"Mainstream"
Spring 1994 (Part Three)
SPIRITUAL WARFARE - QUO VADIS? 

The city of La Planta, Argentina, June 1992.  A year of spiritual mapping has taken place to identify the six spirits that control the city. In a four-hour prayer meeting, the Christians of La Planta confess the sins of its inhabitants and ask God “to erase the consequences of sin”.  Now the time has come - a small group of leaders work in pairs, one to break the power of each ruling spirit and one to call forth “the opposite spirit” in exchange. [1]

What is going on here?  This is modern spiritual warfare!  Gone is the simple biblical concept of withstanding the devices of the devil in our personal Christian walk.  Now huge sections of the Church are involved in “taking cities for God” by intensive historical research, warfare prayer and the remission of corporate sin.

There is much confusion over spiritual warfare today. Those who support its use as an evangelistic tool, often fail to grasp the deeper implications. They are looking at isolated problems and isolated results. They miss the wood for the trees!  The few who do stand back and view the spiritual warfare scene as a whole are sounding the alarm.  Here’s why:

“Today’s praying church is rising up in militant force to possess the promised land of our nations.” [3]

“There is no reason why we, the Church, should concede one square inch of this planet to the government of territorial spirits.  This is our planet” [4]

“All spiritual warfare is waged over one essential ques­tion: who will control reality on earth - heaven or hell?... We must see that our prayers, attitudes and agreement with God are an integral part of establishing the reality of the kingdom of God on earth!” [5]

The ultimate aim in spiritual warfare is to take this world - its physical land, its people and all created things - cause it to submit to God, then rule and reign over it as God’s Chosen People.

REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY

Leaders today recognise that no worldwide godly kingdom can exist while satan and his fallen angels hold sway in the heavenlies.  They believe these powers must be replaced if there is to be any change in world government - and they are right!  For it IS God’s ultimate intention to cast down fallen angels, and to rule the world Himself, with the cooperation of His people.  Yet it is not the Church’s role to effect this victory.

Roger Forster disagrees.  In his foreword to the book “Territorial Spirits”, he writes:

“Heb 2:5 reveals to us that the world to come will no longer be under subjection to angels but will be under subjection to redeemed men and women who will reign with Christ. We are at present in training for reigning.” [6]

Forster continues:

“These structures [territorial principalities] will be refurbished with a whole new personnel.  The final overthrow of satan’s rebellious colonial government by the central government of God is preceded by the faith-sons of Abraham bringing blessing to all the families of earth.  This demands territorial claims and advance through the earth.” [7] (emphasis added)

“Eventually, this resistance movement can produce suf­fi­cient numbers of trained personnel to take over the authority and administration of the colony from satan and his angels, giving the least amount of disturbance to the heavenly structural powers... until such a network of resistance against satan is found all over the earth, the second coming of our Lord is held up and his total reign restrained..” [8]

 In God’s timing, and by His command, men and women who are united with Christ will rule and reign with their Lord. The physical Kingdom will be governed by redeemed Israel on earth, and it will be mirrored in the heavens by its counterpart, the spiritual kingdom, ruled by the Lord Jesus and His Bride.

But these events come about through a sovereign act of the Lord God, not by the Church’s spiritual warfare campaign.  It is God who has ordained the nations, boundaries and authorities of this world, (Acts 17:26) and only He has the authority and wisdom to rearrange them.

The timing is also important.  The Bible does not teach that the Church will cast satan and his fallen powers out of the heavenlies.  On the contrary, that battle takes place only when the believing Remnant has been removed from earth!

Furthermore, it happens as a result of that event:

“War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer, so the dragon was cast out - he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev 12:7-9)

Only then does the victory cry goes up -

“NOW salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren...has been cast down” (Rev 12:10)

And what is the result of this downfall of the heavenly spiritual hierarchy?.  Spiritual warfare proponents say that it will lead to worldwide revival, to a new era of righteousness and peace.  How mistaken they are!  When satan and his fallen angels are cast out, the result on earth is not peace, but a reign of terror!  Not righteousness, but universal rebellion.  Not the worship of God, but the worship of the antichrist!

“Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe 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.” (Rev 12:12)

The prospect of dislodging and replacing heavenly rulers appears in several handbooks on spiritual warfare, none the less. This is done by releasing the “redemptive gifts” of a city or area. (Omaha, Nebraska, for example, was once the supply station for wagon trains taking pioneers Westwards. This means it can become an equipment centre for spiritual pioneers!!)

