Overcoming The
12 Evil Strong Men
Overcoming evil spirits & demolishing strongholds of satan
which fights against the soul of man
The spirit
of death
There is natural death and there is spiritual death.
Natural death is the loss of natural life, while
spiritual death involves the death or destruction of spiritual body, and soul.
This is referred to in Scripture as “the second death.” "The lake of fire," which is a
fiery lake of burning sulfur is "the second death" (see Rev 21:8).
When a man physically dies, his natural
life expires, and his loved ones become bereaved. “The spirit of death” is the
power that strives to terminate a natural life.
The mind also can be dead or alive.
The mind of sinful man
is death,
but the mind
controlled by The Spirit is Life and Peace;
Rom 8:6 NIV
The soul of the sinner who dies in sin will be cast
into “the lake of fire,” where also death and Hades [the grave] will be hurled.
The sea gave up the
dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them,
and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades
were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the
Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 20:13-15 NIV
Only The Almighty GOD has the Power to
destroy the spiritual body and soul in hell. The Bible clearly says this about
“the second death”:
For if you live
according to the flesh you will die; but if by The Spirit you put to death the
deeds of the body, you will live.
Rom 8:13 NKJV
Sin is spiritual wound to the soul. The
sting of death is sin.
The sting of death is
sin, and the power of sin is the law.
1 Cor. 15:56 NIV
The Bible clearly teaches that everyone who
continues in sin is lost and will perish, but if through the power of The Holy
Spirit you overcome sin and its nature, you shall live.
When we were yet sinners; not having “the new life”
of Christ, the sinful nature in us only produced death.
For when we were
controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at
work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death
Rom 7:5 NIV
Evil thoughts lead to evil actions and afterwards to
the “death penalty.”
Evil desire is an evil seed that produces ‘evil
fruit’, and when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is
fully matured, brings forth death.
GOD made a Covenant with Adam in the Garden of Eden.
And the statement of the “agreement” reads:
Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Gen 2:16-17 KJV
The LORD placed the man in the Garden of Eden as its
gardener, to tend and care for it, and to guard it.
GOD made this Covenant with Adam in his innocency. Hitherto
we have seen GOD as man's powerful Creator and his bountiful Benefactor; now He
appears as his Ruler and Lawgiver. GOD put him into the Garden of Eden, not to
live there as he might list, but to be under His divine Government.
GOD does not want His children to be idle in this
world, and even so, we are not allowed to be willful, and do just as we please.
When GOD had given man dominion over the earth and all creatures, He would let
him know that still he himself was under the Government of his Creator.
The woman [Adam’s wife] being deceived by the
serpent, desired the fruit of ‘the tree’—a ‘tree of conscience.’ The
disobedience of Adam and Eve resulted in “the fall of man.”
Note, the line that states the penalty for violating
the Covenant as given to Adam, GOD did not say, ‘when you eat of
it you will surely die.’ No, rather He said:
“…for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Gen 2:17 KJV.
So, Adam died at the age of 930 (see Gen 5:5); which
is less than 1000 years— “a day in the sight of GOD.”
But, beloved, be not
ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with The Lord as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter 3:8 KJV
When man sinned by disobeying GOD in “the Adamic
Covenant,” man then fell short of Glory, and death reigned from the time of
Adam; and became king over humanity (Rom 5:14). Death got the upper hand
through one man's wrongdoing. So Adam died in the same millennium of his birth.
Methuselah, the man that lived the longest years on the earth, also died in the
same millennium of his birth—at age 969 (see Gen 5:27).
Death became an appointment to humanity. Therefore,
man is destined to die, but once.
“…it is appointed unto
men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27 KJV).
Pontus Pilate released a murderer, and surrendered
Jesus to the will of the people, to be crucified (read Luke 23:18-25). Though
he tried to find a way to release Jesus, he unconvincingly handed him over to
the crowd to be crucified.
He said: “I have found no cause of death in him. I
find no crime worthy of death in him. There is nothing proved against him that
can at all justify me in putting him to death.”
So here, our blessed Lord was in the most formal
manner justified by this Roman judge. Now as this decision was publicly known,
and registered, it is evident that Christ died as an innocent person, and not
as a malefactor (offender of the law). On the fullest conviction of his
innocence, Pilate pronounced him guiltless, after having patiently heard
everything that the inventive malice of wicked men could allege against him;
and, when he wished to dismiss him, he appealed to the violent mob, but they
kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
For the third time, he demanded, "Why? What
crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. I will
therefore chastise Him and have him released. But the crowd and the chief
priests shouted louder and louder, demanding that He should be crucified and their
voices prevailed—“the voice of death” accomplished its purpose as they took him
and murdered him by crucifixion.
Jesus was taken by the soldiers at the request of the
mob, and hurried to the cross in the storm of a popular noise and tumult,
raised by the religious chief priests, as agents for ‘the prince of the power
of the air.’ They were “missionaries of the spirit of death.”
