PRE-390-390. War in Heaven

390. War in Heaven

War in Heaven

If You Think the Devil Is Winning, Just Wait

by David Wilkerson

November 3, 2003

[May 19, 1931 '96 April 27, 2011]

'93There was war in heaven'94 (Rev_12:7).

We hear a lot of talk today about a war on terrorism. We hear about a war called jihad, a war in Palestine, threats of war from North Korea. Never in history has there been such a time of war throughout the earth. And these conflicts are widely publicized, because of the instant communication we have now. Almost immediately, we receive reports of bombings, ambushes, death tolls.

I'92m convinced these are the wars and rumors of wars Jesus spoke about. And just as Christ prophesied, people'92s hearts are failing them for fear. The wars we'92re seeing are causing terror throughout the earth.

Yet these wars are all minor skirmishes. They'92re merely symptoms of a much greater war. You see, there'92s actually just one war going on. And this war-above-all-wars is taking place in heaven. It'92s a war between God and the devil.

This war was declared eons ago. Revelation tells us, '93Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels'94 (12:7). The dragon represents Satan and all the fallen angels he deceived. While in heaven, Lucifer rallied these angelic hordes to rise up against God. He wanted to usurp God'92s authority and take over his throne.

But the devil lost that first battle. '93[The dragon] prevailed not: neither was their place found any more in heaven'94 (12:8). God told Satan,'93There is no place for you here in my presence.'94 And he cast him out of heaven, along with the angels who had rebelled with him. They were plunged into a world the Bible says was void and without form.

Now, Satan had already deceived those angels who followed him. And when God created humankind, Satan determined to deceive them, too. If he couldn'92t be God, he would get revenge by destroying God'92s seed. So he started this war in the Garden of Eden, against the very first man and woman.

Satan tempted Eve first and then Adam. And when he caused their fall, it seemed he'92d won a great victory. Paradise was now closed off to man. Satan and his hordes must have gloated over that victory. And the battle they'92d waged was a declaration of war against God and all his seed.

There is still a war going on in heaven. Yet Satan doesn'92t fight this war from heaven, nor does he wage it from hell. No, Satan fell into the formless void, out of which God created the earth. And once God created man to inhabit the earth, Satan set up his seat of power there.

Scripture makes all of this very clear: '93Neither was their place found any more in heaven'94 (12:8). '93The dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth'94 (12:13). '93Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath'94 (12:12).

Satan'92s rebellion didn'92t take God by surprise.

Even before the foundation of the world, God devised a war plan to defeat the devil. The Lord would create man in his own image. And he would allow man to have a free will. Therefore, man would be tested and tried. Indeed, he would be placed in the very middle of the battleground, near Satan'92s own power structure.

Man failed that first test, in the battle Satan won in Eden. And from that point on, the devil continued to deceive man. During Noah'92s time, Satan succeeded in deceiving the whole world. Out of all the earth'92s population, only eight souls were saved. This went on for centuries, as Satan deceived entire nations. He held power over ancient Egypt, over Sodom and Gomorrah, and, for a season, even over God'92s chosen people, Israel. In fact, it'92s discouraging to read Israel'92s history in this war between God and Satan.

From the very moment God placed his hand on Israel, the devil recognized it. The Lord performed supernatural works for his people, delivered them with miracles, gave them great revelations of his love. Yet, for forty years after the Exodus, Satan incited rebellion, idolatry and sensuality in Israel. He brought into their midst prostitutes, homosexuals, demon-possessed prophets. Finally, when the time came to enter the Promised Land, only two Israelites who had left Egypt escaped his deception, Joshua and Caleb.

Once again, Satan must have gloated. It seemed every battle was going his way. And he continued to gain victories through his demonic deception. He overtook all the nations surrounding Israel: the Babylonians, Philistines, Moabites, Hittites, Canaanites and northern kingdoms. Finally, Satan set his sights on the surviving children of Israel.

