ARMOUR OF GOD

10 

THE 

ARMOUR 

OF GOD 

KAREL HOEKENDIJK

THE 

ARMOUR 

OF 

GOD 

by 

KAREL HOEKENDIJK 

"DE W APENRUSTING GODS"

SECOND EDITION 

'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 againstflesh 

and blood, but against pn·ncipalities, against powers, against the 

rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in 

high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, 

that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done 

all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with 

truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet 

shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above all, taking 

the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all thefiery 

darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of sa lva tion, and the sword 

of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: Praying always with all 

prayer and supplication in the Spin·t, and watching therunto with 

all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me.' 

(Ephesians 6 : lO-19a). 

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INTRODUCTION 

In his letter to the church at Ephesus Paul points to her high 

responsibility, her special place in the plan of God. She has been 

called to victorious life in her risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 

victorious life in the spiritual warfare against invisible and perilous 

powers of Satan, continuously opposing her on her way to perfection. 

There is a terrible war around us, a war at many fronts. A 

frightful offensive has broken out against the children of God, a 

battle increasing in ferocity as this closing age draws to an end. 

Everyone of us is personally engaged in this final battle; this struggle 

leaves no one untouched. Therefore, it is necessary that we be very 

conscious of this battle, that we know the enemy and also ourselves 

in Jesus Christ, that we own weapons and are able to use them. We 

can be sure of Gods's help. 'But for us fights the proper Man, Whom 

God Himself hath bidden.' 

Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians from prison, as he did the 

letters to Philippians, the Colossians and to Timothy. The apostle 

had suffered much for the sake of Jesus' name. He had spent many a 

year in prisons and suffered a long list of trials and afflictions as he 

reminds us in 2 Cor. 11 : 23. Paul had been jailed on one occasion 

with Silas at Philippi, where they 'made their feet fast in the stocks' 

(Act 16 : 24). In later years, when in Rome, he had more freedom to 

move, although he was always surrounded and guarded by soldiers 

of the Roman army. 

Surrounded by these warriors, who had occupied a large part of 

the then-known world, Paul heard how they always spoke of battle, 

successful feats of arms, courageous conquests often with much 

bloodshed. He heard them boast of their personal achievements in 

hand-to-hand fights, he heard them talk about robbery and booty and 

contribution, all sorts of things concerning 'flesh and blood'; the 

subject was always taken from the material, physical battle. This 

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was the world of thought of these heathen soldiers, it filled their lives. 

Willing or not, Paul had to listen to these stories full of the 'noise of 

the battle'; again and again he was confronted with them. We may 

presume that he saw military equipment everywhere while he was in 

prison - a quiver, a sword, a helmet, a breastplate, a shield ... 

It is understandable that Paul wrote about battles and equipment 

when he was thinking of his churches spread around and 

wanted to edify, comfort or admonish them. He wanted to show that 

the church of Christ must in no way fight a physical, material battle, 

but a spiritual warfare. Inspired by God's Spirit, the apostle gives his 

vision in this matter. He shows the dark, demonic, hostile powers 

and lists the weapons to be used against them. Firmly and fearlessly 

these powers must be confronted. Though invisible, the enemy is a 

real enemy. 

Therefore, 'Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his 

might'. In Him we are more than conquerors. Hallelujah! 

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THE POWER 

Strong in the Lord 

Christ's Church has a not-very-attractive image in our days. 

Christ has called her to have power and victory, but these are 

missing. There is so much inactivity, unbelief, apathy, worldliness. 

Shame on her! Paul calls out Be strong! Not in ourselves, but 'be 

strong in Lord!' Do we find our strength in Him? No theories or 

philosophies will cause manifestations of power. This power one 

receives only through the Holy Spirit 'But ye shall receive power 

after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you' (Acts 1 : 8). To be 

powerful in the Lord means to be filled with the Spirit of God. 

This power is ours by a personal pentecostal experience. 

Neither human wisdom nor good works nor a doctrine of sanctification 

nor a church code offers any guarantee for possessing the Holy 

Spirit It is nothing less than this: Christ takes my whole being by 

filling it with Himself. His personality becomes a living personality 

within me: He acts, thinks and speaks in and through me. MyoId 

way of thinking, acting and speaking moves to the background and 

disappears; old things are past and all things have become new. A 

new life, a higher life takes the place of the old life by the indwelling 

of the Holy Spirit. It is a miraculous and incomparable experience; 

this pentecostal fire brings power and victory in my life as never 

before. 

While Moses was young, he proclaimed himself a redeemer of 

the oppressed Israelites in Egypt He tried to solve the problem by 

physical force and he used his fists in an uncontrolled way. He 

became a murderer who aggravated the burden of his people instead 

of relieving it. When he was older and more quiet and modest and 

not quite so ambitious as in his younger days, God confronted him 

with His power. 

The fire of Moses' temper was not of use to God. The fire of the 

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urning bush, the pentecostal fire, was what Moses needed to 

become an instrument of God. He was freed from his own will, and 

found himself committing to do the will of God. God promised 

Moses the power to fulfill His will. Then Moses became useful in 

leading his people to freedom. 

Paul writes to the Ephesians with strong and emphatic words 

which come beyond the heads of his churchmembers to you and me: 

'Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might' (Eph. 6 : 10). 

Isaiah says: 'Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble 

knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart be strong, fear not' 

(Isa. 35 : 3-4). Be strong in the Lord: 'Blessed is the man whose 

strength is in Thee' (Ps. 84 : 7). 

This is not a vague suggestion, but a command of God: stand in 

His power! We must not draw upon our possibilities, but upon His. 

We must not adhere to our limited power, but to His unlimited 

power. Just as we can avail ourselves of energy that the power 

station offers, we can find our strength in His power, provided our 

connection is in order. I have as much power as Jesus has, and as 

much as He IS power. I am as strong as the strength of His might, no 

more, no less. His strength is my strength. 

Avail yourself of the huge power of the Kingdom. This power is 

going to help and serve and support you. In surrendering to Jesus, we 

become united to Him, the Sovereign Lord of creation, and we may 

freely draw upon the great power which is in Him and in His 

creation. We must learn to become what we are in Christ and take 

what He has prepared for us. 

'That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, 

may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the 

knowledge of Him; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; 

that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the 

riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the 

exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according 

to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, 

when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right 

hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, 

and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in 

this world, but also in that which is to come' (Eph. 1 : 17-21). 

This power is especially given to us to be used in the battle 

against the forces of Satan. It is sufficient. In his epistle to the 

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Philippians Paul writes: 'I can do all things through Christ which 

strengtheneth me' (Phil. 4: 13). 

The armour of God 

Paul also told the Ephesians to 'be strong in the Lord, and in the 

power of his might' (Eph. 6 : 10). He compares this to the protection 

of armour. 'Put on the armour of God, that ye may be able to stand' 

(vs. 11). Further on he repeats this: 'Wherefore take unto you the 

whole armour of God' (vs. 13). All our means and human efforts fail, 

but the armour of God is perfect. 

Paul could see the usefulness and necessity of this armour 

because of his experience. He had seen other armours fail. He had 

learned to put his trust in the divine armour against the enemies of 

God (which are our enemies as well), against all anti-Christian 

unseen evil forces, against the army of the darkness which the god of 

this age sends forward against the Kingdom of God. 

How can I get the armour of God? By means of good works, by 

performing religious duties, by means of moral improvement? No, 

that is not the armour. Man can only receive this armour through 

mercy, through the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of 

God that takes away the sin of the world, and through the baptism in 

the Holy Spirit - the full pentecostal blessing. Man receives all this 

by FAITH. 

It is necessary to give up first our useless cardboard armour 

which we made from our own opinions about life, from humanism 

and ethics and religiosity, from good works and a moral code - a 

totally artificial spiritual life. All these things will prove to be nothing 

but wood, hay and stubble in the fiery greatness of the final battle, 

and will prove to offer insufficient protection. 

Man-made thoughts and opinions must be brought into 

captivity to the obedience of Christ. 'For though we walk in the flesh, 

we do not war after the flesh; for the weapons of our warfare are not 

carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; 

casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself 

against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every 

thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in readiness to 

revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled' (2 Cor. 

10: 3-6). 

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The armour of the fullness of the Holy Spirit is more perfect 

than the most perfected human armour. The latter will disappoint in 

the spiritual warfare. In the Old Testament days people had given 

Saul's armour to David to put on. It was made of the strongest 

material, the best product of the most skilled armourer of the nation, 

because the king's life had to be protected. But it was rejected by 

David. He could not move in it, his exercise was obstructed, he was a 

prisoner before he even went to battle. In the same manner, the 

freedom of the Spirit is limited by human organisations and institutions. 

He blows in a sovereign way where He lists. The very best and 

most effective weapon of man was insufficient against the giant 

Goliath. So David put off the armourofSaul and went to battle in the 

armour of God, in the power of Him who anointed him His servant 

He went naked of metal protection, but he had put on the armour of 

God and defeated the enemy of his people. David's faith in the 

armour of God was made manifest by the results, the works. 'Show 

me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my 

works' (lames 2: 18). 

This battle between David and Goliath is symbolic of the battle 

of the Church, the anointed of the Lord, which defeats giant Satan, in 

the armour of God. First we must put off the armour of reason, 

feeling, spiritual experiences and our own opinions, and these gain 

the victory in the power of Pentecost, in the armour of God. Paul 

says: 'Put on the armour of God, that ye may be able to stand' 

(Eph. 6 : 11). 

An ideal armour 

An armour must be well-closing, closed to the world; not a 

single opening, however small, is allowed. The enemy, Satan, will 

soon find these weak places - negligence, superficiality, carelessness, 

division, fear- and he will cause his fiery darts to penetrate the 

armour. He knows all our weaknesses and that is exactly where he 

will strike. The enemy is like a shrewd cattle-dealer in a market He 

walks around a cow and then knows all its faults. His experienced 

eye has estimated the animal's value precisely. Satan has studied 

psychology for over six thousand years and he knows man exactlythe 

individual, as well as mankind in its entirety. 

God said to Noah when he was building the ark: 'Thou shalt 

pitch it within and without with pitch' (Gen. 6 : 14). He said this to 

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make sure that all possible holes and openings in the gopherwood of 

the ark would be sealed off, making a waterproof ark which would 

not be penetrated anywhere by God'sjudgements. The occupants of 

the ark of salvation, man and animal, had to be safeguarded against 

God's wrath. 

If you are totally protected by the blood of Jesus, the judgement . 

of the Old Testament, the lightning of Mount Sinai, the law of 

Exodus 20, will not strike you. The new Covenant in His blood 

(Luke 22: 20) has freed us from the Old Covenant of the law. 'In 

that He saith, A new covenant he hath made the first old' (Heb. 

8 : 13). By striking the lintel and the two side posts of our doors, our 

house, our heart, the angel of destruction will pass by. This is the 

'pitching' of our house and heart, 'within and without'. Then we will 

not be struck by the judgements of the last days: 'blood, and fire, and 

pillars of smoke'( atom bombs?) (Joel 2 : 30), but be safeguarded by 

the blood of the Lamb. We shall overcome by the blood of the Lamb 

(Rev. 12: 11). 

Our armour should be 'waterproof, pitched with pitch, stricken 

with blood, closed to all Satanic efforts to penetrate. Not a single 

chance is being given to the destroyer to wound and murder. 

Paul knew that the perfection of the armour is truth, righteousness, 

faith, and salvation, in contrast to the attributes of the enemy. 

Divine perfection will give victory in this spiritual and personal 

battle. 'And let the prince of ill look grim as e' er he will, he harms us 

not a whit; for why his doom is writ; a word shall quickly slay him.' 

(Martin Luther). 

Satan's grimness is encountered by God's truth, righteousness, 

faith and salvation, and these lead to victory. When in the time of the 

end - and we are right in it! - the darkness deepens and the power of 

Satan is manifested more and more, many will perceive that their 

armour is not right and sufficient. A late and fatal discovery! 'Put on 

the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the 

wiles of the devil' (Eph. 6 : 11). 

When the Bible shows a perfect God-given possibility to stand, 

then this is truth and we have no reason or right to doubt it or to 

spiritualize it and interpret it to our liking. We may and must read the 

Bible as it is written. When we read what the Bible says and believe 

it, we receive what it says. 'He that believeth on me, as the scripture 

hath said .. .' (John 7 : 38). Our faith must be scriptural, our deeds 

Biblical. 

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The secret of the armour of God is the infilling of the Holy 

Spirit. Jesus in me. He lives, He stays with me. In John 15 : 4 Jesus 

says: 'Abide in me, and I in you.' He lives within me with His Spirit, 

as He said: 'For He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you' (John 

14 : 17). And in John 14 : 20, Jesus says: 'At that day ye shall know 

that I am in my Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.' Paul says: 'I am 

crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth 

in me' (Gal. 2 : 20). 

This being filled gives my faith a new dimension, the third 

dimension. The first dimension is: 'Jesus WITH me!' He is at my 

side, 'I walk in the light with Jesus.' The second dimension is: 'Jesus 

ABOVE me!' Seated on the throne with His Father, from whence 

He shall come, will return, to judge the living and the dead. The third 

dimension is: 'Jesus WITHIN me!' His dwelling in my heart He 

exists in me. He lives His life in me. He breathes, thinks, speaks, acts 

within me through His Spirit which dwells in me. 

Jesussays:' ... BecauseIlive,yeshalllivealso'(John 14: 19). 

I live and therefore ye shall live! I live and from this ye shall live! As 

much life as there is in Me shall be found in you! As long as I live, 

you shall live! 'I am the living bread which came down from heaven: 

if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever' (John 6 : 51). 'At 

that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, andye in Me, and I in 

you' (John 14 : 20). 

What do you think? Is the indwelling Christ Victor? Of course, 

He is! And because I surrendered to Christ, gave myself to Him, was 

crucified with Him and buried with Him, the risen Lord lives within 

me with His full glory. 'We are buried with Him by baptism into 

death' (Rom. 6 : 4), 'but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our 

Lord' (vs. 11). 'Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the 

world' (1 John 4 : 4). 

Will you take heed that your armour will be truly an armour of 

God, able to withstand the aggression of the enemy? Our faith means 

victory. 'For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and 

this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is 

he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the 

Son of God?' (1 John 5: 4-5). 

In the Paradise of Eden, God promised to bruise the head of 

Satan. This was accomplished at Calvary. The Saviour gained an 

absolute and decisive victory over the old enemy of mankind. When 

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you have put on the armour of God, you enjoy the glorious 

consequences of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary. 

I am granted to safeguard myself, to cover myself with this 

glorious armour which God has prepared for me by the blood of 

Jesus Christ and the baptism of the Holy Spirit 'For as many of you 

as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ' (Gal. 3 : 27). 

When we have put on Christ, put on His salvation, put on His 

victory, then Satan will have to face Christ every time he attacks. 

For Christ encloses me and covers me like a seamless garment. 

God's armour means to be 'endued with power from on high' (Luke 

24: 49), the Holy Spirit; and that means 'to put on Christ'. 

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THE ENEMY 

The struggle not against flesh and blood 

'Forwe wrestle not against flesh and blood' (Eph. 6 : 12), Paul 

says and he abandons an old and persistent misunderstanding 

concerning the enemy. Unspiritual, natural man is inclined not to 

look any further than the outside of things. He has no insight into the 

deep, dark, spiritual warfare being fought in God's creation. 'But the 

natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are 

foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are 

spiritually discerned' (1 Cor. 2 : 14). 

Natural people - alas, most are such - only look at 'the outward 

appearance'; they look on natural things, material battle of race 

against race, nation versus nation, man opposite man: 'flesh and 

blood'. They think all conflicts among men arise from nationalistic, 

economic, political, material and moral problems and tensions, from 

ignorance, fear and greed; and that these conflicts must be solved by 

political and economic specialists and top-ranking people, with the 

aid of arbitration, deliberation and diplomatic help. 

Public enemy No. 1 among the nations is: FEAR Fear causes 

jealousy, hate, misunderstanding, alienation, stirs up nations against 

nations. Fear is the basis of vigilant politics: What will the other 

party do? What will he devise against me? Where is the point where 

he becomes dangerous? Will he rob me? When will he attack me? 

What is he doing now that I know not? I do not trust him for a single 

moment - that is the sense of my vigilant politics - where is he 

dangerous to me? 

We have no admittance to the way of thinking of the great 

leaders. We make mistakes all the time and that makes us uneasy. 

But we are awake and ready and prepared to go forward and strike 

where threat proceeds to action. As we carefully survey the people 

around us, we cannot help but always discover numerous enemies 

by our suspicion. We see them everywhere - in world politics, In our 

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oss, in our group, our relations, our fellowmen, everywhere. 

Suspicion has infected everybody in the world, fear paralyses all. 

Thus, a communication gap has come into being in the world, a 

great misunderstanding amongst nations and private persons, a 

chronic inability to build a bridge from one to another, a lack of 

understanding or wanting to understand. It is as though each person 

were living on his own island, and calling to the others from afar, 

words that are blown away on the wind. What a lack of communication 

in the nations' politics, a failure of comprehension! What a 

disturbance there is between workers, married couples, and young 

people, in every field! There is not only a horizontal misunderstanding, 

as though we were all speaking a different language which 

others cannot understand, but there is also a terrible vertical communication 

disturbance between man and God. Man has become 

estranged from vertical communication with God, a fatal estrangement 

from the roots of his faith. He has forgotten how to talk to his 

God and consult with Him, ask His advice, maintain a verbal 

communication, and break through the interrupted dialogue with 

God on his part Thank God, there is from above, from God, no 

disturbance when it comes to seeking a renewed dialogue, contact, 

with man. For Him there is not a single blockade. Jesus has restored 

the left-out word in the Divine dialogue between the Creator and the 

creature, re-inserted it, so that the conversation may be carried on. 

He did this by Himself becoming the Word which was returned to 

the broken dialogue, the flesh, so as to heal, to re-establish the 

vertical communication with God. Hallelujah! 

Fear comes from ignorance, 'lack of knowledge'. Because we 

do not know (exactly), we are afraid. Where will this anxiety, this 

illness lead us? How will he or she respond? What truth is in these 

words? Ignorance causes fear, a feeling of uneasiness. Therefore, we 

spend millions for defence and politics, for research and cure of 

illnesses, for economic stability. Everything in the world around us 

lives in tension because of the things of ' flesh and blood'. It fills our 

conversation and thoughts. But Paul says: 'Flesh and blood cannot 

inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption' 

(1 Cor. 15: 50). 

The struggle in this world is of 'flesh and blood' against 'flesh 

and blood', corruption against corruption; it is all in the natural, 

material, earthly realm. In general people do not see higher, more 

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spiritual, not from the viewpoint of God toward God. 'For this 

corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on 

immortality' (1 Cor. 15 : 53). For, 'there is a natural body, and there 

is a spiritual body' (1 Cor. 15 : 44). In this chapter Paul is writing 

about different worlds, that of the corruptible, natural things and that 

of the incorruptible, spiritual things. 

Peter, for example, did not see this difference and did not 

recognize this spiritual warfare. When he saw Jesus threatened in 

Gethsemane by a 'great multitude with swords and staves, from the 

chief priests and elders of the people' (Matl 26 : 47), who were 

trying to capture Him, Peter intervened, panic-stricken, on behalf of 

his Master. He pulled his sword and flashed it around. He did not 

look further than the struggle of man against man, sword against 

sword, 'flesh and blood'. Peter saw Jesus with the bitter cup which 

the Father had given to the Son, and he wanted to destroy this cup 

out of love for his Master. He wanted to cut through deceit and 

betrayal so that Jesus could escape; he wanted to save Jesus from the 

cross, the shadow of which was already on Him. He meant well, but 

had no idea of Jesus' great mission on earth and, simple as he was, 

Peter only had an eye for this attack by 'flesh and blood'. By his hottempered 

and unbridled behaviour he wounded Malchus, the 

servant of the high priest and cut his ear. 'And, behold, one of them 

which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, 

and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote offhis ear' (Matt 

26 : 51). 'And He touched his ear, and healed him' (Luke 22 : 51). 

But Peter received an admonition. Jesus said to him: 'Put up again 

thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish 

with the sword' (Matt. 26 : 52). Peter, do not see this matter as a 

case of' flesh and blood', it is a spiritual warfare! 

The world of 'flesh and blood' is the realm in which God gave 

His first judgements. In Paradise the curse was directed toward 

'flesh and blood'. God spoke His word of punishment to the woman 

who sinned: corporal sorrow, sickness, entered in the flesh. 'I will 

greatly mUltiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt 

bring forth children' (Gen. 3 : 16). Womanhood has to bear the 

wrath of God in her specific function: motherhood; God's Word 

spoke to 'flesh and blood'. And God spoke to man: 'Because thou 

hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree 

of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is 

the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of 

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thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and .. . 

unto dust shalt thou return' (Gen. 6: 17-19). The world of dust, 

'flesh and blood', was spoken to by God and cursed. 

The Word was made flesh 

But Jesus Christ came to the earth and took this curse upon 

Him, freed the world from this curse, the curse of sickness, sorrow 

and unrighteousness, by taking it upon Himself. 'Surely, He hath 

borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows' (Isa. 53 : 4). 'The 

chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we 

are healed' (Isa. 53 : 5). Jesus came to this earth as the Creator Who 

brought forth everything out of Himself. 'For by Him were all things 

created' (Col. 1 : 16). He Who called everything into being by the 

Word (John 1 : 1-3) became the Re-creator, the Renewer by taking 

upon Him this sick sinful flesh; He came into our broken relationship 

with God to heal and to forgive (John 1 : 14). Hallelujah! 

He came to be a new and living way back to the Father, a new 

divine possibility to renew the breach of the covenant, the breach of 

faith, the breach of promise which we committed concerning Him. 

Jesus came to bring abundant life (John 10: 10), where there 

was only death and judgement and misery: in our flesh. He made 

whole our broken existence, He is the Healer (Ex. 15 : 26). He, the 

last Adam, took the curse and punishment upon Himself and carried 

it into death and grave, to leave it there when He arose gloriously. He 

created a new condition. All things have become new. He brought 

victory by His blood, His resurrection, His Holy Spirit 

Under the old covenant everything was 'flesh and blood'. 

