PREVAILING IN THE HEAVENS
(week 51/13)
OLUBI JOHNSON
Firstly, we wish all our readers a wonderful Xmas and a healthy, wealthy, Christ-filled and destiny fulfilling New Year.
Revelation 12:7-10 KJV: and there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, (8) And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. (9) And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (10) And I 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.
Here, we are given a revelation of a spiritual battle in heaven between Michael and his angels and Satan and his angels; with God’s angels prevailing over Satan’s and removing them from their place and influence in the heavens.
Furthermore, as a result of this victory in the heavens, we see coming to God’s people:
1. Salvation; 2. Strength; 3. The Kingdom of God; 4. The power of His Christ.
While this revelation shows a battle that will take place at the end of this age when the perfect man-child church will be caught up (Rev. 12.5) or raptured into heaven, the principles revealed here are applicable today as there is constant battle going on in the heavens.
In fact we see that this kind of battle took place in the Old Testament during the ministry of Daniel:
Daniel 10:12-13 KJV: Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. (13) But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
Also the New Testament reveals to us that we are constantly wrestling or battling with evil spirits operating in the heavenlies:.
Ephesians 6:12 NKJV: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The Bible reveals to us that there 3 sets of heavens:
2 Corinthians 12:2 NKJV: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven.
The 3rd heaven is where God’s throne (Is. 66.1; 2 Chr. 6.30) is and where He abides; the 2nd heavens is where Satan and his angels operate; the 1st heavens are the physical heavens above the earth: the atmosphere and outer space.
From the 2nd heavens Satan controls the wills, minds, emotions, bodies and circumstances of men through the air of the 1st heavens:
Ephesians 2:2-3 NKJV: in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, (3) among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
1 John 5:19 AMP: We know [positively] that we are of God, and the whole world [around us] is under the power of the evil one.
Now, we as born-again Christians are sitting and reigning with Christ in the 3rd heavens:
Ephesians 2:6 NKJV: and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
When we pray, the power of God from our spirits is released from our position of authority in the 3rd heavens into the 2nd heavens authorizing and empowering our angels to overcome Satan and his angels and then release the power of God into the air of the 1st heavens to cause to come into physical manifestation.
In our article next week, we will see how to do this in more detail.
