EPIC BATTLES OF THE LAST DAYS EPIC BATTLES OF THE LAST DAYS RICK JOYNER Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, (NAS) © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version, © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (Niv) are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. EPIC BATTLES OF THE LAST DAYS Rick Joyner Morning Star Publications P.O. Box 369 Pineville, NC 28134 ISBN: 0-88368-482-9 Printed in the United States of America Copyright © 1995 by Rick Joyner Whitaker House 30 Hunt Valley Circle New Kensington, PA 15068 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Joyner, Rick, 1949 Epic battles of the last days / Rick Joyner. p. cm. Originally published: Charlotte, NC :Morning Star, 1995. ISBN 0-88368-482-9 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Spiritual warfare. 2. End of the world. I. Title. BT98 1.J69 1997 235'.4—dc21 97-12047 No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 / 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 Contents Introduction..........................................................................6 Part I The Big Picture 1 The Two Ministries...................................................... 18 2 Racism and the Spirit of Death.....................................41 Part II The Stronghold of Witchcraft 3 Overcoming Witchcraft................................................71 4 The Stinger................................................................... 84 5 Combating New Age Witchcraft................................100 6 The Stronghold of Illegitimate Authority...................114 Part III The Religious Spirit 7 Combating the Religious Spirit.................................. 129 8 The Spirit of Jezebel...................................................147 9 The Warning Signs of a Religious Spirit....................159 Part IV The Gates of Hell and the Doors o f Heaven 10 Understanding Spiritual Gates..................................168 11 When Heaven and Hell Collide................................184 12 The Two Mandates...................................................199 13 The Battle for Life and Liberty................................ 215 14 Twelve Lessons on Warfare..................................... 229 Summary..........................................................................245 Introduction The Lord gave dominion over the earth to the first man, Adam. When Adam sinned he became the slave of sin, and all that was under his domain was subjected to bondage with him. It was for this reason that the Lord Jesus referred to Himself as the "Son of man," and the apostle Paul referred to Him as "the last Adam" (I Corinthians 15:45). A man was given dominion over the earth, a man lost it, and a man had to recover it. That man was Jesus, Who fully conquered sin on the cross, and recovered dominion over the earth. At that time He was given the authority to reclaim the world and establish His kingdom of righteousness. Why did He not do it then? As a wise friend, Paul Cain, once said to me, "Most heresies are the result of men trying to carry to logical conclusions that which God has only revealed in part." Even a cursory look at church history reveals the truth of that insight. There seems to be a special trap set for those who have tried to answer the question above. Therefore I will endeavor to be even more careful to not go beyond what has been clearly revealed in the Scriptures on this subject. Even so, a great deal on this subject is revealed, which is of supreme importance in these times, and yet is seldom addressed in the mainstream of Christianity. 6 Introduction 7 The messianic prophecies speak of both a suffering Servant, and a conquering King. The Lamb has come, and the King is yet to come. If He is to be a conquering King He must have something left to conquer; so, we can presume that evil will not be fully conquered until He returns. It is just as obvious that the church is here both to preach the kingdom, and to boldly confront the strongholds of the enemy. We are to be the "salt of the earth," and "the light of the world." If corruption and darkness are spreading, it must be assumed that it is because the church is not doing what she was called to do. This is in fact the case because the enemy has been successful in blurring much of our basic mandate on this earth. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8b). Because "appeared" is past tense, this Scripture is clearly not talking about His second coming, but His first. Though the Lord came to redeem a people for Himself, He did not come just for that purpose, but to also destroy the works of the devil. A major part of His plan for destroying the works of the devil is to do it through the church, as He confirmed in John 17:18: As Thou [Father] didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. Just as He came to destroy the works of the devil, He has sent the church with that same purpose. If this is a purpose for which we have been sent, one way that we could measure the success of our calling would be 8 Epic Battles of the Last Days to count the works of the evil one that we have been used to destroy. Paul addressed this in his exhortation in II Corinthians 10:3-6: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete. If we are using the weapons of our warfare properly, we should be able to point to destroyed enemy fortresses. "Every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God" should be falling before us. Is there any congregation that has walked, or is walking, in this? If not, why? The purpose of this book is to address this question, to illuminate some of the most powerful and deadly evil strongholds of these last days, and to focus on the biblical truth that will destroy them. This will release the knowledge of God, and bring men into obedience to His Christ, as Paul declared. Whether we believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, or not, is not the issue. Regardless of when we are caught up to be with the Lord, we must be found fighting against the Introduction 9 strongholds of the enemy, and destroying his fortresses. The Lord Jesus had both the authority and the power to subdue evil and take dominion over the earth after His resurrection. He could do it right now by simply declaring it—the power of a single word from Him is more than enough to destroy all of the works of the enemy. Obviously He has a good reason for letting us do it instead. Who Are We? There are several metaphors used to describe the church. We are a "bride," a "body," a "holy nation," "God's field," "sheep," "a kingdom of priests," and "soldiers." Some of these designations may seem to conflict with others, but they don't, as long as we understand timing. There is a time for the church to be a family, and there is a time to be an army. It takes wisdom and a sensitivity to the Spirit to know when to give ourselves to each. If we do not have this sensitivity we will be in danger of being something between irrelevant to the times, and in grave danger ourselves. Our first calling is to fellowship with God. Our first and greatest loss from the Fall was our intimacy with Him. The very first thing that is meant to be restored by redemption is our intimacy with God. If there is any way that we can measure true Christian maturity, or the degree to which redemption has worked in our life, it would be by how close we are to Him. 10 Epic Battles of the Last Days We will never win a single battle by our own wisdom, or strength, but by the power of the One who dwells within us. Therefore, the chief strategy of spiritual warfare is to get closer to the King, and walk in greater obedience to Him. The degree to which we walk in true spiritual authority is determined by the degree to which the King lives within us. The kingdom only comes with the presence of the King. Our first calling is to be a family, and to know Him as our Father, but that does not negate our calling to also be an army and know Him as our King. There is a time for covered dish dinners, and there is a time to put on the whole armor of God and march out into the fray. Wisdom is to know when to do each. Our Finest Hour The church is at war. This war will not end because we do not like it, or we do not want to fight.