Innumerable quantities of animals were slaughtered to be sacrificed. 

Torrents of blood were spilled on the altar in order to pay for the sin 

of ' flesh and blood', but it just could not do so. 'For it is not possible 

that the blood of bulls and of goats and calves, but by His own blood 

He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal 

redemption for us' (Heb. 9 : 12). Jesus alone takes away sin, by 

forgiving it 

The new covenant brought the Word of God in this flesh, our 

human existence. It is the Word of God's mercy and renewing 

power. Satan will always try to make everything a battle of'flesh and 

blood'; he wants to bring us back to the old things; he does not 

recognize the new situation of salvation brought about by the coming 

of Jesus. He tries to make us believe that the old battle of 'flesh and 

15

lood' is still there. He then can continue his old policy of fear and 

hatred and make people hostile toward each other and destroy peace 

on earth. He can continue to attack man in his physical life by 

torturing and tormenting him. But Jesus came to 'cross' out and 

defeat Satan and his sinister practises. 'For this purpose the Son of 

God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil' 

(1 John 3 : 8). The works of the devil, manifested in war, hatred, 

crime, sickness, pain, fear, misery, were broken and destroyed by the 

coming of Jesus, the Son of God. 

If you go on to look on the outward appearance of things, on 

that which can only be approached by the flesh, you will see the 

devastating works of Satan all around you. But if you take your stand 

in the Word and are aware of Jesus' victory, you will discover, and 

discover it jubilantly and triumphantly, that Jesus, the Hero of God. 

lives and manifests His might victoriously in all things. Behind the 

outward appearance, behind the hostility of man, you will discover 

Satan is attacking and tormenting you. But when your eyes have 

been treated with the wonderful eyesalve of Revelation 3 : 18, and 

when you have learned to see and discern, you will discover the 

destructive enemy with his sinister practices everywhere. 

Therefore, it is of the highest necessity to protect yourself in 

this spiritual warfare with the armour of God - the blood of Jesus, the 

baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit(1 Cor. 12: 10). 

You will need all the gifts: the gifts of utterance to build up yourself in 

the Spirit by praying in the Spirit in new tongues (1 Cor. 14 : 4, Jude 

20); the three gifts of revelation, especially the gift of discerning of 

spirits (1 Cor. 12 : 10); and the gifts of power in order to bind and 

throw out the spirits which have been identified. No human power, 

no physical power, no sharp-edged sword can destroy the destroyer 

of man's happiness. Only the power of the Spirit, the word of 

authority, the power of God is able to gain the victory. We have this 

authority in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. 'In all these things 

we are more than conquerors.' 

If we have seen and learned that it is not people and their 

actions which cause us trouble and sorrow, but Satan who plays his 

puppets behind the scenes, then we shall fight the evil one with all the 

means at our disposal, but we will be kind and loving toward man. 

Jesus saw this matter of discernment very distinctly; He cast the 

devil out and redeemed man. 

16

A spiritual warfare 

Once at Capernaum, a young rabbi from Nazareth preached 

on the sabbath. It was Jesus, the son of the carpenter. He taught the 

congregation a new and different doctrine. He had hardly begun to 

speak when a man rose - imagine this consternation - who called out 

so that it echoed through the synagogue: 'What have we to do with 

thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?' (Only one answer was possible: 

everything!) 'Art thou come to destroy us?' (The devil can only think 

in terms of destruction!) 'I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of 

God' (Mark 1 : 21-24). 

The ordinary people of Jesus' day were uneducated, but even 

the scholars of the synagogues were confused about this Nazarene's 

place in the Kingdom. The realm of darkness, however, sees sharply, 

and the father of lies reveals the truth about Jesus! 

If the shouting man of the congregation had been 'flesh and 

blood' to Jesus, He would have given a sign to the verger to remove 

him from the service. He would not have tolerated the service being 

disturbed. This is the way people react a man who cannot behave 

himself and who might be dangerous ought to be admitted to a 

hospital in order to be observed and treated ... these poor people 

must be separated from others because of their impossible behav 

IOur. 

But Jesus saw 'through' the situation and knew that Satan 

availed himself of'flesh and blood' in order to attack Him, Who had 

come to oppose Satan with His authority. It was a spiritual attack in 

which Satan used words against the Word, and manifested himself 

against the manifestation of the Kingdom of God. It was power 

against power, rule against rule. And what did Jesus do? (What 

would you do in such a case?) Jesus saw through the enemy and 

commanded this unclean spirit to be silent and to go out 'Jesus 

rebuked (the unclean spirit), saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of 

him. And when the unclean spirit had tom him, and cried with a loud 

voice, he came out of him' (Mark 1 : 25-26). 

Jesus gained the victory, not by using muscular or physical 

force against this demon-possessed 'flesh and blood', but by 

commanding the unclean spirit This spirit recognized and acknowledged 

the Greater One in Jesus, and he came out of that man. 'What 

is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He 

commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they do obey Him' 

(vs. 27). 

17

Something similar happened later on in the land of the 

Gadarenes. Jesus had hardly climbed the steep embankment when 

'immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean 

spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind 

him, no, not with chains; because that he had been often bound with 

fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, 

and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him' 

(Mark 5 : 2-4). 'Flesh and blood' here tried to bind and control 'flesh 

and blood', but it appeared to be impossible. Of course! For this was 

not a battle of'flesh and blood', but of demons, evil spirits, princes of 

the darkness. 

When Jesus stood before this man, the unclean spirits (Legion: 

for we are many) recognized in Him the Greater One, the Victor, 

and besought Him urgently not to send them out of the land. And in a 

superior way, as one who is master in a difficult situation, Jesus 

granted te last wish of the defeated foes and let them enter into the 

swine. And the man himself? He was not bound by Jesus, but 

unbound. 

When these demons had been exorcized from the man, they 

wanted to enter the animal- animals - their second choice. To the 

Jew, swine are unclean animals. The evil powers did not want to 

leave this country, this district, because a command had made them 

responsible, bound, tied to this particular country. They were 

regional powers. They wanted to continue their destructive work in 

this country alone, even if in other creatures. 

Jesus saw this unclean world of demons and cast them out, 

while He saved and freed the man (good will toward man!). Later on 

the same men which had often tried in vain to bind this furious brute 

came from their towns and saw him sitting quietly close to Jesus. 

When they saw him to be normal, sane and clothed, they knew that 

this man was free. 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, 

saith the Lord of hosts' (ZechA : 6). Jesus knew that this was not a 

matter of'flesh and blood'. He Who had come to destroy the works 

of the devil simply cast out these powers to save the man and make 

him His friend. 

In this same Gospel (Mark writes much on the subject of 

victory over the dark realm of Satan) a man soughtJesus' help for his 

epileptic boy. (Would it not have been better to take him to a special 

institution for such people, where attendants could have taken care 

of him?) No, they brought the boy to Jesus. His father asked: 'If thou 

18

canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.' Thereupon 

Jesus talked with this man about having faith, real faith- no theories, 

but unwavering, perfect faith, for 'all things are possible' then. 

' When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked 

the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge 

thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him' (Mark 9: 25). 

Jesus saw this not as a case of'flesh and blood'; rather, He saw 

behind the convulsions, this foam on the boy's mouth, behind this 

muteness and deafness, something else, and He charged this spirit to 

go out Jesus cast the demons out and the boy was made whole. 

But besides Jesus, Peter, and Paul, and all His Spirit-filled 

servants also did the same works. 'Verily, verily, I say unto you, he 

that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do; and greater 

works than these shall he do!' (John 14: 12). They also had 

authority to rebuke evil spirits in the power of God and cast them 

out 'And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel 

possessed with a spirit of divination met us ... But Paul, being 

grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of 

Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour' 

(Acts 16 : 16-18). 

It was not the woman who was spoken to and ordered to be 

silent, not 'flesh and blood' which was charged by the powerful word 

of God. No, it was the spirit which was addressed! Paul cast out a 

spirit of divination with just a single word, because he had authority 

to do so in the name of Jesus Christ. 

These are some incidents we find in the Bible; more are to be 

found. Also we know them in our ministry as an evangelist, quite so; 

things in the Kingdom of God do not change. It is most important to 

the enemy that this spiritual warfare of Spirit against spirit is not 

recognized. Satan does not want himself to be recognized behind 

people and things. But, praise the Lord, we may act, having put on 

the armour of God, with authority in the powerful name of Jesus the 

Lord. 

You have to be absolutely sure that you have put on the right 

armour, beca',se none other will prove to be strong enough. You 

must be aware of the fact that you do not battle in your own 

insufficient power, but in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit You 

must know who you are in Jesus, in Whom you can do all things. 

19

Do not misunderstand me. I do not say that all these poor sick 

and affiicted people must not be admitted to hospitals and be helped. 

I have a profound respect for the skill and devotion of doctors and 

nurses and I am thankful they are there. But I want to point to the 

demonic background of so many illnesses and to the fact that so 

many patients are demon-possessed. Jesus' words on Ascension 

Day were: 'These signs shall follow them that believe; in My name 

shall they cast out devils' (Mark 16 : 17). 

Spiritual wickedness in high places 

'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' (Eph.6 : 12). 

Paul makes very clear which powers are our enemies; not those we 

thought, the visible and material, but behind them, hostile demonic 

powers. Paul knew what he was writing, he knew this hard battle 

from his own experience. He recognized and showed who the 

originator of evil behind the scenes is and states that the struggle is 

against the prince. of darkness. 

Every young man in the Netherlands is conscripted. For quite 

some time he learns the use of arms in order to be able to fight His 

officers teach him how to reconnoitre the terrain, and how to 

recognize the enemy by his actions and way of fighting. When being 

attacked, he is not allowed to flee, full of fear, or to fire at random; no, 

he must stand and hit the enemy and eliminate him. As a soldier he is 

expected to do so. He has to defend the soil he is standing on, the 

state he belongs to, and he has to do so to the utmost 

Where is the preacher who is making his people militant 

through the Holy Spirit, who describes the enemy of God's people 

accurately and teaches them to recognize him and to discern and 

fight these hostile powers? It is often said - if they believe these 

things - that this is a realm so entirely unknown and so dangerous for 

us that it is wiser not to have anything to do with it 

But does the soldier go home because the battlefield is so 

dangerous and the policy of the enemy not so clear? Does he throw 

his rifle from him and flee? Does his king expect him to do so? Is the 

congregation sent home with the advice 'not to touch these things' 

and 'to be careful with them'? This is an attitude welcome to Satan. 

The more fear is aroused for him, the more undisturbed he can 

20

proceed with his work of destruction in the church. As long as people 

know little of the policy and tactics of the evil one and have little or 

no experience in fighting him, as long as preachers continue to 

preach utter caution, as long will Satan go on without any hindrance 

to harm the body of Christ 

Satan has his kingdom, his realm, and it is opposed to God's 

Kingdom. Satan attacks God's children, and in them, God's 

Kingdom, day and night Paul called him the god of this world. Jesus 

called him the prince of this world. 

Satan twists and modifies things, he pulls them down, he 

besmears and defiles them, he pushes things out of their proper 

proportions, he insults, harms, terrorizes, squeezes, narrows, pushes 

down everything that wants to go upward to seek the light of God. He 

is the great adversary of God and has started the fight against Him in 

a shrewd, hard and consistent way, the fight that is being fought in 

the lives of the children of God. 

Opposite God's words Satan puts his own words, as he did 

when Eve was in Paradise (Gen. 3 : 4). He also puts his acts 

opposite God's. In all this, Satan seeks his own honour, whereas the 

glorious signs and miracles of the Kingdom are there to honour Jesus 

Christ Satan is the great opponent of Jesus. He tries to control the 

human mind, soul and body in shrewd ways to keep the person 

separated from Jesus. He hates the blood of the Lamb and denies its 

power. He denies the power of the Word of God and the authority of 

the name of Jesus. Satan usurps power for his own word. He is the 

anti-spirit 

He tells the Church of Jesus Christ that God's mighty doings 

took place in the past or will take place in the future, but always 

separated from our daily and personal life. Satan wants to make 

people believe that all these things were valid in Jesus' days on earth: 

miracles, faith-healing, speaking in new tongues, prophecy, outcasting 

of demons. Oh, perhaps they will return later in the 

millennium, but they are not for now, not for here, not for me. 

Satan is a liar. He distorts the truth. He is intelligent enough not 

to claim that black is white, but he produces a cunning gamut of 

greys, some shaded more towards white, others darker, but he is not 

even shy to make use of dove-grey. He can act most elegantly. But he 

is, since the very beginning, a thief. a murderer and a liar. He is not 

21

afraid of confronting God's children with his threefold lie: firstly: 

You are nothing; secondly: You have nothing; and thirdly: You can 

do nothing! Degrading! Derisive! Destructive! 

But for this threefold lie, we have in the Bible a threefold 

answer, with which we shall confront him. When he says that we are 

nobody and nothing, 1 read: 'But ye are a chosen generation, a royal 

priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew 

forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His 

marvellous light' (1 Peter 2: 9). 'Nay, in all these things we are 

more than conquerors through Him that loved us' (Romans 8: 37). 

When he says that we have nothing, 1 read: 'For all things are yours; 

Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, 

or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are 

Christ's; and Christ is God's' (1 Cor. 3 : 21-23). And when he says 

that we cannot do anything, 1 read: '1 can do all things in Christ 

which strengtheneth me' (Phi!. 4: 13). These are God's answers 

with which 1 oppose Satan's lies. 1 am, 1 have, and 1 can do what God 

in His Word says 1 am, 1 have and 1 can do; that is the positive 

testimony of my Lord, and I'll stick to that! 

Satan paralyses faith by causing doubt in the hearts. He does 

not hesitate to infiltrate the minds of preachers so that they speak 

words which are negative and disturbing towards the great deeds of 

God which He does today. He tries to diminish and belittle God's 

mighty doings, he tries to ridicule and rob the splendour of God's 

works in our days by declaring them to be 'imaginations of emotional 

people'. 

He weakens the Word of God and His promises, which are 

'yea and amen' (2 Cor. 1 : 20). Whenever God gives His clear 

commands, speaks His Word and does His works, Satan says, 'Yes, 

but ... ', and this with a pose of knowledge or religiosity. Satan wants 

to comfort people in his Satanic way ,by fortune-tellers and the advice 

of the dead, who 'comfort in vain' (Zech. 10: 2), or by drugs. This 

all to detract from the Holy Spirit, the Divine Comforter, Who will 

lead you into all truth. 

He tries to divert our attention so that we look upon Christians 

instead of Christ, upon people instead of the Master. He causes us to 

find fault with our preachers, with brothers and sisters. He absorbs 

our attention so that we see disappointments and misguiding and 

become blind to God's many glorious works. He tries to thwart our 

22

spiritual growing-up into stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 

4 : 13). He sometimes petrifies the new, glad faith of recent converts 

and pushes the soul liberated by Christ back into the slavery of some 

organisation with all its inhibitions whereby the Holy Spirit, Who 

can only act in freedom, is grieved and quenched. 

The Holy Spirit wants to guide man as a free son of the 

promise, not as Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman. Satan forces us 

into a position in which we are not free, just as Hagar's son was not 

free. And he hopes we will be satisfied with that, not counting God's 

promise of freedom for us, like Isaac was free. 

He will try to persuade us to deny his existence and regard him 

as a myth, a horned, goat-legged, ridiculous caricature, or as the 

Mephistopheles known in literature. But he is a living personality, 

our real hereditary enemy. He is the enemy of friend and foe alike, 

whereas Jesus is the friend of friend and enemy alike. Satan poisons 

our drinking wells, turns warm love cold, quenches the light of God's 

Spirit wherever he can. 

He tries to establish his rule over earth and time. Satan acts as 

if he were Lord (Matt 4 : 1-11), but only Jesus is Lord and unto 

Him is given all power in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28 : 18). 

Who is Satan and where does he come from? 

Many people think that Satan is a myth, an idea. One prefers to 

speak of 'evil', in the abstract rather than of a person with his own 

identity. One has no idea how much pleasure one gives Satan by 

doing this, because it is his policy to make his existence as mystifying 

as possible, to veil and shroud it in a cloud. He is a living personality. 

' ... because greater is He that is in you, than he (not 'that' - the idea, 

but 'he', the person) that is in the world' (1 John 4 : 4). 

He is God's rebel, whom God cast down into the darkness. 

'Thou art the anointed cherub thatcovereth; and I have set thee 

so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up 

and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy 

ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in 

thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst 

of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee 

as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee. 0 

covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was 

lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by 

23

eason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee 

before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy 

sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy 

traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it 

shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the 

sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the 

people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never 

shalt thou be any more' (Ezekiel28 : 14-19). 

' How art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the 

morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken 

the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into 

heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also 

upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will 

ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 

Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit' (Isa. 

14: 12-15). 

Lucifer was repudiated by God from His immediate presence, 

dismissed from His intimacy. When he wanted to 'be like the most 

High', God broke off His relationship with him. God had created 

him - 'the day that thou wast created' - he was a creation of God for 

the place and function decreed by God. The Bible says that angels 

have no father and mother. Every angel is an individual, incidental, 

personal creation of God. He created them to praise His name, and 

they were His attendant spirits around His throne. 

Monarchs were placed above them - princes are thus named - 

archangels. The most beautiful of them all was the 'Son of the 

morning', 'Son of dawn', 'Morning star' (in Latin, 'Lucifer'). He was 

the head of the cherubs, a denomination amongst the angels. The 

Bible calls him ' the covering cherub', and another translation 'the 

protecting cherub'. Because of his rebellion against God, he was cast 

upon the earth, 'to the sides of the pit', and changed from the 

brightest, most beautiful of all the angels into the darkest of all devils, 

becoming the king of darkness, monarch of the night His disqualification 

was complete. 

When he had fallen from heaven, he took some angels with 

him, whom he made HIS angels. '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' (Rev. 12: 9). He dragged a third of the angels to the 

earth with him, and those are the fallen angels, the demons, evil 

24

spirits and demonic powers. Angels are frequently indicated as stars. 

'And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast 

them to the earth' (Rev. 12 : 4). Many Bible teachers read here 

angels for stars. The ratio of angels as opposed to demons is two to 

one. Praise the Lord! 

Ephesians 6 : 12 mentions 'principalities, powers, rulers of the 

darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places', and there 

are in the realm of darkness many graduations and varieties, 

monarchs, generals and officers. The Bible mentions a few chief 

characters, princes. 'Belial' is referred to by name, and his name is 

composed of two other names: Beli and Jaid, the first meaning 

'without', and the second 'law'. Belial means, thus, 'without law, the 

lawless' . You can read about him in 2 Cor. 6 : 15. There is yet 

another of Satan's upper chief angels, the angel of the abyss, and his 

name is Abaddon. 'And they had a king over them, which is the angel 

of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, 

but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon' (Rev. 9 : 11). 

Another name of a superior in Satan's army force is Beelzebub. 

'This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of 

the devils'(Matt 12: 24). In the book of Daniel, there is mention 

made of a prince of the Persian kingdom, a regional power. 'But the 

prince of the kingdom of Persia, withstood me one and twenty days: 

(he was not an earthly prince but a spiritual one); but, 10, Michael, 

one of the chief princes (likewise a spiritual power, a prince of the 

Lord - 'the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people 

- Daniel 12 : 1), came to help me; and I remained there with the 

kings of Persia' (Daniel 10 : 13). A battle between two supreme 

powers in heavenly regions. 

All these powers of darkness, the large and the small, have a 

vivid memory of God's holiness, His majesty and absolute lordship. 

They know Jesus, at the Father's throne, in the glory of heaven. That 

is why we shall always confront the demons and powers of darkness 

with just Who Jesus is, call Him by Name, act in His Name and 

expel them in that Name. 'In my Name shall they cast out devils,' 

says Jesus (Mark 16 : 17). They shall step aside and flee from the 

authority of that Name, before the command of all that is contained 

in that Name. 

Every time Jesus had to do with these demonic powers, during 

25

His ministration, He noticed that they remembered Him, they knew 

Him, and were filled with fear of Him. 'And there was in their 

synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, Let 

us alone; what have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? art 

Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee who Thou ar~ the Holy One 

a/God' (Mark 1 : 23, 24). This unclean spirit knew who Jesus was. 

'And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out 

many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew 

Him' (Mark 1 : 34). Jesus forbade them to make Him known to the 

people as they knew Him, because He had not yet accomplished His 

mission on earth, the taking upon Himself the collective and 

personal guilt of all men. 'And unclean spirits, when they saw Him; 

fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son a/God. 

And He straitly charged them that they should not make Him 

known' (Mark 3: 11, 12). 'And when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran 

and worshipped Him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What 

have I to do with thee, Jesus, Thou Son 0/ the most high God?' 

Mark 5 : 7). 'Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any 

sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and He laid His 

hands on every one of them, and healed them. And devils also came 

out of many, crying out Thou art Christ the Son a/God. And He 

rebuking them suffered them not to speak:/or they knew that He was 

Christ' (Luke 4: 40,41). 

Whereas the forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptist was 

uncertain about his Master, and actually didn't know who He was, 

as evidenced by the words: ' Art Thou He that should come, or do we 

look for another?' (Matt 11 : 3), it would seem that all demons 

possess this certainty, and know exactly who Jesus is. At that- for 

them - critical moment of being exorcized, they made it apparent 

that they knew and remembered Him! 

In the realm of Satan, which is kept together by fear, and where 

so many different powers, great and small, operate, whoever they are 

and whatever they do, all demons know THREE things quite 

definitely. Firstly: they all know that theirs is a lost cause. Secondly: 

they all know thatJesus is the Victor. And thirdly: they all know that 

their time is limited. When it comes to combatting and casting out 

demons, you should know these things, and show that you know 

them, as this paralyses their activities! 

26

A defeated enemy 

But Satan is a defeated enemy. Hallelujah! In paradise God 

promised One Who would conquer the serpent Jesus Christ, and 

He crushed his head on the cross of Calvary. The devil's case has no 

prospect; his case is lost and he knows this! That is why he is so 

dangerous. Although he may try to convince us of his apparent rule, 

he IS an enemy defeated. He can move only as far as the rope which 

binds him a:Jlows him to move. Jesus is Victor and speaks the final 

Word, because He had the first Word and IS the Word. 