“Our cities contain what I call a redemptive gift...a city develops a creaturehood or personality...I believe God has participated in the creation of our cities both in forming their personality and in stationing high-ranking guardian angels over each one” [9]

Authors are wary about identifying these “redemptive gifts” as good spirits, but in the description of La Planta’s battle that begins this article, the idea is clearly there. Spiritual warfare teacher John Dawson says that “determining your city’s redemptive gift is even more important than discerning the nature of its evil principalities” [10]. This is because casting down the stronghold is not enough to produce a change. A replacement for the stronghold must be found.

After defeating and binding the territorial spirits over a city, the vacuum must be filled, says another author:

“Speak restoration of the city to its original calling.  Each city has been established by God for His purpose, even if it looks as if the enemy has taken it over. [The] redemptive gift [of Resistencia, Argentina] was...the arts and music.  God wanted these used in various ways for His Kingdom...  We released those gifts to do their good work.” [11]

PRESUMPTUOUS?

Convinced of their mission to save the world, men and women confidently go about rearranging the spiritual leadership of the nations! By pronouncing a binding on evil and “releasing” goodness, they hope to transform cities into models of righteousness!  But what do they actually accomplish?

I believe it is foolish and dangerous to use the Name of Jesus, and strong commanding prayers, in areas that are hidden to the Church on earth. (Deut 29:29)

 These spiritual warfare activists are playing with fire!  In their arrogance, they rebuke high-ranking spiritual powers, without understanding what will result!

“Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.” (2 Peter 2:10-11)

What are dignities?  They are angelic powers - principalities!  (See article in Vine’s, Page 313) Peter says that to rebuke and rail at these powers is something even God’s angels shrink from doing. But today’s presumptuous leaders think nothing of commanding and rebuking such powers.

There is an even greater danger that most people have overlooked.  When I wrote “The Warriors Of God”, a report on Spiritual Warfare and Dominion, in “Mainstream” of May/June 1991, I made a suggestion that seemed pure supposition at that time.  Today, events seem to be bearing out the truth of what I suggested.

In that report, I referred to the angelic battle of Daniel chapter Ten.  The outcome of that battle was that the Prince of Persia gave way to another fallen ruler.  Could this still be happening today?  I also referred to Matt 12:43-45 which says that a spirit cast out of an unrepentant man eventually returns with seven worse spirits, so that “the last state of that man is worse than the first”.  Jesus applied this, in His day, to the wicked generation of disobedient Jews.  Could it also be applied to this present wicked generation?

The scriptures also say that satan and his fallen angels are permitted (in God’s wisdom) to continue their activities until the time comes for their downfall during and after the Tribulation period. (e.g. Rev 9:1,15/Dan 11:36) Scriptures like these hold out no prospect of cleansing the heavenlies of all evil agencies, so that the world might be differently ruled.

USING THE NAME OF JESUS

So it does seem that Christians are being lured into a trap.  Are they being unwittingly used by satan to establish his new powers of antichrist dominion over all the earth?  It could be so.  Satan wants to set up a new world order, drawing all nations together in peace, harmony and brotherhood. In order to establish unity and peace, satan needs to install the demonic rulers of the “new paradigm” - an altered worldview that sees the world as One and all men as brothers.  He is not powerful enough to do so, and fallen angels are self-serving and filled with rebellion.  If they refuse to be deposed, to be replaced by new powers, what can satan do?  The most horrifying scenario is that he can con Christians into using the Name of Jesus (which all the demonic realm fears and respects) to do the work for him!  Fantastic? Bizarre? Certainly - but worth considering all the same.

I am not suggesting in any way that spiritual warfare leaders and Church ministers are openly in league with the devil in setting up the antichrist kingdom.  Nothing could be further from their minds.  They are set on winning this world to God. They want to transform this planet into a world fit to live in. So they are prepared to sacrifice their leisure time and comforts, to fast and pray and spend long hours casting down evil principalities.  Their zeal does them credit.  But what is the end result?

It should be obvious to Bible students that “releasing good spirits” over a city will not produce Christians.  It might (at best) produce a hunger for a better way of life, but good works was never the path to the true Kingdom of God.  Indeed, it was seeking a righteousness outside of Christ that caused Israel to fall. (Rom 10:3).

On the other hand, we can suppose the initial attraction of the antichrist kingdom will be its similarity to the Millennium - its peace and “goodness”.  So pulling down spirits that cause mayhem on earth (if they do - and this has never been conclusively proved) and replacing them with “good” spirits will only lead to a worse evil - a counterfeit of righteousness that has nothing to do with Jesus Christ, but one that artificially fulfils mankind’s yearning for peace and safety. 

To set up a counterfeit kingdom that deludes all mankind - this could be satan’s goal for spiritual warfare!  The Church’s declared aim is very different, but if Christians continue to ignore all warnings, to toss doctrine out of the window, to sneer at correction, to follow subjective revelations, and to dance to the dictates of their human passions - how can they avoid doing satan’s dirty work for him and end by accomplishing the very thing they plan to avoid? 

