DEMONOLOGY SERIES

THE BATTLE
FOR THE
N AT I O N S
Dethroning the satanic powers
that rule from the heavenlies

PA S.G. ELTON

RC: IBZO26391

NiU Nation Publishers

(c) Copyright - Ruth ELTON, 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise - without prior written permission of the
publisher or copyright owner.

Unless otherwise stated, all scriptural quotations are taken from the New King James
Version of the Holy Bible

All references to God, the Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom are in title case.
Heaven, when used in reference to God's Kingdom & government is also rendered
in title case. All references to satan however are rendered deliberately in lower case.

ISBN: 978-978-52346-1-9

Printed and published in the Federal Republic of Nigeria by:

NIU NATION PUBLISHERS

20, Alaafia Estate, Orogun;
Box 36218, Agodi P.O.
Ibadan - Nigeria
Email: [email protected]
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 REFACE

T HIS book is the transcript of two messages of Late

Pastor S.G. Elton (fondly called Pa Elton). The
messages themselves are Parts 5 and 6 of a six-part
lecture on Demonology given in Ilesha in 1982 - a time
when there was very little known on the subject in the
church in Nigeria. His emphasis however goes beyond
analysing demons to the bigger picture of the Kingdom of
God being re-established in God's world as the church
begins to exercise their kingly authority over all satanic
powers and operations.
Part V of the message, titled, “The Weapons of our
Warfare” adopts a practical approach to the exercise of
our God-given weapons both for the defensive as well as
the offensive in the ongoing battle against the forces of
darkness. The last in the series, titled “The Battle for the
Nations”, challenges satan's right to govern Nigeria.
According to Pa Elton himself, it is actually the most
important of all in the series and is a wake-up call to
believers to take responsibility for their nation.
Preface
Though, publishing the entire series has actually been in
the pipeline for more than two years, the decision to pull
out Parts five and six was taken in view of its timeliness and
strategic relevance to where we are today as a nation and
as we overlook our centenary celebrations. As you read
on, you will undoubtedly agree that these messages are
very much needed today, thirty years after, particularly, as
we are faced with critical national challenges that all
border on the same issue Pa Elton, in his prophetic insight,
highlights herein: who rules in Nigeria - satan or the Lord
Jesus Christ through His Body, the Church? May the Lord
through this message of his servant rekindle a greater
commitment in the hearts of believers today to their God-
given responsibility of enforcing the rule and reign of our
Lord upon our land.
As we continue to receive help from the Lord, the
complete series on Demonology and other works of Pa
Elton will be brought to public domain. We remain deeply
grateful to Mama Ruth Elton for the trust she has reposed
in us in giving us access to the Elton library and the liberty
to undertake this project.
If you are blessed by this book, please, do what you can to
spread it far and wide. The good Lord bless you and keep
you in the centre of His will and prophetic purpose, amen.

Adeyemo Temidayo
Niu Nation Publishers
 EDICATION

To the memory of Pa S.G. Elton and

his avowed passion for a nation
other than the land of his nativity

vii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface iii
Dedication v
Introduction: Who was Pa S.G Elton? 7

PART 1: THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE

Chap. 1 The Nature of our Warfare 13

Chap. 2 Our Defensive and Offensive Weapons 19
Chap. 3 The Trials of Job 30
Chap. 4 The Last Days' Conflict 37

PART 2: THE BATTLE FOR THE NATIONS

Chap. 5 Who Governs The Nations? 46

Chap. 6 The Nations For Your Inheritance 59
Chap. 7 Qualifying for Kingship 67

Other books in the Elton Library 77

Other Titles from the Publisher 78

viii
 NTRODUCTION

Who was Pa S.G. Elton?

“Nobody can truly write the history of either
Pentecostalism or full gospel, as it were, in Nigeria
and leave Pastor S.G. Elton out of it.” - E.A. Adeboye

T HE late Pastor Sydney Granville Elton,

undoubtedly, was a prophet and an apostle to the
church of God in the nation of Nigeria. He saw
many years ahead of his time and stood in that prophetic
anointing to declare the counsel of God concerning the
 The Battle for the Nations

last days and what the attitude of the Church should be

to God's purposes. His messages provided clear
prophetic warnings and instructions for a church that will
avoid the many pitfalls along the way of a quest towards
the finish.
Pa Elton, as he was often called, left his native country,
England, to come to Ilesha, Nigeria in March 1937 in
response to a divine call to be a missionary - under The
Apostolic Church of England - his wife and only child, 3-
year old Ruth, joining him about six months later. And
since that time right up to his eventual home-call, 50
years later, Pa Elton has always been found at the centre
of revival, playing one role or the other.
His first arrival into the country coincided with an on-
going revival in Ilesha with Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola
as the arrowhead of that revival. S.G. Elton therefore had
the opportunity of being a part of that work, and the
subsequent growth of The Apostolic Church as a
denomination in Nigeria including the establishment of
the Teacher Training College, among many others.
In the advent of the Latter Rain revival of the early 50's,
Pastor Elton, sensing that this was the direction the Spirit
of God was moving, embraced it wholeheartedly. This
however did not go down well with his denomination
and that led to his eventual resignation. Upon
resignation however, he became of greater service to the
 Introduction: Who was Pa S.G. Elton?

work of the Kingdom in Nigeria, ministering across

denominations and providing an inroad for the Latter
Rain revivalists to come into the country. Pastor Elton,
thus, became God's open door for that move into
Nigeria.
Similarly, in the wake of the evangelistic move of the 60's,
S.G. Elton was there, providing a platform for major
international preachers and evangelists like Gordon
Lindsay, T.L. Osborne and so many others. He was also a
major channel of financial provision for many indigenous
missionaries and evangelists because he had contacts
with a good number of foreign missions that were willing
to sponsor evangelistic work in Africa.
It is difficult to pin Pa Elton down to one particular
message. At one time, he would be seen on crusade
platforms, with salvation and works of healing and
miracles. At other times, he was ministering and teaching
on deliverance; at other times, he got down to earth,
teaching the nitty gritty of spiritual warfare, marriage,
faith and Christian missions. Suffice it to say that he
preached the whole counsel of God.
The major emphasis of Pa Elton's vision and message
however was the Kingdom of God interfacing with
human lives and societies. This, he taught with vigour,
bringing an erstwhile complacent church to begin to
demand a righteous social order. Though a Briton by
 The Battle for the Nations

birth, Pa S.G. Elton was a complete Nigerian at heart and

he undoubtedly provided accurate prophetic direction
for the church and the nation, speaking profoundly
about God's plan to use the nation to spearhead the last
day revival.
Pa Elton's bull's eye prophecies are also worthy of note.
Most of his prophecies concerning the church in the
nation and the nation at large have all come to pass. At a
time when everybody was struggling to go to America,
he declared that the move of God in the last days would
come from Africa with Nigeria being the trigger point of
that revival and that Nigerian ministers will take the
gospel of Jesus all over the world. He prophesied that a
time would come when the Government of the nation
will pay Christian students to preach the gospel and this
was fulfilled in the creation of the Youth Service Scheme.
He warned severely of commercialisation of the gospel
and the influence of the American pop culture in
Christianity. He spoke about the divisions and empire
building which would later threaten the great work that
was going on at the time. Needless to say, the church
today is better off where his warnings were adhered to
but seriously battling the consequences, where his
prophetic warnings were rebuffed. It is hoped that the
Church today will reconsider those salient truths that the
Spirit of God is once again echoing.
 Introduction: Who was Pa S.G. Elton?