We do not attack Satan in our name, because in our own ability 

we can not conquer; only in the name of Jesus, the name of the Son of 

God. The power of Jesus has no limits. If a believer stands on the 

Word of God and has discovered what God says he is in Christ and 

what he can do in Christ (Phil. 4 : 13), he will be in a position of 

authority against evil powers. 

Every Satanic power, every demon, knows he is lost, knows 

that he has to yield unto every child of God who faces him in the 

mighty name of Jesus. No demonic power will be able to hold his 

ground against a man who knows what authority he has in Jesus, a 

man covered by the blood of the Lamb and filled with the Spirit of 

God. 

When you doubt (J ames 1 : 5-8) or fight these powers in your 

own strength or indignation, they will not yield and will endanger 

you. The Holy Spirit teaches you ('He shall teach you all things' - 

John 14 : 26) the special place you may occupy in the Kingdom of 

God through His mercy and through the work which Jesus finished 

on Calvary. Then you will see that the demons will obey you as they 

did Jesus. 

Is this pride on my part? It is not I can take this stand because 

Jesus is in His throne 'far above all principality, and power, and 

might, and dominion and every name' (Eph. 1 : 21). When we act in 

the name of Jesus Christ, we are exercising the authority of the One 

to Whom all power is given in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28 : 18). 

The people who heard Jesus teach said that He brought ' a new 

doctrine with authority' (Mark 1 : 27). We may stand in this same 

authority and exercise it! 

Do not think these things are for some special elected hero of 

faith with extraordinary mandates of God. No, any simple man or 

27

woman, any schoolboy or girl who knows by the infilling of the Holy 

Spirit who he or she is in Jesus, knows what position of right and 

authority is given by Jesus, will experience having demons yield to 

the command. 

We have a legal right to use the name of Jesus freely, for He 

bought us by His blood and made us new creatures. We are made 

partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1 : 4). He caused the Holy 

Spirit to dwell in us (John 14 : 17, 19, 23). We received great power 

from God. 'Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and 

scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by 

any means hurt you' (Luke 10: 19). 

Formerly Satan was our master and we were slaves of sin, but 

now we have been bought free by the blood of the Lamb and chosen 

to be sons of God, members of the household of God. Is it not 

wonderful? Glory! We have been translated from the power of 

darkness into the Kingdom of light And now we have the task and 

power to enter into the house of the strong one and bind him and 

bring souls stolen by Satan back to the original owner: Jesus Christ 

(Mark 3 : 27). 

Who are we in Jesus? 

We must go back to the Word of God and discover who we are 

in Jesus. The father of lies has lured us away from this glorious and 

secure place by making us believe that we are just nothing, have 

nothing, can do nothing. He has followed this policy of lies so long 

and frequently that we have forgotten indeed who we are. Thus he 

has gained a profit on us. But in our days, more and more believers 

are going to discover anew who we are according to the Bible, and 

what we can do. They shall occupy their once deserted strongholds 

against Satan and start to fight again. 

Jesus knew who He was in the Father and courageously 

opposed the destructive power of Satan. 'For this purpose the Son of 

God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil' 

(1 John 3 : 8). That was His first action; later He will give the final 

blow to Satan himself (Rev. 20: 2). Jesus cast out the spirits with 

His word (Matt 8 : 16) and gave this same power to His disciples. 

'And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave 

28

them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out' (Matt. 10 : 1). 

His command was: 'Go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at 

hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out 

devils' (Matt. 10: 7-8). 

'And they were all amazed, saying: What is this? A new 

doctrine with authority! He commands the evil spirits and they obey 

Him!' (Mark 1 : 27). 'And He healed many that were sick of divers 

diseases, and cast out many devils' (vs. 34). 'And He preached in 

their synagogues, and cast out devils' (vs. 39). 'And unclean spirits, 

when they saw Him, fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou 

art the Son of God' (Mark 3 : 11). 

'And He called unto Him the twelve, and began to send them 

forth two by two: and gave them power over unclean spirits' (Mark 

6 : 7). 'And they went out and preached that men should repent And 

they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, 

and healed them' (vs. 12-13). 'And the seventy returned again with 

joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy 

name ... Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and 

scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by 

any means hurt you' (Luke 10 : 17, 19). 

It is said of Phi lip in Samaria: 'For unclean spirits, crying with 

loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them' (Acts 

8 : 7). It is written of Paul: 'And God wrought special miracles by 

the hands of Paul: ... and the evil spirits went out of them' (Acts 

19 : 11, 12). 'And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your 

feet shortly' (Rom. 16 : 20). 'And having spoiled principalities and 

powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it' 

(Col. 2 : 15). 'And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, 

and by the word of their testimony' (Rev. 12 : 11). 

The Bible is the Word of God and therefore every word of it has 

value and is valid for everyone and for all times. The true and 

unchangeable Word of God appeals to us today asd emphatically 

and as personally as it did to others in times before. All its promises 

remain entirely valid; in Christ they are 'yea and amen' for every 

believer. Therefore, we must accept the total Word of God for today, 

and not just those parts which we like. We have no right to accept the 

message of salvation for sinners for the world of today, but not 

accept God's command of the filling with the Holy Spirit, the 

manifestations of the Spirit such as speaking in new tongues, the 

anointing of the sick, and the outcasting of evil spirits. These are 

29

also for our day! Sometimes people say that all these dynamic 

manifestations were given to the young Church by God in order to 

establish the Church of Christ and confirm her for a pagan world. 

But this is not true. Today as well the Lord of the Church will 

confrrm her in the same way before the unbelief of the world. Also in 

our days wants to show in His miracle-working power that He is with 

His people. 

We must either accept the WHOLE Bible as the Word of God, 

the revelation of God's mercy for any poor sinner, without 

discussion, without restriction, OR we must discard the Bible as a 

whole. Nobody has a right to weaken the Word of God by human 

insight, tradition, or interpretation. The Bible is the Word of God for 

our generation, as it has been for all generations. It is the most up-todate 

book in the world and it contains a wonderful message of peace 

for man, even in this atomic age. It offers a glorious solution to the 

typical problems of modem man, because it has a message for the 

heart And the human heart does not change! 

The Bible is THE truth and towers unassailably above the 

changing views of people of all times. It is the Word of healing for 

soul, spirit and body. It is the Word of the Spirit of God and the 

revelation of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer. 'Jesus Christ the same 

yesterday, and today, and forever' (Heb. 13 : 8). 

The instructions of ever-present interest 

The commission Jesus gave His disciples to cast out evil spirits 

is valid for today. He will support His children in this battle in the 

same way He did before. He will manifest His victorious power in 

them in the same way as in the days before and confinn their 

witnessing by signs following (Mark 16 : 20). His commission still 

applies to our present time: 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the 

gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be 

saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs 

shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; 

they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if 

they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay 

hands on the sick, and they shall recover' (Mark 16 : 15-18). The 

authority of the Master is behind the commission. 

Do you think that the Lord would leave His disciples such a 

worldwide and dangerous commission without giving them power 

30

· and ability to fulfill it? But He has, He gave them the fullness of the 

Holy Spirit, which came into their lives as a power, victorious power 

against the evil one, power to conquer demons, to beat the works of 

Satan and to heal the wounds he caused. 'For the Kingdom of God is 

not in word, but in power' (1 Cor. 4 : 20). We do not possess this 

power by nature. but by the infilling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1 : 8). 

Because we did not know or desire this personal and real filling 

with the Holy Spirit, our spiritual poverty caused us to consider the 

Kingdom of God as a matter of words; void, empty, ineffective and 

weak words. Small wonder demons have their sway without any 

hindrance! When we do not believe in the reality of God's Word, we 

are afraid of Satan. Because we are powerless, we have warned 

everybody everywhere: beware of Satanic powers, do not fight them! 

And Satan likes this attitude. This fear gives him liberty to continue 

his devastating works without hindrance, and we perceive with 

horror what he does in our days. 

He brings into the churches the modem concept which denies 

the blood of Jesus; he causes everything to be 'discussed', to be a 

subject of debate. We can argue over everything to destruction, even 

the most glorious and wonderful things in the gospel and in the 

person of Jesus Christ Satan causes an increasing secularization in 

the churches, and a doubting of the value of the sayings and promises 

of Jesus. 

Satan pushes the things of the Spirit back from our time to the 

past He deprives the miracles of God's hand of their glory and 

explains them as imaginations, thus denying them. He organizes 

everything and everybody to a perfectly close system in which the 

Holy Spirit cannot work in full freedom. He brings an overemphasizing 

of the sacraments of the church, because of lack of 

dominion and guidance of the Holy Spirit 

He introduces all sorts of human traditions in the life of the 

church, which are not in pure accordance with the Word of God. He 

causes us to give up the decision to surrender to Jesus and to follow 

Him only. Satan leads us away from the great spiritual adventure of 

living by the infallible Word of God and His promises. Instead, he 

brings fear of other people's opinion and criticism. 

There is an alarming lack of knowledge. 'My people are 

destroyed for lack of knowledge' (Hosea 4: 6). Not an intellectual 

31

knowledge, but knowledge concerning the things of the Kingdom. 

We are destroyed, God says. We are destroyed by Satan when we 

have forgotten what we are in Jesus Christ But when by grace we 

learn to understand this again, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, we will 

have no fright in the battle against spiritUal wickedness in high 

places. 

Now is the time for men of God to obtain an insight into the 

realm of demons and start fighting them with the weapons which 

God has designated. We have often seen how simple people with 

faith in the power of Jesus bound the demons and cast them out Do 

not allow fear of Satan to hold you from fighting against him. Remind 

him sharply and continuously of the fact that he is a defeated enemy 

through the victory on Calvary. I have seen people of all ages set free 

from evil spirits through faithful prayer, anointing, binding, the Holy 

Supper. 

When demons have been recognized they are already half 

conquered. We can recognize demons through the use of the 

wonderful gift - an ability given by God - of discernment of spirits 

(1 Cor. 12: 10). Why discerning, identifying? In order to know 

which enemy is opposing us, what sinister personality he is, and how 

to fight him. Many an important demon, prince or principality has a 

name; to know this name makes it easier to bind him and cast him 

out; when he has become manifest and his name is mentioned, half of 

his power is broken. 

The Church of the Lord must decide whether or not to 

replenish this knowledge and to become again a church as in the days 

of Paul, full of the Holy Spirit and power. There were simple people 

('Behold, are not all these which speak, Galileans?' - Acts 2 : 7), 

men and women filled with the Holy Spirit, who did great works for 

God. 

In Acts 6 : 5-7 we read of Stephen. He held a modest office in 

the church as a deacon, but 'Stephen, a man full offaith and of the 

Holy Ghost. .. full of faith and power, did great wonders and 

miracles among the people.' He was not full of physical power, as 

Samson, but full of the power of the Holy Spirit, and did miracles, 

which is the characteristic of a pentecostal life. 

We must cleanse ourselves from all false human doctrines and 

32

go back to the Word of God in order to find again the gifts and fruit of 

the Holy Spirit We have simply to bow down in humility and 

surrender to God's demands and to pray to the Lord of the church to 

fill us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Then we also will be taught 

by the Holy Spirit and be guided into the ministries, so that we also 

can successfully act against the evil powers among us. 

In high places 

'F or we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but. . . against 

spiritual wickedness in high places' (Eph. 6 : 12). Where are these 

unclean powers of Satan located? In heaven? It is evident that the 

'high places' spoken of here does not mean the place where God is 

living, heaven as a place of blessedness, the house of the Father with 

the many mansions (John 14: 2). Jesus says: 'And I go and prepare 

a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that 

where I am, there ye may be also' (John 14: 3). The Lord is holy 

and without blemish. He will not live in the same house with Satan. 

Therefore, you must not think of the high places as the place of God, 

but as the atmosphere, the universe. 

We see in Job 1 : 6 that Satan appears among the 'sons of 

God'. They are the archangels, the princes of the light, the co-rulers 

with God. There he stands before the face of God between Michael 

( one of the chief princes - Dan. 10 : 13; Michael your prince - Dan. 

10: 21; the special protector and frontwarrior of Israel, the great 

prince which standeth for the children of thy people - Dan. 12 : 1) 

and Gabriel, the announcer ('I am Gabriel, that stand in the 

presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee 

these glad tidings' - Luke 1 : 19; 'the angel Gabriel was sent from 

God unto a city of Galilee' - Luke 1 : 26) along with other heavenly 

princes. 

Satan is standing between them. He pushes his way between 

them, even though he deserted his place in rebellion, counteracting 

God by becoming His immediate and unabated opponent God in 

His sovereignty allows him admission, but his place is not there. His 

place will be the lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 20 : 10), prepared 

for him and his angels. 

The realm of the last, the final battle is the atmosphere, where 

. the powers of darkness fight against the King of the Kingdom of 

heaven: Jesus Christ And from these regions the evil spirits come to 

33

fight men in soul, spirit, and body. This is a spiritual battle of spirit 

against spirit, of spirit against the Spirit of God, the spirit of the antichrist 

against the Spirit of Christ. This battle is being fought at a 

thousand fronts, in all realms, and there is nothing and nobody 

escaping this battle. 

Jesus Christ - and this is a sure thing - is Victor in the battle. 

God has raised Christ from the dead' and set Him at His own right 

hand in the heavenly places, far above all (Satanic) principality, and 

power, and might, and dominion, and every name' (Eph. 1 : 20-21). 

We also, children of God, must occupy this place. He' hath raised us 

up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ 

Jesus' (Eph. 2 : 6). 

The place which Jesus would prepare for us ( John 14 : 3) is not 

a place of rest without any further ado, but a place in His throne as a 

co-ruler. Originally God destined us as people to have dominion 

(Gen. 1 : 26). Jesus, the great Healer and Renewer of all things, 

brings us back to that original place, if we are in Him. 'And if 

children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs (of a throne) with 

Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified 

together' (partaking in His government) (Rom. 8 : 17). 

If Jesus had not set us free (Gal. 5 : 1) and had not made us 

sons of God, we would have remained slaves ( of sin), excluded from 

this position in the throne. ' ... The heir, as long as he is a child, 

differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all ... even so 

we, when we were children were in bondage under the elements of 

the world. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent 

forth His Son, made of woman, made under the law, to redeem them 

that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son 

into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more 

a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God, through Christ' 

(Gal. 4: 1-7). We are heirs of the power of God and joint-heirs of 

Christ's Kingdom, in which we have obtained a place of authority. 

'Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?' (1 Cor. 6 : 2). 

'Know ye not that we shall judge angels?' (1 Cor.6: 3). 

Satan exercises his rule and fights his battle in 'the heavenly 

places', because he knows that these 'heavenly places' are the realm 

of dominion of Christ and his joint-heirs. It is evident that Satan 

34

denies God's children this power by all the means he has at his 

disposal, and that he wants to keep this huge realm of the heavenlies 

for his own. 

He does so especially because in this realm of the air the 

wonderful meeting between Jesus and the Church will take place, the 

incomparable coming together of all children of God and the 

heavenly Bridegroom. 'For the Lord himself shall descend from 

heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the 

trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which 

are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the 

clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the 

Lord' (1 Thess. 4: 16-17). 

In this time of the end, Satan is endeavouring to divert our 

attention from Jesus' second coming by all sorts of fantastic 

manoeuvres (sputniks, luniks, satellites, rockets) in space. The 

wicked spirits in the air, the spiritual wickedness in high places are 

Satan's hosts, wanting to reign with all strategic refinement, though 

they will have to give up this realm to those who are the legal owners 

ofit the children of God. 'Therefore let no man glory in men. For all 

things are yours; whether the world, or life, or death, or things 

present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and 

Christ is God's' (1 Cor. 3 : 21-23). 

The people of Israel are symbolic of the church. The people of 

Israel were brought out of the house of bondage from .Egypt (the 

condition of being bound by sin). They were guided by Joshua, but 

especially by the fiery cloud (the guidance of the Spirit), and brought 

to Canaan, the promised land given to them as a heritage. They met 

all kinds of kings, enemies and obstacles. God had given the land as a 

heritage, but they had to fight and conquer the hostile powers, all of 

them: principalities, powers, might, dominion, names. Though the 

powers were subordinated to them, the people had to fight and 

conquer them. 

These powers are put under God's rule, but under the 

command of Jesus (Joshua is the same word as Jesus in Hebrew), 

we have to purge our promised land of these powers. We must 

capture, overpower and render harmless the kings ' in the heavenly 

places' in the name of Jesus. 

All powers and all things will be submitted to the dominion of 

35

Jesus Christ, who passed into the heavens to establish His kingdom 

as a King and Highpriest (Heb. 4: 14). All things shall bow down 

for his honour and glory. 'Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him' 

(Psalm 72 : 11 a). 

'Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstbom of every 

creature. For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and 

that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or 

dominions or principalities, or powers: all things were created by 

Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things 

consist, and He is the head of the body, the Church' (Col. 1 : 15-18). 

Jesus is the Creator, He is the Word, the Lord and King, on 

earth and in the heavenly places. Jesus says: 'All power is given unto 

Me in heaven and in earth' (Matt. 28 : 18). 'Bless the Lord, all his 

works in all places of His dominion' (Psalm 103 : 22). 

Which powers are these? 

In Ephesians 6 Paul does not write about evil spirits in general, 

but he distinguishes precisely relationships, grades and varieties in 

power. He does not talk about small teasing spirits, spirits of slumber 

or spirits diverting people's attention, but he talks directly about 

great powers and principalities. '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' (Eph. 6 : 12). 

In Satan's realm there are princes over princes, powers over 

powers, names over names. There is a certain order, a reign of fear, 

as is the case in communism, which creates a certain unity. Fear for 

the powerful and cruel Gestapo brought forth an automatic 

discipline. In the same way, fear is a unifying force in the realm of 

darkness. 'And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he 

cannot stand, but hath an end' (Mark 3 : 26). Satan reigns in this 

manner and he is obeyed for fear. 

There are many kinds of spirits in the heavenly places, evil 

spirits, unclean spirits, all sorts of spirits of sickness. Several are 

mentioned in the Bible. 'And they that were vexed with unclean 

spirits and they were healed' (Luke 6: 18). 'And when the unclean 

spirit had tom him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him' 

36

(Mark 1 : 26). 'When Jesus saw that the people came running 

together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him: thou deaf and 

dumb spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more in 

him' (Mark 9: 25). Luke, the doctor, 'the beloved physician' (Col. 

1 : 14), called epilepsy an evil spirit 'And as he was yet coming, the 

devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean 

spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father' 

(Luke 9 : 42). 'And He was casting out a devil, and it was dumb' 

(Luke 11 : 14). 'And behold, there was a woman which had a spirit 

of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together and could in no 

wise lift up herself (Luke 13 : 11). 

There are a variety of spirits other than sicknesses mentioned 

in the Scripture: 'And this is that spirit of antichrist' (1 John 4: 3). 

'For ye have not received a spirit of bondage again to/ear' (Rom. 

8 : 15). 'Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error' 

(1 John 4 : 6, 2 Thess. 2 : 11). 'For God hath not given us the spirit 

of/ear' (2 Tim. 1 : 7). 'And the spirit of jealousy come upon him' 

(Numbers 5: 14). 'For the spiritofwhoredoms hath caused them to 

err' (Hosea 4 : 12 and 5 : 4). 'God hath given them the spirit of 

slumber' (Rom. 11 : 8), and 'for the Lord hath poured out upon you 

the spirit of deep sleep' (Isa. 29 : 10). 'The Lord hath mingled a 

perverse spirit in the midst thereof (Isa. 19 : 14). 

There are spirits of envy, of scandal, of quarrel and discord, 

sensual spirits, spirits of murder and suicide, spirits of destruction, 

spirits of melancholy, hallucination, obsession, gloomy spirits, 

sullen spirits, sadistic spirits, various spirits of mental sickness, 

oppression, fixation. There are deceptive spirits, misleading spirits 

in many forms, maniacal spirits, eccentric spirits, spirits of fortune 

telling, intoxicating spirits, stupefying spirits. There are spirits of 

criticism and of postponement, many kinds of unclean spirits. There 

are spirits of speed which urge the driver or the pilot to greater and 

greater and still greater speed, but also spirits of slowness causing 

people to ever slower thinking and reaction, bringing their rhythm of 

life gradually to a standstill and a sinking away in apathy. There are 

spirits that dwell continuously in man, and other spirits that 

continually go in an out There are slandering spirits which do not 

cease to belittle, to insult men and to sow antipathy, breaking friendships, 

destroying love by scandal mongering. There are spirits trying 

to keep people away from their work, thus causing them never to 

37

finish what once they started to do. There is a spirit of forgetfulness, 

of always-being-Iate; there are tragic spirits, but also comical, 

ridiculous. There are religious spirits, and also worldly spirits. There 

are spirits making people anxious, others making people indifferent 

There are great powers not easily cast out and which only can be 

bound by continuous praying and fasting and there is a multitude of 

small teasing, peevish, and diverting spirits. 

There are all sorts of spirits of sickness. Cancer is a very real 

and clear power of Satan, as are tumor, asthma, neurotic illnesses, 

paralysis, stiffenings, diabetes, eczema, spasms, migraine, etc. etc. 

(Not all sicknesses are caused by powers of Satan. A broken leg, of 

course, is not such a power. These members of the body have to be 

'redeemed'). 

There are many sexual spirits clouding the holy gift of God 

between men, making it a demoniacal thing. There are sadistic and 

unnatural spirits, spirits of torture and powerlessness as well as of 

disinterestedness. It is evident that Satan plays many trumps in this 

realm. 

There are regional powers tied to a definite place or town or 

region. The possessed man in the land of the Gadarenes was spoken 

to by Jesus and then the powers ('we are many') 'besought Him 

much that He would not send them away out of the country' (Mark 

5 : 10). But there are also powers roaming the whole world. It cannot 

be said how many and what spirits there are; they exist in every 

realm. 

Religious demons 

However, I want to denote a special kind of spirits which are 

very dangerous and can cause no small damage to the church. As the 

time of the end proceeds, they will exercise their influence more 

frequently and with greater sneakiness. These are the 'pious' spirits, 

religious demons. In this time, Satan is playing a sinister game of 

imitating the revelation of Jesus Christ He reveals himself in such a 

way that the imprudent, carnal Christian, who has no knowledge of 

the Bible and of the things concerning the Kingdom of God, does not 

recognize him and thinks he is dealing with the Lord. 'And no 

marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light' 

(2 Cor. 11 : 14). 'Beware of false prophets, which come to you in 

sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolwes' (Matt. 

