The world has never been faced with so many monumental decisions from presidential elections to propping up the world’s economy, one wonders how to pray. Never has the world been so plagued with one natural disaster after another causing a great strain on the world’s economy and the survivability of its citizens, one wonders how to pray. As the war drums beat louder from madmen of the East promising death and destruction to Israel and America, one wonders how to pray. Finally, as all manner of wickedness seems to go unabated and the streets are filled anarchists, one wonders how to pray. Now take a half an hour and get your thoughts together and after you get them together… toss them out because they will be of no use to you. Start by getting in the Spirit, the Muslim can’t do it, the Hindu can’t do it, the unbeliever can’t do it, but you can, because without it you are wasting your time. And to be truly in the Spirit means to reject your independence and learn total dependence upon God. God is not interested in your ideals, your solutions, or your agenda to bring change to a besieged world. On the other hand, He is interested in your total submission to His will.

Now that you are in the Spirit, you can close the door to your closet. You will be conducting business between you and God alone. “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). The veil has been lifted and you see the world the way God sees it. All the nationalistic boundaries are erased, all cultures eradicated, all political and social barriers are removed, and all racial differences eliminated. So what else does God see when He looks in the earth? He sees His faithful remnant in every part of the world and sees the pagan hordes encamped against them.  In shock, we have a new way of thinking! We no longer support one country against another. We no longer support one politician against another. We no longer highly esteem one culture or race over another. Conversely we support every Christian in prayer over the pagan encamped against him. We acknowledge that Satan is leading the pagan around by the nose to do his will and our prayers finally begin to take shape.

We pray, Holy Father remove the blind fold from the pagan hordes so that they see your magnificent love flowing though us to our brethren in every part of the world. We pray let us boldly proclaim to the pagan hordes that your judgment is raining down from heaven with hopes that they might see their pitiful condition and repent. Let us also pray for our brothers and sisters around the world that they will die to self and walk in the Spirit at all times and in every situation. Let them not be overcome by the many trials and tribulations in the world, but allow it to awaken the spirit within them to come and walk closer to You, Oh, Lord. As Christians join hands from around the world and allow God’s Holy Spirit to lead them in prayer it will have a profound effect upon the world in which we live. As we fast approach the end of days, use this time in effectual prayer to bring about real change in a beleaguered world, augmenting the polarization between the only two groups that exists. Amen

Their next big encounter will be at the end of days when they sound a final warning to those living on the earth to accept the gospel, to fear God and give Him glory, to worship Him who made the heavens and the earth, to announce the destruction of Babylon and make a dire warning not to worship the beast or take his mark. Angels are used to sound the trumpets and to pour out God’s wrath upon an un-repented world. Then the angels are used to accompany Jesus Christ back in glory to gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Through this brief summary we see that the angel’s primary job is not to minister individually to humans, but to take a much larger role in following God’s will to bring this dispensation to an end. On the other hand, it is the Holy Spirit’s job to minister to each and every Christian by assisting them in their spiritual growth. It is His job to lead Christians to follow God’s will by helping them to recall His Words found in Holy Scripture. As we shall see the Holy Spirit will never lead us to do something contrary to the teachings of the Bible, which is where the fallen angels or demons come into play.

So what is the role of the demons? Clearly the Bible states that Satan was thrown down to the earth and his time is short. As an enemy of God, he and his host of fallen angels or demons are bent on leading God’s children astray. Where the good angels don’t appear to have much interaction with humanity the demons most definitely have filled the vacuum.  I have written in my latest book “Stand Firm” to be released in August, “Clearly Satan’s mission is to destroy the Church and to convince you that you have no need of it; that you are quite capable of standing alone on your own spiritual journey. Friends, this is a lie of the devil, because once he separates you from the Church then his mission is to cause chaos in your life and to attack you at every weak point. You will soon discover that it is Satan or his henchman that can cause doubt, confusion, anxiety, depression, fear and temptation to sin. It is he that can bring forth evil thoughts, thoughts of suicide, or cast you into a bed of sickness.” All this is brought about because he wants to turn you away from your faith and total dependence on God. He wants to turn you back to trusting in self and the world to solve all of your problems.