These Israelites had entered Canaan with Joshua after their parents died in the wilderness. It seemed like the dawn of a new day for God'92s people. But Satan came after this generation with even greater deceptions. He brought in idolatry, fornication and false prophets. He introduced demonic worship of Baal, Asteroth and Molech. Scripture presents this generation as continuously worshipping idols'93in the high places.'94 And they continually rejected the Holy One of Israel.

I find this chapter in Israel'92s history totally baffling. Think about it: these people had watched their parents die under judgment in the wilderness. They had seen their parents and grandparents succumb to horrible deaths. Indeed, for forty years, this younger generation had gone from funeral to funeral, burying their elders left and right. Yet even after witnessing all these things, they still turned to demonic idol worship.

For centuries afterward, Satan enjoyed victory after victory over God'92s seed. He possessed Israel'92s kings from Ahab to Jeroboam to Manasseh, wicked men who shed innocent blood freely. Eventually, the final chapter of Judges reveals just how low God'92s people had fallen.

Jdg_21:1-25 is a gruesome, grievous account of how a crazed mob of homosexuals sodomized a priest'92s concubine and left her for dead. When the priest found her, he decapitated the corpse and sent the body parts to the twelve tribes of Israel. The incident ended in a civil war among God'92s people over homosexual rights. Thousands of Israelites were killed.

The book of Judges closes with these awful, chilling words: '93In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes'94 (Jdg_21:25).

I tell you, this is Satan'92s design for every generation. He succeeded in bringing down all true worship in Israel. By the end of Judges, men, women and children had gone their own way. And that'92s exactly what Satan is achieving right now, in our generation. He'92s attempting to outlaw the Bible, making it seem totally irrelevant. Everyone is encouraged to interpret God'92s Word in his own way. It'92s a deception straight out of hell.

The truth is, there was a king in Israel at the end of the Judges. That king was Satan. He ruled not only the heathen world, but God'92s chosen nation as well. At that point, the devil appeared to have won the battle entirely. He and his demons seemed invincible in their war against heaven.

God was patient, because he had an all-conquering war plan.

The Lord wasn'92t worried about Satan'92s victories. Yes, he grieved over his people'92s continual descent into sin and death. But God already had a war plan in motion.

Finally, in'93the fullness of time,'94 God sent his Son down to the battlefield. Here was God in flesh, entering the battle himself. The Lord was stating,'93The battle has now changed. I'92m taking command. Satan will no longer prevail. This is the beginning of the end of the war in heaven. And the victory is mine.'94

God then put the devil on notice, declaring,'93I'92m going to raise up an army. And my Son will be the captain over this army. He'92s going to have a church made up of a sinless, blameless, spotless, holy bride. And that church will be built on one foundation stone: Jesus Christ, the Son of God.'94

When Jesus'92 birth took place in Bethlehem, it sent shudders throughout Satan'92s camp. Every demon cried,'93This is God'92s Son! He'92s going to take away all our power and dominion. And he'92ll rule and reign as a king. We couldn'92t defeat God in heaven. How can we win this battle with his Son? We'92ve got to kill him in the cradle.'94

Oh, how the devil'92s emissaries tried to destroy the Christ child. Scripture says every male child under a certain age throughout that region was slain, all in an attempt to kill Jesus. But this was one battle Satan couldn'92t win. God was going to prevail.

At his chosen time, God planted a cross right in the middle of the battlefield. And on that cross he put his Son. Christ'92s blood spilled down onto the battleground. And drop by drop, it began a powerful, cleansing flood, mighty to wash away the sins of all humankind.

In that hour, Jesus let out a cry that thundered throughout creation:'93It is finished.'94 When Satan and his demons heard this, they trembled and quaked. They realized it was all over. They must have shrieked,'93We are finished! The Son of God has trampled on us. He'92s put us to open shame. He has robbed us of every power we'92ve had over people. We can no longer hold anybody who'92s under his blood.'94

Three days later, another powerful cry was heard:'93Christ is risen!'94 This was Satan'92s darkest hour. In an instant, the war suddenly changed. Revelation describes it this way:

'93I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony'94 (Rev_12:10-11).