7: 15). 

38

In the time of the end, Satan will imitate Jesus Christ in everything 

and will confuse many. 'For there shall arise false Christs, and 

false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders' (Matt 

24 : 24). 'Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times 

some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and 

doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience 

seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding 

to abstain from meats' (1 Tim. 4: 1-3). 'For the time will come 

when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts 

shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they 

shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto 

fables (false, deceitful philosophies of Satan)' (2 Tim. 3 : 4). Misleading 

spirits will carry away the people of God by a bloodless 

theology and deny that Jesus is the Son of God. 'But there were false 

prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers 

among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies' (2 Peter 

2: 1). 

'For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they 

allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those 

that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they 

promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; 

for of whom a man is overcome, of the same he is brought in 

bondage' (2 Peter 2 : 18-19). Satan promises liberty, but brings 

slavery, binds and captures. 0, 'let us therefore cast off the works of 

darkness, and let us put on the armour of light' (Rom. 13: 12). 

It is essential that we use the ability given by God to discern the 

spirits, so that we may recognize them and not be tempted by them. 

There is no gift of discerning people, but of discerning (evil, 

misleading) spirits. Discerning spirits is different from casting out 

spirits, for which you use a different gift Identifying the enemy and 

knowing the opponent is the opening of the battle. Without this 

diving gift of discerning spirits - you can only receive this gift if you 

are filled with the Holy Spirit - you can not see through these 

religious tactics of the enemy, though you may have the Bible in your 

hand. Natural intelligence and acumen will not see through these 

works of the prince of darkness; you need a special gift of the Holy 

Spirit Satan knows the Bible and will confuse God's children with 

Bible verses; he also says: 'It is written' (Matt 4 : 6). In most 

Christian circles the real presence of demons is not accepted, and 

39

they overlook the possibility - yea, the command of God - to begin 

the fight against them. Most children of God are unaware of this 

world of spirits, and of how to battle and gain victory over these 

spirits. 

This booklet is not written to enlarge upon this battle, but 

nevertheless we like to bring to your notice two important texts. 

First ' Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and 

fasting' (Matt 17 : 21). Prayer and fasting. Where are people still 

fasting in the Biblical manner? How many ministers and clergy are 

addicted to smoking and drinking! Praying and fasting develops an 

enormous spiritual power, power to conquer, especially evil powers. 

Secondly, we must understand and accept our position of 

authority. We must bind the powers and cast them out in the mighty 

name of Jesus, with authority, commanding without fear. We must 

get rid of the powers, not temporarily, but defmitely and permanently 

settling the account with them. Do not come in your own 

name, which has neither power nor victory, but come in the name of 

Jesus, for unto Him is given all power in heaven and in earth! ' Verily, 

I say unto you (When a saying of Jesus commences in this way, an 

important communication follows, a law of the Kingdom), whatsoever 

ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever 

ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven' (Matt 

18: 18). 

It is of urgent necessity in our lives that at last we deny Satan 

his dominion, cease our servitude and come to freedom. Christ has 

made us free, so that we be truly free (Gal. 5 : 1). 

'For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh; 

(for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through 

God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, 

and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of 

God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of 

Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when 

your obedience is fulfilled' (2 Cor. 10 : 3-6). 

40

THE WEAPONS 

Paul mentions the weapons we have to use in our fight against 

Satan. There are seven of them: five weapons for defence and two for 

attack; both defence and attack, as in every battle. 

Before mentioning the weapons of defence and attack one by 

one, we want to point out the attitude we must take in this battle; 

when reading we so easily ignore it and yet it is very important to 

draw attention to this before putting on the armour. 

Commitment to victory 

Ephesians 6 : 14 begins thus: 'Stand therefore.' This goes with 

arming oneself. Stand on your feet! Be prepared! Attention! Present 

yourselfl 'Awake thou that sleepest!' To be able to withstand, one 

must stand first 'But rise, and stand upon thy feet' (Acts 26: 16). 

'Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees' 

(Heb. 12: 12). We must be awake and entirely 'with it', knowing the 

issue, being prepared to devote ourselves entirely, putting all halfheartedness 

aside, overcoming all weariness, as well as all disappointment, 

all that can delay and hinder us. 

'Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily 

beset us' (Heb. 12 : 1). Push aside everything that hinders and 

opposes. We line up in God's division of faith, our eyes turned 

towards our front-rank man Jesus, the Champion. 'Looking unto 

Jesus the author and finisher of our faith' (Heb. 12: 2). 

'Stand therefore.' These two words are not mentioned as a 

mere introduction with a view to the armament, but form the very 

necessary demand that we line up in close battle array and see all 

other soldiers of Christ on our side. When we report our presence, 

the whole army listens, just as we hear the names of our fellow 

warriors mentioned. It is not a small private war, but our joint battle; 

we have 'so great a cloud of witnesses' (Heb. 12: 1). It is the battle 

of the members of the church of Christ and we are, according to His 

promise, more than conquerors! 

41

The angel of the Lord said to Hagar in the desert ofBeer-sheba: 

'Arise!' (Gen. 21 : 18) and there she began a new life. The same 

thing was said by the angel to the weary Elijah in the same desert 

'Arise!' (1 Kings 19 : 5) and he went forty days and forty nights to 

Mount Horeb. The man at Bethesda, who had been ill for thirty-eight 

years, heard the command of Jesus: 'Rise!' (John 5 : 8). This man 

was healed, he stood and from then on was a new man. At the gates 

of Damascus, the Lord called to Paul, who was stricken down and 

defeated: 'Arise!' (Acts 9: 6). This was the beginning of the wonderfully 

blessed ministry of the apostle Paul. 

We must have a good start, stand on our feet, line up, with fear 

banished from our hearts, in the name of Jesus, in His victorious 

power. If the beginning of the battle is good, it will end in triumph. 

We must faithfully obey the Word of God, and follow His directions 

and orders. 'And if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not 

crowned, except he strive lawfully' (2 Tim. 2: 5), according to the 

orders of God, the Word of God. 'Let us therefore cast off the works 

of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light' (Rom. 13 : 12). 

The girdle of truth (Eph. 6 : 14) 

When an Oriental begins to move, he girds his loins. With his 

waistband he pulls up his long garment, so that he is not hindered by 

it when moving forward. Thus the Lord wants us to gird our loins, to 

gird with truth. Jesus says: 'I am the way, the truth and the life' (John 

14 : 6). We want to be girt with this truth, which is Jesus Himself, the 

Spirit of truth. We want to be directed, to be anchored. We are not 

prisoners of false traditions and wrong opinions, of deeply rooted 

religious traditions, but are willing followers and adherents to the 

truth of Jesus. As we formerly allowed ourselves to be bound by the 

slave master, Satan, so we are now obedient workers of the truth of 

Jesus. 

The first condition before going to battle is: to surrender to 

Jesus completely, to pledge ourselves to His power, be filled by Him 

wholly. The adversary, the father oflies, has made us believe the lie, 

the half lie (consequently, half the truth), the misrepresentation for 

such a long time that we have got a completely distorted idea about 

the things of the Lord. 'Whose coming is after the working of Satan 

with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness 

of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received 

42

not the love of the truth, that they might be saved' (2 Thess. 

2:9-11). 

Satan does not hesitate to imitate the words and signs of God in 

order to tempt people to leave God. We have to gird ourselves with 

truth against this refined policy of lies. The lie ties us to the father of 

lying, but the truth ties us to Jesus, the Truth. Ifwe are standing and 

remain standing on the Word of God as on the Truth, whatever may 

happen, the truth will become active for us, do something for us. 'If 

ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall 

know the truth, and the truth shall make you free' (John 8: 31-32). 

The truth must fill us. Paul says: 'As the truth of Christ is in me' 

(2 Cor. 11 : 10). The truth of Christ, which fills us, is a condition, a 

first demand, before taking up the battle against the spirits oflying in 

the high places, and against the demons which attack the truth of 

Christ's victory. 

To the girdle is attacherl ' he sword, the sword of the Spirit, the 

Word, the truth of Jesus. Ot. .le buckles of the belts of the German 

army in World WarII were engraved the words 'Gottmituns' (God 

with us)! The German war leaders appropriated God to their 

worldly aims of'flesh and blood'. That is why they lost this battle, it 

became a terrible failure. 'Gott mit uns' is the promise for a different 

kind of battle, the spiritual battle of God's children against the 

spiritual wicked powers in the heavenlies, the demons, Satan and his 

host 

The first defensive weapon in the armour of God is the truth, 

the truth of the Word of God, the Kingdom of God, the only reality 

entitled to bear the name: truth. We must learn to understand what 

the issue really is. The Lord wants us to have open eyes for the 

reality of this battle. Our task is to unmask the lie through the truth, to 

penetrate the darkness with the light of God. 'I send thee, to open 

their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the 

power of Satan unto God' (Acts 26: 17-18). 

The truth cannot bear distortion, error. 'Now the Spirit 

speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the 

faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 

speaking lies in hypocrisy' (1 Tim. 4: 1-2). The Lord wants us to 

plough straight furrows, to be girt with the truth, to stay away from all 

appearance of evil; the Lord wants us to lift up the light high in the 

43

darkness and twilight of Satan's policy oflying. 'Show me Thy ways, 

o Lord; teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me: 

for Thou art the God of my salvation' (Psalm 25: 4-5). 

The breastplate of righteousness (Eph.6: 14) 

'Having on the breastplate of righteousness.' This is not the 

breastplate of our righteousness, but of God's righteousness in Jesus 

Christ Formerly we were clothed with the shabby, unclean clothes 

of sin, our unrighteousness. But then Jesus came, and when we 

surrendered to Him, He took those clothes from us, clothed Himself 

with it and clothed us with the clean garment of His righteousness. 

He took my unrighteousness upon Himself, yea, He Himself 

became my unrighteousness that I might become righteousness of 

God in Him. Jesus is my substitute. I would be crucified because of 

my guilt before God, but He took my guilt upon Himself and was 

crucified for me. Eternal damnation was loaded on me, but 

hallelujah, my substitute intervened and took judgment upon 

Himself. He was judged for me. 

When Jesus arose from the grave, glorified, He was free from 

sin, not from His own sin, for He had no sin, but free from my sin. I 

live through Him, by Him, by His grace and forgiveness. Jesus came 

and died for me, so that I may live. Hallelujah! 

Jesus clothed me with His righteousness, His salvation, His 

glory. He armoured me with that When Satan desires to find guilt, 

sin in me, he will be stopped by this armour, for it cannot be 

penetrated. When 'the accuser of our brethren' (Rev. 12 : 10) wants 

to continue accusing me and points at my unrighteousness, my 

unclean garment, he will fail. When Satan points at my guilt, I say: 

'Yes, but it is all nailed to the cross.' I point at my righteousness in 

Jesus, for God says in His Word that I am cleansed and sanctified by 

Jesus. There is 'righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus 

Christ unto all and upon all them that believe' (Rom. 3: 22). 'For I 

will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their 

iniquities will I remember no more' (Heb.8 : 12). 'But he was 

wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; 

the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes 

we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned 

everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity 

of us all' (Isa. 53 : 5-6). 'For He hath made Him to be sin for us, 

44

Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in 

Him' (2 Cor. 5 : 21). By His righteousness we have become as 

righteous before God as Jesus, for He is our righteousness. 

The separation between God and us has been bridged by Jesus 

Christ Isaiah 59: 1-2 says: 'Behold, the Lord's hand is not 

shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot 

hear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, 

and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.' 

Forgiveness came. Hallelujah! 'Bless the Lord, 0 my soul; and all 

that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, 

and forget not all His benefits; Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; 

Who healeth all thy diseases (Psalm 103: 1-3). 

Jesus makes us free from unrighteousness by forgiving it He 

makes us free through His blood. Praise the Lord. 'But God be 

thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from 

the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then 

made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness' 

(Rom. 6: 17-18). Jesus has endued me 'with power from on high' 

(Luke 24 : 49), clothed with the impenetrable armour of a complete 

salvation, the breastplate of righteousness. For 'you have put on 

Christ' (Gal. 3 : 27), armoured, safeguarded, secured with Christ 

In this way we will conquer, however hard the battle may be, 

whatever kind of experiences we may have. 'A thousand shall fall at 

thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh 

thee' (Psalm 91 : 7). 

'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall 

tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 

peril, or sword? ... Nay, in all these things we are more than 

conquerors through Him that loved us' (Rom. 8 : 35, 37). 

The preparation of the gospel of peace (Eph. 6: 15) 

In Romans 3 : 15-16 it says: 'Their feet are swift to shed blood: 

destruction and misery are in their ways.' In Ephesians 6 : 15 the 

same Paul writes: 'And your feet shod with the preparation of the 

gospel of peace.' The loins girt, the feet shod, marks of readiness, 

willingness to go and to be witnesses: ' Go ye into all the world, and 

preach the gospel to every creature' (Mark 16 : 15). 

The feet are shod to go and to preach the gospel of peace, 

prepared to carry out the last great commission which Jesus gave 

45

His disciples before His ascension. It is not a commission to bring 

the world a sweet and soft humanism - 'Let us be gentle to each 

other, dear' - not a poor, bloodless gospel which is no more than a 

synthetic religion, liberal ethics, sentimentality, but the living power 

of the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The blood of 

Jesus is the wonderful medicine which God has given for a lost 

world. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the great, glorious answer for 

everyone and everything. 

With the armour of God goes the readiness to bring the Word 

of the mercy of God to poor, lost sinners. To be witnesses. A witness 

is somebody who' saw it himself, who 'was with it'. Anybody can be 

a witness: the businessman, the housewife, the girl, the schoolboy, 

the intellectual, the simple-minded, the aged, the youngster, all 

people. If we offer our readiness to the Lord of the harvest, He will 

use it It is not so very important whether He will send us to the 

classical heathen regions in Central Mrica or to the asphalt jungle of 

your city, to the people living on the same floor as you, to your social 

circle, your office, factory or workshop - the most important thing is 

that He sends you. It is His business where to send, it is our business 

to be ready to be sent 

When you go out as a witness, bring neither more nor less than 

the gospel of peace. Do not bring your own invented human 

doctrines, however religious they may sound, no traditions, explanations, 

deeply theoretic contemplations, bring only the gospel of 

peace. Do not discuss, do not philosophize, do not bring 'your' 

church or denomination, do not bring a matter dear to you or a 

special subject But do bring the simple and precious gospel of John 

3: 16, the gospel of mercy for sinners, forgiveness, redemption and 

eternal life. 

Jesus said: 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: 

not as the world giveth, give I unto you' (John 14: 27). The peace 

conferences, the pacts of non-aggression and the security councils of 

the world bring no peace for your soul. Jesus says: 'My peace!' A 

peace within, peacefulness from Me in the storm, this 'joy unspeakable 

and full of glory' (1 Peter 1 : 8), this 'blessed assurance, Jesus is 

mine!'; a peace which passes all understanding. By trusting acceptance 

of the forgiveness of sin, redemption of sin, this peace floods our 

hearts. 

'How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not 

helieved? and how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not 

46

heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall 

they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are 

the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad 

tidings of good things!' (Rom. 10 : 14-15). Paul is writing here about 

the same feet as those 'shod with the preparation of the gospel of 

peace'. Beautiful feet, blessed feet, willing feet to publish abroad the 

mercy of Jesus, the gospel of peace. 

'These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have 

peace' (John 16 : 33). Through the word of testimony peace comes 

to us. It is brought to us by the Holy Spirit, 'the Word which God 

sent. .. preaching peace by Jesus Christ' (Acts 10: 36). The world 

does not know this deep, inward peace, because the world is the 

realm of Satan, where he rules with corruption, impurity, cruelty, 

misery, pain, lies, sin and sickness. 'And the way of peace have they 

not known' (Rom. 3 : 17), but they are called, invited to peace. 'But 

God hath called us to peace' (1 Cor. 7 : 15). 

'For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace' (1 Cor. 

14: 33). The multitude of angels gave praise for the birth of Jesus 

and announced, 'On earth peace, good will toward men' (Luke 

2: 14). The gospel of peace is the gospel of Jesus, He is our peace. 

, And He came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to 

them that were nigh' (Eph. 2: 17), to all nations, the gospel of peace 

everywhere. From a life rent by sin sinners are called to the peace of 

Jesus Christ, filling their hearts. 'And let the peace of Christ rule in 

your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye 

thankful' (Col. 3 : 15). 'And the peace of God, which passeth all 

understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus 

Christ' (Phi!. 4: 7). 'Now the Lord of peace Himselfgive you peace 

always by all means' (2 Thess. 3 : 16). Jehovah Shalom, the Lord of 

peace. 

The shield of faith (Eph. 6: 16) 

'Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able 

to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked' (Eph. 6 : 16). The shield 

of faith is another defensive weapon against Satan. God is my shield. 

As the Dutch anthem says: 'My shield and confidence art Thou, 0 

Lord my God.' 

My faith in God is my shield. Spiritually spoken, my worth is to 

the measure of my faith. T am what I believe. I also possess what I 

47

elieve, for what I believe. 'According to your faith be it unto you' 

(Matt 9 : 29). Not faith in myself, but in Jesus Christ, the 

Revelation of the power of God. I am not what I feel to be, nor what 

the symptoms say I am, what intellectually I think to be, nor what 

others say I am, what Satan, the accuser, says I am; but I am, may 

be, can be, what I believe in God. 'According to your faith be it unto 

you.' 

'The just shall live by his faith' (Hab. 2 : 4; Heb. 10: 3). Mind 

you: by his faith! Not by the faith of others, but by his personal faith. 

He is what he believes, he can receive as many things as he has faith 

for in God, no less. Faith can never expect too much. 'Thy faith hath 

made thee whole' (Matt. 9 : 22; Mark 5 : 35, 10: 52; Luke 7 : 50, 

8 : 48), that is what Jesus said. In the upper room He told Peter: 

'Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may 

sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not' 

(Luke 22: 31-32), that your shieldoffaith might not break to pieces. 

Peter was a desired target for Satan's offensives, and how could 

Peter protect himself? 

Battle broke out against this impetuous servant of the Lord. 

Could he be sufficiently vigilant? His Highpriest, his Advocate, his 

Intercessor prayed for him, for his faith, for his shield of faith. 

Another squire of God, S tephen, stood firmly in the Lord. It is 

written of him: 'Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy 

Ghost ... full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles 

among the people' (Acts 6: 5, 8). Stephen, the deacon, was filled 

with the Holy Spirit He had known a mighty pentecostal experience 

in his life, he knew who he was in Jesus, he knew what he could do by 

Him, he knew how to take victory power from the Lord and how to 

use it, to the glory of His name. Only spiritual people, filled with the 

Holy Spirit can see these things; there is no natural way of understanding 

(1 Cor. 2 : 14). 

The Sanhedrin, the great Council of Pharisees and scribes, to 

whom Stephen had to give account, took offence at his action and his 

witness. When Stephen gave his address, without fear, in the power 

of the Holy Spirit, he concluded with an accusation: 'Ye do always 

resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye ... When they 

heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on 

him with their teeth' (Acts 7 : 51, 54). 

48

Stephen put the battle in its spiritual meaning: spirit against the 

Spirit of God, law against grace, dead formalism versus the power of 

the faith, petrifaction against freedom. But the official clergy did not 

accept this. They cast him out, they stoned him. Again they were 

making it a matter of 'flesh and blood', as they used to do, natural 

men as they were, always trying to solve problems in this way. 

Stephen saw what the council did not see. Stephen had the shield of 

faith and remained spiritually unaffected, as Jesus on the cross 

remained spiritually unaffected, notwithstanding all violence. Jesus 

says: 'And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill 

the soul' (Matt. 10 : 28). 'And all that sat in the council, looking 

stedfeastly on Stephen, saw his face as it had been the face of an 

angel' (Acts 6: 15). 

The shield of his faith had not failed, it did not break though his 

body was broken. In this spiritual battle the Spirit gains the victory. 

'For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the 

victory that overcometh the world, even our faith' (1 John 5: 4). In 

the battle of which Paul speaks in Ephesians 6, victory is guaranteed 

by God. It is a sure matter that in the battle of faith against the hostile 

powers, the enemy will be conquered. 

'Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto 

thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before 

many witnesses' (1 Tim.6 : 12). Let nothing stop you, 'continue in 

the faith' (Col. 1 : 23). 'I am ... joying and beholding your order, 

and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ' (Col. 2 : 5). We are 

justified by grace, not by works (Rom. 3 : 24, 28; Gal. 2: 16); by 

faith in His blood we are redeemed (Rom. 3 : 25); we receive healing 

by faith in Him, 'and His name through faith in His name hath made 

this man strong, whom ye ·see and know; yea, the faith which is by 

Him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all' 

(Acts 3: 16). Jesus said, healing a sick child: 'If thou canst believe, 

all things are possible for him that believeth' (Mark 9: 23). 'I live by 

the faith of the Son of God' (Gal. 2 : 20). By faith I have received the 

Holy Spirit ( Gal. 3 : 2), by faith also the gifts of the Spirit, the power 

to cast out demons and to heal the sick (Gal. 3 : 5). 

By faith we partake in the blessing of Abraham (Gen. 12 : 1- 

3). God's promise is: 'And I will make of thee a great nation, and I 

will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a 

blessing, and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that 

curseth thee.' 

The Lord wants us to live by faith, faith in His wonderful 

49

power. He would have us live by His life, live of His fullness, not of 

the material and natural certainties round about us, but live by Him, 

obtaining the things of His Kingdom, according to His Word and 

promise. 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the 

evidence of things not seen' (Heb. 11 : 1). 'As seeing Him who is 

invisible' (Heb. 11 : 27), who is the good Giver of all blessings 

(Psalm 103: 2). 

