Invisible Enemies

by Jim Croft

  I do not believe nor have I experienced that Wilbur’s deliverance is the template for others to be set free from the powers of iniquity. I am persuaded that what happened with Wilbur had a higher purpose. It was designed to impress me with the reality of some people’s need of deliverance from iniquity.

  I saw Wilbur frequently after that session. He testified that he was entirely free from the desire to draw the attentions of men. Thankfully, he reported that the behavior of his daughters had also tamed down considerably.

  Iniquity and Sin

  The Bible mentions iniquity 317 times. It also speaks of how the mystery of iniquity will dwell within the individual that the Bible calls the Antichrist. There are certainly mysterious aspects of iniquities that are not understood by most Christians. There are, however, many essential facts that we can and should know about the perils of the power of iniquity.

  Iniquity is not one and the same as sin. Iniquity births sin. The best treatment of iniquity that I have found is in Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible. In the next section, I provide a summation of what I gathered from Dake’s notes and my studies of Bible verses about iniquity-hardened hearts.

  The Hebrew word for iniquity is avon. One of its definitions is “perverseness; to be bent or crooked.” Some modern versions of the New Testament translate the Greek word for iniquity as “lawlessness.” Iniquity is the nature of the lawless devil working in the dispositions of the disobedient to drive them to commit sins.

  The Greek word for sin is hamartia. It has a root that is commonly understood as “missing the mark.” Jesus came to bless us by empowering us to turn from our iniquity. The turning is apparently a progressive work. We see this in the book of Hebrews, which encourages us to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us (see Hebrews 12:1). The implication is that it is possible to have strong residues of iniquity within us after salvation.

  The goal of the redeemed person should be righteous behavior. Some people continually miss the mark of righteousness in given areas because they have crooked deposits of iniquity in them. It might be said that some are shooting their best intentions through iniquity-bent barrels that cause the continual result of hamartia—missing the righteous targets at which they are aiming. The solution is for them to ask God for deliverance from their iniquity so that they will no longer miss the mark of godly living.

  Iniquity-Hardened Hearts

  It is possible to frustrate the grace of God in our lives. It happens when Christians have a form of godliness, but deny the power of grace to change them (see Galatians 2:21; 2 Timothy 3:5). Somehow these Christians take repentance too lightly, figuring they will always be welcomed at the throne of grace. They do not realize that the ability to repent is a gift that God grants. There are no guarantees that the ability one has to repent on one day will be there the next (see 2 Timothy 2:24–26). There are harsh penalties for discounting the grace of God and for permitting lawless iniquity to rule one’s life.

  Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

  Hebrews 10:29

  “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

  Matthew 7:22–23

  The King James Version of the Bible renders lawlessness at the end of verse 23 as iniquity. For those who have allowed iniquity to harden their hearts, it is not safe to assume that performing dynamic signs equates to God’s approval. Miracles are demonstrations of God’s mercies toward the needy. They speak volumes about God’s grace, but should not be interpreted as attestations of God’s favor upon the vessels used to minister the wonders.

  The prophet Job declared that God inquires after iniquity (see Job 10:6). The Lord is committed to exposing our iniquities so that we can cooperate with Him in dealing with them. Micah 7:19 states that God “will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities.”

  The verb subdue can be translated “to violate.” Any who have residual iniquities active within them need to have them violated by the power of the Holy Spirit. The high priest Joshua is spoken of in Zechariah 3:1–5. The Lord caused Joshua’s iniquities to pass from him and gave him a new garment. That procedure is alluded to in Romans 6:19. Those who have formerly yielded their bodies to iniquity are to yield their bodies to become servants of righteousness. That is what it means to put on Christ. It requires that we own up to the frequent instances where we make decisions to comply with the press of iniquity within us.

  The Satanic Phrase “I Will”

  When iniquity was activated within Lucifer, he made five assertions using the statement I will. The assertions exemplified Satan’s dissatisfaction with his God-appointed functions. With each of those assertions, he demonstrated the prideful intention to exert his will over God’s will (see Isaiah 14:12–15).

  This is a reality that all those desiring deliverance from sin-spawning iniquity must face. Most probably, they have spoken an inward I will that is driven by iniquity prior to each engagement in sin. The sin could be indulgence in crack cocaine or exploration of a pornographic website. Whatever the sin, in the moment before it takes place, that person has willfully chosen iniquity over righteousness. To do so continually, especially with presumptuous thoughts that God is obligated to overlook sin, is the height of iniquity at work. It is a blatant display of dragon-like satanic pride. Repentance is the beginning place of cooperation with God so that He can “do violence” to the drive of iniquity within us and cause it to pass from us.

  Deliverance from Iniquity

  High residual deposits of iniquity can be discerned in others most readily if the “candidate” has an unusual demeanor of pride. Those who are afflicted with intensities of the powers of iniquity seem to sense themselves superior to others. As I have preached and ministered on this topic over the past thirty years, I have seen many resonate with the reality of its power at work in their lives.

  By experience, I believe that the power can be cast out. Those who do not receive personal ministry can succeed at conquering it by embracing the cross, which over time will take the wind out of the sails of iniquity drives.