What was the power Satan lost in that instant? It was the ability to accuse any person who had been cleansed by Jesus'92 blood. The devil could no longer hold a believer in chains of guilt, fear or condemnation. He was robbed of all his power to deceive or destroy those who live by faith in Christ'92s sacrifice. He no longer had dominion over anyone who trusts in Jesus.

God was making a legal declaration to all who would believe in his Son:'93You have been made free. The power of the devil can'92t hold you if you trust in the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no power under heaven that can bring you down.'94

There were now two kingdoms.

First, there was the kingdom of God and his Son, Christ. And second, there was the kingdom of Satan and his fallen angels. One kingdom was a kingdom of light, the other a kingdom of darkness. We'92ve already seen how the devil tried to steal the kingdom of heaven throughout history. He'92d won victories in Noah'92s day, during Israel'92s wilderness years, and in the time of Judges. But Christ prevailed over it all.

This is where we return to Rev_12:12 :'93Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.'94 This'93short time'94 began at Calvary. Since then, Satan has grown exceedingly more incensed. And he grows ever more wrathful as his time of judgment draws near.

A few verses later, a woman is mentioned: '93The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood'94 (12:15). I believe this woman is the bride of Christ, the overcoming remnant. Scripture says this remnant will be made up of a mighty host no human can number. It will include every person through history who has made Jesus his Lord.

Next we read, '93The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ'94 (12:17). Yes, Satan is mad at every believer. But if he dares to touch us, he touches the apple of God'92s eye.

What we see happening in the world right now is Satan'92s last-ditch effort to destroy the bride of Christ. The devil has issued an all-out battle cry. And he'92s releasing everything in his arsenal to try to bring down God'92s elect.

Scripture calls Satan'92s assault "a flood out of his mouth.'94

This flood is one of iniquity. And Satan has brought it against the woman, to try to carry her away from the protection of Christ'92s blood. Jesus warned that in the last days iniquity would abound. And because of this flood of iniquity, the love of many believers will grow cold (see Mat_24:12).

I picture Satan at his command center, barking out evil directives:'93Take charge of the media! Fill wicked men'92s minds with lust. Cause their fleshly desires to lead them into pornography. Then send those men to molest children.'94

The result is a flurry of wickedness the world has never seen. But especially grievous is the onslaught being brought against children. Consider:

'95 Violent movies have numbed the minds of many Christians who indulge in them. And now sexual acts in films have become perverse beyond belief. Our ministry receives reports of grade-school-age boys, only six or seven years old, who have tried to rape little girls their age and younger. When asked why, they answer,'93I saw it on a video my daddy and mommy had.'94

'95 There are now more than 300,000 pornography sites on the Internet. These sites contain the most vile, wicked images humankind has ever seen. Worst of all, young children are stumbling onto these sites. Their tender minds are being exposed to images that damage them for years to come.

'95 Homosexual marriages are about to become commonplace. Already some newspapers feature gay couples on their wedding pages. Now a growing number of elementary schools are preparing to teach a curriculum titled'93How to live the homosexual lifestyle.'94 Young children are about to be indoctrinated in the specifics of homosexual life.

'95 Homosexual militancy has pushed its way into upper levels of the church. The Episcopal denomination recently ordained an avowed homosexual as a bishop. When the ceremony ended, the new bishop turned and held his male lover'92s hand.

Satan has brought the homosexual deception further into the church, and children again are the victims. More and more homosexual priests are being exposed and convicted for molesting children in their care.

'95 The fashion world is no longer just risque, but has begun to exalt nudity. This is an attempt to shock, by an industry that has given itself over to shameless sensuality. But Satan intends it to influence God'92s people, especially young believers. This subtle demonic trend is meant to wear down their resistance to sensuality.

'95 There is a resurgence of wild drinking among teenagers. Even Wheaton College, for decades a standard of holiness, now allows alcohol. The reason? They want to attract more educated professors '97 meaning, more drinking professors. More Christian colleges are sure to follow suit. An entire generation of believing young people is going to suffer, being incited to iniquity they wouldn'92t have sought otherwise.

