Angels, Demons the Harvest and You!

Youtube - God of Angel Armies by Chris Tomlin

Did you know that we are at war? It's true. Revelation 12:7 describes how a war broke out in heaven and Michael and the angels cast Satan and his demons down to earth. Pride tripped Satan up. He wanted to be God and receive the worship only due our heavenly Father (Isaiah 14:3-16).

Satan knew all about worship on God's holy mountain for God designed him to lead worship. Ezekiel 28:13 says that Satan was made with timbrels and pipes as he served as the anointed cherub who covered God's holy mountain. What did he cover it with? Continual praise and worship! Praise and worship is the atmosphere of heaven. 

Revelation 12:7 describes how a war broke out in heaven and Michael and the angels fought Satan, the Devil, that dragon and cast him to earth. The Devil was very angry because he knows his time is short. Verse 17 says that he went to "make war" with God's people. 

What is the war over? Two things; worship and people. 

First, Satan hates the Church because she has replaced his role in worship. (Isaiah 56:7, Acts 15:16-17 & 1 Chronicles 25). Second, Satan hates what God loves. God loves people and He wants to have a relationship with each one. The Church has been sent to present the gospel of the kingdom through preaching and to make disciples of all who receive Christ. Satan is a thief and seeks to kill, steal and destroy every person he can because he knows it hurts God. 

The spoils of this war are people and the issue at hand is their eternal destiny in heaven or in hell. Matthew 24:30-31 says:

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"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

Angels have an important role in these end times. Last week in Angels are on Assignment in Your Fiery Trial we saw how God has assigned angels to serve the heirs of salvation. Everyone has them. However, we learned how we can restrict their activity. God has assigned the Church and His angels important complimentary roles in this heavenly war that spilled on to earth.

God is the author of strategy in war. He is called Yahweh Sabboath, the Lord of Hosts, the Lord of the Armies. His armies consists of heavenly armies and earthly ones as well. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-12 to pray kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Right? In Matthew 26:53 Jesus says if he were to pray His Father could provide Him 12 legions of angels.  

God is the ultimate strategist. He has organized His kingdom in heaven to war over the souls of men and women. He wants us organized for a spiritual war for the harvest.  Angels are involved in the fight (Revelation 12) and angels are involved in the harvest of souls in the end times (Matthew 13:39-42). 

We, God's Church, His people are called to war and to harvest as well. How can we war in the spirit? We can war through prayer, praise and worship. The Bible says:

• Genesis 49:10 - the scepter will never depart from Judah. (Judah means praise). Judah is God's ruler's staff (Psalm 60:7)
• Psalm 149 describes the power of praise and worship in spiritual war. Verse 6-9 says, "let the high praises of God be in their mouths and a two edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples; to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron: to execute upon them the written judgment.  This honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord." 
• Praise is powerful and when we praise angels are released to go to work upon our behalf. Consider how King Jehoshaphat sent people to praise the Lord in the beauty of holiness in 2 Chronicles 20:21 and as they did that "the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah..." (2 Chronicles 20:21-23. In Isaiah 37 we see an angel destroy an army of 185,000 that went up to attack Jerusalem.
• When we participate in building a house of prayer by standing watch or through a strategy like 1Church1Day which is inspired by the ancient pattern established in David's tabernacle, we are contributing to God's desire to have a house of prayer for all nations.  Guess where that house of prayer is located?  Spiritually speaking, it is on Mount Zion, the place of David's tabernacle (Isaiah 56:7). Practically it is in your city. That's where 24/7 prayer, praise and worship was located in King David's day. When we the Church lift up a canopy of continual prayer, praise and worship we replace Lucifer's role as the "covering" over God's holy mountain. We occupy the mountain of the Lord and this gives the Church a strategic advantage.  It gives us the high ground.
• God's people, the Church, is called to preach the gospel of the kingdom. It's like it says in Romans 10:14; "how can they hear without a preacher?" This is critical to the harvest. 

Joint Operations Between Heaven & Earth
So there are two main armies; a heavenly one and an earthly one. Jacob saw these two camps in Genesis 31:1-2.  When we do our part and honor God's word we release angels to do their job. When we employ God's word, they are employed. When we do not employ God's word, then the angels are restricted for they respond to God's word (Psalm 103:20). 

Continual prayer, praise and worship in God's house opens a stairway, a portal, a ladder in heaven upon which Jacob observed angels ascending and descending (Genesis 28:12-18). It sets up the Church to receive continual reinforcements in this heavenly war. That's one of the reasons why I believe Jesus taught us to pray, on earth as it is in heaven. God wants heaven on earth. Praise and worship is the atmosphere of heaven. That's why I believe He says in Acts 15:16-17 that He wants David's tabernacle restored in the latter days for it was the place of continual prayer, praise and worship in the city of David. 

God does not want a physical tent restored but rather teams of people organized and administrated so as to create the atmosphere of heaven. Acts 15:16-17 and Amos 9:11-13 tell us this is the key to the harvest. We've discovered through 1Church1Day which is based upon this revelation that God's presence can change anything. Any city, county, state of nation can enjoy this "if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14). 

Why? It's because angels and the supernatural accompany Him. When we lift up continual pray, praise and worship we make God welcome. In fact, it says in Psalm 22:3 that He inhabits and dwells in this place. His house is built through prayer, praise and worship and do you know what? 

There is a People who can Hasten Our Lord's Coming

We can hasten the Day of the Lord! 

2Peter 3:10-13 (emphasis is mine)
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells

We Can Hasten the Harvest
We can hasten the Day of the Lord. We can speed His return. We can speed the harvest.  We can team with angels. I'll never forget the call I recieived from a pastor who told me that after 7 months of their churches application of this strategy that they saw a 66% increase in the size of their congregation. We've seen a county labeled the least churched county in 2006 see a 70% church growth rate in 6 years. It's like Amos 9:11-13 says about the Tabernacle of David, the "plowman shall overtake the reaper."  

You, me and the angels all have a role in harvest. It is a joint operation. We pray, we preach and we disciple while the angels war, they reap and hearken to God's word. Together we can usher in a harvest. 

I pray we hit the mark for our assignment and that our Lord would receive all the praise, glory, honor and worship He is worthy of and a harvest of souls worthy of Christ's sacrifice.

I invite you to join me in praying for a 3rd Great Awakening in America and an awakening in this world in every nation. May our Lord receive the harvest He is worthy of. 
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