  In private sessions, I go after iniquity much like I would a demon, though I do not believe it is a demonic power per se. I reserve ministry from iniquity for situations where classic deliverance from demons has not been effective, or where I specifically discern that iniquity drives are lurking.

  Before I minister deliverance from iniquity to anyone, I thoroughly explain what I have outlined in this chapter. I tell the person how the drive of iniquity produces sin. I also correlate iniquity to the prideful “I wills” of Lucifer and the possible presence of powerful residues of iniquity within the individual. I outline to the person I am counseling my clear expectation that God will greatly diminish the power of iniquity to drive them into habitual sins in accordance with our prayers of agreement.

  I have never again witnessed another person squirt liquid from his mouth as Wilbur did. But numerous people have experienced extreme dizziness while the Holy Spirit violated the iniquity within them and was causing it to pass from them.

  In public mass ministry settings, I preach about iniquity, lead people in a renunciation of it, and then command iniquity to leave them. Most important, whether in private ministry sessions or in public venues, deliverance from iniquity has proved beneficial to many of God’s people. The main testimony I have received from those who have reported back has been that freedom from iniquity’s prideful rebellions initiated a new epoch of freedom from old sins in their lives.

  In our next chapter, we will explore further details about the insidious work of the devil through spirits of antichrist.

  Spiritual w
arfare is different from earthly warfare. There are no truces and no furloughs. No matter how many victories are won, the war will not be over until the end of this age. At that point, Christ will personally intervene with the power of His wrath, and Satan and his hordes will be chained in hell. The closer we come to that event, the harder the devil will fight, doing so out of the realization that his time is short. In retaliation for the skirmishes won by God’s army, Satan will send more and more troops into the fray (see Revelation 12:9–13, 17).

  Satan’s rage will be fueled by the fact that there will be a massive ingathering of souls for Christ prior to His Second Advent. The devil’s response will be to perpetrate a great falling away. Many who have been in the faith will purposely walk away from Christianity. Satan will marshal increasing numbers of a special category of evil spirits to pressure Christians into apostasy. These are spirits of antichrist. (See Matthew 24:3–12, 24; 2 Thessalonians 2:1–4; 1 Timothy 4:1–3; 1 John 2:18–19; 4:1–3.)

  The assignment of God’s army is to rescue as much of the end-time harvest of souls as we can from Satan’s grip. To do that we must understand the objectives of antichrist spirits, and how and where they operate.

  The prefix anti implies “something that is against, opposing, opposite, in contrast, a substitution.” Christ means “anointed.” Spirits of antichrist, then, incite people to react against and to invent substitutions for all that pertains to the anointed one, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This includes His righteous teachings, His anointed delegates, born-again Christians and His natural kinsmen, the Jews.

  Daniel 7:25 says that the antichrist spirit will “wear out” the saints. The original language implies that the wearing-down process is mental and emotional. All Christians will periodically feel wearying antichrist oppression. Many new converts will need deliverance from various types of spirits of antichrist—and so will many longtime Christians who have given in to pressures from antichrist spirits.

  Antichrist spirits can function like most any type of evil spirit. The key elements distinguishing them from common demons are that they give their hosts inner compulsions to question, discredit, mock and give up on faith in Christ. A spirit of antichrist will attempt to persuade anyone it oppresses that his or her godly efforts have been for naught. Its primary goal is to undermine the reliability of Christ and the Word of God.

  The Flood of Antichrist Spirits

  Over the past four decades most societies have been hit by an ever-increasing convergence of antichrist spirits coming from seemingly unrelated streams. In the United States, these are the realm of the occult; Islam; the anti-God, “politically correct” postures of the educational system; the liberal news media; influences in the government; and the entertainment industry. The assaults from multiple fronts make countless believers feel overwhelmed. They succumb to thoughts that the Christian life is too tough, that it does not really work, and then they melt into hopelessness without any energy for future battles.

  Exposure to antichrist and anti-God philosophies predisposes people to have mindsets that are resistant to biblical truth, allowing evil spirits to be imparted more easily. American schoolchildren are studying a curriculum from educators who have done everything possible to eradicate references to Christ and the God of creation. In God we trust was once the benchmark of our government. Today the politically correct are expunging Christian symbols and biblical texts from the halls of government, our national parks and military cemeteries. Many of the entertainment industry’s most popular comedians and scriptwriters major on belittling anything that pertains to Christians and to faith in God. It is hard to comprehend how many people have gulped in spirits of antichrist while feeding on a constant diet of mockery of holy matters.

  Here is a closer look at two of these streams—Islam and the entertainment industry’s sudden fascination with and promotion of vampirism.

  The Antichrist Spirit of Islam

  Strategic to Satan’s ploy to wear down the saints through spirits of antichrist is the promotion of Islam in our world. Islam is the epitome of the manifestation of antichrist spirits. Its founder, Mohammad, claimed to be the superior successor and substitute for the apostleship of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that whoever denies the Father-Son relationship between God and Jesus is of the Antichrist (see 1 John 2:22–23). The Arabic inscription on the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem says Allah has no son. Most anyone familiar with the barbarisms of Shariah law could confirm that Islam is a horrid religion.

