“Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied.
“I am he,’ Jesus said. Judas was standing there with them when Jesus identified himself. And as he said, Once more he asked them, ‘whom are you searching for?’
“And again they replied, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’
“I told you that I am he’, Jesus said, ‘And since I am the one you want, let these others go.’ He did this to fulfil his own statement, ‘I have not lost a single one of those you gave me.’
“Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s servant. But Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup the father has given me?”
John 18:1-11
Wow! That was indeed a drama at the point of Jesus’ arrest. Sure, so much to learn from here. We went through this story so that you will be able to appreciate the authority and nature of Jesus while on earth. A battalion of soldiers with all their weapons could not arrest Him. When He told them, ‘I am he’, they all fell to the ground. He later willingly submitted himself to them so that He would be able to fulfil His divine mission of sacrificing His life for mankind. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for men to kill Him.
Yes, He was always on top of every situation. This same Jesus is saying that He has given us that authority in His name to cast out devils, withstand Satan, heal the sick, and march upon principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness. The believer, especially the prayer warrior must understand this very well. At the mention of the name Jesus, every power and every situation must bow.
Confession of a Former Occult Master
Before we continue, let’s see a confession of a one time powerful and high-ranking agent of Satan from Nigeria – Evangelist E. O. Omoobajesu as recorded in his book ‘My Conversion’. This will help us to appreciate the power in the Name of Jesus. Read:
“I recall a meeting of the cults held at the Lagos Bar Beach. All the high-ranking occultists in Nigeria were present and among our members were some of the traditional rulers from all over the country. Thus, from every part of the country we came and assembled at the beach, dressed in demonic regalia while our evil powers made us invisible. We were just settling down on the beach to start the meeting when a man came to pray on the beach. Though we were invisible to him, we could all see him clearly. Unknowingly, he started to march on the members seated on the sand.
“We were all infuriated, and a person in our assembly was ordered to deal with him. Instantly, he gave the intruder a very heavy slap. The man started to feel dizzy. On realizing this, he cried out aloud. He shouted J-E-S-U-S! The echo of his voice rented the silence of the night.
“What happened? Immediately [after] the name of Jesus was called, a ray of light came out of his mouth and disappeared into the heavens. We all sat down looking at what would happen next. After a few moments, the light reappeared out of the sky coming back to the earth. The light again exploded in mid-sky and subdivided into various parts, still coming directly towards us. This light encircled our gathering on the beach and made the whole surrounding very brightly lit.
“Looking more closely, we saw accompanying these rays, all forms [kinds] of weapons of war, chariots of fire and winged-beings, all were running furiously, heading towards us. We all had to disperse; everyone ran away, the chariots chasing each of us home. All these [things] happened within the twinkling of an eye.”
Powerful! My God is great! This is a true confession of a one-time very powerful and dreaded agent of Satan. It is very possible that that prayer warrior (Christian) who called the name of Jesus did not and may never know what eventually happened that night; the war that heaven declared on his behalf. All he would say is that Jesus delivered him from the attack of the enemy at the Bar Beach. But, the Satanists saw everything clearly. This is exactly what happens each time we mention the name of Jesus in our warfare against the kingdom of darkness. They scamper for safety. They run in confusion and total disarray.
All powers, principalities, rulers of darkness bow and genuflect at the mention of the name of Jesus. They obey at the mention of His name because He conquered and disgraced them at the cross. Christians, including the midnight warriors, must begin to appreciate and appropriate the power that is in the Name of Jesus.
Emmanuel Eni also tells the story of how the Name of Jesus threw Satan down at one of their meetings in the underwater world. Hear him:
“One day, a girl named NINA came to me. NINA whose parents were from Anambra State was a very beautiful young girl but lives mostly in the sea, the underwater spirit world. She was an ardent agent to the Queen of the Coast (goddess of the sea) and very wicked. She hated the Christians so much and would go any length to fight Christianity. I first met her during my visit to the sea. NINA came for an errand from the Queen of the coast.
“We left immediately and reaching there I learnt of our having a conference with Lucifer. Satan, in this meeting, gave us the following instructions: to fight the believers and not the unbeliever; because the unbelievers were already his. When he said this, one of us asked: ‘why?’ He said the vision was that God drove him out of ‘that place’ (he refused to call the word ‘heaven’ and throughout our meetings with him he never mentioned the word ‘heaven’). Rather he would always use the word ‘that place’, because of pride, and therefore he does not want any Christian to get there.
“He also told us that we should not fight the hypocrites. ‘They are like me’ he said. He continued his speech and said that his time was near; therefore we should fight as never before and make sure no one enters ‘that place!’ So, one of us said to him, ‘we heard that God has sent someone to rescue mankind back to God.’ Satan then asked: ‘who is that?’ One member answered ‘Jesus!’ And to our greatest surprise, Lucifer fell from his seat. He shouted at the man and warned him never to mention that name in any of our meetings if he loves his life. It is true that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow (Phil. 2:10), including Satan.”
Yes, the word of God is true! Every knee, including Satan, must bow to the name of Jesus. What else do you want to hear? His name also opens the doors of heaven and blessings for us. That was why Jesus said that anything you will ask in His name will be given to you. It is the key to open God’s heart, His mercies and treasures. It locks the gates of hell but opens heaven for us. Let’s see the next – The Blood of Jesus, with more testimonies.
THE BLOOD OF JESUS
Chapter Seven
The Blood of Jesus
“And they have defeated him because of the blood of the lamb and because of their testimony.” Rev. 12:11
“…Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep by an everlasting covenant, signed with his blood.” Hebrews 13:21
Another very powerful weapon that God has given to us is the blood of Jesus Christ. When a believer pleads the blood of Jesus, he/she is automatically protected from the attacks of Satan and his agents. His blood reminds Satan and the demons of their defeat on the cross. The shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross, His death and subsequent resurrection brought us back to God and also sealed the eternal doom of Satan and his fallen angels. Sure, taking Jesus to the cross remains one of the things that the devil will eternally regret.
In fact, the bible said that if he (the devil) had known, he wouldn’t have killed the Lord of glory. The shedding of Jesus blood unknowingly to the devil was what was needed to seal the everlasting covenant between God and us. And once you invoke that covenant the devil is disorganised, disarmed and disgraced. That is exactly what the scriptures say.
Look at Colossians 2:15,
“In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.”
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