On the whole we are apprehensive of a life by faith, we think it 

too uncertain. We would rather not embark on this spiritual 

adventure with Jesus Christ, and catch instead at all straws in human 

society for support. We do not trust Jesus, the' Author and Finisher 

of our faith' (Heb. 12 : 2), not to the utmost. We dare not live by His 

grace from day to day, trusting His wonderful promises which are all 

'yeaandamen'inHim(2 Cor. 1 : 20). We are afraid that He will not 

keep His promises and - when it really matters - will drop us. But to 

live by faith means to stand, remain in Him, completely. 'Abide in 

Me, and I in you' (John 15: 4). If you let go of Him, lose Him, 

distrust His Word, grieve His Spirit, refuse His hand, you are led to 

darkness. 'But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but 

of them that believe to the saving of the soul' (Heb. 10 : 39). 

The fiery darts of the wicked (Eph.6: 16) 

'Above all (that you have taken in possession of the armour), 

taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the 

fiery darts of the wicked' (Eph. 6 : 16). Taking the shield of faith 

against the fiery darts, the furious attacks of Satan. Praise the Lord 

for giving a defensive weapon able to resist Satan's offensives; the 

Lord has provided! The prince of darkness continuously attacks us 

in the realm of soul and body. We already wrote about all sorts of 

evil spirits waylaying us in various ways. There are thousands of 

temptations, diseases and griefs, doubt, criticism, blindness, infidelity, 

darts shot at us by the enemy. He directs them to our feeling and 

mind. 

If as Christians we forget what we are, what we can do in Jesus 

Christ, and do not put our faith as a hard and whole armour between 

us and the enemy, we fall prey to him. Satan has had an opportunity 

to study man for many centuries. He knows him through and 

through, as a mass as well as an individual. All our weaknesses are 

known to him, and they are like many openings into which he can 

50

shoot his fiery darts. 

Satan came to the first people created by the Word and unto the 

Word to talk them away from this Word. God had said to Eve that 

she was not allowed to eat of the tree in the middle of Eden. Satan 

came and talked this out of her head. Eve should have armoured 

herself against these temptations of the devil, but her shield of faith 

was weak, so that Satan could shoot his fiery darts at her unprotected 

way of thinking. 

This resulted in the terrible fall of mankind. Satan did not 

penetrate her faith, but her sentiment. This is as he always does, 

coming to us through our senses, our mind. If! approach the things of 

God's Kingdom through what I have heard of it or think of it, what I 

see with my eyes or what my sentiment says about it, via my 

sensorial observations, I will not fmd the things I am looking for. 

'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things 

not seen' (Heb. 11 : 1). Faith builds its house upon a different 

perception: God has said! and that's it! Faith lives of this reality and 

cannot walk on natural, visible, palpable, reasoned ways. Faith 

directs itself towards what God can do, to what He is, what He says. 

This is the highest reality, exceeding everything, exceeding any 

criticism or opinion. When all other things in this world pass away, 

this reality remains. 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My 

words shall not pass away' (Matt. 24: 35; Mark 13: 31; Luke 

21 : 33). 

Lack of knowledge of the Word of God (Hosea 4: 6), resulting 

in our forgetting what we are and possess in Jesus Christ, has made 

Satan so perilous for us. Lacking insight in the power of the Holy 

Spirit, we have lost the mighty possibility to fight Satan effectively. 

We must go back to the Word of God, the mirror. We read in J ames 

1 : 23-24: 'For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is 

like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth 

himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner 

of man he was.' We have gone our way and have forgotten what we 

look like, what we are in the mirror of God; that is the tragedy of 

Christianity. 

We must go back to the Bible, wherein as in a mirror held 

before us we can see that we are more than conquerors in Christ, that 

in Him we partake again in 'His image and likeness', and partake' of 

the divine nature' (2 Peter 1 : 4). Satan puts a laughing-mirror 

51

efore us, which causes a distorted image and likeness, ridiculous 

and reducing forms. However, we do not follow Satan, but Jesus 

Christ, and we have been bought and paid for by Him, His own 

nation we are! We must become Bible-believing, Word-believing 

Christians. We must let go all our own reasonings and comments 

and start afresh to learn and read the Bible in a childlike, simple, 

open and believing manner, as God's truth. In it we fmd the power to 

ban the enemy out of our lives and keep him out! 

Paul knew who he was in Jesus Christ and he wrote: 'I can do 

all things through Christ which strengtheneth me' (Phi!. 4: 13). 

Peter knew what he was in his Master, and he said to the lame man in 

the gate called the Beautiful: ' Silver and gold have I none; but such as 

I have give I thee; In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up 

and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and 

immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he 

leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, 

walking, and leaping, and praising God' (Acts 3 : 6-8). The man was 

healed and he walked and jumped and praised God! Elijah knew 

what he was in his God. Lonely he stood on Mount Carmel and 

prayed fire from heaven (1 Kings 18 : 38), and he ordered it not to 

rain for three and a half years (James 5 : 17). He called the dead boy 

back from death to life (1 Kings 17 : 22). 'And the Lord heard the 

voice of Elijah.' 

The Bible talks about many heroes of faith in the Old 

Testament and the New Testament, who knew who they were in 

their God and acted consequently, showed authority, asserted full 

powers, were strong in faith. They were not theorists, but acted by 

faith and did great things for the Kingdom of God. Satan shoots his 

arrows at the children of God and he has more strings to his bow, but 

the shield of faith is strong and impenetrable and quenches them all 

(Eph. 6 : 16). 

The helmet of salvation (Eph. 6 : 17) 

' And take the helmet of salvation.' 1 Thessalonians 5 : 8 also 

mentions the helmet of the hope of salvation. The armour now 

covers the warrior, he only lacks the headware. This is a very 

important part of the armour, for most blows come down upon the 

head. The enemy directs his attacks mainly to the head as the center 

52

of thought, will, and reason. The helmet is made of the strongest 

brass and without joints, made of one piece and welded so that blows 

will slide off, glance off. 

The helmet of salvation is also hard, without joints, smooth, a 

protection of the world of our thoughts, which Satan tries to 

penetrate. It is made of the best material to be found, salvation 

through the fundamental values in Jesus Christ He is our Saviour 

from sins. He took my unrighteousness upon Himself. He is our 

peace. His blood set me free. He justifies me for His Father. He 

renews my life. I am a new creature in Him. He heals my disease. He 

baptizes with His spirit He gives me victory over Satan. He makes 

me partake in the heritage. What is there that He is not for me, what 

do I not own in Him? All things come to me. He makes my cup to run 

over. 'He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us 

all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?' (Rom. 

8: 32). 

The devil knows these fundamental truths very well and tries to 

shoot his fiery darts at the helmet, darts such as doubting God, His 

love, His almighty power, His Word, His promises. He tries to 

thrust his sword into the thinking capacity of man, but the blows 

glance off because of the smooth jointless metal of the helmet of 

salvation. The metal of his mischief slides off against the metal of 

salvation in Jesus. Satan tries to infiltrate our thoughts with feelings 

of unworthiness, incapability, unacceptability, impurity; but the 

helmet is closed, the Word covers it as a shield. When we stand in 

salvation in Jesus Christ, it is like a helmet, a dome on the temple of 

the Spirit' Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the 

Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, 

him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple 

ye are' (1 Cor. 3 : 16-17). 

Under this dome the world is full of peace and harmony. There 

Psalm 91 is sung, there is laud and glory. The fear of an all-powerful 

devil, who has for centuries vexed the children of God, gives room to 

the experience of being 'more than conquerors' in Jesus. The Holy 

Spirit dwells there and guides us to all truth. 

In the fight between David and Goliath - between the people of 

God and the hereditary enemy of the people of God, the Philistineswe 

see that Goliath wore a helmet of brass (1 Sam. 17 : 5), hard, 

53

perfect. Under this helmet was hostility against God, raging 

blasphemy; a helmet of mischief. David's friends wanted to protect 

the King. With it was also a helmet of brass (1 Sam. 17 : 38), hard, 

perfect. Brazen helmet against brazen helmet That is the way 'flesh 

and blood' fights. But David saw this could not help him. He put off 

this armour, handed the brazen helmet back and put on the armour of 

God. 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of 

hosts' (Zech. 4 : 6). He took the helmet of salvation into this battle. 

Goliath's brazen helmet, the helmet of disaster, appeared to be not 

entirely closed. The front showed an opening, and Goliath in his 

immense haughtiness paid no attention to it David looked for five 

smooth stones from the brook. He put one of them in his sling and 

then, with great force, he slung it through the unprotected spot right 

into the giant's forehead. Goliath fell, deadly wounded. David's 

stone forced itself into Goliath's Satanic way of thinking and brought 

this train of thoughts to a standstill. His battle was not, first of all, a 

physical battle against a giant more than eleven feet tall, but against 

the blasphemy coming out of his mouth; it was a spiritual fight. If you 

only see the outward appearance of things, you see David go as 

God's skylark, without armour, in mere faith. But he was well 

provided with an armour, a better one than Saul' s - it was the armour 

of God. David's stone sinking into Goliath's head killed the Satanic 

attack against God. 

The helmet of salvation is far better than any other helmet in 

the spiritual battle against the evil powers in the heavenlies. If you 

understand the saving truths of the Word of God and accept what 

this Word says about Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer, and if 

you accept what this Word says about you, you have put on the 

helmet of salvation and your thoughts are protected against the 

attacks of Satan, who shall not' get an advantage of us; for we are not 

ignorant of his devices' (2 Cor. 2 : 11). 

In Matthew 4 we read how Jesus and Satan met in the wilderness. 

It is a perilous engagement, a duel between the Prince of light 

and the prince of darkness. What will the result be? It is nothing less 

than to be or not to be; who shall come forth as victor in this battle? 

Satan attacks first, he opens the offensive in this spiritual fight. Being 

the strategist that he is, he knows that attack is the best defense. But 

Jesus takes His sword and answers this attack. He takes the sword of 

the Spirit, the Word of God and says: 'It is written!' This direct blow 

is to the credit ofJesus. Satan is forced back, the Word of God has 

gained the victory. 

54

Satan, more careful now, follows the fighting method of Jesus 

and also mentions a word. He quotes the Bible, but mutilates the 

text, as he always likes to do. When he presents himself as an angel 

oflight and you pay due attention, you will see that he comes with a 

pious word, a Bible quotation. But somewhere he slyly omits 

something, he blurs the truth, which is typical for Satanic tactics. But 

Jesus comes with the full Word and wards off this sword thrust with 

God's saying: 'It is written.' 

Again, for the second time, Satan endeavours to force Jesus to 

go down on His knees for him, but Jesus hits back with the same twoedged 

sword, the Word of God and says: 'It is written again'! This 

means the end of the battle, Satan flees, Jesus is Victor, the Word 

gave Him the victory. 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by 

every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God' (Matt 4: 4). 

'The word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked 

one' (1 John 2: 14). 'Every knee shall bow to Me' (Rom. 14: 11). 

Who am I? Am I what Satan says I am? Am I what my reason 

says I am? Or my feelings? Or my education? Or what people say I 

am? Am I what I fear to be or not to be, or what my doubt or unbelief 

tells me? Or am I what God says I am, what God says in His Word 

that I am? Hallelujah, I do not fight with my words, but with the 

Word of God. God's Word says I am saved by the blood of Jesus, 

saved from sin, healed with His stripes, healed with His wounds, a 

child and heir of God. There is no end to what I am in Christ. And 

when Satan attacks, I meet him with the words of God and tell him 

what God says about me in Christ. With 'it is written' we ward off his 

attacks, as Jesus did. Our opinions are not important and Satan does 

not retreat because of them, but the sayings of God make him flee. 

The Lord speaks in His Word, which is a very sharp sword. 

'These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges' 

(Rev. 2 : 12). When we faithfully stand on the truth of the Word of 

God and use it as a weapon against the evil power, they will flee. 'He 

cast out the spirits with His word' (Matt. 8 : 16). Where powers of 

sickness overwhelm the children of God, use the sword! 'He sent His 

word, and healed them' (Psalm 107 : 20). The centurion said to 

Jesus: 'Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed' (Matt 

8: 8). 

We all have this sword of the Spirit, because we have the Word 

of God, the Bible and Jesus, the Word made flesh. In His high- 

55

priestly prayer Jesus says to His Father: 'I have given them Thy 

word' (John 17 : 14). 'Thy word is truth' (John 17: 17). 

We must - I will repeat this again and again - go back to the 

Word of God. We must study, know, believe and obey this Word 

more than what people say. 'Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it' 

(John 2: 5). Then the Word will stand behind us as a shield, as a 

rock; it will serve and carry us through. Then a whole universe of 

forces of nature originated by the Word (John 1 : 1-3) will help and 

assist us. When we believe the Word, stand in the Word and when 

the Word is living within us, then everything created by the Word, 

called into being by that Word, will be on our side and fight with us. 

'The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth' (Rom. 10 : 8). 

We do not bear the sword of the Spirit as an empty form, like 

soldiers bear it as a decoration when a parade is made in peacetinie, 

showing them in shiny sheaths. The sword of the Spirit must be 

unsheathed and used in the battle, today, now, here, there, everywhere 

where the powers of darkness try to overpower children of 

God. In the fiery, spiritual battle of the time of the end we are not 

benefitted by the use of empty words in our church services; 

decorating the sword with garlands of eloquence, showing it off, 

playing with words about the Word - it is all useless. But the sharp, 

two-edged sword of the Word of God must be used. We must take up 

the fight, fearlessly, in the name of Jesus, for His Kingdom, against 

the powers of darkness. 

No human words can deliver a possessed person, no edification 

can avail anything against the realm of darkness, but the Word of 

God can. Satan fears a believer with the Bible in his hand, a man, a 

woman filled with the Holy Spirit and knowing how to use the sword 

of God as the powerful weapon. Satan does not fear our words, but 

he flees from the Word of God. Sick people are not healed by 

beautiful words; people enslaved are not freed by rhetoric; a person 

possessed by evil spirits is not set free from the devil by eloquence. 

The Word of God makes alive! The Word of God redeems, 

liberates, heals, renews! Hallelujah! Behind each of God's sayings, 

behind each of God's words is His authority. He is the Lord! 

When you come to a sick man and you sit down at his bedside 

for a sweet, kind talk, a little word of comfort, your words - however 

well meant, full of care and sympathy - will not cause the sick to rise. 

But when you take the Bible and open it to show God's sayings and 

promises for this sick person, when you let the Word speak and act 

56

according to the authority of the Word, when you cast out the powers 

of sickness in the mighty name of Jesus, when you, following J ames 

5 : 14, anoint this sick person with oil and when you believe that God 

Himself will prove the truth of His Word to this sufferer and make 

him whole in accordance with your action on His command, then 

you will see what the Word of God can do. 'So shall My word be that 

goeth forth out of My mouth; it shall not return unto Me void, but it 

shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing 

whereto I sent it' (lsa. 55 : 11). What will it accomplish? It will be a 

sword of the Spirit, sharp, two-edged, against the whole host of 

Satan and it will defeat him entirely. 'Heaven and earth shall pass 

away, but My words shall not pass away' (Matt 24: 35). 

The sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6 : 17) 

The above-mentioned parts of the armour of God are all 

defensive weapons. The faithful Christian standing in this armour, is 

unassailable, unconquerable. His safety is guaranteed. But, alas, 

there are many who have not put on the entire armour of God. There 

are few who have discovered who they are in Christ and who stand in 

the fullness of His salvation, 'strong in the Lord, and in the power of 

His might' (Eph. 6 : 10). Ignorance of this armour orlack of understanding 

as to the importance of it has caused many a person to fail to 

stand, so that his battle was lost 

But the Lord has commanded not only to defend, but also to 

attack. 'In My name they shall cast out devils' (Mark 16 : 17). Too 

long we have allowed them admittance in our life and work to carry 

out their harmful activity. In his own camp the enemy must be taken 

by surprise, the way must be forced into the house of the powerful, 

the house has to be burgled and the stolen casks must be taken back. 

Courage and fearlessness are necessary to attack the evil spirits and 

to cast them out, but even more, we need the offensive weapons. 

Both offensive weapons given by God are the Word of God; 

one, 'The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God' (Eph. 

6: 17); the other, 'praying in the Spirit' (vs. 18) - that is, praying in 

new tongues, speaking in the language of the Spirit, the Word of God 

coming from Him and returning to Him. The Sword of the Spirit, the 

Word of God - the literal translation is the 'utterances' of God. The 

57

enemy can be defeated by them. The devil cannot be defeated by the 

edge of a material sword, no, but the utterances of God defeat him. 

Which are the utterances of God concerning Satan? This: that 

he is a defeated enemy; this: that his head was bruised on Calvary by 

Jesus of Nazareth, who tread upon the serpent; this: that the keys of 

hell and of death have been taken away from him (Rev. 1 : 18); this: 

that he must bow down and surrender to the name of Jesus; this: that 

he has been conquered by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of 

the testimony of the children of God (Rev. 12 : 11); this: that his 

cause is a lost cause. Amen. 

Believers with full authority can defeat the enemy and compel 

him to flee. They have a right and a duty to do this, to bind the powers 

of darkness and send them back to the pit The child of God has read 

these truths in the Word of God and acts accordingly by faith. When 

he visits a child of God fallen into the hands of Satan and fallen ill, he 

opposes the powers which infiltrate the child of God in the power of 

God. He swings the sword of the Spirit and says: 'In the name of 

Jesus Christ we tear this prey away, Satan! This is Jesus' own! You 

have no right to possess this human being. Jesus bought him (her) 

with His blood! He bore all his (her) sicknesses on the cross, by His 

wounds he (she) is healed! Leave this dwelling place! We cast you 

out! We take this soul away from you, in the name of Jesus!' 

When you say this with authority, in the power of the Spirit and 

believing that what you say will come to pass, this power of sickness 

must leave the sick person; he has to obey. 'Have faith in God. For 

verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say to this mountain, Be 

thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his 

heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to 

pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, 

What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive 

them, and ye shall have them' (Mark 11 : 22-24). 'But let him ask in 

faith, nothing wavering' (James 1 : 6). 

There are all sorts of powers, princes and principalities which 

offer persistent resistance and there are other evil spirits, smaller 

ones, vexing demons, demons of worry, but swing the sword of the 

Spirit in faith till victory is sure. 

John says in his first epistle: 'For this purpose the Son of God 

was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil' (1 John 

3 : 8). And Jesus said in the upper room: 'Verily, verily, I say unto 

you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; 

58

and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my 

Father' (John 14 : 12). These are sharp words, giving a glorious 

guarantee. With them we can go forward to battle. We have the twoedged 

sword in our hand. It is a command of our Lord Jesus. 

0, there is still so much to be done. It is as if the powers of evil 

are multiplying and their influence is becoming greater. And what 

lack of knowledge there is concerning this spiritual battle! By his 

politics of blurring New Testament doctrine, the devil has succeeded 

in leading the people of God astray and paralysing them. How many 

people today are in the power of Satan! 0, body of Christ Arise! 

Child of God: Arise and stand on your feet! Christian: Put on the 

armour of God! To the arms! Take your place in the armies of God! 

Turn back to the authority in the Spirit, take action again, as Paul 

did, against the rulers of the darkness of this world! Use the sword of 

the Spirit the Word of God! This and this only will conquer the 

spiritual wickedness in high places. 'For the Word of God is quick, 

and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even 

to the dividing assunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and 

marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart' 

(Heb. 4 : 12). 

Praying in the Spirit (Eph. 6 : 18) 

Most readers of this portion of Scripture on the armour of God 

stop reading in Ephesians 6 at verse 17. They close their Bible and 

think they know everything about these weapons. But they are 

mistaken; they forget about an extraordinary, valuable offensive 

weapon: praying in the Spirit 'Praying always with all prayer and 

supplication in the Spirit' (6 : 18). They think the sword of the Spirit 

is enough to penetrate the army camp of the enemy and to bring back 

the property of Jesus. 

But there is another very sharp weapon given to us by God, 

apart from the sword of the Spirit, the Word, against spiritual 

wickedness in high places. It is a totally spiritual warfare. The Lord 

has provided a weapon of a special nature, even more powerful and 

successful than the sword of the Spirit Every human fallibility is 

excluded and the fight is put in the hands of Him from whom all 

visible and invisible powers must be drawn. The weapon is: 'Praying 

in the Spirit'. 

59

It is remarkable that so little is known about this subject to the 

children of God; Satan has succeeded in obscuring these things of 

the Spirit in the Church of Jesus Christ for centuries. It is the utmost 

importance for him to draw attention away from this text, knowing 

what power this weapon has against his rule. Every honest Bible 

reader must admit that God's Word deals with twofold prayer: 

praying with the Spirit, and praying with the understanding. 'What is 

it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding 

also' (1 Cor. 14: 15). I will pray in the Spirit and will also 

pray with understanding. It is clear that praying in the Spirit here 

means speaking in tongues. The apostle Paul calls praying in the 

Spirit praying in tongues (as you will clearly see in 1 Corinthians 14) 

in contrast to general intellectual prayer which I can even offer 

without my heart and faith and spirit participating in it, intellectual 

prayer that can be learned, that could be a matter of habit instead of 

standing before the face of God. 

In 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 Paul teaches that the baptism 

in the Holy Spirit is meant as a command and a starting point of all 

the gifts of the Spirit. To the church of Ephesus he says: 'Be filled 

with the Spirit' (Eph. 5 : 18). And then in the following chapter he 

talks about the weapons. Paul gives two reasons why a child of God 

must pray in tongues and why he does it so often himself, more than 

all others in the church of Corinth. 'I thank my God, I speak with 

tongues more than ye all' (1 Cor. 14: 18). When we look at the life 

of this so richly blessed apostle and the meaning of his ministry for 

Asia and Europe, we will have to postpone our criticism, because 

this sentence, 'I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye 

all', might be the secret of why he was more than 'ye all' a blessing for 

others. 

Speaking in tongues 

The nine gifts of the Spirit, as listed in 1 Corinthians 12: 8-10, 

are a condition for a powerful pentecostal life. The first gift listed in 

1 Cor. 12, and also mentioned as evidence of the baptism with the 

Spirit in Mark 16 : 17, is the God-given ability of speaking in new 

tongues or languages. 

