. His reasoning was that the time had come to "proclaim (this message) upon the housetops," an expression which is found (among other places) in Matthew 10:24-28:

24. "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master;
25. it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
26. So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
27. What I tell you in the dark, utter it in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops.
28. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell ..."

In this passage Jesus tells His disciples that they will suffer persecution, but not to be afraid of those through whom the persecution comes. Why not? Because "nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known." Now I do not believe that here Jesus is referring to the gospel, for there are aspects of God's plan of the ages which we will never completely understand. For example, I don't believe we will ever totally comprehend the love of God which led to the sending of His Son. I believe that we will bask in the radiant glory of that love throughout eternity, but that even then full understanding will elude us. (If we ever could comprehend the mind of God, we would become gods!) Rather, it is not the kingdom of light, but the kingdom of darkness which I believe will be completely uncovered. Jesus was saying that He would open the spiritual ears and eyes of His disciples so that they would understand the forces of darkness which motivated their persecutors. As this was done, the disciples were then to "proclaim upon the housetops" what the devil was up to! They were to fear God (Who can destroy both soul and body in hell) more than men.
Now I do not know how much of the promise of verse twenty-six was fulfilled in the early church. I do know, however, that God in His mercy has allowed us in Faith Fellowship Church a unique revelation of the kingdom of darkness. Therefore, following Jesus' injunction, we use this book to "proclaim (the message) upon the housetops."
Even though the Lord's people will undergo much persecution in the end times, they will have set before them "an open door, which no one is able to shut." (Revelation 3:8) I believe that the binding of principalities and powers is the key which will open that door.
Much victory and rejoicing lies ahead for God's faithful ones! I mentioned in Chapter Eight that "reviling the glorious ones" (Jude 8) consists of the fleshly mocking of the powers of darkness. Yet for the godly and obedient, there is coming an anointing of mocking laughter against the hosts of hell. I experienced it twice during the time I was confronting the strong man over my ministry. One day in that country church as I was in the heat of battle, I began to laugh in the Spirit while pointing a finger of derision at my enemy. Such spasms of mocking laughter gripped me that I fell repeatedly to the floor. For an hour and a half the experience continued. The next day in my bedroom I again entered into prayer, only to have the waves of victorious mirth sweep over me once more. Later the Lord revealed to me the prophetic implications of Psalm 2:

2. The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
3. "Let us burst their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from us."
4. He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord has them in derision.
5. Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6. "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill."
At the time of David, the kings of the earth were human: but now the rulers who take counsel against the Lord and his anointed are the agents of Satan (the principalities and powers, etc., who of course do inspire fleshly persecution). But "He who sits in the heavens laughs" because, before it is all over, the forces of evil shall know that God is in His people. It is through the church that "the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 3:10). As the Lord's people receive the revelation of binding strong men, I can see large groups of prayer warriors convulsed in Holy Ghost laughter as demonic "kings" are toppled from their thrones. Hallelujah!
As the shaking of the hosts of darkness in heavenly places gains momentum, Hebrews 12:29 indicates that one confession of the Lord's people will be "our God is a consuming fire." Already this declaration means much to us who have joined together to do warfare against principalities and powers. On several occasions, the committed brothers of our fellowship have had days of fasting combined with evening prayer meetings for the purpose of battling demonic strong men over our area. During those sessions, we frequently were led to confess in unison, as we joined hands in a tight circle, "our God is a consuming fire." As we hurled this declaration at the strong man, several of us envisioned his doing things such as writhing in pain or screaming in anguished protest. At times individuals would read against him portions of Psalm 18 which, I believe, prophetically describes God the Father as the end time consuming fire against the adversaries of His Son.

Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.
He rode upon a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water.
Out of the brightness before him there broke through his clouds hailstones and coals of fire.
The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare, at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
(Psalm 18:7-15)

Just as the demons years ago in that deliverance session (described in Chapter Three) cringed before these words as my co-worker read them, the principalities and powers react likewise, for Psalm 18 reminds them that their doom is sure: "for our God is a consuming fire."
Our prayer meetings followed an interesting pattern. In the opening moments, the Lord would allow each of us a warm-up period in which we, as separate individuals, would throw spiritual darts at the enemy. Later, though, the Lord would indicate through the leader that it was time for us to stand and to join hands in united attack. It is significant that none of us ever sensed any headway against the demonic prince until we were united in the assault. Unity is the key to victory.
Now I believe that a person by himself can do battle against a strong man which is assigned to him and to him alone. But for anything larger than that, for a principality or a power over a church, a community, a state, etc., only the collective people of God in unity can do battle effectively. For an individual to take on single-handedly anything larger than something which is assigned only to him is foolhardy in the extreme.
Psalm 2 tells us that the demonic "kings" and "rulers" plot to "burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us." (Psalm 2:3) What bonds and cords? The restraints which the church places about the forces of evil. It is the church of God which holds Satan in check. The less power the church has, the more freedom the devil has. It's as simple as that. Now the key to power is unity. Jesus, addressing the Father in John 17:20-21, said:

"I do not pray for these (present disciples) only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."

Jesus knew that only through the unity of the believers will the power come to convince the world of Himself. Through that power, evil is pushed back so that righteousness reigns. Psalm 133:1,3 tells us:

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!...
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing ...

