Prepare for War! (Conclusion)

All the wars, conflicts, bombings, terrorism, crimes, famine, disasters, diseases, Satanism, betrayals, enmity, sexual immorality, occultism, etc, you see in the world, as we have said, are part of the bigger war between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness led by Satan. Man was just caught in the cross-fire. The trouble began when Satan thought of taking the position of God and he was discovered and chased down from heaven with his army of rebellious angels. They came and rendered the earth formless, chaotic and in gross darkness. Prophet Isaiah caught exactly what happened to Satan and his ungodly ambition in chapter fourteen and from verse twelve. Then, God began creation and made man in the process.

Now, some of the instructions He gave to man were to subdue, dominate and take over they earth. He didn’t want to leave the earth in the hands of these fallen angels. But the Devil will have none of these, so he quickly came in his usual subtle and deceitful way to lure man into sin (disobedience). Through that singular sinful action, he succeeded in straining the perfect relationship that had existed between God and man. And from then, man’s troubles began.

Man’s disobedience and subsequent fall removed him from the position that God had placed him, and also attracted severe curses from Him. Adam and eve were cursed. The ground was cursed. The devil that deceived them into disobedience was also cursed. And this was just the beginning of all the trouble that man is going through today. From then, man (human race) would struggle to make a living. He would sweat to produce food. He would go through pain to have children. The ground would grow thorns and thistles because of him. After all these, he was also banished from the garden (the presence of God). This is exactly what sin does to us. It cuts you off from having a good relationship with God. But something strange also happened here; God made clothing from the animal skin for Adam and Eve, to cover their nakedness. He is indeed ever-merciful! We will connect to this later.

The manifestation of the fall and the consequent curses continued to the children of Adam and Eve, and so it will go on until the final redemption of all things. We saw hatred and envy that eventually resulted in Cain murdering his brother Abel. More curses were also release upon Cain. And the chain continued. Man continued in those sins and disobedience, and also invented new ones. Idolatry, occultism, prostitution, homosexual, lesbianism and other sexual sins, betrayal, suicide, stealing, war, smoking, etc, were soon to be added to the list. The depravity continues today. Man, with the leading of Satan and the demonic world, has virtually done everything to provoke God’s anger. Just look at the areas of occultism and sexual sin, nothing is left. Men now sleep with fellow men. Women sleep with women. And rape. Don’t even talk of the kind of sexual interactions that go on in the demonic world. People sleep with beasts and even demons for power, fame, security, wealth, etc. Others lure our young ladies and force them to sleep with snakes and other demonic representations. Some of these ladies unfortunately die after there demonic encounters. Today, idolatry and occultism have also advanced. People proudly come out to advertise that the are Psychics, mediums, fortune-tellers, etc. Others boost of belonging to different powerful and dangerous secret societies and cults. Others call themselves Satanists. Yet, some have also totally denied the existence of God. Who is behind all these ungodliness? Satan!

The Final Battle

In all generations and dispensations, this war of the two kingdoms has continued. The devil, like himself, wants to make man an enemy of God. He wants man to share with his eternal doom. For sure, he knows his eternal fate. As we saw from our main text in the book of revelation chapter twenty, after rapture, second coming of Jesus, millennium rule, and sign and wonder done in haven and on earth, Satan still has the temerity to mobilise forces to fight God and His people. Yes, the devil does not give up easily. But, as predicted, he met his waterloo. Fire came down and consumed his army. Then, himself, the beast and the false prophet were caught and thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. There, they will be tormented day and night forever. This will be the fate of Satan, the fallen angels, demons, and all those that refuse the gospel of Jesus Christ. They will have their place in this lake of fire; where they will be tormented day and night forever. What a terrible end!

Escape Route

What must we do about this? To avoid having the same fate as the Devil and all his followers, we must accept the redemption plan of God. Remember, at the Eden, He used the skin of an animal to cover man’s nakedness – sin. Through out the historical records of the patriarchs, the books of the law, the prophets, they were all pointing to the plan of God not just to temporally cover the sin of man, but to permanently resolve the issue. Even prophets like Isaiah clearly told us that a virgin will bear a son and will call him Emmanuel – ‘God is with us’. He further said that the government will rest on his shoulders and that he shall be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Ever-lasting Father, Prince of Peace, and he shall rule forever from the throne of his ancestor David. Now these were clearly talking about Jesus Christ. Even the other religions (including Islam) acknowledged His virgin birth and that He was actually sent from God. He came and settled the issue of man’s sin by dying on the cross. He paid the total price. If you will accept Him, turn away from your sins and make Him your Lord and Saviour, you will sure escape this impending eternal doom – the lake of fire, the perpetual torment, weeping and gnashing of teeth, that will be the fate of all sinners, Satan, fallen angels and demons. Will you? Do that now. Immediately! You can write for further counselling. Till next week, God bless!

Pastor Agbo is of the Assemblies of God Nigeria.


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