BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

6 : B V O V It shows up in various examples around the country. For instance, in 1980 a plaque of the Ten Commandments was removed from a classroom wall in Kentucky by court order! And just a few years ago, a Ten Commandments plaque that had been displayed at an Ohio middle school for almost 100 years was removed under protest by an atheist group. Is this an example of a nation living a "quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty"? No! We are facing a great battle, a war not of flesh and blood, but of the spirit. This combat of the spirit realm can only be fought through prayer and faithful intercession. I want to show you some things from The WORD that you and I can do concerning the deliverance of this nation in the days in which we live. It will work for America and it will work for every country on earth. This Bible truth begins by saying in Ephesians 6:10-12 that our warfare is not carnal, but spiritual. It says, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." We are to stand against satan. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." We need to realize the fullness of what it means to resist the devil where our nation, and even our own households, are concerned. We are in combat. One of the first rules of war is to know your enemy. Let's look at Daniel 10.Daniel had been fasting for 21 days. Then an angel of The LORD appeared to him: "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" (verse 12). This angel had departed from heaven the very first day Daniel prayed his prayer. He came because of Daniel's words. But it took 21 days for him to appear before Daniel. Why? Look at verse 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." Then in verse 20 he says: "And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come." No Flesh-and-Blood War These scriptures are clear examples of the activity and warfare going on in the spiritual realm. Here's what I want you to see: We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and wicked spirits in heavenly places. Throughout the Bible, we are taught that there are three di£erent areas called heaven: (1) The heaven where God resides (2) The stellar heavens (what we refer to as outer space) (3) The heavens around this earth (the atmosphere of this planet) Ephesians 2:2 calls satan "the prince of the power of the air." Ephesians 6:12 speaks of wicked spirits "in high places." There was a wicked spirit assigned to Persia. There was a wicked spirit assigned to cause the kingdom of Grecia to come into existence, and then to rule it and run it. What does all this mean to us? It means that we are involved in spiritual warfare. Jesus said in Matthew 18:18, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The heaven Jesus is talking about is not the heaven where God is. Nothing needs to be bound there. We have no authority there. Our authority lies here in The life or death of our world has been in the hands of the Church.

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