Sharp, Sleek Sword: Warning for Every Believer

Copyright © 2018 Babatunde R. Ajimoti.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (MSG) are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scripture taken from The Voice™. Copyright © 2012 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

WestBow Press

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-1061-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1063-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1062-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017918881

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/10/2018

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction   The Cost of a Soul

Prologue   Life Is a Battle

Chapter 1   The Agony of His Patience

Chapter 2   Darkness against Light

Chapter 3   The Bomb of Catching Them Young

Chapter 4   The Scud Missiles of the Majority

Chapter 5   The Sleek Bomb of Indoctrination

Chapter 6   The Grenade of Language

Chapter 7   The Riffle of Sleek Patience

Chapter 8   The Nuclear Bomb of Food

Chapter 9   The Arrows of Names

Chapter 10   Take Control of the Battleground

Chapter 11   The Power of the King’s Word

Chapter 12   The Fear to Fear

Chapter 13   The Favor to Seek

Chapter 14   The End Matters

Afterword   The Greatest Weapon of the Enemy

Appendix   Family Altar

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called.

—1 Timothy 6:12 (emphasis mine)

To the Holy Spirit, the shield against Satan’s sharp, sleek sword

When the essence of a thing is unknown or forgotten, abuse is inevitable.

–Pastor E. A. Adeboye (Open Heaven-2017).

Foreword

This book is a wake-up call for all on the antics of the devil; it is an exposure of various cunning, subtle, and sleek tactics the master deceiver fabricated and adopted to make humans lose the race to find eternal bliss with God. Babatunde Ajimoti, a consistent servant of God, who I witnessed grow tremendously under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, has been used through this book to sensitize every reader to the need to fight the good fight of faith by resisting the master deceiver through the power of the Holy Ghost.

These are End Times when Satan is fabricating new, subtle, sophisticated weapons cunningly coated and ornamented to look innocently harmless; his intent is to lure even the righteous into error with the sole purpose of thwarting their relationship with God. Through his sleek moves, the devil has derailed many destinies; he has scattered homes, cut precious lives short, and above all, led many to eternal damnation.

Many are the antics of the devil. He fabricates new ones every second and is highly innovative. He is a restless inventor of evils, and a person who is constantly up to date and consistently sensitive to the Lord is needed to defeat satanic antics and beat him at his game. It takes the power beyond human comprehension, the power of the Holy Ghost, to defeat the devil hands down. However, the Holy Spirit needs your utmost cooperation and surrender to do so. It is on record that the Holy Spirit has motivated the author to influence as many who read this valuable book as possible on how to take control of the battleground and destroy the antics the devil has targeted at them. They may do so by deliberately purposing in their hearts not to defile themselves, just as Daniel did. Daniel 1:8 says, But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.

Having read through this book, I discovered a revelation from the exposition of Daniel 1; the Holy Spirit brought out a new dimensional interpretation of the records of that Bible passage. It explicitly brought out step-by-step ways of coming out victoriously from the overwhelming, satanic, sleek temptation and war against the souls of people. With the use of physical warfare language, the author makes the reading more understandable since it enables readers to see the unknown through the known.

Don’t just read this book. There is a need to read and pause at every significant stage and get on your knees to pray not only for yourself but also for those still living at a time like this. We should pray for God to deliver us from the sleek and deceitful antics of the enemy of our souls, who is bent on taking as many as possible with him to damnation.

Reverend Wole Adebayo,

District Overseer (Benin)

Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria

Preface

Mr. Interruption is one of the agents people love to avoid, and I detest him, especially when he wants to disrupt my plan. Nevertheless, Mr. Interruption should be given a chance to erase our plans completely when the Holy Spirit employs him to attend to us. This should be true not only through the reading and studying of the scripture but also in our day-to-day activities.

The journey you are about to partake with me is an interruption the Holy Spirit brought with a clear, concrete, and comprehensive life-changing experience. This book was born when the Holy Spirit illuminated the eyes of my spiritual understanding. It is my sincere prayer that as you read through this book, such an interruption would constantly take place in your life as well in Jesus’s name.