Satan is a liar of the first order. He can even transform himself into an angel of light or make his words sound like you are talking to the Lord Himself. He may look beautiful and friendly. He may demonstrate concern for your well being, but all this is a disguise to win your heart and destroy your faith. Friends, as we fast approach the end of days it is essential that we have spiritual discernment and a thorough knowledge of God’s Word. Remember that Satan and his demons can also quote Scripture, but mostly out of context as he did in the temptations of Jesus Christ. For the unlearned it appears that there are contradiction in the Scripture, it is because they are unfamiliar with other blessed texts that complete the picture of God’s truth. Satan and his fallen angels will always use this to their advantage. This is why it is so important to have other Christians who are mature in His Word so that you can converse with on a regular basis. Christ knew exactly what He was doing when He built the Church, because He knew that we needed one another especially in a day where Satan is leading so many astray through their own understanding. Too many rest on saying: “God told me this, or God told me that”, yet in many cases it does not align with God’s Holy Word, and you wonder who they’ve been listening to. We desperately need one another if we are going to stand firm!

The Bible gives a brief illustration as to why the law is holy, righteous, and good (see Rom. 7:7-12) which we should pay close attention to, because it will help us to identify the sin or evil in our life and pluck it out as a gardener does an unwanted weed. The Bible also says we should put off the old life as we would pull off an old tattered set of clothes giving multiple illustrations about the different sins that can easily beset a Christian. Notice that in either case the number and types of sins are not exhaustive, so it is imperative to search the Scriptures and allow the commands of God to penetrate our souls bringing about conviction and repentance. To do so will bring us to the realization that there are over 121 express commands in the New Testament alone for the believer in Christ to grapple with, digest, and use to purge the unwanted sins in our life. The good news is that Christians can count on God through His Holy Spirit to have the strength in Him to turn away from sin and purge it completely. Dear friends, this is only the first step in achieving holiness that God desires.

Unfortunately many Christians stop at this point and then can’t understand why the besetting sin comes creeping back into their miserable life.  It is so heart breaking for me to see meaningful Christians slip back into their old sins and taken captive to do its will. How tragic it is to see them controlled by their old sin nature once again.  And the reason why in almost every case, is they have not put anything in place of the old sin. To press the gardening analogy the gardener must now plant good seed and keep it fertilized so that the strength of the lawn will keep out the unwanted weeds. Once again, the Bible is our best authority giving us multiple illustrations on what to put in place of the old sin (See Eph. 4:22-32). Take a moment and read through this list of illustrations again keeping in mind that this list is not exhaustive. For example, in verse 25 it says, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood” but it does not stop there; it continues by telling us what needs to be put in the place of falsehood by saying, “and speak truthfully to his neighbor” and then adds a reason why it needs to be accomplished by saying, “for we are all members of one body.” So here is the point, God’s command will show us our sin, convict us of it through His Holy Spirit, and then lead us to repentance, but then we must continue on by putting something in place of the old sin. Put off the sin, put on a righteous act.

Jesus Christ also gives us another illustration (or parable) about an individual who sweeps his house clean and then does not put anything in the place of it; so along comes Satan bringing with him many more demons to occupy the place making his state much worse than before (See Mt. 12:43-45). So you see it is very important not only to follow the “shall not’s” thus cleaning your house, but also to follow our religious duties driven by the spirit of love. Jesus Christ is always our best example. He lived His entire life not for himself, but for the sake of others. Out of love He fed the poor. Out of love He healed the sick and counseled the hurting with words of truth and life. His brother James also wrote: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27). The point is my friends, we should be so busy doing good to others that we never have enough time left in a day to follow our evil desires or be enticed by the many evil influences coming at us from the world. To be holy is our sure defense to stand firm as we fast approach the end of days.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood” was the cardinal cry of the great Apostle Paul and spiritual leader of the early Church. Here was a man who was whipped five times, beaten with rods, and stoned for his faith, but he still wrote through the Holy Spirit that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Here was a man who was rejected by many of his own people and the religious establishment of his day, but he still wrote through the Holy Spirit that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Through all this pain and suffering we never see him once relax the teachings of his blessed savior Jesus Christ. Tolerance for other world religions and cultic beliefs of his day was not given. He stood on the solid ground of a higher teaching from heaven and still wrote that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. The Apostle Paul saw the real enemy standing behind all the evil forces of his day. He saw the manipulation of people and institutions by a force stronger than anyone realized. A veil was opened to observe the real enemy and he understood that our fight is against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