The greatest legacy of Pa Elton however was his

unparalleled commitment to the younger generation. A
man of profound simplicity who insisted on building men
rather than structures, Elton made himself available to
mentor and father the charismatic revival which, at the
time, was just breaking out particularly among the
nation's tertiary institutions' fellowships. He virtually
spent his latter years traversing the entire country,
ministering to students and emerging Pentecostal
ministers.
Indeed, that sacrificial commitment to generational
mentoring produced seasoned Kingdom labourers who
have all become notable fathers in the body of Christ
today. Among these are the late Archbishop B.A. Idahosa,
Pastor E.A. Adeboye, Dr. W.F. Kumuyi, Dr. Mike Oye, Barr.
Emeka Nwankpa, Revd. Paul Jinadu, Pastor Ayo
Oritsejafor, Bishop Francis W. Oke, Pastor Austen Ukachi,
Apostle Geoffery Numbere, late Bishop Oduwale, Bishop
Paul Nwachukwu, Bro Gbile Akanni and a host of others
too numerous to mention. His Ilesha home was open to
all and sundry night and day and his exemplary servant-
leadership qualities will remain a high standard for
believers and ministers for all time.
Pa Elton's only child and daughter also trailed her
parents' steps by becoming a full-time missionary to the
middle belt region of Nigeria. The wife, Hannah, died in
Nigeria in 1983 and Pa Elton also passed on four years
 The Battle for the Nations

later, having spent half a century on Nigerian soil, serving

His Lord with his all. Both were buried in their Ilesha
home. Today, Mama Ruth Elton, now about 80years of
age, resides in Ilesha and continues to teach and mentor
missionaries and evangelists and church workers for
greater effectiveness in the Great Commission.
 Part One

THE WEAPONS
OF OUR WARFARE
 The Nature of our Warfare
..............................

I N this message, we shall look to some detail at the

weapons available to us in the ongoing battle against
the forces of darkness. The first point to clearly
understand is that this battle is entirely spiritual, and as
such, our weapons also must be spiritual. God has
therefore provided weapons that are appropriately
spiritual. In II Cor. 10:3-5, Paul writes:
“Although we do 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 (satan's) strongholds, casting down
imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself
against the knowledge of God and bringing into
 The Nature of Our Warfare

captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

When Paul said in the passage above that the weapons of
our warfare are not carnal, by implication, he was also
saying that those weapons are spiritual. No natural or
carnal weapon can be of relevance in this spiritual
warfare. It is neither by our knowledge nor by our ability;
we cannot confront the enemy with our expertise. God
has provided us with spiritual weapons to use; therefore
we must learn to make use of the spiritual weapons God
has provided.
The scripture passage above however describes the
attacking side of our warfare. While we shall examine this
in detail, I want to first of all deal with the defensive side.
And to do that, we will examine the most popular
scripture on spiritual warfare, which is Ephesians 6:10-18.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armour of
God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of
12
the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
14
having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having
your loins girt about with truth, and having on the
 The Battle for the Nations

breastplate of righteousness; 15And your feet shod

with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16Above
all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be
able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17And
take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God: 18Praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and
supplication for all saints” [KJV]
From individual to corporate territorial warfare
Now, in relating with this powerful scripture passage, we
should observe every pronoun in the passage is in the
plural. What does this tell us? It simply means that the
level of warfare being addressed here is not so much
about individual warfare. This warfare is national in
scope; it is “body warfare,” not individual. We can see that
we are beginning to move on from our experience of
dealing with demons at the individual level to a
corporate experience of dealing with princes over
territories - or as Paul puts it, principalities and powers.
Jesus Christ spoke to His disciples and said, “I give you
power and authority over all demons, to cast them out”
(Matt. 10:1). But in Ephesians 6 refers to and describes
our body warfare - the warfare of the Church universal
against the principalities and powers in high places. Let
th
me give you a free translation of the 12 verse of
Ephesians 6:
 The Nature of Our Warfare

“For our wrestling match is not against persons with

bodies, but against rulers with various realms of
authority, against the world dominators of the
present darkness, against spiritual forces of
wickedness in the heavenlies”.
In other words, we are fighting an army of invisible
spiritual persons without bodies; all of whom take their
orders from the headquarters located in the heavenlies,
and the objective of these opposing forces is to keep the
world under their control. Their objective and operations
have regional, national and international or global
dimensions.
Up until now, we have been dealing with demons which
inhabit human bodies. I am not sure I can give you a
proper and detailed explanation of where demons came
from; we know that the principalities and powers in the
heavenly places were the former good angels that
rebelled with satan against God and they were cast out.
Whether demons are included in that, I am not sure - and
the trend which we have seen in the last few years has
been a focus, by the Lord's people, on casting out
demons.
Yes, we have learned, and it is true, that demons will obey
us; we have learned that we can cast out demons in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ - all that is true. But now, we
have to move on to another level of warfare which begins
 The Battle for the Nations

with recognising that the real powers and authorities of

demons are the principalities and powers in force in the
heavenly places. We now have to learn how to deal with
them.
Christ's victory over satan
In approaching this warfare, we must first recognise that
Jesus Christ has totally defeated satan. In Colossians 2:15,
Paul tells us that through the death of Jesus Christ on the
cross, God has spoiled (stripped) the principalities and
powers of the kingdoms of darkness, triumphing over
them in that death on the cross. And this is what he says
in II Corinthians 2:14:
“Now thanks be unto God, who always causes us to
triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savour of
his knowledge by us in every place”. [KJV]
God always causes us to triumph in Christ. The triumph is
not the actual winning of the victory but the celebration
of the victory that has already been won. And the Lord
Jesus Christ has already won that victory for us but He
has left to us the responsibility of enforcing and
administering that victory over the forces of darkness
now trying so hard to retain their grip and control of the
nations of this world.
Having seen earlier that our warfare is spiritual and in the
heavenlies and that God has provided us with spiritual
 The Nature of Our Warfare

weapons to use, let us now look at what Paul taught the

Ephesians about this level of warfare.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in
the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of
God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Therefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having
guarded your waist with truth, having put on the
breastplate of righteousness; and having shod your
feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you
will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being
watchful to this end with all perseverance and
supplication for all the saints.” - Eph. 6:10-18
Note the number of times Paul uses the word, stand. He
does not ask us to run or sit; no. He says you have to
stand and claim the victory, and assert your authority on
the earth on the basis of what the Lord Jesus Christ has
done.
 Our Defensive and Offensive
Weapons
..............................

G OING further to describe the whole armour of

God, Paul mentions for us the various
components of the armour, which are our
defensive weapons:
- The belt of truth (vs. 14)
- The breastplate of righteousness (vs. 14)
- The shoes of the gospel of peace (vs. 15)
- The shield of faith (vs. 16), and
- The helmet of salvation (vs. 17)
You will readily observe that these five, which we are to
put on as our armour, are principally for defence. But Paul
does not stop there; moving on finally to the offensive,
 Our Defensive and Offensive Weapons

he mentions two very important weapons:

- The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
(vs. 17)
- Prayer and supplication (vs. 18).
I consider these two to be the primary weapons of
offence given to us to attack. You do not attack with
anything else. There is a large amount of Christian
activity going on today in the churches: committee
meetings, plans, programmes, crusades and revivals - all
intense activities in an effort to win men and women for
Jesus Christ. The real battle, however, is in the heavenlies,
and you can only win that real battle if you are properly
armed with spiritual weapons.
In other passages of scripture besides Ephesians 6 which
we have explored, we can find some other weapons
available to us. Those weapons include the following:
- The name of Jesus
- The blood of Jesus
- The word of our testimony
- The high praises of God
The supremacy of prayer and the word of God
Of all these, I believe that prayer remains the greatest in
our arsenals of spiritual weaponry. It is the first weapon
that the church as a body can use. It is the main weapon
that we use to effectively deploy other weapons. In
 The Battle for the Nations

prayer, we use the word of God, just as the Lord Jesus

Christ used the word in defeating satan in the wilderness.
Three times, He declared: “It is written!” Using the word is
very effective in dealing with satan - though satan
equally has a way of using the scripture to confuse us.
Please be careful; it is usually only half the verse and only
a partial truth which are as dangerous as no truth at all.
We have to learn how to detect that half-truth and how
to deal with it.
Consequently, in our prayer meetings, we must use the
word of God and claim God's promises therein. We must
also use the name of Jesus and the blood of Jesus - for at
the mention of the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow,
including those of the authorities in the heavenly places,
earthly lords and powers, and every tongue shall declare
that He is Lord (Phil. 2:9-11). The blood of Jesus that was
shed is the great triumph in heaven, and the host of
heaven are proclaiming him the victor by virtue of His
shed blood.
Please, notice that as we pray, we use the word of God,
we use the name of Jesus, and we use the blood of Jesus -
all in our attempt to attack, and these weapons are used
by words through our mouth. Our words are to be
creative words, and they are used in prayer, in praise, in
testimonies and in preaching. But I believe the most
important of them all is in prayer. I am afraid that many of
our prayer meetings are a waste of time. We meet
 Our Defensive and Offensive Weapons

together and we beg God to do this or that. We have a

whole agenda of items that we bring to Him to ask Him
to do whereas He has already defeated satan and He is
not going to do any more work in the defeat of satan. The
work is now ours. It is our responsibility to exercise our
faith and divinely-vested authority in overcoming satan.
We do this as we speak confidently that satan is
defeated, and on that premise, issue orders which the
enemy is compelled to obey.
The prayer of binding and loosing
In spiritual warfare, the first aspect of prayer we want to
consider is binding and loosing. In Matt. 16:19, Jesus said
to Peter, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven”.
By these words, Jesus conferred on Peter, the most
tremendous spiritual authority to be exercised on earth.
But it was really a manifestation of what has already been
decided in heaven. The literal translation of that scripture
is this:
“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven: and whatever you bind on earth has
already been bound in heaven: and whatever you
loose on earth has already been loosed in heaven”.
 The Battle for the Nations