Believers, pray that those who have an ear to hear will listen to the Holy Spirit before it is too late!

THE GLOBAL ETHIC

In September 1993, the Parliament of the World’s Religions met in Chicago.  This event was the centenary of the first Parliament of the World’s Religions in 1893.  At that event, a great impact was made by the Hindu guru Vivekananda, who called for a world religion based on Hinduism.  Other delegates included William Quan Judge, co-founder with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky of the Theosophical Society, and Annie Besant, Blavatsky’s successor. The 1893 Parliament launched the invasion of Eastern Mystical religion into Western society, which has reached a peak today in the new Age Movement. Now these globalist and interfaith ideas have formed the basis of a new Parliament which intends to create a “Golden Rule” for all mankind to follow.

The meeting opened with various “blessings”, including one from the High Priestess of the Temple of Isis, whose devotions were given “in the name of the 10,000 names, the spirits, the birds, reptiles and trees”. 

Seminar titles ranged from “Human Abduction by UFO’s” to “The Return Of The Goddess”.  There were inter-faith celebrations, meditations and contemplative vigils, coupled with displays of “sacred art”.  In spite of the many pagan cults and occult organisations that figured prominently in the Parliament, it received the official endorsement of professing Christian leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury.

But let’s see what the witchcraft magazine “Pagan Muse & World Report” of Oct/Nov 1993 said about this event:

“Phyllis Curott, who is a witch, felt included at the Parlia­ment of the World’s Religions.  The Rev E. Lutzer, who is a Christian Minister, did not.  The perspectives of Lutzer and Curott, who came to the meeting as President of the neo-pagan Covenant of the Goddess, show how hard it is to pull together a community of spiritual leaders to stand united against what they see as the world’s evils.  They could not, for example, put the word “God” in a global ethic statement that leaders signed at the closing ceremony.  That word was seen as divisive.”

Despite their apparent difficulties, the leaders agreed to the “Global Ethic” declaration drawn up by Swiss Roman Catholic theologian Hans Kung. It opens by lamenting the state of the world: “The world is in agony.  Peace eludes us...the planet is being destroyed...”

But this situation need not be “because the basis for an ethic already exists”.  This ethic is to be found in a “com-mon set of core values” which form “ancient guidelines for human behaviour”.  These are - they say - to be found in the teachings of the religions of the world.  The Declaration’s goal is to provide a set of spiritual values for a new global order:

“We all have a responsibility for a better global order.  Our involvement for the sake of human rights, freedom, justice, peace and the preservation of Earth is absolutely necessary”.

It incorporates all religions: “By a global ethic, we do not mean a global ideology or a single unified religion beyond all existing religions, and certainly not the domination of one religion over all others.  By a global ethic, we mean a fundamental consensus on binding values, irrevocable stan­dards, and personal attitudes”.

TRANSFORMATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS

This transformation has much to do with eliminating Christianity’s unique role and promoting a humanistic set of values by which man can achieve peace and righteousness by himself.  The Global Ethic proposes that all religions are equally valid as a way to “god” - a concept damned by the scriptures as leading to demonic bondage and destruction, not to peace and harmony.

It also fails to recognise man’s fundamental problem - namely, sin.  The reason for all the problems highlighted at the Parliament is the fallen human nature, but the Global Ethic statement ignores this fact.  Spreading an ointment of social readjustment onto the infected wound of man’s rebellion is futile - it just does not work!

Another problem with the Global Ethic is its focus on the Earth and its future.  The problems it pinpoints all have to do with man’s ongoing possession and use of this planet, not his ultimate destiny.  The world’s problems should concern us, and we should be active in putting right whatever is wrong, but life after death is of greater importance, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”  (Mark 8:36)

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

Will the “Global Ethic”, if universally accepted, lead to the persecution of Bible-believing Christians?  The answer is undoubtedly, yes.  Dr Hans Kung, who drafted the Declaration, gave a talk at an earlier meeting titled “Global Responsibility: A New World Ethic in a New World Order”.  There he said, “If we want to overcome fundamentalism, we have to do it in a constructive way”.

Fundamentalism has come to be associated not only with religions like militant Islam, but also with Christians who accept the Bible as the infallible Word of God and refuse to give up their belief in the Second Coming of Christ.

The few evangelical Christians at the Parliament were sneered at as “bigots”, “fundies” and “zealots” and the only acceptable faith there was “all roads lead to God”. However, despite the front of spiritual harmony, religious differences prevailed.  Some meetings broke up in disorder, the Greek Orthodox group withdrew, and the Jews left when a prominent Islamic leader was allowed to speak.

ENDNOTES