  Islam has a stifling effect on the prosperity of nations where it becomes a major influence. The antichrist spirits of Islam wear populations down by causing formerly prosperous people to lose incentive for creativity. Within two hundred years of Islam becoming dominant in a previously Christian nation, its intolerance for other religions, its gender bias and its societal restrictions smother cultural advancements.

  Islam boasts a “Golden Age of Islam” between the eighth and twelfth centuries wherein it supposedly led the world in science, math and other academic fields. On the contrary, however, nations such as Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran were Christianized prior to Islamization; the innovations were already in progress before the Muslim takeover.

  More importantly, Muslims do not have any reasonable explanations for why the advancements suddenly stopped in those nations after the twelfth century. With the head start Islamic countries were afforded, it should have been they who led the world in industrial, technological and medical advancements. But it was not. It was Christian nations that did so. Were it not for the innovations adopted from Christianized countries, the Muslim nations would still be sitting in the dust of seventh-century Arab culture.

  Prosperous nations such as America need to realize that it is risky business to favor Islam and to discount the blessings Christianity has brought. We will consider four examples: Christian Italy against Islamic Turkey, and Christian Spain against Islamic Egypt. All four nations were among the earliest countries evangelized by the apostles.

  In Turkey, the Eastern Orthodox Church exercised great influence until the country came under full Muslim rule in the tenth century. Italy became and remains the seat of the Roman Catholic Church.

  According to the 2010 World Almanac, the gross domestic product (GDP) of present-day Islamic Turkey is $903 billion. The literacy rate is 89 percent. The infant mortality rate is 37 deaths per 1,000 births.

  In Christian Italy, the GDP is $2 trillion. The literacy rate is 99 percent. The infant mortality rate is 5.6 deaths per 1,000 births.

  Now look at Egypt and Spain. Egypt was a Christian nation until it was overthrown by Islam in the eighth century. Its Christian population, the Copts, became a persecuted minority. The GDP of present-day Muslim-ruled Egypt is $444 billion. The literacy rate is 72 percent. The infant mortality rate is 28.4 deaths per 1,000 births.

  Spain was a Christian nation until it was conquered by the Jihad hordes in the ninth century. King Ferdinand overthrew Muslim rule, however, in the thirteenth century, and Spain has been predominately Christian ever since. Christian Spain’s GDP is $1.4 trillion. The literacy rate is 97 percent. The infant mortality rate is 4.3 deaths per 1,000 births.

  Any comparison between Christian nations and Islamic nations, including those that produce oil, shows in every instance that Christianized nations beat the GDPs, literacy rates and infant mortality rates of Islamic strongholds. The statistics prove that nations that have remained Christian and those that have thrown off the shackles of Islam are decisively more blessed and prosperous than Islamic stronghold nations. Islam paves the way for the eventual emergence of the Antichrist by impoverishing populations. In hope of relief from their misery they will accept the Antichrist as their global ruler.

  The Antichrist Spirit of Vampirism

  Antichrist spirits are making inroads in the entertainment industry through the current explosion of vampire movies and books. The Internet features websites for scores of vampire clubs. For many, the clubs go beyond mere fan
tasies about sex with flesh-biting, blood-sucking mystical creatures. The members in these clubs actually play roles as vampires and victims. Some of the people involved have actually reported success in conjuring vampire incubi and succubi for wild episodes of sex. We will first discover how vampirism is antichrist in nature and then we will discuss the dangers of its accompanying sexual spirits.

  Mockery at Heart

  Vampirism is an antichrist mockery and repudiation of the most sacred beliefs of Christianity.

  Jesus is the Light of the World. Believers who walk in the light of Christian fellowship are continually cleansed of sins by the blood of Jesus. Acceptance of Jesus guarantees eternity in the glorious light of heaven where there is no darkness of night.

  In contrast to the light experienced in Christ by believers, vampires love darkness. Not only that, but light, according to their lore, actually destroys them. Satanic vampire entities seek an environment of activities that can only be conducted in darkness forever. The “eternal life” that vampires promise demands continual sexual relations and bloodletting.

  Regarding Holy Communion, the wine and the bread symbolize the blood and flesh of Jesus. Believers partake of the elements to refresh their holy spiritual union with Christ and with Christians who are alive and those who have passed on. In contrast, a male or female vampire interacts with its victim by biting, sucking the blood and sometimes eating the flesh. The feast culminates with physical sex. The victims who allow this to happen believe they will also live forever by becoming vampires themselves and then doing the same to other victims.

  A wooden cross symbolizes the sacrificial death of Jesus. Christians are to embrace the cross and to say no to wanton desires. Vampires fear all that is symbolized by crucifixes and wooden stakes. Christians identify with Jesus’ death on a wooden cross by saying no to wanton desires. Vampires take human lives to sustain their own as they fulfill their twisted sexual desires. A wooden stake driven through a vampire’s heart ends its hope of an eternity of decadence.