This implication of this is that we have a responsibility to

find out what the will of God is, and then to express God's
will, using the prayer of binding and loosing. We are to
make it effective by using our words as the voice of God
to bind the enemy forces. Isn't this staggering! We have
to adopt the attitude to truly put into operation what
God has already decided to be done and then we take
the action on it.
Let us at this point zero in on one particularly type of
binding which is very relevant to our theme. This is what
Jesus says about it:
“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely
the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can
one enter a strong man's house and plunder his
goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And
then he will plunder his house” - Matt. 12:28,29
Now, let us look at Luke's account of this same scripture:
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own
palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger
than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he
takes from him all his armour in which he trusted,
and divides his spoils” - Luke 11:21,22
In this passage, the strong man refers to the devil and the
house of the strong man refers to the entire humanity
that has fallen under satan's power; while the Lord Jesus
 Our Defensive and Offensive Weapons

Christ is the stronger man. In other words, Jesus has

entered into the devil's house; He has entered into
humanity, into the kingdoms of this world, and has
disarmed satan; He has completely overcome him and is
now dividing all his spoils among us. He is almost saying
to us, Come in and help yourselves; satan is already
disarmed and utterly helpless.
This, undoubtedly, is the inner meaning of Matt. 16:18, “I
will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it”. It means that satan can lock the doors of his
citadel and kingdom as much as he likes with the desire
to keep safe his goods inside, and to keep his captives
inside. We, by prayer, can break down those gates, move
into his kingdom, attack his strongholds, and deliver his
captives - that is what that scripture means. But first of all,
we are to bind the strongman.
This has a personal application in relation to problems.
There are spiritual powers that are holding people in
bondage, and our first operation should be to bind those
spiritual forces, and to loose (set into operation) the
power of God to liberate those men and women who
have been held in captivity. The responsibility for the
exercise and administration of spiritual authority has
been placed upon the church. God has chosen a body of
people to be His representative on earth, and that body
must learn how to use prayers as a method of
commanding the powers of darkness to obey the desires
 The Battle for the Nations

and plans of God Almighty. We are to use prayers; we are

to use words. God shapes the whole world through the
prayers of His people.
The people of God must come to understand that prayer
is not just begging God to do something; it is not trying
to overcome any reluctance in God but rather, it is
putting into operation what God has already decided in
heaven. Prayers make it possible for God to move in the
spirit realm to accomplish what He wants, and He cannot
do without the prayers of the saints; He cannot do it
without us. We have a critical function in executing the
purposes of God. God inspires it; God plans it, and the
answer is prepared before it is uttered, but it must be
uttered by us to control events and control spiritual
forces. We are absolutely failing God when we fail to
recognise our spiritual authority in the heavenly places
to put satan and his cohorts under control.
The high praise of God
One of my favourite psalms is in Psalms 149, particularly
from the fifth to the ninth verse:
“Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud
on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their
mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to
execute vengeance on the nations, and
punishments on the peoples; to bind their kings
with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to
 Our Defensive and Offensive Weapons

execute on them the written judgment - this

honour have all His saints. Praise the Lord!”
I believe that our praises terrify satan even more than our
prayers, but we are yet to fully understand the value, the
purpose and the efficacy of praise. It is true that in most
churches, we often begin our services by singing
choruses, but those choruses, in many cases, are merely
pieces of entertainment. They are not the high praises of
God; they do not extol the virtues of Jesus Christ. They
are not lifting up praise and honouring God. Praise is the
highest occupation of angels. Heaven is full of praise.
“And the four beasts had each of them six wings
about him; and they were full of eyes within: and
they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to
come. The four and twenty elders fall down before
him that sat on the throne, and worship him that
liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before
the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to
receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and
were created” - Rev. 4:8,10-11 [KJV]
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many
angels around the throne, the living creatures, and
the elders; and the number of them was ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of
 The Battle for the Nations

thousands, saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the

Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches
and wisdom, and strength and honour and glory
and blessing!” - Rev. 5:11,12
This kind of praise goes on in heaven for all eternity, and
when we engage in this level of praise and we praise God
and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are actually
attacking the forces of darkness. It therefore means that
praise forms part of prayer because it combines petition
with faith. Praise is a solution to many of our problems
because when we offer a sacrifice of praise, it opens a
door for God to come in and work miracles. Praise is one
of our greatest weapons.
The word of our testimony
The word of our testimony is another powerful weapon
available to us. May I direct your attention again to Rev.
12:11, which is another very favourite portion of mine.
There, the scriptures speak of the overcoming of the
dragon in heaven:
“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.
God is waiting for us to declare His victory and to declare
that satan has been defeated. One of the usual moves
that I make when I deal with people who are coming into
 Our Defensive and Offensive Weapons

salvation or those who come for deliverance is to ask

them to openly state that they are rejecting satan; to
openly state that they are rejecting all his efforts in the
past, all his attacks - to reject him openly, and to declare
in their testimony that they are leaving him and are
moving into the Kingdom of light. We do well to testify
regularly. But let me point out that in giving testimonies,
a good deal of time is misspent extolling and exalting the
work of satan in our lives. This is a golden rule in warfare:
do not magnify satan. Do not enlarge and dwell upon all
the terrible things he's been doing in your life. Rather,
magnify Jesus Christ and reject satan completely in your
testimony.
God is waiting for a body of people who will arise; He is
waiting for those who have known the power of the
blood of Jesus Christ in cleansing, who have exercised
themselves in the use of the power of the blood and the
name of Jesus Christ to combat the enemy, and a people,
who by their testimony and the high praise of God, shall
execute vengeance upon the nations. This is what
happens in the realm of the spirit when we continually
testify of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us.
I have a habit that whenever anything unusual happens
in my experience, I pause for a moment and I ask why.
Why did that happen? Is it God trying to speak to me or is
it satan trying to attack me? What is the meaning of that
event? When I do this, I am able, most times, to check up
 The Battle for the Nations

and be quite sure that I am walking aright, and that I am

not walking indifferently. Events in time have a way of
being messages from God, so we need to be sensitive to
interpret every single one of such events. That is the
meaning and the story behind the book of Job.
 The Trials of Job
..............................

G OD had a message for Job but Job did not know

all that happened in heaven before all those
disasters stuck him. He was unaware of the
contents of the first chapter of Job. God trusted Job, but
satan was trying to accuse God that He was buying the
allegiance of men by the good things He gave to them.
Satan insinuated that God served and blessed Job by
giving him all that he needed, and thereby secured his
worship, allegiance and faith. Satan wanted to challenge
that, and God, who trusted Job, decided to accept the
challenge. In fact, it was God who threw the first
challenge at satan, but Job did not know that. God's
challenge to satan was, “Have you observed my servant
Job?” His integrity was beyond doubt - a man whom God
 The Battle for the Nations

could trust. And satan accusation against God was this:

“Yes, but Job is only serving you because of what you're
giving him. Take away the protection and you will see what
a man can do”.
God trusted Job, and accepted that challenge. It was a
challenge that also put God's integrity at stake yet He
accepted it. So He took away the protection that was over
His servant Job, and allowed satan to bring trouble into
Job's life. Satan then used war, bandits, death, disease,
the breakup with his family, the weather and strange
signs from heaven in his attempt to destroy Job's trust in
God.
What was Job's response? We know that in the overall,
Job maintained his trust in God but because he did not
know anything at all about what caused his predicament,
he, in his ignorance, made one or two rash statements in
his defence. One of such statements he made in error was
this:
“And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's
womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord
gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the
name of the Lord.” - Job 1:21.
Naked I came from my mother's womb - that is true; naked
shall I return - that also is true. The Lord gave and the Lord
has taken away - that was where Job missed it. Job
blessed God in spite of his tribulation, but he was wrong
 The Trials of Job

in assuming that it was the Lord who had taken away.

