Revelation 12:10 declares; “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”
It is no secret that satan hates us. He abhors the human race. We are a constant reminder that he once was in the presence of Yahweh but now we are the ones that are allowed to experience His presence. Further, he knows that God created us in His likeness. We are literally image bearers of the Almighty Himself!
The thing that we must know in our constant warfare with the enemy of our soul is that he is a defeated foe. He already has his future determined. There is no escaping it. The only problem is the Church does not live like we believe that! We allow satan to attack us at will. We allow him to spread his lies and discord without resistance. We buckle under the slightest attack that he throws our way. Then, we whine and cry about it and scream for everyone to hear, “Why is the devil always picking on me? Why can't I get victory over him?” The reason, my friend, is that you have not yet fully understood that YOU have the power through Jesus Christ to cast down the accuser!
In order to understand fully what that means, let's first understand where he is being cast down from. Our journey starts with first understanding the three levels of the heavens.
THE 3 LEVELS OF HEAVEN
In dealing with the 3 levels/dimensions/spheres of the heaven, we must establish a base line of thought, and that is, the Bible is very clear that there is a “third” heaven. And if there is a THIRD heaven, that only stands to reason that there is also a First heaven and and Second heaven as well. This is further proven true by following verses:
Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis 2:1, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished.”
Genesis 2:4, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created.”
2 Samuel 22:10, “He bowed the heavens also.”
Mark 1:10, “And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him.”
Allow me to show you Scripturally about these 3 heavens:
- The First Heaven - The Atmospheric Heaven
The atmospheric heavens include the air that we breath as well as the space that immediately surrounds earth. The technical term for this is “troposphere.” It extends about 20 miles above earth. The space above this is called the “stratosphere.”
The Scriptures use the term heaven to describe this area.
“I will destroy humankind whom I created from upon the face of the earth, from humankind, to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven.” (Genesis 6:7 Lexham English Bible)
“...and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain.” (Deuteronomy 11:17 KJV)
“And he [Elijah] prayed again, and the heaven gave rain.” (James 5:18 NKJV)
“...he did good, and gave us rain from heaven.” (Acts 14:17 NKJV)
“Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns.” (Matthew 6:26 NKJV)
The word for “air” here is ouranos, the exact same Greek word that is translated in multiple Scriptures as “heaven”.
- The Second Heaven – The Celestial Heaven
This is our outer space or the stellar heaven. It includes the sun, moon, stars, milky way, and galaxies. This is TOTALLY different than the first heaven and cannot be included as part of the first heaven because the first heaven describes air and rain (that can only happen WITHIN our atmosphere. It does not rain in outer space!
“They shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven.” (Jeremiah 8:2 NKJV)
“In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. Its rising is from one end of the heaven and its circuit to the other end.” (Psalm 19:4,6 NKJV)
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (Matthew 24:29 NKJV)
TWO very important things here. It says that stars are in this heaven. (There are no stars within our atmosphere – aka The First Heaven). And second, notice how after it mentions stars, it ALSO states that the “powers” of the heavens (plural) will be shaken during this time!
This is but one of the reasons that I believe satan's current throne-world is in the Second Heaven. Listen to what Revelation 12 says;
“And war broke out in heaven (NOT God's 3rd heaven because satan is not there any longer!): Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil and satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev. 12:7-9 NKJV)
FURTHERMORE, it is AFTER this that the verse that talks about us defeating satan is given to us.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Rev. 12:11 NKJV)
- The Third Heaven – The Home Of God
The Bible is clear that God is omnipresent, but it also teaches us that God has a permanent dwelling place in the Third Heaven.
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven.” (2 Corinthians 12:2 NKJV)
“We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 8:1 NIV)
“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55 NIV)
“For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” (Hebrews 9:24 NIV)
This last verse is very interesting because it not only talks about “heaven” but also states these interesting words, “which are copies of the true.” Throughout Scripture God lets us know that He has set forth things here on the earth that are copies of the originals in His third heaven (or, as we know it Types & Shadows). Over and over again, Scriptures give to us patterns of this.
Now what does “copies of the true” exactly mean. Well, first we must understand that in order to even begin to grasp the things of God, we cannot think with human reasoning. We just THINK that we understand the things that we read because we are reading them from our perspective, from our understanding, based on our experiences, the things that we have learned and been taught in our upbringing and past. But, to begin to grasp the deep things of God we have to allow the Holy Spirit to become our Teacher.
Second, we have to learn to LOOK at things from a different perspective. Regarding this, I want to get you to not look at everything from a linear viewpoint. The word “linear” means “items arranged in or extending along a straight line.” It also means “being in only one dimension.” Did you catch that? Only ONE dimension. As long as we look at everything being linear (in a straight line) then we will never understand the magnitude of who God is, what He can do, and the scope of His glory. Just to comprehend the 3 heavens listed above, we have to change our thinking. For instance, yes, there is a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd heaven as far as straight up and down (vertical) goes. But, remember, we must not think in terms of linear movement but rather think of these three heavens being, rather, three dimensions or three spheres of existence.
What I am saying is, do not just think of casting down the accuser of the brethren from a linear perspective, ie. 3rd heaven to 2nd heaven, or 2nd heaven to 1st heaven. Yes, that has and will happen, but we, for this message, want to understand that we are talking about casting satan out of our lives.
LIFE & DEATH IN THE TONGUE
Here is where we see the Accuser of the Brethren the most active, through the power of the tongue – both with “internal” and “external” accusations.
As it concerns INTERNAL ACCUSATIONS, I preached a message many years ago entitled “10 Cuss Words You Hear At Church”. Here is a short synopsis of it.