The interruption I received from the Holy Spirit came through my rapport with the scripture in the year 2012. My scripture reading plan for that year revolved around reading the Pentateuch twice after completing the Old Testament, while my reading plan for the New Testament remained reading it twice in that year. I was dedicated to my plan, and I got to the book of Daniel so early that year that I wondered whether I could take that plan to another level by reading the Old Testament twice before the end of the year. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit hooked me up when I got to Daniel 1, and I found it difficult going farther for some time. For more than three weeks, my major scripture reading remained that lovely first chapter of Daniel. Throughout the remaining days of the year, I found myself reading through it at least once every day.

There are various events in our world today that defy common sense but are central to the establishment of the kingdom of darkness. The sleek move of the enemy of our souls to jeopardize the bright future of our children is becoming more insidiously sinister. The ultimate goal of the god of this world is to make the children of God lose their personality as they bend toward and blend with this world of vanity, thereby losing their appetite to make it to heaven. This tactic mimics the experience of Daniel and his three friends in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar. Certain children of Judah were chosen for indoctrination but only Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were able to stand. As you read this book, it is my sincere prayer that God will give you the grace to stand out among others and fight the good fight of faith in Jesus’s name.

Acknowledgments

All glory to the most high God, who enlightened the eyes of my spiritual understanding to behold what you will read in this book. As you journey through this book with me, you will be able to see and confirm that He daily loads us with His blessings. It is my sincere prayer that anyone who determines to read this book will be blessed to give praise to God for this revelation from the throne of His grace. All glory, honor, power, and majesty belong to Jehovah Almighty God.

My sincere appreciation goes to Rev. Wole Adebayo, the district overseer (DO) of Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Benin district. Despite his busy schedule, he wrote the foreword of this book. In the brief moment we had together in mid-1990, the Holy Spirit used him to leave an indelible mark in my relationship with God. May you continue to be a blessing indeed to the body of Christ in Jesus’s name. My last contact with him was in 2006 at the National Convention of Foursquare Gospel Churches in Nigeria. His acceptance to write the foreword is a great honor for me. I pray that the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon you, sir, will continue to grow from grace to grace in Jesus’s name. May God Almighty honor you in a great way as well in Jesus’s name.

I also need to thank all members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Desire for Nations parishes (both Grand Turk and Providenciales), in Turks and Caicos Islands, for the opportunity to teach part of this book at various times. My request to God is that the Holy Spirit shall achieve His purpose to the glory of the Father in your life in Jesus’s name. Likewise, I sincerely appreciate Rev. and Pastor (Mrs.) Agboola for voluntarily agreeing to read the book and have it edited. I pray that your lives will continue to be fruitful to glorify His holy name in Jesus’s name.

The motivation I received from my wife, Omowumi Adekemi Ajimoti (nee Omojola), coupled with her support, sacrifice, and supplication, was indispensable for the success of this book. Her encouragement served as one of the injections I received to write this book. Likewise, the scent of the Holy Spirit breathing into the life of my children—Oluwatobiloba, Ibukunoluwa, Aanuoluwapo, and Oluwadaara—served as a catalyst to complete this book.

In December 2012, I temporarily stopped writing this book when I got to chapter eight within two months of writing. I discovered that the book may be up to thirty-two chapters, which would be too large considering the reading culture of this Internet age. Nevertheless, in 2015, one of my children declared, Daddy, I preached part of your book. It ministered to me when we talked about it, and I felt it will benefit others. I was left with no choice but to pick it up again. That statement served as the motivation I needed to be determined to have the book published. May the Holy Spirit continue to flow into and through you all in Jesus’s name. Thanks, and may God bless you all in Jesus’s name. Amen.