God does not destroy; God is not a robber. The real
robber is satan. Job did not know what we know today;
that satan's job is to steal, kill and destroy; and God
sometimes allows satan to take away things from us. God
does not take them away. It is satan who takes them
away. It is satan who brings disease; it is satan who brings
trouble and disaster, but Job did not know all that. He
however did not accuse God even though he simply
made a wrong statement - the Lord has taken away.
Satan soon came again; that is his job - to always accuse
the brethren. So the Lord asked him:
“Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered
My servant Job, that there is none like him on the
earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears
God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his
integrity, although you incited Me against him, to
destroy him without cause.” - Job 2:3.
And satan answered the Lord and said:
“So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for
skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone
and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your
face!” - Job 2:4-5.
That was satan's jibe; his accusation against God. And the
Lord said to satan, “Alright, he's in your hand now. But you
 The Battle for the Nations

can't touch his life - that belongs to me.” Satan then went
away from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job's
body. Satan is, in most cases, the author of sickness. He
was the one responsible for Job's affliction; and Job sat in
the ashes and scraped his sores in his misery. His wife
soon came and said a strange thing. She became an
instrument to bring doubt into Job's life. She said, “Then
his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your
integrity? Curse God and die!” (vs. 9).
Job's response to her was his next big mistake. He said,
“You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we
indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept
adversity?” (vs. 10) In other words, Job was implying
through that statement that God was the author of his
evil. That is wrong; God is not the author of evil. God is the
author of good. And satan was used by God to prove the
strength of Job's faith.
Trials are to make you stronger
Let me digress a little bit in order to answer a question
asked severally by many Christians. Reading further
about Job in Job 29, one would see that God's anointing
rested upon Job and he was greatly respected because of
his spirituality and willingness to minister. It was Job's
knowledge of spiritual things, the blessings of God and
the anointing of the Holy Spirit in his life that marked him
as one who was capable of standing up to the battle.
 The Trials of Job

Otherwise, God will not allow satan to test somebody

who is too weak to be tested. Here is a scripture to
validate that:
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is
common to man; but God is faithful, who will not
allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation will also make the way of
escape, that you may be able to bear it.” - I Cor.
10:13
God is faithful. He does not allow satan to meddle
unnecessarily with His children. If you are having
difficulties, problems and trials in your life, it probably
means that God is allowing satan to test you and that can
be an instrument to make you stronger.
Signs of the end
May I point out something: the weapons satan used to
assault Job are also referred to in the Gospels as signs of
the end and the Lord's second coming: war, strange
relationships, strange weather and signs in heaven.
These signs in the midst of prosperity and worldwide
evangelism are spoken of in Matt. 24:7-14 & 29-30, and
show that the end of this age is very close and more and
more of the people of God will be put under tests and
trials. In fact the scriptures say that if God does not
intervene, satan intends that the very elect should be
deceived (Matt. 24:22). We know what satan is trying to
 The Battle for the Nations

do, and we know that in the end time, his difficulties will
increase, and he will turn his attack upon the saints of
God, and to cause trouble to come into our lives.
Nevertheless, we are to be aware of his devices, and we
are to use our God-given Holy Ghost anointed ministries,
the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit and our spiritual weapons
to deal with the enemy and attack his strongholds. We
are to use the weapons that the Lord has given us to
defend ourselves and to turn difficulties into triumphs,
and to turn depression into praise. By praising the Lord,
by praying and testifying of the victory of Jesus, we are
teaching the enemy a big lesson.
In these next few years, there is going to be a significant
increase in the number of men and women - mainly
young people in Nigeria - who are going to learn the art
of attacking satan; who will recognise satan's work and
ministry in the lives of men and women, and are going to
be taught by the Holy Spirit to deal with that. We protect
ourselves by studying the word of God; we protect
ourselves by giving our testimony, by praising the Lord,
by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, by
walking in the ways of the Lord and by not moving from
under His covering and canopy.
We can then turn from defence into attack. We can attack
satan's operations in the lives of our colleagues, in the
lives of our families, and the lives of people around us.
 The Trials of Job

We can then move to a higher level of offensive warfare

by attacking the spiritual authorities that are moving
behind the people in charge of government
departments and ministries in the nation; and eventually,
we can take the offensive to the level of the nation as a
whole.
Meanwhile, there is much to be done. By a widespread
increase in evangelism, we are attacking the forces of
darkness. By preaching that Jesus Christ is Lord, by mass
evangelism, by house to house evangelism, we are
attacking sin; we are attacking sickness; we are attacking
demonic powers and weakening their influence over
lives and territories. When we make it known that we are
willing to pray for people, people will seek us out for
prayer. I have a constant stream of people coming to see
me who know that I can detect where satan is moving in
their lives and that I have the answer. I know how to deal
with satan, and I have, through the power of the Holy
Spirit, delivered hundreds of men and women in Nigeria.
God is eager to increase the army of deliverers in this
country -men and women who are dedicated to serving
the Lord Jesus Christ. Having been delivered themselves,
they are beginning to move out of the defensive into an
attack position against satan. Armed with their offensive
weapons, they go after men and women who are firmly in
satan's grip, bringing them out of the kingdom of
darkness into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 The Last Days' Conflict
..............................

I N these last days, there will be intensification of the

war between satan and the Lord's people on earth. The
battle line is drawn between satan, his demons, his
principalities and powers, on one side; and an elect army
of the Kingdom, on the other side. Those who make up
this army have learnt how to deal with satan, and are
prepared to take the battle to the gates of the enemy, and
to dethrone him and assert the authority of the Lord
Jesus Christ. May I draw your attention to a verse in
Daniel:
“I was watching; and the same horn was making
war against the saints, and prevailing against
them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a
 The Last Days’ Conflict

judgment was made in favour of the saints of the

Most High, and the time came for the saints to
possess the kingdom.” - Dan. 7:21,22
As we move towards the end of this dispensation of
grace and begin to move into the dispensation of the
Kingdom, there will be a greater realisation of the real
meaning of the gospel of the Kingdom. Believers will
begin to practically declare and assert the government
and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ on the earth to
rule and reign; they will declare that the Kingdom of
Heaven is coming back again to the earth to be
established and they will move valiantly into attacking
the usurper of authority in the earth.
Consequently, satan will turn his special attention to us,
and there will be war with the saints. Now there are
various ways in which this war will be carried on. The
greatest and most important aspect of it will be in the
spread of wrong doctrines and false spiritual experiences
in order to deceive the saints. Men are commanded to
test and prove all doctrines and experiences in the
supernatural realm to see whether they are of God or of
satan. That is the reason for the gifts of discerning of
spirits. We are to recognise and check up everything that
supposedly comes from God to see if it is coming from
satan.
It is certain that every religion, doctrine and experience
 The Battle for the Nations

among men cannot be of God. We know of many in this

country who have been misled strangely by a side-
experience or a doctrine that is taken out of its context or
timing. Some are right in their doctrine but wrong in their
timing, and there is great danger in this. The knowledge
of truth is very paramount in the warfare against satan.
There is great danger when believers accept anything
and everything in the realm of the supernatural as being
from the Lord. We are to know that satan will try to
duplicate what God is doing. I have seen many miracles
but I've also noticed that satan tries to duplicate even the
supernatural. I have known and heard several prophecies
from the Lord, but I have also noticed, heard and checked
prophecies which are not from the Lord. Therefore, the
army of God, the elect of God, the people who are
moving into authority with God and over satan are going
to be the definite target of satanic attack.
Detecting a wrong spirit
There are different ways outlined in scripture by which we
can detect what kind of spirit is seeking to move and
work amongst us. If we neglect to study the word of God,
if we remain in ignorance concerning these matters, we
may fall prey to one of satan's demons. It must be realised
that ignorance is no excuse when dealing with evil spirits.
In fact, ignorance is one of the major ways satan and his
forces use to enslave people. It accounts for the
widespread success of various counterfeit doctrines and
 The Last Days’ Conflict