Many Christians maintain that they have received the filling 

with the Holy Spirit but not the speaking with tongues. And when we 

talk with them and enter into this matter more profoundly, it appears 

that they do not possess this speaking in tongues because they do not 

60

want it 

Unknown, unloved! It is lack of knowledge that destroys the 

people of God (Hos. 4: 6). They have something against it; they 

think it to be 'uncanny' and 'queer'. Therefore, they direct this 

speaking with tongues back to earlier times, to the time of the Acts; 

or, failing this, they think it a speciaJty of the so much more 

'emotional' pentecostal groups which use it in an 'ecstatic way'. But 

for them, they say, this is certainly not necessary or God's will for 

them. Their reasoning might be like this: 'Why should I speak in 

tongues or pray in tongues? When I pray in my mother tongue, God 

will hear me and I know what I am talking about There is so much 

opposition of my reason and it does not agree with my feelings, I 

really cannot submit to these uncontrollable, supernatural things. I 

cannot grasp them; my human logic, my thinking does not accept it' 

The importance of this praying in the Spirit is acknowledged by 

the Bible. The fact that it has a special place in conjunction with the 

sword of the Spirit in the armour of God, 'that ye may be able to 

stand against the wiles of the devil' (Eph. 6 : 11), proves that we 

cannot belittle this matter as a negligible thing of minor importance, 

a typical sectarian change. We must see it as the last and strongest 

offensive weapon against the powers of darkness. Small wonder that 

Satan stirs up the whole church against this speaking in tongues, 

using his whole arsenal of false means. When church people have 

been stirred up against a truth from the Word of God, you will find it 

concerns a matter that is very dangerous for Satan. In these matters 

he promotes ignorance and aversion to the teaching. Every Christian 

should occupy himself in these things and investigate why Satan is so 

ill at ease. He greatly fears the manifestations of the Spirit, the gifts 

of the Spirit, and rightly so, for the Lord gave these things to the 

church especially against spiritual wickedness. 

On the day of His ascension Jesus said: 'These signs shall 

follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they 

shall speak with new tongues' (Mark 16 : 17). He mentioned them 

together, the fight against evil spirits and the speaking in new 

tongues. Be aware of the fact that Jesus Himself spoke these words, 

that this is the last sentence He spoke on earth. 'So then after the 

Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat 

on the right hand of God' (Mark 16: 19). His parting words on this 

important day of His coronation are, like the parting words in the 

61

upper room, of great importance for His disciples, for all who follow 

Him. He clearly speaks the words forming 'the great commission', 

the commission for world evangelization, a message of salvation for 

soul, spirit, and body, a gospel wanting to appeal to the whole human 

existence in order to renew it And in these few directives Jesus 

includes: 'They shall speak with new tongues'! 

Have we a right, friends, not to honour and obey these words? 

May we follow our own feelings, our taste, our intellectual 

considerations, is it not an insult to the Word of God to submit to our 

censorship? Who are we? What we think of the holy and divinely 

appointed things in the Kingdom is not decisive, is it? It is not 

important or even interesting. The only importance is what God says 

of it, for this only counts in His Kingdom. We ought to give our 

critical prudence into death. 'I thank Thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven 

and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and 

prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes' (Matt 11 : 25-26). 

'Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little 

children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven' (Matt 

18: 3). 'Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the 

weakness of God is stronger than man' (1 Cor. 1 : 25). 

Children which are not critical, but accept the things of God 

without further ado with open hearts and open hands, receive 

blessings of God. They do not oppose these things, they accept them 

without criticism out of the hands of God. The values of the 

Kingdom cannot be put on a level with those of the world; God 

follows a totally different, incomparable logic. We should always 

remember this. Paul said: 'I would that ye all spake with tongues' 

(1 Cor. 14: 5). When God desires it, when Jesus puts it as a sign in 

His great commission, when Paul thanks God for it, let us no longer 

maintain that it is unnecessary. 

On one of his great missionary journeys Paul arrived at 

Ephesus, and there he found a group of disciples, no infidels, but 

believers, converted people, followers of Jesus, but they were not 

filled. This was very unusual in the first churches at that time. 

Pagans repenting and turning to Jesus Christ were mostly baptized 

in water and at the same time they also received the filling with the 

Holy Spirit After his address on the temple square on the first day of 

. Pentecost Peter said: 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in 

the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall 

receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and 

62

to your children ... ' (Acts 2 : 38-39). 

The town of Samaria was shaken by the ministry of Philip. 

'And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which 

Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles he did ( compare' come 

and see' in John 1 : 46). For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, 

came out of many that were possessed with them; and many taken 

with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. But when they 

believed Philip ... they were baptized, both men and women. Now 

when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had 

received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John; who, 

when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might recei ve 

the Holy Ghost (for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only 

they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then laid they 

their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost' (Acts, 8 : 6, 

7, 12, 14-17). This story proves that gentiles who repented were 

baptized and also filled with the Holy Spirit 

Paul then, surprised, asked the church at Ephesus: 'Have ye 

received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, 

We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost' 

(Acts 19 : 2). Here then were believing men. Their pastor Apollos 

had taught them by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ (Acts 

18: 24-28). But they had stopped at repentance, at the baptism of 

John, by lack of knowledge. ('We have not so much as heard ... ') 

Paul instructed them and pointed out that there is more for God's 

children. He pointed at the Stronger One who came after John: 

Jesus, who is the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit John said: 'I indeed 

baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me 

is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall 

baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire' (Matt 3 : 11). 

What reaction was there among the disciples upon the words of 

Paul? Did they start a discussion? Did they want to go home and ask 

the meaning of their preacher Apollos, who incidentally was absent? 

Did they enter a period of waiting, calling, praying, fasting? Did they 

like to go a little higher on the way of sanctification before doing 

anything else? Did they desire to master their habitual sins and bad 

habits? Nothing of the kind! They heard, believed, accepted and 

came, they opened their hearts unto the Holy Spirit, they came 

immediately. The Bible says of them: 'When they heard this, they 

63

were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid 

his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake 

with tongues, and prophesied' (Acts 19 : 5-6). How did people know 

they were filled with the Spirit? They could hear it! The sign, the 

evidence was there, the Spirit came upon them and they spoke in 

tongues and prophesied. At that time it was quite a common thing. 

People spoke in tongues when they were filled. 

Today also most Christians have not heard of the filling with 

the Holy Spirit, and if they know about it, the full meaning of it 

escapes them. Paul did not say to the church at Ephesus: 'It is not so 

important to be filled with the Holy Spirit If you only believe in the 

forgiveness of sins, itis all right' No, Paul knew the power of praying 

in the Spirit, the speaking in tongues, and therefore he asked them 

whether they possessed this. When he noticed that they longed for it, 

he laid hands on them. We know the disciples ofEphesus were filled 

because they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. Then only 

could they be good witnesses, by virtue of the power of the Holy 

Spirit 'But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come 

upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me' (Acts 1 : 8). Notice the 

order of things: first receiving the Holy Spirit and then going out to 

witness by the power of God. 

In Caesarea Peter with some brethren came to visit Comelius, 

a gentile officer who sought to find God. Comelius and his relatives 

and friends were expecting them (Acts 10 : 24). They were all 

gentiles who wanted to listen to this preacher from Joppe. Peter 

began to preach in this house-meeting and suddenly, during his 

preaching, something strange happened. 'While Peter yet spake 

these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 

And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as 

many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was 

poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost' (Acts 10: 44-45). What was 

the evidence of the filling? They spoke in tongues. How did the filling 

become a fact? 'For they heard them speak with tongues.' 

The first command, the starting point, to putting on the armour 

of God is being filled with the Holy Spirit We can only use the 

weapons by the power of the Holy Spirit 

Paul distinguishes praying in the Spirit from praying with the 

understanding; that is, common prayer that we offer and must offer 

and which is asked by God. 'Common' prayer is good, of course; this 

64

can be done with feeling and affection. But praying with the Spirit is 

something quite different. This is the last and sharpest weapon 

against Satan. The fact is that it is possible to give the Holy Spirit, 

the Spirit of power, the opportunity to act against all spiritual 

wickedness by our speaking in tongues. In a direct way the Lord 

cooperates in our fight, which is His fight, and which we have to 

finalize for Him by means of this supernatural praying in the Spirit. 

'Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not 

what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit Himselfmaketh 

intercession for the saints according to the will of God' (Rom. 8 : 26). 

The Spirit comes to our aid in His praying in and for us, the praying 

in the Spirit, in new tongues. Praying in the Spirit is the ideal praying, 

it is God-pleasing, it is also perfect intercession. 'And he that 

searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because 

he maketh intercession for the saipts according to the will of God' 

(Rom. 8 : 27). This takes place by 'glossolalia', the speaking in 

tongues. It is according to the will of God. The Holy Spirit is our 

Substitute, our Intercessor, the High Priest who takes our affairs as 

His own and intercedes for us, bringing our interests and those of all 

other children of God before the throne of grace. Where we fail, 

where we are weak, where we do not know what to do, the Holy 

Spirit comes to our aid and performs for us what we cannot do, in 

order to guide us to victory. 

Praying in the Spirit is the ideal, sinless prayer, because our 

understanding cannot interfere with it, because we remain outside 

the influence of Satan. It is the utterance of secrets between the new 

man which Jesus Christ created in us when we were born again and 

God, in a miraculous idiom. Many Christians think that speaking in 

tongues means witnessing unto Jesus to a deaf, rejecting, ignorant 

world. But this is not right. The Bible says: 'For he that speaketh in 

an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God' (1 Cor. 

14: 2). It does not say: He that speaks in a tongue speaks unto men 

about God. No, it says: not unto men, but unto God. It happens by 

means of a miraculous, supernatural agency, a language, a tongue 

which God understands and God alone, a very particular, intimate 

intercourse is possible between the soul and the Father, without our 

understanding participating in it. 'For no man understandeth him; 

howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries' (1 Cor. 14 : 2). It is not 

English or Dutch or German or some other language which we or 

other people understand, 'for no man understandeth'. It is language 

65

in tongues, mystery language, maintaining a live communication 

between the Creator and the new man in us. It comes from God and 

goes back to God. God gives born-again man a miraculous means of 

utterance in order to have fellowship with him. Therefore, nobody 

should criticize the speaking in tongues as something inferior or 

unnecessary. In His Word God demands nothing without sense or 

purpose of His children. 

'He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself 

(1 Cor. 14: 4). To edify oneself means to build oneself up in the 

faith. 'But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy 

faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God 

(Jude 20-21). I build myself up in the faith and keep myself in the 

love of God by praying in the Spirit This makes me strong in the 

fight against Satan. I have received a means from God to increase 

my power. Among the nine gifts of the Spirit in 1 Cor. 12, the gift of 

speaking in tongues is the only gift for the personal benefit of the 

believer. The other gifts are for the benefit of the church. 

The inner man is edified, built up, strengthened for the spiritual 

warfare against the enemy of souls. When we become weak and 

frightened because of his overwhelming power, we take this weapon 

from our spiritual arsenal and we speak in tongues, whereby we 

become powerful again in the Lord and in the strength of His might, 

so that we are ready for battle again and full of courage. This 

speaking in tongues has proved to be a very sharp and effectual 

weapon against the demons. It attacks the enemy immediately in a 

dreadful way; we ourselves have experienced this many times. We 

are surprised about the strange, devastating operation of this 

weapon; it seems that in the realm of demons this weapon causes a 

greater ruin than we can imagine. 

Praying in the Spirit is also a wonderful means in the unclean, 

ungodly world round about us, in order to keep me pure in my work, 

in the office, in the factory and to maintain the contact with God 

under all circumstances. While at work I can, unnoticed by others, 

speak to myself, and to God (1 Cor. 14: 28). It is not possible to 

spiritually communicate with my neighbour, but I can use this 

private telephone line with God. 

0, I experience a sanctifying, purifying influence by this praying 

in the Spirit, and I can apply it always, whenever I long to do so or 

66

have need of it I isolate myself, so to speak; I create an enclosure 

around me, a room to pray, an inner room, and I put myself outside 

of the down-pulling powers of the world. Many people all over the 

world have declared to have received wonderful blessings in their 

lives with the Lord by this speaking in tongues. They have 

experienced this extraordinary powerful weapon in the fight against 

the evil powers, and it cannot be compared with any other. Satan is 

terrified of this weapon. He has obscured this truth in all circles of 

believers, setting God's people up against it He has sought mistakes 

and has overstressed these. His tactics, though, are quite clear; it is 

apparent he fears this weapon more than anything else. But every 

honest, Bible-believing Christian, wanting to follow his Saviour at 

all costs, will acknowledge that Jesus put these words in the centre of 

His great commission for the conversion of this world: 'In my name 

shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues' (Mark 

16: 17). 

When the Head of the church says to the believers that they 

shall speak with new tongues, we must not reject the Scripture. At 

the end of 1 Corinthians 14, the chapter that deals with the gifts of 

tongues and prophecy, Paul says: 'Let him acknowledge that the 

things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord' 

(1 Cor. 14: 37). 'But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant 

Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with 

tongues' (1 Cor. 14: 38-39). Many believers experience that Satan 

yields to their praying in the Spirit A Stronger One, a Mightier One 

within us prays and fights along with us. 'Ye ... have overcome them 

(the evil spirits as mentioned in 1 John 4 : 1-3); because greater is 

He that is in you, than he that is in the world' (1 John 4 : 4). Hallelujah! 

He that is in us, the Holy Spirit of God in us, is greater and 

stronger than all powers of darkness, and Satan is defeated. 'Ye have 

overcome them.' So, the personal evil spirits of darkness have been 

overcome by the Greater One, the King, the Lord, to whom is given 

all power in heaven and on earth. In Him, Jesus Christ, we are more 

than conquerors! Hallelujah! 

67

THE BATTLE 

How do we cast out evil spirits? 

There are various possibilities for the casting out of evil spirits. 

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit and are called upon to do 

this, we should like to give you a few pieces of advice drawn from our 

experience. Do not be afraid! God knows you and the devil better 

than you do, and He wants you to overcome the devil. God says: 

'Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, 

and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means 

hurt you!' 

The best place in which to cast out evil spirits is always the 

church, the House of God, where God's Spirit lives, where God's 

Word is preached, where hymns of praise resound, where one prays 

and believes, where God's children are assembled, where there are 

Spirit-filled clergymen and elders, where the power of God is 

revealed, where casting-out is 'customary'. There is a great concentration 

of power in the House of the Lord filled with God's children 

communicating with God. The church, where faith is preached and 

practised, is a tremendously powerful bastion against the powers of 

Satan. The possessed and the sick ought to be brought here, where 

they can be released and healed, during separate services if 

necessary. 

The ideal church, to my mind, is always the church in which 

Jesus preached, where the sick were laid down before Him on their 

beds, and where the spiritually-bound were brought I prefer most to 

preach in a place where God truly lives, with the sick, the lame, the 

dying and the spiritually-bound on beds and stretchers and in wheelchairs 

around my platform; for the distress of the congregation must 

be brought to the House of God - that is the function of God's 

House. The sinner will find his Saviour there. There, the drug addict 

will be tended by the servants of God; there, the possessed will be 

released; there, the sick will be anointed with oil and have hands laid 

68

upon them, just as the Master commanded. There, faith is built up by 

a forceful sermon, a word filled with authority; there; hymns bearing 

witness of faith are sung, the heavens are assailed with prayers; 

there, one acts in Jesus' name, on behalf of Jesus. 

There wili probably be less theorizing and dogma and fewer 

words in the church at the time of the end, 'For the Kingdom of God 

is not in word but in power' (1 Cor. 4 : 20). If we wish to see the 

Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Jesus, functioning in full glory, we 

should reveal this power in the name of the Lord! At the time of the 

end, we shall not be able to settle for less! We shall put secondary 

matters aside and put first things first! We shall take our places at the 

throne with Christ and take authoritative action from there as 

manifested sons. When the powers of darkness obtrude more and 

more frequently and cunningly, and launch more dangerous attacks 

upon the Body of Christ, God's children, you and me, then shall we 

waste fewer words, but exercise all the more power, the power of 

God. Wonders and signs will become everyday things. 

I like a church where one not only listens to the proclamation of 

the Word, but where one obeys the instruction of the Lord of the 

Church, Jesus, when He says: 'And as ye go, preach, saying, The 

Kingdom of heaven is at hand, Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise 

the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give' (Matt. 

10: 7-8). 'And they went out, and preached that men should repent 

And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were 

sick, and healed them' (Mark 6: 12-13). That is the unalterable 

instruction of the Lord of the Church, not just in historical times, but 

also today! The Bible does not age; the Word of God is alive and 

topical! He rewards all obedience towards God's Word with 

blessing. 

When the sick and possessed are brought to church and laid 

down around the platform in the sight of God, as in Jesus' day, there 

is a great probability that these gatherings will not take place in the 

serene tranquility that many could wish for, but the chances are that 

these services will turn into startling events. Where forceful action is 

taken against the powers of darkness, there will be no question of a 

quiet, sacred atmosphere. But the sick will certainly be healed there, 

the possessed will surely be released. Something will be HAPPEN 

ING there, for the continuation of the Acts of the apostles is there. 

The book of Acts was never finished, for, during the aforementioned 

69

meetings, new pages are being added to it The people of God shall 

then praise the Lord for His mighty deeds, His name shall be 

magnified in praise, and He shall be credited with all the honour He 

deserves! A changed, vital blessed and strengthened people of God 

will then return homeward. THAT is the way His House may be 

best used; THAT is the perfect function of the Church of Christ! 

If these things happen the way they ought to happen, no more 

churches will be standing empty for lack of church-goers, as so often 

is the case now, but the people will flock to fill the churches again, 

gladly, eagerly, and with mounting faith. The churches are becoming 

empty nowadays, because there are no more of God's wonders, and 

one is tired of words, words, words. People want to see the mighty 

arm of God, they want to see in Him once more the great Helper of 

old, the Lord of His people's damaged lives, in body and soul and 

mind. The youth, in particular, will be very motivated to come to this 

living Lord who manifests Himself clearly - a powerful, genuine 

Lord of His children. 

The Lord wants us to learn to assert ourselves actively, so that 

we become' dangerous' toward the devil again, so that our actions fill 

the evil one with fear and make him retreat. Christians are those who 

do not shun the arena, but dare to approach the devil with open visor 

and exorcize him. God and I together are in the majority, not 

because of my qualities, but because of His qualities. God and I 

together are more than all the powers of darkness together. Hallelujah! 

Never go alone! 

If it is not possible to bring the possessed person to God's house 

for any reason whatsoever, then we must go to him, we must call on 

him. My advice, from experience, is: Never go ALONE! NEVER 

do this work ALONE! It is work for experienced specialists. It is 

dangerous work! Never act recklessly, from a sense of adventure, or 

out of enthusiasm or curiosity, or even moral indignation. Never act 

'just like that'. I have seen missionaries lacerated by the powers 

because they approached the devil recklessly and without armour. 

You are entering an arena where it is a question of cosmic matters; 

you are disturbing the demonic powers and throwing down the 

gauntlet. 

Be sure you know who you are, in Christ, at that hour. Realize 

70

clearly that you have been called upon to carry out this action, and 

be convinced that the Lord is with you. You should be doing this if 

you are quite sure that God has instructed you to do so. You must be 

convinced that this is 'God's hour'. God has His own time, His hour, 

His appointed moment God is a God of order. He does not 

improvise, He does nothing 'just like that'; it is always according to 

His order of things, His blueprint, His universal plan. God created 

time, and is the Lord of time. Time belongs to HIM. He restricted 

unlimited time to periods in which He accomplished His plans. 

When that time had been 'filled up', something happened. When the 

time was 'ripe', He sent His Son. No sooner, no later. That was His 

hour and He works out His plans in His own good time, thus 

manifesting Himself in an exceptional manner. 

Never go alone! The question arises: Who shall I take with me? 

My answer is: Go with someone who is filled with the Holy Spirit, 

just as you are, and select a person with whom you are inwardly 

'clean'; with whom you have no conflict, communication problems, 

or difficulties - someone with whom you are completely one. If there 

is as much as a single difference between you and that person, it 

should first be talked over, confessed, forgiven, and covered up with 

the Blood. Kneel down with the partner you have chosen, and give 

yourself up to him or her completely. Confess an old guilt or discord, 

forgive each other, and be cleansed by the Blood, for the devil sees 

every wrinkle, every irregularity, each unconfessed sin as a chink in 

your armour, and will certainly make use of this to attack you. His 

arrows find the smallest opening in your armour, and he takes 

advantage of this. He sees very clearly and determines each of your 

weaknesses, accurately registers all fear, makes a note of all former . 

guilt, all strain - and that is where he will attack. He must be 

confronted by a closed front of resolute soldiers with sealed armour, 

without the smallest crack, the slightest opening. See to it that you 

are pure and clean in the eyes of God and your partner. 

It is wise of the Master to dispatch His disciples two at a time. 

Two is a thousand! It is the smallest form of congregation. ONE is 

never a congregation. Jesus dispatches small 'units', communities. 

Together they will have to prove their oneness. They will have to 

demonstrate that the oneness of many is invincible. They will 

exhibit the oneness of the Lord and His congregation to the outside 

world. The bi-unity is a mystery! The Lord's special promises are 

71

coupled to twos: 'Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree 

on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for 

them of My Father which is in heaven. For when two or three are 

gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them' 

(Matt 18: 19-20). 

Identification 

If you have received the fulfilment of the Holy Spirit with the 

accompanying signs, as well as the nine gifts of the Spirit, you are 

going to need one of these gifts in particular during the battle - the gift 

of the discernment of spirits. This gift is a God-given ability to 

discover the presence of spirits and to establish their identity. 

'Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are 

of God' (1 John 4 : 1). Which spirits are revealed in the one 

possessed, how many spirits, from which order, what names do they 

bear? You need all this data; you should know what is going on; with 

which powers you are concerned. The Lord has provided one with 

the wonderful gift of discernment, identification of spirits. This world 

of darkness is not open to inspection for the natural person. But the 

religious person gets introduced in a supernatural way, and is 

provided with data, so that he is able to do a successful job in the 

name of J esus. You do not extend your weapons into uncertainty of 

darkness. It is a question of a battle aimed at the opponent. (We refer 

you to 'The Gifts of the Spirit', the book in which the gifts of the 

Spirit have been more extensively discussed.) 

The gift of identification of spirits is not the same as the power 

to cast out these spirits. Faith is necessary for the exorcism. God has 

given you' enough' faith for this! The Master spoke on the day that He 

mounted the Throne, and these were His last words on earth: 'And 

these signs shall follow them that believe (signs of the faith of the 

believer!); In My name shall they (the believers) cast out devils' 

(Mark 16 : 17). The gift was given for identifying, and the faith is 

employed in exorcism. 