Introduction

The Cost of a Soul

The Lord is not willing that any should perish

—2 Peter 3:9

A disaster took place on June 12, 2016, at Orlando Pulse, a gay club, where about fifty souls were wiped out. Diverse kinds of reactions to the ugly event filled the air waves, from pity and sympathy to even blame for those who knew nothing about it. One of the most absurd reactions came from a Baptist pastor in Sacramento, California. The pastor said (through Yahoo News) the following among his many statements: The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die. The tragedy is I’m kind of upset he didn’t finish the job because these people are predators. They are abusers, I wish the government would round them all up, put them up against a firing wall, put the firing squad in front of them and blow their brains out.

This man of God’s statements show his frustration in fighting the war of life and death, but his passion to wipe out gay, lesbian, and transgender people contradicts the nature and purpose of God. That pastor remains one of the pastors I respect in America, and I believe analysis of his opinion might have been misinterpreted. Nevertheless, in his reaction he grossly undervalued the cost of the fifty souls involved in this tragedy. The worth of a soul is more than expensive and greater than exorbitant; it is simply costly.

Satan is contesting for the souls of man with God, and hordes of darkness are turning man to zombies today through deception. Satan is desperate like never before, and he has perfected his method of getting many souls into his kingdom through various antics. This makes some of the things taking place today defy common sense. Sodomy is an abomination to God, but it might seem to be a gay thing today because of the effort of the sleek master to viciously fight man with his sharp weapon, what I call his sharp, sleek sword. Likewise, God abhors the murder of our fellow man, and Thou shall not kill is still part of His commandments (Matt. 5:21; Ex. 20:13). Nevertheless, the devil will do anything and go to any lengths to get as many souls as possible into his kingdom. Human souls are indeed costly.

On the other hand, God has done everything possible to redeem souls from the plague of death; His Son paid the ultimate price. Jesus Christ’s death was a necessary condition to deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Heb. 2:15). God’s heartbeat is for individuals to voluntarily accept the ultimate price paid on their behalf and walk in the newness of life in His kingdom. This is because the redemption of souls of people is precious to God (Ps. 49:8), and it’s not His wish that anyone should perish. He desires souls of people to enter life through the way He paved for us all through the ultimate sacrifice of His Son. Souls of humans are costly indeed.

Spiritually and according to scripture, every person on earth is on a journey toward life or death; human existence doesn’t merely end when people cease breathing. Whenever there is a translation of people from earth, eternity through either life or death is the next destination. In eternity everything is constant; there is no movement to death or life again. When the soul of a person enters death, it cannot move again to life in eternity or vice versa. Eternal death is the real cost of every soul who died here on earth due to the fall of man. This is what Jesus Christ came to make provision for; He died as ransom for the souls of man. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him (1 Thess. 5:9–10). Jesus Christ offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for the souls of people. Human souls are just costly.

Hence, the truth of the matter is that death in eternity is the real cost of a soul without Christ. Every soul is important to God. This is the reason multitudes of angels in heaven will rejoice over one sinner who turns from the way of death to the way of life (Luke 15:7). Every person on earth has been given a daily opportunity to prepare for eternity (life or death). Whenever someone dies here on earth without accepting the salvation God provided through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, that soul is lost forever in eternity; it is the ultimate death.

This truth remains what made the event of June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida, a disaster and an awful tragedy. There is no turning back for about fifty souls from death to life in eternity. As long as a person is on earth, there is hope of turning to the road of eternal life, but when the he or she gives up the ghost, eternal death comes because that person forsook the salvation God provided through Jesus Christ. Satan is a dead being who lost eternal life and desires as many souls to end in death with him. Satan’s passion and hunger for human souls powers him to go to any length and do every possible thing within his capacity to get as many souls as possible. This is why he will continue to wage war against the souls of people.