spiritual manifestations introduced by satan into the

churches today. But any doctrine that inspires doubt or
unbelief about anything taught in scripture, or denies
them altogether, is from satan and his fallen angels. Here
are five ways to check up the spirit behind a
manifestation or teaching. Note that any religion,
doctrine, power, influence or any inclination that:
1. Denies the divine inspiration of the bible
2. Casts doubt upon the actual reality of the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ in the scriptures, that casts
aspersion upon the Lord's virgin birth and His deity,
that attempts to discredit His miraculous power and
supernatural ministry, or that denies His atoning
death and His bodily resurrection from the dead and
His ascension into heaven (these are the seven
fundamental truths about Jesus Christ in the bible)
3. Causes one to become passive, inactive or submissive
in the work of the Lord
4. Attempts to approve sin or compromise or to ignore
the necessity of repentance and holy living
5. Compromises, lessens or reduces the standard of
righteousness
--- is certainly not from God but the devil actually at
work, seeking to put lies into the minds of men and to
bring them into bondage. We must stand our ground
against yielding to the spirit of error. The Holy Spirit can
 The Battle for the Nations

be recognised as working in the lives of individuals where

there is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.
Whom the heavens must receive until...
We are to recognize that there will be war on the saints
until a particular conditioned is fulfilled:
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins
may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may
come from the presence of the Lord, and that He
may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you
before, whom heaven must receive until the times
of restoration of all things, which God has spoken
by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the
world began.” - Acts 3:19-21
Note that this scripture does not only concern
unbelievers; it concerns the believers as well. One of the
great signs of the new move of God in these last days is
that believers, ministers, long-time serving men of God
will begin to come under a fresh conviction of the Spirit.
They will begin to recognize that much of their life and
ministry for the Lord has been human, carnal and not of
the Holy Spirit and there will be weeping and great
repentance.
This act of genuine repentance will subsequently pave
the way for God to send King Jesus Christ who is currently
 The Last Days’ Conflict

being 'detained' in the heavens until the fulfilment of all

that God has spoken through prophecy since the world
began. The Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven, waiting for the
completion of all that the prophets have said. One of
those things He is waiting for is that the enemy shall be
made His footstool, and He is looking towards us - His
body on earth, the elect company on earth, the militant
army on earth, the portion of the body that is
recognizing their own authority, and are moving in to
deal with satan and to control him - to accomplish this.
That is what the Lord is waiting for at the moment. All
over the world, God is pouring out His Spirit upon His
people, and moving them into greater realms of activity
in the Holy Spirit, into greater realms of revelation, and
particularly, releasing more accurate understanding of
the doctrine of the Kingdom - the doctrine of the
restoration of the authority of man, through Jesus Christ
on the earth, over the powers of darkness and over the
nations. I want to deal particularly with the authority and
the battle with the nations in my next message, but God
is definitely moving us forward. There is a great need for
us to realize that there is much territory to be possessed.
Much of the enemy's power must be exposed as not
being real power; much of the enemy's plans and deceit
must be exposed, and we have the responsibility to
assert that Jesus Christ is Lord on the earth, and to
counter satan's plans. We've got to exercise our God-
 The Battle for the Nations

given authority to deal with it.

We can do this by praising God at anytime and at every
time; praising Him and declaring that the Lord reigns,
and that His Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour and
our Deliverer is seated on the throne in heaven, having
triumphantly overcome all the powers of satan. We must
declare that He has fully paid for the sins of the entire
world, and has been raised from the dead triumphant by
His Father; and that He is now seated on the throne far
above all powers and all authority in heaven and on
earth; and that He has given that power and authority to
us and we can demand that satan should recognize it and
obey us.
We can then move on to demand that our communities,
cities, states and the nations of the earth, likewise do the
same. We are the winners. We are the victors and we
must begin to exercise our God-given authority, by
prayer, demanding satan's obedience; by quoting the
word of God, stating and affirming publicly as loudly as
we can, the truths of the bible and the victory of Jesus
Christ.
In the strength of our declaration of faith, we can then go
into battle against the devil, being led by the Holy Spirit
and using the gifts that He has given to us: the word of
knowledge, the word of wisdom, faith, the working of
miracles, gifts of healings and the discerning of spirits.
 The Last Days’ Conflict

We then move in to dispossess devils of their captives,

delivering men and women, young and old, towns and
villages, cities and nations. We move on in the power of
our high praises to God, claiming our protection daily by
the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony,
asserting that we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ
and affirming the positive at every moment.
We are never to dread the foe, regardless of the fact that
we read that he will make war with the saints and will
prevail over them for a period - we know that in the end
we shall be victors and out of the battle, we will emerge a
company of victorious men and women who are being
trained in the exercise of authority on the earth; in the
exercise of authority over the principalities and powers
occupying our territory in the heavenly places until they
are thrown out. We have got to learn how to exercise that
authority on the earth, and then to praise God, to move in
and occupy the territories, and turn to the nations and
speak to them, saying, “The Lord reigns!”

47
 Part Two

THE BATTLE
FOR THE NATIONS
Dethroning the satanic powers
that rule from the heavenlies
 Who Governs The Nations?
.............................

M ANY Christians today are unaware of their

responsibility and their privileges as regards
the world and the nation. But in these last days,
we shall be witnessing a major increase in the level of
awareness of Christians about their responsibility
towards their own nation. This is not limited to Nigeria
alone but applies to all the nations of the world, because
God's work is for the nations. We are told in John 3:16
that God so loved the world that He gave. And, of course,
He rules over the nations. This established truth is
repeated several times in the scripture. Psalms 93:1 says,
“The Lord reigns”. Psalms 97:1 says “The Lord reigns”.
Psalms 99:1 says “The Lord reigns”. In Psalms 24:1, we are
told that “The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, the

49
 The Battle for the Nations

world and those who dwell therein.”

Right now, I want to deal with our responsibility towards
the nations, and particularly in relations to satan's
operations and work in the nation of Nigeria. The great
problem of the world today is not economics, it is not
religion, neither is it poverty. The great problem is: who
governs the nations? The ongoing crisis in Nigeria today
borders on this same question, who governs Nigeria? I
do not speak of any particular political party. I know that
there are various people and certain political parties that
will step forward and claim that they govern Nigeria.
Certain people will step forward and say they have been
elected by the people, and as such, they govern Nigeria.
But we know that as far as the unbelieving world is
concerned, the real power lies in the spiritual, and satan
today is governing the nations from the heavenly seat
and centre of authority - but that must not continue. God
is not going to allow satan to rule His nation and His
world. This is what I wish to deal with and to show how we
must recognise and embrace our responsibility towards
this Kingdom vision.
Authority lost and restored
In the first message in this series, we discussed and
discovered Lucifer as being the created angel of God.
Before his fall, he was God's delegated authority over all
the earth. Consequent upon his rebellion and eviction
 Who Governs the Nations?

from heaven and that esteemed position, God unfolded

another plan: He created man in His own image, with His
own hands; and then out of Adam, He created Adam's
wonderful partner and wife, Eve. And concerning both of
them, God declared, “Let them have dominion; let them
rule; let them reign; let them exercise authority; let them
subdue the earth and control it” (Gen. 1:26-28). And so,
prior to his tragic fall, Adam was the number one king of
the earth; he was the number one authority of the whole
of the earth. God delegated it so - and God does not
change His mind.
We know, of course, that satan came in, tempted Eve and
Adam, and they fell and forfeited their divinely-vested
authority. God then turned and found Abraham to whom
He gave authority, and made very lofty promises
concerning his seed to be a blessing to the whole world.
Then He turned to Moses and chose Moses as His
authority over a whole nation - the nation of Israel.
We know, of course, that Abraham died without seeing
the fulfilment of all of the promises of God. Similarly,
Moses did not lead the children into their inheritance;
and so, we discover that God had to step into the arena of
man's failure to unveil His master man. This was a great
plan God had in heaven which satan knew nothing about.
When God brought forth His man - Jesus of Nazareth;
satan's anger and envy knew no bounds. He (satan) tried