The issue of unity presents a paradox for God's people: a church must have some degree of unity before it can bind principalities and powers; but on the other hand the depth of unity which God desires is not possible until after strong men are bound and brothers are delivered from the bondages which separate them. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Now in light of all this, what is the chief assignment of principalities and powers? Contrary to common thinking, it is not to promote the occult, or to propagate false religion, or to entice to lust (although ultimately they accomplish all these things.) Rather, the main job of principalities and powers is: disunite the church of God. As that is accomplished, all sorts of evil can run rampant. Can anyone deny that the devil's angels have for centuries successfully fulfilled their chief assignment? But, praise God, a new day is upon us as Christians hear the call to battle. Through our unity we shall disunite the hosts of hell!
A few paragraphs back I mentioned the prayer meetings which our church held. A question which naturally arises is: "To what extent were we as a church able to bind principalities and powers over San Jose? In answer, there is no evidence that the power of evil was broken once and for all over our area due to our prayers, although I'm sure a dent was made. Yet there is abundant evidence that as we bound those strong men, their power over our people was totally broken, and evidence that our church has received fresh authority to break those bondages wherever we confront them. As a group of believers, we now have an anointed word of deliverance against such demons as Jezebel and antichrist. Also among our people we have seen an increase in effective evangelism and in the anointing for healing since binding Death and Hell. In short, I believe we have bound principalities and powers over the area within the boundaries of our church fellowship, but other churches must engage in warfare for themselves. Later, as other groups in San Jose do their prayer battles, we then can all unite in purpose and prayer to see a sweeping revival over the area. God speed that day!
At one point during our prayer meetings, one brother stated that he believed the Spirit would have us not merely join hands in a circle facing inward, but that we should face outward so that each of our backs is, in battle, protected by the other brothers. Now is that not a beautiful picture of committed men shielding one another in this evil day? Yet the Lord added even another dimension to this insight: Here we have the brothers, united in battle, hand in hand in a circle facing outward so that each brother's back, his vulnerable side, is covered by his compatriots. All fine and good, but where are the wives and children and widows and orphans? In the middle of the circle. They are in the middle, surrounded on all sides by the tight protective shield of God's end-time stalwarts! Praise the Lord!
With these thoughts of battle in mind, I recall the immortal words of a spiritual soldier upon whose shoulders we stand in this day:

Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right man on our side, The man of God's own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His name, From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And tho' this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim - we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

that word above all earthly powers, No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours Thro' Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also; The body they may kill:
God's truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever!
Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Afterword: Who Can Bind Principalities and Powers?

A fellowship of believers can bind strong men if they have:

1. Holiness. The Psalmist said: "O Lord, Who shall sojourn in thy tent? Who shall dwell on thy holy hill? He who walks blamelessly , and does what is right, and speaks truth from his heart ..." (Psalm 15:1-2). Individuals who have sin in their lives have no authority with God; consequently they have no authority against the devil. A church must call its people to purity before it can confront Satan. The unrepentant must be removed. (Now I'm not advocating the removal of the struggling and the weak: I am insisting on the removal of those who persist in flagrant sin.)

2. Submission. The whole issue of submission versus rebellion is covered in Chapter Eight; therefore I will only ask a few questions and make some remarks.

A. Does the church have God-appointed leadership?
B. Are the believers required to submit to those leaders?
Is rebellion dealt with?
C. Do the leaders themselves submit? (are they answerable to anyone?)
D. Are the leaders united? Are they able to perceive the Spirit of Elijah? (Chapter 5)

If the answer to each of these questions is "yes," then a church is able to bind principalities and powers if the other qualifications are met.

Now I will make some observations:

A. I do not believe that a one-man show situation can bind strong men, especially if that leader himself is submitted to no one. An antichrist man cannot bind the spirit of antichrist.
B. I do not believe that churches where the members essentially do as they please can bind strong men. How can rebels bind the forces of rebellion?
C. I do not believe that a church which is headed by a woman can bind strong men. Paul wrote to Timothy:

I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
(I Timothy 2:12-14)

3. Commitment. Jesus said:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)

Now the love which Jesus had for His disciples led to His laying down His life for them. We are commanded to have this type of love one for another. I realise that this commitment is something which we must grow into, but the Lord wants us to commit to start growing. It means that, once we are with those believers to whom we feel we belong, we covenant to stick it out through thick and thin, up and down, times of blessing and times of struggle. A group which has this commitment among its members can band together in power against the forces of darkness in the heavenlies.

So there are these three things: holiness, submission, commitment. I realise that among different groups there are variations of interpretation concerning these essentials, and that is all right provided the spirit of each is present. (God is not impressed with legalistic holiness, submission or commitment!)
In Matthew 18:19-20 Jesus stated:

"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
The word "agree" in verse 19 is the same word from which we get "symphony." Jesus is saying, if two "symphonise," i.e., flow in perfect spiritual harmony in prayer, what they request will be done. Unquestionably the approach to this harmony consists of the three essentials which I have outlined here. Without them, there can be no true unity.
I close with the warning: if your fellowship fails to qualify in any of the three areas, it is extremely dangerous for you to engage in the type of warfare which has been described in this book. By all means, set your spiritual house in order first, or you will find yourself captured by the very forces which you are seeking to bind.

THE END