Consider these other recent examples of Satan'92s final assault:

'95 A movie star who'92s running for governor of California was advised he would win if he could just be exposed in some kind of scandal. He was told that having an affair would make him a hero in people'92s eyes. And it would increase his popularity, gaining him more votes.

'95 A flood of laws is being released in a final push to remove God'92s name forever from society. Two U.S. Senators have proposed such legislation. Their law would forbid the appointment of any judge who believes in God or has faith of any kind.

You'92ve probably read about the notorious ruling of a U.S. circuit court judge. He ordered the removal of a granite carving of the Ten Commandments from the grounds of a government building in Alabama. Meanwhile, the judge made his ruling from a federal building that has a statue of Zeus at its entrance.

At first I thought these things must absolutely grieve the heart of God. But now I believe the Lord laughs at these puny efforts of men. Why? Because God is at work among millions of young people, writing his law on their hearts. And no judge on earth can remove it from them.

If it appears to you the devil is winning, just wait.

I want to show you what'92s still to come in this war in heaven between Christ and Satan. The Bible states, '93He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth'94 (Rom_9:28). God is saying,'93I'92m going to end this battle soon. I'92ll make a short work of it.'94

You may wonder,'93So, what is God waiting for? Why hasn'92t he acted before now? We'92ve clearly reached a critical point. Where is God'92s mighty hand?'94

James gives us the answer: '93Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain'94 (Jam_5:7). In short: Jesus is patiently waiting for souls. He'92s waiting for the very last of the harvest to be brought in.

Most biblical scholars believe the'93early rain'94 James refers to was Pentecost. As for the latter rain, I believe we'92re seeing it right now. What better describes God'92s latter rain than a thriving underground church of millions in Communist China? This body of believers grew miraculously over just a few short decades. In the years around World War II, when the last missionaries left China, the church there was a tiny, dying movement. Then, by God'92s Spirit alone, it somehow exploded from a handful of isolated pockets into a mighty work the world never knew about.

What about the fall of the Iron Curtain? No one expected to see Communism end during our lifetime. Yet God brought this about overnight. On the very day I write this message, the New York Times reports that Russia'92s government is now speaking out against abortion on moral grounds.

Even hard-line Islamic nations are seeing this latter-day rain of the gospel. Satellites now beam the good news into Islamic countries through radio and TV messages. When an evangelist held a meeting in Pakistan last year, over 50,000 people showed up.

Yes, the latter rain has come. The whole world is being filled with the good news of Jesus Christ. So, when can we expect the Lord to act?

Jesus himself tells us, '93Except those days be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect'92s sake those days shall be shortened'94 (Mat_24:22). He'92s saying,'93No one knows the day or hour of my return. But I'92m going to move it up.'94

Look again at Paul'92s statement: '93A short work will the Lord make upon the earth'94 (Rom_9:28). The Greek root of '93short'94 here means '93one quick stroke.'94 God is saying,'93I'92m going to do a quick work. I'92ll wait patiently for the harvest to end. But then I'92ll move swiftly in judgment.'94

Suddenly, overnight, we'92ll witness judgments we'92ve never seen before. It will happen in an hour when gross darkness has covered the earth'85when Islam has been given great power and authority'85when the beast and Antichrist have risen to speak great blasphemies'85when Satan seems to have overcome all that is holy and righteous'85when scoffers mock the day of Christ'92s coming'85when pleasure-madness reaches its peak, and the world'92s sins mount to the heavens.

That'92s the moment when we'92ll hear the Lion of Judah roar. In a mere instant, he will end the war. He'92ll declare,'93Enough. No more excuses for sin.'94

John foresaw the day when the Lord would come forth speedily to do this short work on earth. He describes it this way:

'93I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

'93And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on this vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS'94 (Rev_19:11-16).

Here in New York, people often ask, '93Where were you when 9/11 struck?'94 Or, '93Where were you when the lights went out, in the great blackout?'94 My question to you is:'93Where will you be when Jesus comes? What will be the condition of your heart when the King of kings makes his quick work of judgment? What will you be doing when he comes to end the war?'94

May we all be found under his precious blood, hidden in the cleft of the Rock.

By: David Wilkerson