51
 The Battle for the Nations

in every possible way to kill Him as a babe but failed

repeatedly; God protected Him. The little child grew and
became a man, fully dedicating Himself to the authority
of God and the call of God on His life. When Jesus Christ
came out of the waters of baptism in the River Jordan, the
Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove and
He was thereafter driven straight away to meet satan, the
usurper of the authority of the kingdoms of this world.
God used Jesus Christ - the man - to challenge the
authority of satan, the fallen angel. That was the
beginning of the end of the road for satan.
Authority manifested
Jesus won the battle in the wilderness, and from there
moved to the whole of Palestine, challenging the
authority of satan over men and women. Jesus Christ
forgave sins, a thing only God could do - since the sins
were against God. But Jesus of Nazareth was God
manifested in the flesh; so He exhibited, manifested and
demonstrated His authority by forgiving sins. He
demonstrated His power and authority over sickness; no
one who came to Him in faith ever went away unhealed;
He healed them all - the blind, the lame, the paltry, sick in
body and the weak in mind. Whoever came in faith,
touching Him and asking in faith, always received from
Jesus Christ, because He had the authority.
Satan doesn't have the authority anymore. Jesus Christ
 Who Governs the Nations?

could speak to a girl and raise her from the dead; He

could speak to a young man and raise him from his coffin.
He spoke to Lazarus who was already in the grave and
satan had no choice but to release him. Jesus Christ
defied the authority of satanic powers, because He had
greater authority. He never in any way worried about
them. He rebuked them; He cast them out; they
acknowledged His authority and they obeyed Him. Jesus
Christ demonstrated that He had the complete authority
over all the powers of darkness, over all the evil powers
and over all the problems of His people - social,
economic and political. He had power in the nation, and
they knew it.
The time came for Jesus Christ to go back again to
heaven, having completed the work of atonement on the
cross. He then gathered His disciples round Him, and in
words they did not understand, He said, “All authority
now has been given to Me and I'm giving it onto you. Go
now into all the world and preach this same message,
delivering the people and exercising the authority that I
have, because I'm giving it to you.”
The leaders, the twelve apostles, did not understand all
that He had taught them for about forty days after His
resurrection. They then asked him, “Won't You at this
time restore the kingdom to (natural) Israel?” In
response, He told them it was not for them to know the
times and the seasons. You see, they had a small mind

53
 The Battle for the Nations

that limited God to just the nation of Israel. God's plan,

however, was for the whole world because God came to
save the whole world.
So Jesus Christ went back to heaven. He had to go back to
heaven in order for the third Person of the Trinity, the
mighty Holy Spirit, to come to fill and equip a corporate
man - the body of believers on earth called His body.
They became baptised with the fullness of the Holy Spirit
just as He had filled the Lord Jesus Christ, so that that
body is now God's representative on earth, manifesting
the power, the love, the life, the character, the order and
government of Jesus Christ the Lord on earth.
Commissioned with authority
Now, that body has been sent out by God with authority
on earth to deal with the problems of the earth; to deal
with the kingdom of darkness; to cast out demons; to
forgive sins; to heal the sick; to deliver the captives, and
to exercise authority and power over all other power.
Looking at the church today, we have so far understood
that we can preach the gospel and talk about the
wonderful changes that await anyone who truly accepts
the gospel. But we are always careful to refer it again to
what Jesus Christ can do. I want to change that word:
Jesus Christ has already done it; now, it is our own turn to
do it. Jesus Christ said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they
are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are
 Who Governs the Nations?

retained” (John 20:23). We have been given authority,

and as long as we are moving in submission to the
authority of the Holy Spirit, ours is the right and
responsibility to exercise the authority of forgiving sins
and retaining sins. God is training a body to exercise
authority; though we are yet to fully comprehend the
import of this, God, nonetheless wants us to exercise full
authority and to dethrone satan.
Take note that God has not dethroned satan; Jesus,
indeed, defeated and completely overcame satan, but at
the present moment, he has been allowed by God to
operate from the heavenly places, and we have studied
and learnt that the heavenly places where satan is
enthroned is the headquarters of the powers of darkness.
From there, those evil spiritual powers are operating
against the nations, governing the nations, causing
trouble, chaos, turmoil, riots, confusion, wars, diseases,
and all the evils that are rampant and growing in intensity
in the world today. They originate from the throne of
satan in the heavenly places.
We have been commissioned by God to fight and wrestle
against satan, to turn him out, to unlock the gates of hell
and let the captives go free, to dethrone satan from his
position as the ruler of the powers of the nations of the
world, and to take back that authority. Shall I, again,
remind you of the scriptures: Psalms 93:1 says, “The Lord
reigns” - not satan. Psalms 97 says, “The Lord reigns” - not

55
 The Battle for the Nations

the powers of darkness. Psalms 99 says, “The Lord reigns,

let the whole earth tremble, let the heavens be glad.” And
Psalms 96:10 says, “Say among the nations - announce it
to the nations, make a bold declaration to the nations
that - the Lord reigns!” - That is our message.
Our message is not merely a matter of “Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” Of course, that is
true; but we don't halt at that one tiny bit. We have a
much bigger message and commission. We are here to
dethrone satan, to cast him out, to establish the Kingdom
of heaven on earth, and to establish the rule, the reign
and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ over all the
nations. And Jesus Christ is going to have that authority
because when He ascended into heaven, God His Father
said:
“Seat at my right hand till I make all your enemies
your footstool” - Psa. 110:1
That includes everything that has raised its voice in
rebellion against God. This same Psalm is quoted in two
other books of the New Testament: Acts of the Apostles
and Hebrews. The Lord Jesus Christ is seated on the
throne already crowned in heaven as the king of heaven
and is waiting for the time when His enemies should be
made his footstool. Who do you think will make those
enemies His footstool? God intends that His body - the
church triumphant on earth - should cause all His
 Who Governs the Nations?

enemies to bow, for in the name of Jesus, every knee

should bow. This is our work, and I want to draw your
attention to this great work.
One other aspect that interests me greatly which I want
to look at is in Psalms 2:4-5.
“He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall
hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in
His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure”
God, in this passage, is speaking and laughing at the
efforts of the nations to join themselves together in a
united nations confederacy against the Lord and against
His anointed. God laughs, and His answer to all their
machinery, to all their planning and all their
arrangements is, “I have set My King (that King is the Lord
Jesus Christ, the crowned King of heaven) on my holy hill
of Zion” (vs. 6). His holy hill of Zion is His church today -
the body of Jesus Christ. That is where God has set His
King; that is where God has established His authority;
that is where God means to manifest His authority.
God has established the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the body of the Lord on earth, and He expects that the
body as a whole should manifest the authority, the
government and the dominion of the successful Man,
Jesus Christ, now seated on the throne in heaven and
worshipped by the crowns of heaven. God wants Him
worshipped also by the crowns of all the nations and

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 The Battle for the Nations

kingdoms on earth and has given the body on earth the

task of bringing all enemies to be made His footstool.
 The Nations For Your
Inheritance
..............................

I N order to appreciate the right of the Lord Jesus to

rule, as well as the extent of His Kingly authority, over
the nations, we will find - in Psalms 2:8 - God the
Father saying to the Son:
“Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your
inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your
possession.” - Psa. 2:8
Ask of me: God placed a blank cheque before Him.
Remember that Jesus Christ, during His temptation in the
wilderness, was offered the kingdoms of this world by
satan. He refused them because what He needed to do

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was to go to the cross and pay the debt of rebellion of the

nations against God, wipe out that debt, go down into
Hades, claim the keys of death and hell from satan the
usurper who had taken them by deceit, release the
captives, take some of the captives back again to heaven
and then give gifts to men to govern His body on earth.
He has asked His Father and has received all the
kingdoms, the nations and the peoples of the world as
His inheritance. He inherited all the promises of
Abraham; He inherited all the promises made to Israel.
He inherited all the promises of His father, king David -
and those promises to David are royal promises;
promises of an eternal throne, of an everlasting kingdom,
mentioned in Daniel chapters seven and ten. And Jesus
Christ has inherited all the promises made to Adam; He
became the Son of man and so inherited all the promises
of Adam. He became the Son of Abraham and inherited
all of Abraham's promises; He became the Son of King
David, the royal throne of Israel and so inherited all the
royal and regal promises of the kingship.
So Jesus Christ is now King of the whole world. But He is
not content to remain alone as King, He wants a body of
people - His body - to rule and reign with Him. We need
to understand clearly that whatever Jesus Christ
inherited, we inherited likewise. We are not going to
heaven as beggars. I am not a beggar today. I am a royal
priest, a royal king having been brought into relationship
 The Nations For Your Inheritance

with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Romans 8:17
says God has made us joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

Joint heirs on the throne

This means that whatever Jesus Christ inherited, that also

is our inheritance. Note that it does not say co-heirs but
joint heirs. There is a difference between the two. He
does not just share His inheritance with us; what He has
inherited, we also have inherited. What belongs to Him
belongs to me. And He cannot do anything with His
inheritance without my consent because His inheritance
is my inheritance. So if Jesus Christ has inherited the
nations, that means we have equally inherited the
nations as well.