Appraisal of spirits 

When you have discerned the spirit( s) and know what you are 

fighting against, start preparing for the battle. Each member of your 

team fulfills his own task. The one will attack the opponent( s), while 

the other prays in tongues. He carries the ammunition. This is the 

72

very best means of weakening the evil powers; filling the atmosphere 

with the strength of God's Spirit (because one is praying in the 

Spirit), and this makes one strong, bold, militant and fearless. In 

Ephesians 6 praying in the Spirit is mentioned as being one of the 

two weapons of attack. This is a stipulation, in the spiritual battle, 

this praying in the Spirit. I cannot make it clear enough how 

extremely important just this praying in the Spirit is. You are 

involving Him in the struggle. Exceptional heavenly powers are 

made available to you via this 'hot line' between the heart of the 

believer and the heart of the Father. Satan fears this spiritual 

connection with the Lord and loosens his tentacles from his prey. 

His grip weakens. It is not a battle of'flesh and blood', but a spiritual 

battle which should be fought with spiritual weapons, in the power of 

the Holy Spirit 

Just as wolves or dogs in some way or another can smell when 

someone is scared and 'radiates' his fear, as though by a particular 

odour, so does the evil spirit notice immediately that his assailant is 

afraid of him. He will then refuse to leave. He knows' that he has 

won from his frightened attacker and remains where he is. Every evil 

power has the habit - I have seen it hundreds of times - of taking your 

measure, weighing you up and scrutinizing you, to assess whether 

you are afraid of him, and uncertain as to whether he is going to leave 

or not He knows that you are shouting at him so loudly because you 

are scared (therefore, never shout; just use the word of authority 

calmly), or knows that you are certain of your victory, or whether 

you are positively charged. Before leaving his prey, he will linger for 

a split-second, and that is the moment in which he discovers this. 

That is always a very interesting moment during the exorcism of 

demons, that one moment in which he appraises you, sizes you up, 

and finds out who you are. But should he encounter a faith worth 

moving mountains, a certainty as firm as a rock, and a conviction 

that he will leave, then he will go. One cannot play around with him. 

He sees more deeply through a person than one sees oneself. But if 

the believer uses the Name of names, he becomes paralyzed and 

falls back, because he knows Who is behind that Name. He knows 

that he is not fighting a person but the Name! 'In my Name thou shalt 

cast out evil spirits', says Jesus. 

It is a foremost stipulation that you truly stand by your word, 

and that you expect absolute obedience. You do not request, you 

73

command. You utter the command of faith! There remains no 

possible alternative for the evil power but to clear out Realize who 

you are in Christ, which powers of authority you have in Him, and 

then act, briefly and decidedly! Do not hang about! Do not hesitate! 

Do not be afraid! You will overcome in Christ! 

It is the nature of God that He speaks and believes that what 

He says will happen! Nothing else will happen except what He says; 

He expects it! If we have a part of the Divine nature (and God's 

Word says that this is so: 'Whereby are given unto us exceeding 

great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of 

the divine nature' - 2 Peter 1 : 4), then we shall also act as God does, 

and speak, and expect that what we say will happen! God's nature is 

inflexible, unwavering, powerful! 

Cover up the vacated spot 

If you know that the evil power has taken its leave, do not finish 

otfyour work too quickly. Part of your ministration is to see that this 

power will not return to the spot which it has vacated. He will remain 

hovering in the vicinity and try to return to his place, because he has 

been instructed to do so. He will wait for a moment when the believer 

is not paying attention, and then jump right back again. How many 

times has it not happened that exorcized powers have turned up 

again? That is because something has been omitted during the 

ministration. The place which he has left, the 'nest' where he was 

living, was not immediately covered up with the Blood of Jesus. Ifhe 

wishes to return, and sees the Blood, this will deter him. Never forget 

that covering the deserted seat of the evil power, the place where he 

was hiding, with the Blood is the one thing he fears more than 

anything else. 

'When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh 

through dry places, seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, I 

will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is 

come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and 

taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and 

they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse 

than the first Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation' 

(Matt 12: 34-45). 

The unclean spirit will try to come back, and, therefore, a 

means has to be found to stop him. Only the Blood of Jesus is 

74

capable of keeping him out permanently! 

Praying and fasting 

'Howbeit this kind (this refers to evil spirits in verses 18 and 

19) goeth not out but by prayer and fasting' (Matt 17 : 21). Prayer is 

a tremendous power. Praying brings the heavenly powers into action 

for you. 

Fasting also releases hidden powers. Fasting is not a physical 

matter, but a spiritual one. Fasting is not leaving out something, but 

DOING something, a spiritual activity. The superficial, natural 

person always associates fasting with 'not eating', but that is only a 

small matter of secondary importance. The point is this: that we 

assume holiness; that we choose the best possible circumstances in 

which to approach God, with a clean body, to search for His 

countenance in the greatest possible physical harmony. Fasting is 

not negative but positive, appearing before the countenance of the 

Lord, willing to make sacrifices. Why do millions of Hindus in India 

know more about this mystery than the Christians do? Why do they 

profit from it so much more than we do? Where else do the people of 

God also fast? This is something which occurs only incidentally, but 

not in general. 

During two thousand years of Christianity, the devil has stolen 

the mystery of fasting from the church, along with so many other 

things, views which we can hardly do without In this time of the end, 

the Holy Spirit is busy restoring these acquisitions to the Congregation 

again. They are once more being put in the places where 

they belong. Fasting develops an enormous spiritual power against 

evil spirits. Jesus says so! 

Prayer and fasting are mentioned together here, and they 

belong to each other, too. Fasting is nothing but taking on holiness, 

an intimate association with the Lord, searching for Him in prayer in 

the purest possible condition. One then achieves an exceptional 

conquest in life, a great concentration of power, by which we are able 

to render the evil powers harmless. 

Binding and loosing 

'Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall 

be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be 

loosed in heaven' (Matt 18 : 18). Our binding and loosing meets 

75

with God's approval and cooperation. He supports us in our binding 

and loosing. Whatever we do in the interests of the Kingdom will be 

regarded as though He had done it If we bind the powers, pinion 

them until they are powerless, arrest them, as it were, take them 

prisoner, place our foot upon them as conquerors do, the Lord will 

then regard them as defeated, eliminated. That is Divine cooperation. 

We bind the powers; we stop them from doing anything else, 

and from corruption; we eradicate them. That is God-given. And we 

loose. We release Divine powers: the power of healing, the power of 

liberation. After we have bound the evil powers during meetings or 

an individual ministration, we then release the healing powers of 

Jesus Christ, His salvation, over the multitude or the one person. We 

bring healing to the bound and damaged life, we round off our 

ministration. We break down and build up, we take prisoner and set 

free, we curse and bless, we bind and loose. For we have been given 

power over all unclean spirits. ' And when He had called unto Him 

His twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to 

cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of 

disease' (Matt 10 : 1). 

Binding and loosing testifies to superiority. We act as superiors, 

and we now reverse the roles and command the binding powers of 

darkness which held other bound. In Christ we are always more than 

conquerors! 

Evidence and testimony 

' And they (our brethren, verse 10) overcame him (the pr

ut forward to what is going to happen. This testimony will save me! 

It is not sufficient that we have faith. We must also confess it with our 

mouths! We are what we say we are, we testify to what lives in our 

.hearts. We show the outside world, in our own words, who we are 

and where we stand. We are a product, a composition, of what we 

say, and this has formed us, physically and mentally, because we are 

what our lips testify and have testified. If we do not overcome at all, it 

may . perhaps be necessary to change our evidence and start 

testifying to other things, better things, positive values. There is not a 

person who can change you, who can do anything for you, as long as 

your testimony does not change. Everything depends on this. What 

is my testimony today? What do I confess and declare today? 

Testify loudly and openly, day and night, continuously, without 

stopping, for God, for the devil, the angels and the powers, to all 

around you - to your nearest, to your flesh, to your illness, to your 

mountain of difficulties, what God testifies! Say the words that God 

says! Is your testimony a glorification of the works of the devil, do 

you magnify his deeds, are your words plunged into darkness - or 

into light? Negative or positive, directed downwards or upwards? 

Fill your mouth with the public declaration that Jesus is the victor! 

Declare yourself to be healed in His castigations, that there is power 

in the Blood of the Lamb! Declare thatJesus is the living Lord, and 

possesses all the power in heaven and on earth, over all the domains 

of flesh and spirit Declare that you are His child and that nothing 

and no one will be able to part you from the love of Christ! Let your 

mouth say the same words that God says, and pronounce the same 

promises that He pronounces. Quote Biblical words, the words of 

God! It will change your life! 

The wonder is in your own mouth - let it come out Release the 

wonder, this wonder that changes everything! The things around you 

will change, you will be summoning victory. God will smile upon 

you and hasten to fulfill His promises 10 you. When you let your lips 

pronounce the words that God's lips pronounce, the world in and 

around you will change completely. 

Do not let your faith fall asleep and be inactive, but wake up 

and declare, confess, and testify what the Bible declares, confesses 

and testifies: that all things are possible for the one who has faith! Do 

not hope, don't hesitate, don't wait, don't sigh, don't weep, but SAY 

it - SAY, SAY, SAY it, testify, declare and confess that God has 

declared that He will not leave you 10 yourself, but will heal, 

77

strengthen and preserve your life within you, because you are His 

child! Jesus says: 'The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, 

and they are life' (John 6 : 63). Well then, that is also what your 

words shall be: spirit and life! 

In Luke 19 : 22, the master says to the lazy slave: 'Out of thine 

own mouth will Ijudge thee.' God says: 'Forby thy words thou shalt 

be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned' (Matt 

12: 37). We have life and death on our tongues, and heaven and 

hell. Our future depends on what we say today. What we are today is 

the fruit of what we have said in the past! 

If it is a habit of yours to speak only out of your weakness, 

change this evidence. Say what the Bible says: 'Let the weak say, I 

am strong' (Joel3 : 10). The weak SAYS, SAYS, SAYS, not prays, 

but SAYS, confesses testifies - fearlessly and publicly - to 

everyone, continually: 'I am strong!' Though all the powers of darkness 

may turn against you, it doesn't matter, SAY it! You shall not 

testify to your weakness, but to your strength! This is Biblical faith. 

All God's potentialities will be laid bare, all doors will open, all 

God's treasure houses will be made accessible to you on the strength 

of your positive faith and YOUR POSITIVE TESTIMONY. 

There is a miracle in our mouths which is capable of changing everything. 

We do not testify BECAUSE we are changed (this is also 

right and necessary), but THAT we are changing. 

'For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall SAY unto this 

mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall 

not doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things which he 

saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith' (Mark 

11 : 23). Just think this over - that you will get what you say. We 

have what we say. We are what we say. We are a product of what we 

say. When you say, and keep on saying, 'I'm sick! I'm in pain! I'll 

have to go to the hospital! I think I've got cancer! This illness is 

getting worse all the time, it'll be the end of me! I'm weak!', it will 

happen to you. You will be inviting all this by your very words. Your 

flesh listens to your mouth, and believes it, and behaves accordingly. 

Your testimony is not defending against the advancing powers of 

darkness, and they recognize this, and that is dangerous! 

Look at the shepherd boy David opposing the giant Goliath. 

He said: 'For the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our 

hands' (1 Sam. 17: 47). Say the same to the evil spirits, when you 

are fighting them, as gallantly as David, and as resolutely: 'God will 

78

give you into my hands!' Hallelujah! 

I have the power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all 

the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt me 

(Luke 10 : 19). I have the power to cast out evil spirits in the name of 

Jesus. I testify that I am filled with the Holy Spirit and that Jesus 

gives me power; that I shall not fail when I act in His name, because 

He is the sum of my sufficiency. In Him, I am more than a 

conqueror! And I shall constantly testify to this, not in overestimation 

of myself, or recklessness, but because I have become 

conscious of this through the Word of God. I am somebody! 

Through Jesus, I have become someone! I say this proudly in front of 

devils and evil powers and all spiritual evils in the air! I am what J 

confess! I have what I confess! The miracle is in my mouth! And that 

governs my life and directs my existence. 

The Word 

'When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that 

were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His 

word, and healed all that were sick' (Matt 8 : 16). He punished and 

cast out the evil spirits by the power of His word. His authority was 

in His word. The Kingdom of God was in His word. He asked no 

questions. He commanded; and the evil spirits fled before the 

inevitability of that word. The Lord wants us to say the same words 

that He says! With absolute authority! 'If any man speak, let him 

speak as the oracles of God: if any man minister, let him do it as of 

the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified 

through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and 

ever. Amen' (1 Peter 4 : 11). The Bible says that we shall have 

words in our mouths with the same authority, power of attorney, and 

creative power as those of God. Each of God's words bears the 

power of its own fulfillment It is the express will of Jesus Christ that 

the words of His disciples be charged with the same power, the same 

authority, with which God's words are. 

Words about science, culture, or politics are of little value to 

God. He does not listen to them. But as soon as a child of God talks 

about Jesus, His salvation, His Blood, His Name, His gospel, His 

wonders and signs, the angels start diligently taking down these 

words in shorthand, in the memorial book of Mala chi 3: 16. This is 

of interest to God. It is not a part of something that passes, but 

79

carries on existing. These are the affairs of His kingdom. These 

everlasting words always cause something to happen in the universe. 

The forces of nature listen, and free themselves, and get into action 

to prove these words. 'The mouth of a righteous man is a well oflife!' 

(Proverbs 10: 11). 

God does so love us to speak in faith, because this speaking 

concurs with His speaking! The devils take to their heels when they 

hear it We have full authority in our mouths. 

Elijah said: 'There shall not be dew nor rain these years, but 

according to my word' (1 Kings 17 : 1). He uttered that command to 

the elements, and it happened just as he said - no rain fell for three 

and a half years. He knew who he was, in his God, and acted 

accordingly! King Joshua pointed his finger at the sun and addressed 

her, commanding her to stand still, and she stood still. He did the 

same with the moon. He did not discuss it with God, so that God 

would keep her still, but he uttered the command with authority, and 

it happened, for twenty-four hours. 'And he said: Sun, stand thou 

still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the 

sun stood still, and the moon stayed' (Joshua 10: 12-13). 

These were not supermen with exceptionally great faith, but 

ordinary people. The Bible says ofElijah: 'Elijah was a man subject 

to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not 

rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six 

months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the 

earth brought forth her fruit' (James 5: 17). Elijah employed the 

word of conquest, and this word possessed Divine power. It is the 

basic principle of the Divine nature that His words have creative 

power (John 1 : 3). 'I have given unto you power over the entire 

army of the enemy.' We believe in this and vouch for these words. 

Paul understood something of this: 'For this cause also thank 

we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God 

which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but, as it 

is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you 

that believe' (1 Thess. 2 : 13). Worketh! The word never fails to 

work for those who accept it as such! 

The word in the mouth of a manifested son of God (Romans 

8: 19) is positive, and acts like a double-edged sword, from which 

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the enemy flees. If we do not have that word in our mouths, then it is 

a word of no use to God. But if we are filled with Jesus and employ 

His words, we are using them to fight the powers of darkness. We 

exist in our word. Jesus existed in His word. His word did the same 

thing as His presence. His word represented Him! When the 

centurion went to Jesus, seeking help for his sick soldier, he said to 

Jesus: 'Lord, speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed!' 

You yourself are in your word! Just as the Bible says that Jesus cast 

out spirits with His word, we must be able to follow the same 

method, by our word, in His name! 

Praise 

The people of Judah were once opposed by three enemy armies 

that were stronger than they were, and they called to God for help. 

They said: 'Our eyes are upon Thee!' In the midst of every conflict in 

our lives, our eyes must be fixed upon Jesus. He will never desert us. 

Then the Spirit of God spoke through the mouth of the Levite 

Jahaziel: 'Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude;for 

the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go ye down 

against them ... Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, 

stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you' 

(2 Chron. 20: 12-17). Then King Joshua sent a choir of singers to 

face the enemy, instead of a regular army. 'He appointed singers 

unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they 

went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for His mercy 

endureth for ever!' (2 Chron. 20 : 21-22). 

When the men offered up their praises loudly to God, God 

went into action - and a remarkable thing happened. The three 

armies began to fight each other; and they destroyed each other. 

There were only corpses to be found. God will fight our battle and 

win it for us! All He expects from us is that we praise Him! 

In 2 Chron. 5, we can read the story of a multitude that praised 

the Lord. While they were doing this, 'the house was filled with a 

cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand 

to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled 

the house of God' (vs. 13-14). 

During our meetings, there is never anything greater or more 

important that we can do than honouring and praising the Lord. For 

too long we have been beggars and suppliants in the eyes of God; let 

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us now be the ones to praise Him, for what He is to us and for what 

He does for us! Hallelujah! 

When Paul and Silas were injail at Philippi, they sang praises 

to God, and the prison gates flew open. Every prison will open for 

praise, and every superior force be broken. The greatest shortcoming 

in church is that of praise, the public magnification of the 

Lord! 'Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice!' (Philippians 

4: 4). There is always cause for praise, 'always'. Even when 

the skies are cloudy and your life full of care, it is especially THEN a 

reason for praise. 'Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every 

thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus 

concerning you' (1 Thess. 5: 16-18). 'I will praise Thee, 0 Lord, 

with my whole heart; I will shew forth all Thy marvellous works. I 

will be glad and rejoice in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name' 

(Psalms 9: 1-2). 'But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall 

rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath 

dealt bountifully with me' (Psalms 13 : 5-6). 'I will declare Thy 

name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise 

Thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him; glorify Him .. .' (Psalms 

22: 22-23). 'I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall 

continually be in my mouth' (Psalms 34 : 1). 'I will give Thee thanks 

in the great congregation: I will praise Thee among much people' 

(Psalms 35: 18). 'Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour 

my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be 

magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant And 

my tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness and of Thy praise all the 

day long' (Psalms 35 : 27-28). This test is an important one: 

'Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of 

thine heart' (Psalms 37 : 4). By rejoicing and delighting in the Lord, 

one causes His treasure-houses to open up, and from His plenitude 

He will hand out that which you desire, your heart's dearest wishes! 

It is marvellous! 'In God we boast all the day long, and praise Thy 

name for ever' (Psalms 44: 8). '0 clap your hands, all ye people; 

shout unto God with the voice of triumph' (Psalms 47: 1). And so 

on, and so forth; the psalms are full of texts encouraging us to praise 

the Lord. Who does not know Psalm 103: 'Bless the Lord, 0 my 

soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, 

o my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine 

iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from 

destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender 

mercies: Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy 

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youth is renewed like the eagle's' (Psalms 103 : 1-5). This is one 

long sentence, without a single period. Everything belongs together, 

and the praise serves to remind us of what God has done for us. 

Count your blessings, two at a time. Count the large ones as well as 

the small. Mention them all, count them by the dozen, and you'd be 

surprised how many there are! 

Satan hates praise. All demons hate it, although they were 

created for it, by God, when they were still angels. They fear the 

glory and the splendour evoked by praise, the conquest to which it 

gives rise. The evil powers cannot hold their own where God's 

people brings an offer of praise to the Lord of Hosts. Prayer asks for 

victory, but praise TAKE S it! Praise is a positive power that renders 

the devil powerless. The devil knows this very well, and will always 

try to prevent God's children from praising their Lord and honouring 

Him. He does this by means of embarrassment, shyness, shame and 

discomfort, suggesting that you will be laughed at 

We know of an alcoholic who was dreadfully bound, and how 

all his attempts to free himself from the evil power had failed- until 

the members of his family realized the meaning of praise. They no 

longer tried to break him of the habit by talking to him, but started 

praising the Lord. And they kept it up. Within a short time, the man 

returned home from work sober. He said that, all of a sudden, in 

some strange way, he no longer felt the inclination to drink. He 

walked straight home from the factory, and it didn't even cost him an 

effort From then on, he never drank again. He was freed when the 

whole family stopped trying to talk him round and reproaching him, 

but started praising the Lord. A girl who had terrible tempertantrums, 

which could take on almost maniacal proportions, sometimes 

smashed everything she could get her hands on in the house, but 

suddenly changed when her family no longer reprimanded her, but 

started praising the Lord. The power of darkness left her, and she 

was quite free. She was soon filled with the Holy Spirit, and is an 

adornment to the Congregation. We know more of these cases, 

where evil spirits have been cast out by praise. 

Praying in the Spirit 

The devil is not afraid of sermons, or church meetings, or 

indeed of any activities in the ecclesiastical sphere, but he does fear 

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just one thing: and that is the frequent use of the spiritual gifts - 

praying in the Spirit, speaking in tongues, prophesying in the 

congregation, praising the Name of Jesus, laying on of hands, the use 

of the special abilities given by the Lord of the Church, the discernmentofspirits, 

the word of knowledge and wisdom, insights of God 

revealed within the visible world, in the battle against the evil powers 

in heavenly regions. Through lack of knowledge, and fear of 

fanaticism and excess, because of little faith, one searches too little 

for access to the potentialities offered to the Congregation by God. 

These are not ideas thought up by people, but decrees of God. 

'Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak 

with tongues' (1 Cor. 14: 39). 'Quench not the Spirit Despise not 

prophesyings' (1 Thess. 5: 19,20). 

The last congregation prior to the return of Jesus, will be a 

prophetic congregation,just as the first one was. The Holy Spirit was 

given the most prominent position, and one asked after Him and 

listened to Him, and one acted according to the directions of the 

Spirit of Hosts. The council of elders and the choice of apostles was 

not composed according to their personal capabilities, name, or 

influential powers. These men were designated by the Holy Spirit 

'As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 

Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have 

called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their 

hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sentforth by the 

Holy Ghost, departed .. .' (Acts 13 : 2-4). The Holy Spirit should 

be called in more often, to give the Congregation His unmistakable 

directions by means of the Gifts of the Spirit When this Spirit gives 

His lines of action and commands, one need never expect disappointments 

because of making the wrong choice. In this way, the 

apostolate can only be prolific and meaningful if the Spirit of God 

gives directives and assignments, and manifests Himself in power. 