Pilate was afraid of displeasing either the emperor
or the people; and therefore, for want of integrity, he called together the
Jewish leaders, and rulers, and the people whom he should have dispersed, as a
riotous and rebellious assembly, and forbid them to come near him, and hear
what they have to say, to whom he should have turned a deaf ear, for he plainly
saw what spirit actuated them:
"You have brought this man to me, and, because
I have a respect for you, I have examined him before you, and have heard all you
have to allege against him, and I can make nothing of it: I find no fault in
him; you cannot prove the things whereof you accuse him" (v.14).
The chief priests and, the whole Sanhedrin [the
Jewish Supreme Court] assembled and looked for false witnesses who would
testify against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not
find any, though many false witnesses came forward (Matt 26:59-60).
Earlier on, Jesus told His disciples,
"We are going up to Jerusalem, and the
Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.
They will condemn Him to death and will turn Him over to the Gentiles to be
mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day He will be raised to Life!"
Matt 20:18-19 NIV
Jesus knew that He would be sentence to death in
Jerusalem. He knew that He would be chastised by the Gentiles, precisely the
Romans, and mocked and crucified like a criminal on a Roman cross. But, He also
knew that The Father would raise Him to Life through the Power of The Holy Spirit—on
the third day of his crucifixion.
He knew these all the while, and in the Garden of
Gethsemane, He said: "My soul
is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with
Me" (Matt 26:38).
“The man of sin” – the son of perdition predicted
of, thousands of years ago in the Holy Scriptures, will be a world ruler
possessed by “the spirit of death,” to
do the work of satan and carry-out his wrath on the earth against mankind.
I looked, and there
before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following
close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by
sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
Rev 6:8 NIV
He will be given the name: “Death,” because that is
what he stands for—possessed by “the spirit of death.”
The last enemy to be
destroyed is death
1 Cor. 15:26 NIV
How to
overcome the spirit of death
Death reigned from the time of Adam; and became king
over humanity (Rom 5:14). Death got the upper hand through one man's
wrongdoing, but, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery eternal Life makes,
in those who grasp GOD’s abundant provision of Grace and His Righteousness, setting-everything-right,
through “The Son of Man”?
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death
reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's
abundant provision of Grace and of the gift of Righteousness reign in Life
through the One Man, Jesus Christ.
Rom 5:17 NIV
The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy; he
strives to terminate and destroy a natural life—he desires to lead souls to
hell, that they be destroyed by “the second death.”
But, there is no adjudging guilty of wrong for those
who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh,
but after the dictates of The Spirit.
There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh, but after The Spirit.
For the Law of The
Spirit Of Life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:1-2 KJV
See how The Living Bible (TLB) puts it:
So there is now no
condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the Power of The
Life-Giving Spirit-and this Power is mine through Christ Jesus-has freed me
from the vicious circle of sin and death.
“The Law of The Spirit Of Life” in Christ Jesus is
the Law of our new being—‘the divine Law of the New Life,’ and has freed us
from “the law of sin and of death.”
Whoever believes in Him is not condemned. But,
whoever does not believe in GOD’s Only Son stands condemned already.
Whoever believes in Him
is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because
he has not believed in The Name of God's One and Only Son.
John 3:18 NIV
Those who let themselves be controlled by their
lower natures live only to please themselves, but those who follow after The
Holy Spirit find themselves doing those things that please God.
Following after The Holy Spirit leads to Life and Peace,
but following after the old nature leads to death because the old sinful nature
within us is against God. It never did obey God's Laws and it never will. That's
why those who are still under the control of their old sinful selves, bent on
following their old evil desires, can never please God.
Unto the children of Redemption is “the fragrance of
Life,” but for the children of the evil one is “the smell of death.”
Because of the tender Mercies of GOD, “the rising Sun”
comes to all from Heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in “the
shadow of death,” to guide our feet into “the path of Peace" (Read Luke 1).
Jesus Christ is “our rising Sun.”
We aren't saved from sin's grasp by knowing the
commandments of GOD because we can't and don't keep them, but GOD put into
effect a different plan to save us. GOD has done for us what the Law could not
do, for the Law is being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man
without The Holy Spirit]. GOD sent His only Son in the flesh[in a human body
like ours-except that ours are sinful] and as an offering for sin, and so GOD
condemned sin in the flesh—for CHRIST subdued, overcame, and deprived it of its
power over all who accept His sacrifice. He destroyed sin's control over us by
giving Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.
The righteous and just requirement of the Law,
therefore, has been fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the
flesh but in the ways of The Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards
and the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by The Holy Spirit.
All who believe in The Father and receive His Son
whom He has sent, has eternal Life—they have crossed over from death to Life.