The tongue can be either a creative force or a destructive force. The secrets of life and death are found in the tongue. Our speech must be in agreement with God's Word. Profanity is any speech that comes out of our mouth that is not in agreement with the letter and/or the spirit of the Word of God.
Look at these 10 cuss words or phrases that satan uses to accuse us internally:
- “That's just not my nature.” or... “I'm only human.”
Not your nature? Which nature? The old Adamic nature? Or the new Christ nature? Quit saying stuff like, “It's just my nature to be nervous”, or “It's just my nature to be afraid.” That's the old nature talking. You are now a new creation in Christ Jesus.
- “One of these days I'm gonna...”
Quit serving the god of I'm gonna! You know this one, don't you? “I'm gonna do better one day.” Or, “I'm gonna quit drinking one day.” Today is the day of the Lord! Quit living for someday and start living for Jesus right now.
- “What if?”
This curse word is motivated by fear, and fear is not of God! This cuss word works on both the past and the present. It keeps you bound in the past asking questions like, “What if I hadn't done that?” Or, “What if I had married that person instead of the one I'm married to?” And it binds you from living in the future by asking questions like, “What if everything doesn't work out?”
- “But”
When we use this cuss word we erase everything that proceeded it! Don't believe me? Watch this - “I know God has always been there for me and taken care of me, but...” That one little word, “but”, changes everything! This word should not be in the mouths of the saints! Saints are sheep – not goats! Sheep go baaaa, but goats go but, but, but!
- “Nobody Understand Me”
You poor little thing! You're the only one going through anything, aren't you? People who cuss like this want others to feel sorry for them. Nobody has ever suffered like they have. They have the martyr's complex. They alienate themselves from the body of Christ. And that's exactly where satan wants them! Well, I have a suggestion – suck it up buttercup!
- “I Can't!”
The truth is not that you can't, but rather you won't try! Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do ALL things through Christ that strengthens me.” But cussing, and saying that you can't, all your doing is saying that you're a quitter! Don't be afraid to step out and dare to do something mighty for the kingdom of God.
- “You Don't Love Me” or “Nobody Loves Me”
This cuss word flows out of the mouth usually of someone that doesn't understand what true love really is. They have a selfish, perverted notion of love. They think that if someone truly loved them, that they wouldn't ever correct them. Wrong! It is BECAUSE they love you that they would take the time to sow words of correction into your life.
- “Maybe”
This cuss word is a word of uncertainty and double-mindedness. It is a word of duality, and God hates a mixture. This cuss word has caused many of a good person, and even churches, to fall. This one little word, “maybe”, can even destroy your faith, or even the faith within your local church. Watch these statements; “Maybe we shouldn't build the new church yet.” “Maybe we shouldn't change the carpet.” “Maybe we need to wait awhile.” “Maybe they didn't mean that.” “Maybe the Bible doesn't mean that.” Maybe! Maybe Maybe! Quit cussing!
- “I'm afraid of what people will think or say about me”
Do you know what this cuss word does to you? It causes you to do nothing! Nothing at all. Why? Because the way you figure it, people aren't going to like nothing you do any way, so why do anything at all? You might as well just play it safe. Here's an idea – how about you quit cussing, get off your behind, quit worrying what people are going to say about you, and get to work for the kingdom of God!
- “We've always done it this way before. There's no need to change”
This is a nasty cuss word! Just because you have always done something the same way, doesn't mean that it was right. The old order is governed by the law of sin and death. The new move of God in the earth today though is governed and energized by the law of the Spirit! Spiritual growth denotes change. We are being changed from glory to glory.
Now look at how satan uses our mouths to accuse our brothers and sisters in Christ with EXTERNAL ACCUSATIONS:
External accusations are brutal, malicious attacks. External accusations operate in the spirit-realm, it is literally a demonic spirit of accusation. The spirit of accusation loves to expose other people's mistakes. I warn you, if you give in to the spirit of accusation, it will dig in down deep in you in an effort to co-habit with you. When you accuse your brother or sister, rather than pray for them, you have become an instrument in the hands of this evil spirit. You think that you are justified in your accusation, but the truth is the spirit of accusation has just used you to accomplish its demonic goals.
The spirit of accusation seeks to destroy you, then the brethren whom it affects. According to the Word, satan has been accusing the brethren before God ever since man was made in the image of God. Sadly, those who have this spirit entrenched into their lives are busy everywhere backbiting and spreading vicious attacks against people that are supposed to be their brother and sister in Christ.
Here are just a few verses of Scripture to go with how the tongue can be used by the Accuser of the Brethren through EXTERNAL ACCUSATIONS:
Proverbs 10:11, “violence covers the mouth of the wicked.”
Proverbs 11:9, “The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor.”
Proverbs 11:13, “A talebearer reveals secrets.”
Proverbs 12:22, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.”
Proverbs 15:1, “a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Proverbs 15:28, “the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.”
Proverbs 16:28, “A perverse man sows strife, And a whisperer separates the best of friends.”
Proverbs 17:9, “he who repeats a matter separates friends.”
Proverbs 18:6-7, “A fool’s lips enter into contention, And his mouth calls for blows. A fool’s mouth is his destruction, And his lips are the snare of his soul.”
Proverbs 20:19, “He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.”
Proverbs 24:1-2, “Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them; For their heart devises violence, And their lips talk of troublemaking.”
Proverbs 25:18, “A man who bears false witness against his neighbor Is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow.”
Proverbs 26:24-25, “He who hates, disguises it with his lips, And lays up deceit within himself; When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, For there are seven abominations in his heart.”
Dear friend, let us not be used by the devil in such a way. Let us have a higher standard that to go around maliciously attacking those who are part of our family. Let us not listen to the lies that the enemy tries to sow into our mind and block him from gaining entrance. And, if he does ever gain a foothold, just do what the Bible tells us to do – cast down the accuser of the brethren!