Does that make you gasp? Does that make you realise
what your relationship is to Nigeria? You may be a
beggar in Nigeria; you may not own any property. You
may, like me, not own any land in Nigeria but by virtue of
my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, I am a joint-
heir with Him to the nation of Nigeria; Nigeria belongs to
the Lord Jesus Christ.

Beloved, this is not some mere pious hope. This is not just
wishful thinking. He has inherited the nations as a gift
from His Father, and Jesus Christ wants to share that
inheritance with His people. Regardless of the fact that I
was not born in Nigeria, by virtue of my relationship with

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the Lord Jesus Christ, I share His inheritance, and part of

His inheritance is the nation of Nigeria. So I am
responsible for Nigeria. And beyond that, I have been left
here on earth to find a body of people, to teach them
their inheritance, and to train them to take over their
inheritance.

Remember that their inheritance is the nation of Nigeria;

and more than that, the nations of the world, but let us
handle Nigeria at the moment, particularly at this great
crisis period in the history of Nigeria. We are facing a
national election in the coming year. And we have been
worried and troubled as we have seen the various
political parties maneuvering together to gain power.
They do not realise the real power behind the throne in
Nigeria. They do not realise that satan, his principalities
and powers have established authority over the nation.
They have their authority and prince in charge in Abuja.
They have a prince in charge of Aso Rock, Abuja and the
Government House in every state capital.

We may elect men as governors, but the real authority,

the real centre of power is the powers of darkness. The
governor of the state may decree many things but they
can't stop the turmoil and confusion of economic
disasters, of failures, of riots of trade union unrests. They
cannot stop all that because those are stirred up by
principalities and powers whose job is to cause strife,
wars and confusion.
 The Nations For Your Inheritance

So the real centre of power is in the heavenlies, which, at

the present moment is controlled by satan. But Jesus
Christ has completely defeated satan; Jesus Christ has
completely disarmed satan. He however has allowed him
to remain where he is, exercising a measure of authority,
and is waiting for the time when satan and all his powers
will be made His footstool. The people who are going to
bring satan down are the body of Jesus Christ - it is a
body and that body is composed of men and women
who are born again, filled with the Holy Ghost, and have
been brought into covenant relationship with the Lord
Jesus Christ and with one another, and are exercising
corporate authority to deal with satan and challenge his
right to cause confusion.
Taking responsibility
May I tell you that that is where we are in Nigeria today.
Nigeria is our inheritance. There are far too many
Christians in Nigeria who having been born again, having
recognised that they are citizens of heaven, are too
anxious to get out of this world because of the way that
the world is using them. So they want to get out of the
world and get into heaven and stay in heaven. But that is
not the will of God.
These Christians excuse themselves and say a believer
should not entangle himself with the affairs of this world.
That is quite correct. They are quick to quote II Timothy

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2:4 which says: “No one serving as a soldier entangles

himself with the affairs of this world” - that could mean
the politics of this world. We agree with that; we are not
arguing about that. We are not inviting you to take part in
politics. We are not inviting you to become part of the
world system. And we know that when they say satan is
the god of this world, they are indeed quoting the
scripture.
“Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the
prince of this world be cast out.” - John 12:31 [KJV]
The prince of this world referred to in the scripture above,
indeed, is satan and he thinks he is in control. But he has
been defeated and he has been disarmed. He is not the
prince owning it all but he is the prince causing all the
confusion in the world system. The world in that scripture
refers to the world system. We are not to love the world
system (I John 2:15) but we must love God's world. God
so loved the world (John 3:16) but He does not love the
world system. Satan is the god of this world system - this
world present system of politics, government, economy
and so on.
Today, many Christians are arguing politically for or
against the various ideologies. Some say Democracy is
the right form of government. Many African nations are
finding a brand of socialism which is suited to their own
nation. Others are finding a totalitarian state and a
 The Nations For Your Inheritance

dictatorship as the government, as the right

government. Half the world today is governed by one
man or a group of men in a totalitarian system - a
dictatorship.
May I tell you that Democracy is not God's way. A well-
known American said that the government of the people
by the people for the people is God's plan of
government. That is not correct. We have learnt by
experience that we cannot govern ourselves. God has set
His king on His throne upon the holy hill of Zion. He has
caused Jesus Christ to be recognised as the King of kings
and the Lord of lords; and the Lord Jesus Christ is not
going to sit down in heaven forever. He will come back
again to this earth to take up the government of this
world, and He will rule and reign over the nations of this
earth for at least a thousand years, and Rev. 5:10 says we
are going to come with Him and we are going to reign
here as kings and priests.
At the present moment, we may appear as if we are
nobodies, but really, we hold the centre of power. In our
hands lies the power to control Nigeria - only we have
not realised it. Gradually, slowly, Christians are becoming
aware of the extent and magnitude of their authority in
Christ; and God's expectation for us in these last days is
that we should recognise that authority and rise up to
deal with the powers of evil causing so much confusion in
Nigeria, in our precious God-given inheritance - our dear

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nation, Nigeria.
Now, does that mean we are to join political parties? I do
not suggest that. But it does mean that we are to deal
with the enemy. And you don't deal with the enemy by a
ballot box. You don't deal with the enemies by guns or
armies. You deal with the enemy by exercising spiritual
authority; the spiritual power given to us by the Lord
Jesus who has now been raised and given all authority
above all the powers on earth. He is raised above the
heavens and now seated on the throne, possessing all
authority and all power over all governments, over all
nations and over all powers that think they are exercising
authority - and that includes satan and the powers of
darkness.
Jesus Christ has defeated them, and has passed to us that
same authority and He is eagerly watching together with
the angels in heaven, to see how far His body on earth,
who has been given authority, will understand their
authority and exercise that authority. Ephesians 2:6 says
“God has raised us up together to sit in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus.” Jesus Christ further promises that the
overcomers in His body shall sit with Him on His throne,
exercising authority - in Rev. 3:21. God plans that Jesus
Christ alone shall not be the sole occupant of the throne
of the universe; the throne of the universe shall be
occupied by men and women who have learned how to
exercise authority.
 Qualifying for Kingship
..............................

W
E have talked about God’s wonderful plans and
provisions for us to rule and reign with Christ
on the throne. However, I do not think that the
whole church will sit on the throne. I do not think every
born-again believer will exercise authority, because God
is not going to entrust the authority over the nations into
the hands of babies. And so we have got to learn how to
exercise authority and how to qualify to live on the
throne and exercise authority from the throne because
when we come back again into this earth, we will come
back with the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings.
But note that He is a man and He will be restricted to His
own throne in Jerusalem, when He comes back.