Today Christians have three choices: they can accept the mandated tolerance by accepting every man’s religion on a level ground with ours; or he can wage a physical war against all those who would impugn our God and destroy our faith; or he can wage a spiritual war against the real enemy that stands behind every world religion and cultic belief upon the planet. If he takes this latter position then he will join with the millions that have gone on before him in their struggle against evil. This is not a small choice because it will have eternal consequences and if the later choice is made it will throw you into the front lines of a spiritual battle that is raging in this world for the hearts and minds of every person. The wars and rumors of wars in our world today pale in comparison to the spiritual war taking place here and in the heavenly places.

So what can we do if we have made the later choice to join the spiritual battle? The first thing is to ensure that we are true believers in Christ and have laid a firm foundation in Him. Secondly, we must realize that the battle belongs to the Lord believing that our strength is in Him alone. Then we must put on the full armor of God prior to engaging the real enemy. I have dedicated my upcoming book: “Stand Firm” to these three essential points for taking our stand against the real enemy. For the time being let me encourage you to develop small groups for prayer, mutual encouragement, and learning how to engage the enemy and stand firm as we fast approach the end of days. As a retired pastor I cannot over emphasize the importance of the local church and its spiritual leadership to help you stand firm.

Unfortunately there is no help from the media who stoke the fires of contention, pointing out faults with one party while embracing the other as the true savior of humanity. There is no wonder that the masses are confused when they are asked to cast their ballot for another four years of slavery. Other parties have come and gone over the years promising to bring change but never capturing enough democratic votes to make a difference. So things continue unabated while some dream of starting another party or giving new voice to one that’s already there in the mainstream.

Then there are those who think that we should start a new movement throwing out both parties and putting forth fresh ideas, new blood, and a person who has been separated from the establishment. They eagerly look for one who will promise to break off the shackles of bondage and set free the masses. Yet most will look with disdain on such an idea and return to one of the two parties as a dog returns to its vomit. So what happens to the Christian who is caught in this web of deceit and blinded by the world’s rhetoric? What are Christians to do when many of our churches no longer preach against sin, hold their people accountable, and seek to open their eyes to worldliness and the deceptions of our age?

I have sounded the final warning in my book and in the pulpits of this country for over three years now and for the most part the message has seem to have fallen on deaf ears. It appears that many have enjoyed their slavery more than the freedom offered to them by the risen Christ, because they are unwilling to let go of their favorite doctrine or theological perspective of the end times. They are unwilling to let go of their trust in the government to take care of their every need, they are unwilling to let go of their dependence on the world’s professional counselors, they are unwilling to let go of their dependence on their drugs instead of trusting in God alone for their providential care. Most are unwilling to actually die to self and pick up the Cross of Jesus Christ and follow Him. So what can the Christian do?

What is needed dear friends is true revival in our land that will reach around the entire world as a burning inferno that will consume the dross, purify the heart, and set the captives free. And the only way that this revival is possible is making a commitment to preach only the gospel truth in its entirety. I call on all preachers of the gospel to drop those meaningless illustrations, time consuming stories that have no relevance, and bury those time pieces that limit the proclamation of the gospel. Furthermore, I implore every preacher to cast off his notes, open his Bible, and allow the Holy Spirit to speak through him with power to cause his listeners to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. When the gospel is faithfully preached in the pulpits of America then the fire will be lit.

As revival takes root in America you will see the power of the Holy Spirit manifested in various gifts. There will be a turning away from Babylonish administration, and once again a total dependence on Jesus Christ alone. In a true revival everyone will preach the gospel, hold one another accountable, and prophesy the dangers of worldliness and the deception of this age. True revival will lead the church to help the homeless, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and counsel the depressed. Finally, true revival will see a fanaticism for the visible return of Jesus Christ in Glory to rapture His Church and usher in the new age.

“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:5)