"I tell you the Truth, whoever hears My Word
and believes Him Who sent Me has eternal Life and will not be condemned; he has
crossed over from death to Life. I tell you the Truth, a time is coming and has
now come when the dead will hear the Voice of The Son Of God and those who hear
will live. For as The Father has Life in Himself, so He has granted The Son to
have Life in Himself.
John 5:24-26 NIV
In several other passages of the Scriptures, The
LORD expresses to us the REALITY of this Life—Eternal Life; which is His divine
Gift to us through CHRIST:
I tell you the Truth,
if anyone keeps My Word, he will never see death."
John 8:51 NIV
For if, when we were
God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much
more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His Life!
Rom 5:10 NIV
So, we are reconciled to GOD The Father through the
death of His Son—Jesus Christ; and we are saved through His Life. We have New
Life by His resurrection breath.
GOD’s Son is glorified through this Life which He
has given to us. He is The Resurrection And The Life.
When Lazarus was sick, and his sisters sent word to
Jesus, He said, "This sickness will not end in
death. No, it is for God's Glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it"
(John 11:4 NIV).
But, when Lazarus died naturally (v.14), Jesus knew
this in His heart; he did not need any man to tell Him, for He is The
Resurrection And The Life (John 11:25) — Eternal Life is in Him (I John 5:11),
and so marvelously, He is The Eternal Life (I John 5:20).
Lazarus’ sickness did not end in death, but
terminated in resurrection. Jesus Christ is The FirstBorn over all creation
(Col.1:15). He is supreme over all creation [natural creation and new
creation]. He existed before all creation. Remember, He is The Lamb that was
slain before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8); this means that He is
‘The First to be raised from the dead.’
The Glory of GOD manifests and reveals our
resurrection in Christ, as Lazarus from Bethany witnessed.
Then they took away the stone from the place
where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank
Thee that Thou hast heard Me.
And I knew that thou
hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that
they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.
And when He thus had
spoken, He cried with a loud Voice, Lazarus, come forth.
And he that was dead came
forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with
a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
John 11:41-44 KJV
Lazarus might pass through death, but death was not
to be the ultimatum of his sickness. We cannot suffer too much nor be relieved
too late.
Death ruled like a king because sin entered the
world through Adam. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done.
Jesus’ death was for our justification.
He was delivered over
to death for our sins and was raised to Life for our justification.
Rom 4:25 NIV
Jesus was handed over to wicked men by GOD's set
Purpose and Foreknowledge; and they, put him to death by nailing him to the
cross. But GOD raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death,
because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. (See Acts 2:23-24 NIV).
Sin itself can only reign through death, but, the Grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ reigns through GOD's Righteousness, and this springs
us unto eternal Life.
That as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might Grace reign through Righteousness unto eternal Life
by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 5:21 KJV
Death, therefore has no more power over us, because
of our spiritual baptism into Christ, in Whose death we were also baptized, and
buried, and not only this; but we were also raised to Life with Him
Or don't you know that
all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We
were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just
as Christ was raised from the dead through the Glory of The Father, we too may
live a new life.
If we have been united
with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in
His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that
the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to
sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with
Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ
was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over
Him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the Life He lives, He
lives to God.
Rom 6:3-10 NIV
All who are transformed and have entered into their Heavenly
abode cannot be touched by natural death any longer.
He will wipe every
tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or
pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Rev 21:4 NIV
Verse 8 says:
But the cowardly, the
unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice
magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake
of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
NIV
Jesus Christ came to the earth in appearance as a
man, and was obedient to death
And being found in
appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient to
death —
even death on a cross!
Phil 2:8 NIV
He is The Living One Who died and rose from the
dead—He therefore has taken “the keys of death” and “the Hades” [the grave]
from the devil (Rev 1:18 NIV).
We are reconciled to GOD by Christ’s physical body
through His death (Col 1:22 NIV). He was made a little lower than the angels (Heb
2:9); and was once offered to bear the sins of many (see Heb 9:27-28).
He shared in our humanity so that by His death we
can be victorious over death
Since the children
have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He
might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil.
Heb 2:14 NIV
The saints “did not love their lives so much as to
shrink from death” [on the Savior’s old rugged cross]. See Revelation 12:11.
All who died with Him, are raised with Him. We shall
experience the totality of Redemption of our souls, and Transformation of our
bodies in CHRIST on the Resurrection Morning. We have been saved from apparent
irreversible decline, death and decay.
Through the LOVE of GOD we have passed from death to
Life (1 John 3:14-15).
Death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire
(Rev 20:14).
"The lake of fire," which is a fiery lake
of burning sulfur is "the second death." (see Rev 21:8).
“The second death” has no power over all who have
part in “the first resurrection” (Rev 20:6 NIV).
He who overcomes will
not be hurt at all by the second death.
Rev 2:11b NIV
When the perishable
has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then
the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in
victory."
"Where, O death,
is your victory?
Where, O death, is
your sting?"
1 Cor 15:54-55 NIV