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 The Battle for the Nations

Therefore, He will have His delegated authority in

Nigeria, men and women who have learned how to
exercise authority - and of course, most of those people
will be Nigerians - born again Christians who have
learned how to exercise authority particularly in relation
to dethroning, rendering null and void the power and
authority of the powers of darkness operating in Nigeria.
Now, I said most of them will be Nigerians, but not all,
because I have an idea that I also shall be among them
even though I am an English man; an English man who
has learned how to exercise authority in Nigeria - for in
God's Kingdom, there is no colour, no race, no tribal
difference - we are one in Jesus Christ. And when I come
back again with Him, I anticipate that I will be allocated a
responsible position of authority and government in
Nigeria because I have been associated with Nigeria for
forty-five years. I have learned of the problems, I know
how to deal with them - and though I have no vote, and
do not wish to vote in Nigeria, yet I know how to exercise
authority over the powers that have usurped God's
authority in Nigeria, and we know how to deal with them.
How then do we deal with those in authority in the
powers of darkness? There are those who are recognising
this truth about our authority in Christ and our
responsibility for the nation. And they are meeting
together in prayer meetings and are exercising authority
and commanding satan and telling him what to do. Their
 Qualifying for Kingship

desire is good; their ambition is correct; their objective is

noble yet they have not learned some very simple but
fundamental principles in connection with the training
for authority.
Basic principles for reigning
You are not put on the throne the moment you are born. I
do not think I can overemphasise this point: God is not
going to trust the government of the nation into the
hands of babies. They must be men and women of
maturity who know how to handle authority. That means
we have got to be trained. A son of the king in the king's
palace is still subject to his tutors; he is still subject to
those who are training him, despite the fact that those
who are training him are not sons but servants. The
servants are used to train the sons, and the sons have to
learn what it means to govern and what it means to be a
king. It is a very special privilege and, at the same time, an
awesome responsibility. Not every one of us can occupy
a throne. God is teaching us how to be kings. That means
we have to undergo a very long series of training lessons.
First of all, we must learn how to govern ourselves, for if
we cannot govern ourselves, we have no right to claim
authority over anybody else. There are still a large
number of Christians, many who are baptised in the Holy
Ghost, who are still being used by satan and are still
being controlled by him. When they rise up and utter a

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word of authority over satan, satan laughs and slaps

them down. They can't rule themselves, how much more
rule satan. He has too many rights to come into their lives
and control them. We have to learn to find out every area
that is not submitted to the authority of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and to surrender ourselves hundred percent to
the Lord Jesus Christ, to be led and controlled by the Holy
Spirit, and to learn how to govern ourselves.
Having learnt self-government, we must then learn how
to govern our families. Family government in Nigeria is in
a very sad state. The relationship between a man and his
wife is not fully understood, and there are many Christian
marriages that are on the verge of collapse. They are
certainly not patterns of what God would have; where a
woman usurps the authority of her husband, and does
not realize her true authority. She recognizes and asserts
that she has equal rights with her husband. But that is not
what God wants.
God has established authority in the family and in His
view, the husband is the head of the family and whether
the husband likes it or not, and is able or not, God holds
him responsible to exercise authority in the family. The
wife is a joint heir with her husband to the inheritance of
each family, but she is only second and she must realise
that there is only one head. However, by virtue of her love
and submission, she can even exercise a greater authority
in the family than her husband. Her husband is the voice
 Qualifying for Kingship

but she is the brain; she is the mind; she is the moulder of
the family.
When we exercise our rightful place in the family, then
God will lead us on how to exercise authority in our
workplaces, in our businesses, in our world connections;
and to govern the powers of the world that are operating
behind our businesses. Many businesses today are in
serious financial difficulties because they have not
learned how to let God into their businesses. They are
running their businesses in a worldly way and satan
governs them. Questionable business practices are
going on and God has withdrawn and is not taking part in
that business. It may prosper financially, but it will not
prosper spiritually and the people who are running that
business will not be able to learn how to manage it and
eventually satan will seek to interfere and cause
confusion and will spoil it.
So we have got to learn how to govern ourselves; we
have got to learn how to govern our families; we have got
to learn how to govern our businesses and our
government departments - we have got to exercise
spiritual authority in these different sectors of life. When
we have learned how to exercise spiritual authority, only
then can we turn to the nation.
Corporate body authority

You see, we don't turn straight away to the nation. God

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wants us to recognize certain basic principles, and one of

them is this: not one single individual is responsible for
Nigeria; it belongs to the body of God's people in
Nigeria. It belongs to the Lord and to the Lord's body in
Nigeria, and God is not going to allow any one Christian
to exercise total authority in the nation; it must be a
corporate body authority.

In view of this, we have got to learn how to join ourselves

together. In these next few years, there's going to be a
new aspect of Christian relationships which is going to
come into prominence. I call it covenant relationships.
We must therefore learn how to join ourselves together
and how to find those with whom we can share like
interests. Those interests may be in regard to our nativity;
perhaps we are both natives of the same town or village.
Then we can take responsibility for the spiritual warfare
in that town/village.

We are responsible to dethrone satan in our towns and

villages so that Christians in the same village can get
together to exercise their God-given authority to
challenge satan's right to govern, and to step-by-step
challenge his authority, to exercise our authority over
him, to tell him what to do, to prevent him from doing
things and command him in the name of the Lord Jesus
to obey. We are to exercise that authority for our villages,
for our towns and for our cities. And when we have got to
the state level, maybe we will be qualified to stand as a

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 Qualifying for Kingship

corporate body in Nigeria to challenge satan's

operations in the nation of Nigeria.

For those of us who are prepared to come together in

covenant relationships in order to exercise corporate
authority over our nation, let us understand that we all do
not have to be from the same tribe - we certainly are not -
but we belong to the same family. We are brought into
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and we must
recognize that we have power, the power of the Lord
Jesus Christ, over the enemy and we are going to commit
ourselves to learn how to dictate our terms to the enemy.
Satan will not rule Nigeria - this is our verdict.
Prayer for the nation
In regard to the nation, may I direct your attention to the
first epistle of Paul to Timothy:
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be
made for all men, for kings and all who are in
authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable
life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth.” - I Tim. 2:1-4
That is a command from Paul to his disciple, Timothy; and
I want you to note certain important things. One of the

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basic principles of prayer is prayer for the nation. In fact,

he says, first of all. Paul is speaking to a body of Christians
gathered together. So he says when you gather together,
first of all, pray for the kings and those who are in
authority - in other words - for the government of the
land. It is the will of God for us to pray for those in
government.
What should be the content of the prayer? That we
should live a quiet and a peaceable life in all godliness,
and in God's time and in God's will, He will establish an
authority and a government in Nigeria that will enable us
to live peacefully, honestly and enjoy good governance
in Nigeria. Let us recognize this; God owns Nigeria, God
loves Africa, very, very much indeed, and Nigeria is too
good a godly land, too good an inheritance for us to sit
down and allow satan to govern Nigeria.
So one of the greatest progress and events which we will
record in the next few years in Christendom is that we will
learn how to exercise authority over satan in our own
lives, within our families, in our businesses and our
occupations, in our villages and our people who are still
in darkness. We will begin to demonstrate practically our
authority over satan; we will bind him and stop him from
keeping our people in darkness; we will attack his
strongholds of evil and darkness and liberate the
captives - that is our job. We will then go on to dictate to
him and command him to take his hands off Nigeria, and

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 Qualifying for Kingship

stop him from operating and causing wars and distress

and killings and economic disasters in Nigeria. That
power is waiting for us to exercise. That authority
belongs to the people of God.
May God help us in the body to rise and realize that we
are not merely commanded to cast out demons; we have
been given authority over satan: “Behold, I give you the
authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over
all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any
means hurt you” (Luke 10:19). All the power of the enemy
includes the government of the nations. We shall declare
to the nation of Nigeria, the Lord reigns! The people will
turn to us and look to us for a demonstration of what that
good government should be. We are going to establish
the government of righteousness and every child of God
placed by God in government positions must recognize
they are there to assert the standard of righteousness,
that they are representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ in
the place where God has given them.
Let us be careful we do not rush in where angels feared to
tread. Let us be cautious in our approach. But let us be
firm in our faith in the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ has defeated satan completely. Jesus Christ
has disarmed satan completely and satan is only being
allowed to operate until the Lord Jesus Christ has got a
body on earth that is just like Himself in manifesting His
life and His character and His love, manifesting His power

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 The Battle for the Nations

in the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, manifesting His

government and authority on the earth over all the
powers of evil, that includes satan. The time is coming,
very, very soon when Rev. 12:10 will be actually heard:
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven; the heavenly
people will be shouting out:
“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our
God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the
accuser of our brethren, who accused them before
our God day and night, has been cast down. 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. 12:10-11

..................................

THE COMPLETE DEMONOLOGY SERIES

- Part 1: ORIGIN OF SATAN AND DEMONS
- Part 2: VICTORY OF CHRIST & HIS BODY OVER
SATAN
- Part 3: DEALING WITH DEMONS
- Part 4: THE MINISTRY OF DELIVERANCE
- Part 5: THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE
- Part 6: THE BATTLE FOR THE NATIONS

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 The Battle for the Nations

FROM THE ELTON LIBRARY

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We Have Come to Mt. Zion
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The Coming Kingdom
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