Spiritual wickedness in the heavens
The new Jerusalem is defended by massive ornate walls and gates. The attention given to the description of the walls and gates of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb, proclaims one eternal truth: No unclean person, spirit or thing will enter this city.
The new Jerusalem is the Body of Christ. The destiny of the Body is to drive out and wall out sin—out of the heavens and out of the earth.
The destruction of sin is one of the main tasks of Christ, Head and Body. Keeping sin from entering the Presence of God and His saints is the purpose of the wall and gates of the holy city, which is the new Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb.
The wall of the new Jerusalem reveals to us that God intends that all sin be driven out and kept out of His Presence and the presence of His people.
The wall and gates of the new Jerusalem proclaim a condition unlike that of the defenceless Eden. The wall announces to the beholder that sin has been cast out and now is walled out of the Presence of God. The sulphurous fumes of the Lake of Fire, wherever that area is located, will remind the inhabitants of the new heaven and earth of the consequences of disobedience to the laws of God.
The time has come now for the Church of Christ to "rebuild the walls and gates of Jerusalem." The walls of a city keep out the enemy. If there were no enemy there would be no walls.
The walls of a city indicate the boundaries of the city, the area that belongs to it and is part of it. A large region outside the city walls may belong to the city and be governed by the city. This is true in the case of the Kingdom of God.
The gates of a city control the flow of traffic into and out of the city. The Church of Christ holds the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and controls the flow of traffic into and out of the Kingdom (Matthew 18:18; John 20:23).
There were no walls around Eden, indicating that Paradise at that time possessed no defence against invaders. Every kind of unclean spirit could roam freely in Eden. The inevitable result of such weakness was sin and the resulting banishment from the Presence of God.
One of the most prominent features of the new Jerusalem is the gates and the impregnable wall. It may seem strange and not in keeping with our concept of the new heaven and earth that there would be a massive wall and gates guarding the holy city. Yet, the wall and gates are stressed in the description of the city.
The wall and gates are there for a reason: "for upon all the glory shall be a defence" (Isaiah 4:5).
The saints, who will rule for a thousand years during the Jubilee (Daniel 7:26,27) will always remain prepared to crush any signs of resistance to the will of Christ wherever such resistance may appear.
The nations of the saved will always be able to sin, even during the new heaven and earth reign of Christ. They will not be able to enter the new Jerusalem while they are sinning. If they persist in sin, not responding to the guidance of the sons of God, they will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
We do not understand much about the original rebellion of the angels against God. We do know that some of the high-ranking angels of Heaven resisted the will of the Father and sought to increase their own glory.
Apparently Satan led the revolution. The few scriptural allusions to this dreadful occurrence provide us with a glimpse of what took place and what influence the event has on us to the present hour.
Some of the disobedient angels are bound in chains of darkness, awaiting the Day of Judgement:
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; (II Peter 2:4)
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. (Jude 6)
Some are known as the wicked lords in the heavenlies, against whom we are wrestling at this time.
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. (Ephesians 6:12)
And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness [in the wicked one]. (I John 5:19)
When Satan was cast out into the earth "his angels were cast out with him." After this victory, Satan and his angels never again will have a place in the heaven.
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:8,9)
The condition and activities of the Body of Christ are related to the conditions and events that are in existence and are taking place in the heavenlies.
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:17-19)
We understand from the Scriptures that an abominable uprising against the Lord God took place in the heavens. Every sin which has taken place on the earth and is now taking place has come down to us from the heavens.
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifest, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (I John 3:8)
Acts of sin by people reflect the wicked nature of unclean spirits. Mankind is influenced by the condition of things in the realm of spiritual personalities. The authors of sin are not human beings. Rebellion against God’s law came down to earth from the heavens.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
Satan and his angels are forever doomed. Man can be redeemed. All sin originated with unclean spirits. Human beings are drawn into the uncleanness's because of the rebellious nature of our personalities—the pride that has entered us because of the sin of Adam and Eve and the subsequent God-rejecting actions of the human race.
Every human being has a sinful nature (Psalms 51:5; Romans 3:10). Christ possesses the authority and power to deliver human beings. But evil spirits can never be redeemed.
The Lake of Fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. The Lake of Fire was not prepared for people. The only people who will be cast into the Lake of Fire are those who refuse to allow Christ to separate them from the fallen angels and other wicked spirits.
Sin did not originate in the earth. Sin is not inherent in the earth and does not belong properly in the earth. Sin originated in the heavens and proceeds from the heavens.
In the beginning God created the heavens before He created the earth. Before the saints can bring the power of redemption to the nations of the earth they first must overcome the wicked spirits in the heavenlies.
Whatever the saints bind on the earth is bound in the heavens, in the spirit realm. Otherwise our actions would have little effect.
Satan and those who have followed him were not born in sin. They were not driven against their will by bodies that strive constantly to break God’s laws.
Of their own will they chose to disobey the Father. Therefore God has cast them from the highest level of the heavens. They never can be redeemed.
These wicked spiritual personalities are expressing their natures in the earth with increasing lust and violence. It is the purpose of the Most High God that His will, His law, which now is being performed at the highest level of the heavens, be carried down into the earth. The unclean spirits will be cast into the Lake of Fire and abide there forever.
This one fact we proclaim: God is righteous in all that He does.
His goodness, His power, and His truth are absolute. They are undeniable and impregnable. Let God be true and every man a liar. God alone is good! No spirit or person is able to resist the Father’s power.
Of all the personages of the heavens, God has chosen Christ, His firstborn Son, to inherit His authority and power. It does not matter who in the heavens approves of God’s choice or who does not. The Lord Jesus Christ has been given all authority in Heaven and on the earth. Some may be pleased with this and some may not be pleased. It makes no difference. Christ eternally retains all authority and all power.