The Church of Christ is not a natural affair, but a supernatural 

one, and should not, therefore, be guided by natural reasoning, or 

talent, but by the supernatural indications of God. The very last 

church, the supernormal church, will have to abandon human intervention, 

lines of direction based on human thought and natural 

reasoning, and merely let itself be guided by the Recruiter of the 

Bride, the Divine Eliezer, the Holy Spirit, and made eligible for the 

meeting with the Divine Isaac, in the sky. The Congregation of the 

Bride is a supernatural Congregation, and is not bound to names and 

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creeds and specialities of people, but is the last living Church of 

Christ, washed clean of all denominations and bound to her Lord 

alone. She will live and move through the inspiration of the Recruiter 

of the Bride, by means of revelations and prophesies. These are the 

bridal ornaments for the Wedding of the Lamb. She will have to have 

the disposition of the Bridegroom to be able to follow Him rightly, 

and must therefore communicate closely and confidentially with the 

Bridegroom. God will guide her, and make His ways known. 'Surely 

the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His 

servants the prophets. The Lord God hath spoken, who can but 

prophesy?' (Amos 3 : 7, 8). 

Where these elementary truths are theorized away and criticized, 

a spiritual slump comes into being, spiritual poverty and 

deterioration. One cannot high-handedly waive the 'regimens' of 

God's Church. The timid dove of the Holy Spirit will then wing 

away soundlessly, and all that remains will be tradition and routine. 

It will then no longer be clear how, in faith, the battle against the 

powers - the evil spirits in heavenly regions - is to be fought, clothed 

in armour. This world is, for most people, completely unknown, 

manifested as it is in so many graduations and variations. We ought 

to enter this world fearlessly, covered with the Blood of Jesus, so as 

to overpower these evil powers and usurp them from the throne. The 

position of authority in Jesus Christ has to be assumed and 

conquests gained over the advancing enemy of souls. 

People all around us are being addressed on a horizontal level, 

a natural approach towards natural people, but they are being shown 

too little of how to fight this battle against all forms of infiltration by 

Satan, his penetration into every territory of human existence, into 

all areas, and into the conscious, unconscious and subconscious life 

of the violated person. The practices of Satan, the breakdown policy 

in the Body of Christ, his tricks and snares, will have to be perceived 

and the manner of combatting them acquired. There is such a thing 

as spiritual air-pollution, a gloomy depravation in the surrounding 

atmosphere. With the potentialities given us by the Lord of the 

Church, we ought to go into the arena with our faith, and command 

these powers to get out Nowhere shall they overpower the Body of 

Christ By challenging these powers and addressing them with 

authority, as ambassadors of God's Kingdom, by showing them our 

'credentials', our powers of authority, and by claiming sole lordship 

85

for Jesus, as God's envoys, we shall accomplish this. 

One means towards this end is our frequent and consistent use 

of praying in the Spirit, speaking in tongues. By doing this we 

paralyse the activities of Satan, in the first instance, and, in so doing, 

build up our faith. From many years' experience, in which much has 

been gone through in the world of evil spirits, I can assure you that I 

would never have been able to do anything without this praying with 

the Spirit It releases power from the Kingdom. There is nothing that 

Satan fears more than this speaking in tongues, praying with the 

Spirit. Doing this, we are carrying ammunition for the attack upon 

the realm of darkness. 

Resisting 

' Resist, steadfast in the faith' (1 Peter 5: 9). God knows you, 

and God knows the devil, and says: Resist! He would not say that if 

the devil were' irresistible'. He appears to be able to be resisted, to be 

stopped. You can't stop a bird flying over your head, but you can 

stop it making a nest in your hair. The Lord speaks of resisting 

attacks. We cannot do this with our natural potentialities, only with 

the power of the Holy Spirit. And, for this, the shield of faith is 

necessary, the cover of armour. Attack is always the best method of 

defence. Satan has often forced us to be on the defensive, but when 

we became conscious that 'Greater (stronger) is He that is in you, 

than he (Satan) that is in the world' (1 John 4 : 4), we resorted to 

attack. Usually we arrive too late. We get to the arena when the 

battle has been fought, and the people possessed. They have become 

occupied territory, violated and damaged, and we stand before 

smoking ruins. The evil powers were ahead of us. Why is it that we 

so often get there too late, we Christians? Why are we so seldom 

ahead of the devil? Why does the initiative lie with the evil one and 

not with us? Why are we so defensive and not offensive? What we 

need is an aggressive Congregation, a Church of Christ which is a 

danger to the evil one. Just as the gates of hell trembled at the 

appearance of the first apostles and Christians, that is how it must be 

again, and more strongly so. Jesus is the Conqueror and the devil the 

ignominious loser. Do not permit him to stalk you, do not listen to his 

flattering language, the 'whistle of the bird-catcher'. Perceive his 

practices and resist him! The best way for you to do this is to speak in 

tongues a great deal. Learn to see once more' What is the exceeding 

86

greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the 

working of His mighty power. Which He wrought in Christ, when 

He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand, in 

the heavenly places. Far above all principality, and power, and 

might, and dominion, and every name' (Eph. 1 19: 21). 'And hath 

raised us up together, and made us sit together in hea venly places, in 

Christ Jesus' (Eph. 2 : 6). The throne is the centre of might, where 

Christ and also we shall be seated, where we shall share in world 

rule. And, from this position, we shall also be able to withstand the 

devil! Do not say that this is an impossible task; '[ can do all things 

through Chn·st which strengtheneth me' (Phi!. 4 : 13). 

Blessed cloths 

'And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul; so 

that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or 

aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits 

wentout of them' (Acts 19: 11,12). There is a means of obtaining 

healing and release by touching the garment of a man of God. The 

haemorrhaging (bleeding) woman held out her hand to Jesus and 

said: 'If! may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole' (Mark 5 : 28). 

She wanted to touch Jesus in faith, and if she could not succeed in 

touching Him personally, the contact with His clothes would be 

sufficient. If it is not Him, it is enough to be something OF Him, 

because it is still Jesus. Something with which He has been in 

contact, His clothing, has the same healing power. Everyone knows 

that textiles cannot heal, but, for her, it was not a piece of cloth, but a 

point of contact with the Lord. 'And believers were the more added 

to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. Insomuch that they 

brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and 

couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow 

some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities 

round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which 

were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed every one' 

(Acts 5: 14-16). 

The mercy of the Master falls on the servant. There you have 

the cases of the contact with the seamless robe of Jesus; with the 

handkerchiefs and aprons of Paul; with the shadow of Peter. The 

mercy of the Kingdom has its own ways of making salvation known . . 

The bleeding woman could feel power emanating from the robe of 

Jesus, and she became wel!. The Bible says that the handkerchiefs 

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and aprons of Paul emanated an extraordinary power. The sick were 

cured and evil spirits went away. The shadow of Peter emanated 

liberating power, so that the sick and those vexed by unclean spirits 

were cured. I repeat that these manifestations did not happen in the 

distant past only, but that they are also occurring nowadays. 'Jesus 

Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever' (Hebr. 13 : 8). 

Also during our ministrations we have wonderful experiences 

with 'blessed cloths', and I should like to illustrate this with a story 

told us by Mrs. Sakio Ogawa, in Omuta, on the island Kyushu 

(Japan): 'Fourteen years ago, my son Satsu began to suffer from an 

inferiority complex. When he was seventeen years old, he started 

work at a fish factory, and stayed there for five years. During that 

time, his feelings of inferiority were intensified by the disparaging 

mockery of his boss and the teasing of his workmates. Four years 

ago, he was mentally disturbed to such an extent, that he turned 

away from people and shut himself up in a dark cupboard in our 

house, and did not emerge from there any more. He didn't want to 

see anyone again. I was the only one who saw him once a day, when 

I brought him food, and sometimes his brother did, too. In those four 

years, he lived in a dark cupboard, without any light or fresh air. 

Every day, I slipped his bowl of rice and fish through the door, which 

was opened just a crack, with a bucket and a couple of bottles of 

water. No matter what we tried, or who we called over to come and 

speak to him, or how often, he would not come out of that cupboard. 

'During the campaign of the Dutch evangelist Hoekendijk in 

our town on the 16th April, the second day, this brother spoke of the 

possibility of doing something for sick and disturbed people who 

were not present, and those who had someone ill at home were to 

bring a cloth to him, over which he would pray. These cloths would 

then be laid upon the sick people at home. The evangelist told us that 

God could bless this point of contact in a wonderful way, and that, as 

a result, he had seen many wonders. I considered the question of 

bringing a cloth; the kind of cloth with which I took the food to the 

cupboard every day. The preacher prayed earnestly over this cloth, 

and then gave it to me to take away. 

'The next morning, I delivered the cloth, with the other things, 

to the cupboard. In the afternoon, my son knocked at the cupboard 

door. He had never done that before. I rushed to him and asked what 

was the matter. He said: "I want to come out of the cupboard! Who 

is at home? - I don't want to see anyone; only you!'" . 

88

The mother was alone at home and opened the door, and the 

man came crawling out of the cupboard, without even the strength to 

stand up. 'He looked terrible, with a deathly pale complexion, and a 

long beard and hair, his eyes blinking in the light He looked more 

like a neglected animal than a person, and I got such a fright I 

hoisted him on to a chair and talked to him. He said that he did not 

want to stay in the cupboard any more. I told him that I had been 

going to meetings, in the evening, where a foreign preacher spoke, 

and prayed with the sick, and invited him to go along with me. At 

first, he did not want to, but when my other son came home, he 

decided to go, being half-carried. We dressed him and combed his 

hair as best we could, and then ordered a taxi which took us to the 

hall, where we sat right at the back. 

'When the singing started up, very gaily, with drums and 

tambourines, it became too much for Satsu. He couldn't bear all that 

noise, but we held on to him tightly. After the meeting, you walked 

into the hall and approached my son. You did not know him, and 

stood in front of him. Then you laid your hands upon him and 

commanded the powers of Satan to leave him immediately. And that 

happened, too, the very same evening. Satsu became calm and 

amenable. The next day, he quietly allowed himself to be taken to 

the hospital, where he was cleaned up and his body regained its 

strength. The doctors at the Shiranui hospital had never seen 

anything like it, and were amazed that such a thing was possible - 

that this deadly timid and tormented spirit was quite normal, and no 

one could have been friendlier and more compliant than Satsu. 

There was nothing more of his afllictions to be discovered.' 

I visited him and couldn't believe my eyes. Satsu is cheerful, 

and laughs, and is sociable; a different person. He is now home, and 

he asked to be baptized, and goes to church. He is going to start 

working again, and wants to get married, like everyone else. This is 

Jesus' doing. Hallelujah! This unapproachability was broken through 

by the cloth over which prayers were said, and it healed the spiritually 

vexed, just as in the book of Acts. 

Attempts, by a rational theology, to seek a scientific explanation 

for the supernatural acts of God will continually fail, as this 

causes God's Word to be hollowed out God employs many 

wonderful ways, which may seem foolish to some, but which are 

effective in practice. Thus, cloths can be turned into God's 

messengers of His seeking love, to the credit of His Name. Faith can 

never expect too much! 

89

Compassion 

'But when He (Jesus) saw the multitudes, He was moved with 

compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered 

abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.' (Matt 9 : 36). 'And Jesus 

went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion 

toward them, and He healed their sick' (Matt 14: 14). 'So 

Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes; and 

immediately their eyes received sight; and they followed Him' 

(Matt 20 : 34). 'And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion 

on her, and said unto her, Weep not And He came and touched the 

bier; and they that bare him stood still. And He said: Young man, I 

say unto thee, Arise' (Luke 7 : 13, 14). What impelled Jesus? It was 

Divine pity, the compassion of His heart Towards whom was this 

pity directed? Toward the multitudes. The result was that the healing 

power of this pity found the people and cured them. Love was what 

prompted Jesus and guided his footsteps. He hated sin, but loved the 

sinner. He was angry in spirit toward the powers of Satan, but He 

loved the poor one possessed; He freed him. Without love for the 

person whom we wish to set free, without compassion, we are 

absolutely powerless in our ministration; it will not be a success. If 

we are going to be of help, it is a stipulation that we be filled with 

God's love. 'And we have known and believed the love that God 

hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, 

and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we many have 

boldness in the day of judgment because as He is, so are we in this 

world There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear .. .' 

(1 John 4 : 16-18). As He is, as He bent over the affected person in 

pity, just so shall we also approach people, with a compassionate 

heart Satanic powers cannot tolerate this; they hate all acts oflove. 

It makes them restless; they cannot stand this warmth, and they 

weaken in the face of this power, this glory; they feel uncomfortable. 

And decide to get out faster. 

Let me tell you of another experience which illustrates this. We 

were once called to a young possessed woman. Various brothers 

came with me, and I had a shock when I saw the creature, in a 

shabby bamboo hut The family had shut her up in a space which 

resembled nothing human - a semi-dark den, with barred windows 

and a floor of stamped-down earth. She slept without a mat, on the 

bare ground, like an animal. They had enclosed her feet in wooden 

90

stocks, so that she couldn't run away. I have never ever seen such 

cruelty. The skin of her ankles was one great open wound from the 

constant abrasion of the feet in the wooden stocks, and, at night, her 

wrists were also bound. She lay on the ground as though crucified, 

not in a position to move. What inhuman torture. From afar, people 

heard this woman screaming in the night But the village simply 

turned aside and paid no more attention - evil spirits had taken 

possession of this woman, they said, and went about their daily 

business. People even laughed about it She had been lying there on 

the earthen ground for years, with no covering, like an animal; a 

buffalo or less. Her personality was of no consequence. 

We visited this woman; in rags, unwashed, haggard, she lay 

there with large, frightened eyes. I could not bear the look of it, and 

ordered that her feet be taken out of the stocks and washed and 

bandaged. The members of the family looked at me in amazement, 

and protested. This woman would fly at us and tear us to pieces. She 

was' djahat' - dangerous. I demanded that they obey me, otherwise I 

would leave. A few young brothers loosened the woman. She was so 

tortured, so boundlessly neglected, so battered about, so dreadfully 

disabled, her very being had been so violated, that a wave of compassion 

welled up in my heart I went to her and bent and drew her up 

into my arms, something which she had never experienced. She 

pressed close to me and cried softly, like a child with a long-standing 

sorrow. With her dirty hair against my face, and her head on my 

chest, she was not crazy, not possessed, but a terribly lonely human 

child who had been subdued by force. As she lay against me like that, 

I prayed to the Lord, beseeched Him to have mercy, to show this 

single person in distress the same pity that He showed the multitudes. 

A great warmth filled my heart, an endless tenderness, in which I 

wrapped this woman, went through me. I laid my hands upon her and 

prayed in tongues, imploring the Almighty to assist me in rescuing 

her. I invoked the power of the Blood of Jesus over her, and commanded 

all the powers of darkness, which were concentrated here in 

this den, and which could even be smelt, to leave this woman 

immediately and never come back. She will now lead a normal life 

again, like all other women in the village, marry and have a family. 

With the power of authority, all the destructive spirits in this woman 

were commanded to leave her. I asked no questions, made no 

requests, but commanded with the power of authority that I have in 

Jesus Christ Thank you, Jesus! You love her! I love her as well! 

Save her from this hell, please! You came for the same hopeless 

91

cases that she is, just like her! 

It was an unusual ministration, there in that little bamboo hut, 

on the edge of the village. The accompanying preachers had not 

expected me to approach that sick little woman in that way. I think I 

shocked them, but what does it matter. For years they knew of this 

affair, and never extended a hand themselves- only praying at a safe 

distance, perhaps. Why should I not do it like that, if the Spirit of 

God inspired me to do it? Why should I not, just as Jesus did, show 

the same love and tenderness, and the same pity, towards the lost, 

the outcasts, the forgotten, and those without a single chance, like 

her? The manservant is not more than the Master! It was His nature 

to visit the damaged person tenderly, and to heal- to heal the life in 

him. Why should I not follow up the Lord in doing this? After I had 

prayed, I stroked her hair and face, a few times, with my hand; I 

caressed her cheeks with all the tenderness that I felt for that person 

at that moment The woman regarded me for a long time, with gentle 

eyes. She did not know what love was. I made a few of the women in 

her family fetch some other clothes, and an earthenware bowl of hot 

water, and commanded them to wash the woman, comb her hair and 

attend to her. I forbade them to lock her into the wooden stocks 

once more. The woman was cured and normal. Later, I heard that 

she was living just like all the women in her village. The Lord be 

praised! 

Holly Communion 

I have saved this possibility for the last If all other attempts 

have failed, this one never will: the Holy Communion. You should 

observe this with others, or with another person, in the church or at 

home, privately, in this special case, when the two of you are completely 

ONE, which I have already written about Not just with any 

brother who happens to walk in, but with a chosen, selected person. 

Preferably your pastor, or elder, and, if he is not there, your partner. 

Prepare yourselffor this. Not from tradition. Never become an eater 

or drinker of habit at the Holy Communion, but go on regarding it as 

sacred celebration of the Congregation. 

The Holy Communion is not two - bread and wine - but 

three: Word, bread and wine. Because God is Three-in-One, and 

One-in-Three, the celebration of the Holy Communion is also three. 

Lay your Bible between the bread and the wine, in the middle, 

because this Word of God gives value to the bread and the wine, 

92

point to them and consecrate them. The devil still remembers the 

great drama of Golgotha very well, and observing the Holy Communion 

points out to him again that the serpent-treader Jesus 

crushed the head of the snake. There, Blood flowed at the crude 

wooden cross, and that was the price that the Son of God, who 

became the Son of Man, paid for the sin of the world; the guilt, the 

disease, the fear and the death. That is where the sting was plucked 

from the bee. That is where a COMPLETE REDEMPTION for a 

lost mankind was brought about, that is where prisons were opened 

so that those bound by the devil might be released. The suffering and 

dying of Jesus Christ is far-reaching in the history of mankind, but 

also and especially in the existence of Satan. He knows this! What 

we have to do is hold up to him that deed, the benefaction of God! 

The coming of Jesus, His revelation in the flesh, had two 

purposes, two main points - firstly, the forgiveness of sins, and, 

secondly: the destruction of the devil. 'And ye know that He was 

manifested to take away our sins . .. ' (1 John 3: 5). Three verses 

further, we read of the second purpose of Jesus' coming: 'For this 

purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the 

works o/the devil' (1 John 3: 8b). Jesus came to solve the problem 

of sin, the problem of disease, the problem of fear, and that of death, 

but also the problem of the supremacy of the devil. When He had 

taken up all these things in His body, and was about to die, He cried: 

It is accomplished! My mission is accomplished! That, for which I 

was sent by the Father, has now been accomplished by this deed! He 

did not say: 'I have accomplished it!' He said: It is accomplished! 

That for which I was sent' So shall My word be that goeth forth out 

of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish 

('it is finished') that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing 

whereto I send it' (Isaiah 55 : 11). 

What appeared to be a fiasco outwardly, a cross for a crown, 

appears to be the greatest triumph after all; the enemy was defeated 

there. Holding this up before him during the Holy Communion, 

renders Satan powerless. Of all the means of defeating him, the Holy 

Communion is the most powerful. Hallelujah! 

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CONCLUSION 

The annour of God is a perfect annour 'that ye may be able to 

withstand in the evil day' (Eph. 6 : 13). This evil day is not a day in a 

remote future. This day is now, today, 'but this is your hour, and the 

power of darkness' (Luke 22: 53), it is the day of antichrist 'And 

this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should 

come; and even now already is it in the world' (1 John 4 : 3). This is 

the day of the reign of principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of 

this world, spiritual wickedness in high places. There is a great 

resistance, the fight is fierce and becomes heavier day by day. There 

are innumerable dangers, but God gave us the means to remain 

standing, in the annour of God, with defensive and offensive 

weapons. Paul says: 'In all these things we are more than conquerors 

through Him that loved us' (Rom. 8 : 37). The Lord is with His love 

on our side. 'But for us fights the proper Man', and with Him, 

through Him we are more than conquerors. We do not want to 

regard and fear Satan as an overwhelming superior power. We want 

to consider what we are in Christ Jesus, we want to look at Him and 

at the heavenly host on our side. 

In the second book of Kings we find an excellent example, a 

foreshadow of spiritual fight ('For whatsoever things were written 

aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and 

comfort of the scriptures might have hope' - Rom. 15: 4). 'And 

when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and had gone 

forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and 

chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! How shall 

we do? And he answered, Fear not! for they that be with us are more 

than they that be with them' (2 Kings 6: 15-16). Not only are 'they 

that be with us', God's legions, greater in number, but they are also 

greater in power, they are better fighters. Moreover, their Lord is 

present, Jesus, the Greater One, the Stronger One, unto Whom is 

given all power in heaven and on earth. He commands these hosts, 

He is with them, with us. They fight on our side, and are at our 

disposal. Jesus says: 'Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my 

94

Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions on 

angels?' (Matt 26 : 53). The servant only saw the outward appearance, 

he only know of sensorial sight, he only saw difficult and 

dangerous circumstances. But he must learn how to see in a spiritual 

way, from the standpoint of the Word, the promise, from God's 

view, through the Holy Spirit' And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I 

pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see' (2 Kings 6 : 17). 

This booklet was written with a view to this prayer of El is ha. It 

is written out of this desire: 'Lord, open their eyes, that they may see! 

Lord, give everyone eyesalve, that they may see' (Rev. 3 : 18). Only 

the Holy Spirit can cause our eyes to see, can heal us of blindness as 

far as the Word is concerned. 'And the Lord heard Elisha's prayer, 

as He hears every faithful prayer. And the Lord opened the eyes of 

the young man, and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of 

horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha' (2 Kings 6 : 17). A 

huge army, our heavenly allies are with us in the same battle against 

the same enemy. And these hosts stood 'round about Elisha'; that is, 

round about the Word of God, round about prophecy, round about 

the certainty of ' thus says the Lord of hosts', round about the Kingdom 

of Jesus Christ They are there, in readiness, encamped round 

about us and they lead us to victory. 

95

(Lektuurfonds' cia A. W. de Groot, Huisduinenstraat 9, 

2547 TA DEN HAAG, HOLLAND. 

Giro (Lektuurfonds': 1970200 Zwolle. 

96

druk, VANDERWORP OFFSET BV zwolle

ARMOUR OF GOD

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