The next step in God’s plan, as He cleanses His creation from all rebellion and sin, is to enlarge Christ and to cause Him to be central in every person and everything in the universe (Ephesians 1:10). The Lord Jesus is to be the Centre and the Circumference of all that exists.
The Father is well pleased with Christ and desires to further His purposes in Him. Christ always does the things that please the Father. God is building from Christ’s Substance a Wife who is an inseparable part of Christ and an extension of Him. The Wife of the Lamb is the Temple of God, the holy city, the new Jerusalem.
As soon as the holy city has been brought "to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ," God will move His throne, His centre of authority and power. Instead of being located in Heaven, the headquarters of God’s authority and power will be placed in the earth. God has purposed to settle down to rest in Mount Zion, His new site of government.
There are many different orders of inhabitants of the spirit realm. Their number is very great. The heavenly citizens, in whose midst sin originated, are not members of the Wife of the Lamb nor will they be part of the nations of saved peoples of the earth. Their home is the spirit realm. It may be true that they will remain forever in the spirit realm, from which every trace of the dreadful rebellion will have been destroyed.
In the future, if the personages of the heavens desire to appear before the Father to make their petitions known to Him, they must come to the earth in order to do so.
Now we can understand the reason for the wall and gates of the new Jerusalem. The holy city is God’s fortress-Zion. God is a terrible King and He dwells within. Let the heavens and the earth take note: God reigns supreme within these walls in the midst of His Church, a company of righteous people, of sons who have been made perfect by sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
Sin cannot enter here or be permitted anywhere else in God’s realm.
God in Christ in the saints will eternally rule and minister to the heavens and the earth.
For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. (Isaiah 60:12)
There will be no more rebellion in the heavens or on the earth. The cursed spirit of rebellion has been conquered by Christ in the saints. The saints have overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they have loved not their lives to the death.
As soon as the Body of Christ has been built up to the purity, power, and size that God has in mind, then salvation, strength, the Kingdom of God, and the authority of God’s Christ will come to the heavens. But the throwing down of Satan will mean trouble for the inhabitants of the earth.
Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhibiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. (Revelation 12:12) Why haven’t Michael and his angels cast out Satan long ago? It is because the Body of Christ must be built up to the fullness of stature. "She which travaileth" must bring forth (Micah 5:3).
The holy angels cannot move in judgment against the sinful inhabitants of the heavens except as Christ is brought forth in the saints. It has pleased God that all judgment, both of angels and people, will come through the Church. It is Christ-filled Church that will crush Satan under foot and avenge all disobedience.
The holy angels cannot execute the sentence of judgment until the saints, who are the Divinely appointed judges, have been brought to the fullness of righteousness, holiness, and obedience. All authority and power in the heavens and on the earth will be exercised through the Church because Christ is the Head of the Church.
The Church possesses through Christ the keys of the Kingdom of God. Only the Church has the authority to provide or deny entrance to the Presence and blessing of God.
The holy city is the eternal dwelling place of God, the location of His throne, His seat of government. The heavens and the earth must obey the government of the holy city. There is no superior authority or power anywhere else in the heavens or on the earth, for Christ possesses complete, perfect authority and power.
The saints will share the authority and power with Christ. God is bringing many sons to glory and the sons of God will inherit all things (Revelation 21:7).
Woe to sinners and their sin when God has prepared His saints for judgment and battle! Sin will be destroyed out of the heavens and the earth.
The victorious saints are typified by Gideon’s three hundred men. Just as that small army made it possible for the remainder of Israel to overcome the Midianites, so also will the warlike remnant of saints make it possible for all the Church of Christ to gain ground in God against the enemy.
Each member of the Body of Christ who gains a victory through Christ strengthens the whole Body. Each member who lets down his end of the load makes it that much more difficult for the other members.
We find this principle of extended victory operating on a large scale in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 12. The result of the victory gained by the faithful saints is that their accuser is removed from his place in the heavenlies. He had "accused them before our God day and night." Also, all the members of God’s Church will benefit from the casting down of the accuser from the heavenlies.
Casting down the accuser from his place before God means every child of God will profit; his shortcomings will not be presented constantly before God. Never again will God permit anyone to accuse His people in His Presence. God justifies His people (Romans 8:33).
After the accuser has been cast down, God will listen only to the intercession of Christ (Hebrews 7:25) and of those saints who are making intercession in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18).
God in His saints is a consuming Fire. The saints, by the enabling wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit, perform the will of God everywhere throughout His creation. This is why God’s name, the name of the holy city, and Christ’s new name are impressed in every part of their personality.
The saints represent God and are of His Being and Presence. Christ has created them so, patiently feeding them with His body and blood and immersing them in the Holy Spirit. Now they are ready to go forth and execute God’s judgment throughout His creation. They are God’s sons, His "arrows," His means of dealing with "the enemies in the gate."
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. (Psalms 127:4,5)
Whoever has control of the gates of a city has control of the city. God’s saints have something to say to the "enemies in the gate."
. . . and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; (Genesis 22:17)
. . . and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
Although the Wife of the Lamb is exceedingly beautiful in Christ’s eyes, she also is a terrible sword in God’s hand. The sight of the Bride, in the eyes of the Lord’s enemies, will produce the paralyzing fear of the ferocious charge of an indestructible, irresistible cavalry. This fierce quality will never leave the Wife of the Lamb for she is married eternally to the God of battles, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
The Wife of the Lamb is no innocent and defenceless Eve. The Church of Christ is a knife in the soul of God’s enemies.