Nevertheless, multitudes of people won’t intentionally follow Satan to eternal death. He will use all the weapons in his arsenal through his sharp, sleek sword to ultimately lure people to follow him to death. Satan is passionate about getting multitude of souls to follow him into eternal death, and this helps him to coordinate his attack perfectly well against humans. The most powerful weapon in his arsenal, the sleek sword, is sharp and can manifest in various forms. He may plant the land mine of indoctrination just as he unleashes the bomb of catching them young. He may plot the downfall of people through his riffle of sleek patience as he forcefully attacks them through the grenade of language. His arrow of names has assassinated many fearful pilgrims of eternal life, and it is as potent today as ever before. Likewise, his nuclear bomb of foods is highly effective to derail man.

Please, as you take control of the battleground through the power of the King’s word, let the fear of God rules your heart and help you to seek only God’s favor throughout your lifetime. Finally, keep the eyes of your heart’s focus always on the end of your race, on this journey to eternity. This is why Satan won’t rest; he wants to make sure you miss eternal life. It is also the same reason Jesus Christ came to redeem us from death (John 3:16, 18), and it is what won’t make God reject you totally; He will not break a bruised reed (Isaiah 42: 3 and Matthew 12: 20); He will forgive you irrespective of what you had done. The cost of a soul that has no Christ is eternal death, but Christ paved the way to eternal life. This is the reason to be careful of the devices of Satan and to be sensitive to his sharp, sleek sword. I pray that you will never be a casualty on the road to eternity in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. I pray that you will be richly blessed as God enables you to see the sharp, sleek sword of the enemy of your soul, in Jesus’s name, amen.

Babatunde R. Ajimoti

[email protected]

Prologue

Life Is a Battle

God never ceases to amaze me. His love, which He manifests to all every day, is inexhaustible. His word is also a jewel of inestimable, priceless, everlasting value. It is invaluable and more than rubies, silver or gold, diamonds, or any precious materials that can be found in this world of vanity. It is supernaturally dynamic, and no reasonable heavenly minded person would ever want to stop reading or studying it.

It all started in the year 2012 during my journey through the Good Book; the eyes of my spiritual understanding became enlightened. The Holy Spirit interrupted my routine of reading the scripture when I reached Daniel 1. The journey you are about to take with me comes from that chapter. It is my sincere prayer that the Lord will open your eyes through the little thing you will read here and give you the grace needed to fight the war of life.

It won’t be a herculean task for anyone with a modicum of intelligence to agree with me that the lives we live every day are a battle. This world is more than a battleground; it is a real war zone. It’s total war; you either fire, or you will be fired upon. Every person on this planet will fight this war throughout his or her entire lifetime. It is a must-win war for us all, a war of death and life. The enemy desires to snuff the life out of every child of Adam. He attacks every area of our lives, from family to our finances. He attacks the aged and doesn’t have any atom of mercy on the youth. Satan has turned living in this world to dwelling in the war zone.

Life is a battle is one of the many proverbs from the Yoruba tribe of West Africa that came to my mind during my preparation to write this book. This proverb at times formed a major premise my late father used as part of the foundation of his lecture to his children about life. When children are newly born, my father will say they have come to face their own life’s battle. When a child starts school, even right from the moment he or she steps into basic school, he or she has started another phase in his or her life’s battle is what my father would say. When I graduated from school and was about to settle down for a job, my father had his lecture of how I would need to equip myself for the battle awaiting me at the workplace. When a child grows up and gets married, he will say, He has started one of the core battles he needs to win.

My father had a way of relating the battles of life to every stage of life. He used to see life’s battles as struggles, challenges, and obstacles we must face in the land of the living. He believed that, irrespective of what happens to a person in life, such should never turn his or her back to the challenges of life; he or she must face them squarely. You cannot run away from them. They are battles, which must be fought and won by you remains one of his cautions.

I remember a day when he told me, The reason God planted our two eyes on our face is to face whatever life throws at us. God would have planted one eye at the back of our head if otherwise, and we will still look beautiful. One of his warnings concerning this battle includes, When every person around you sings your praises, be careful; they might be busy digging and trying hard to push you to your grave. You can only see beautiful and handsome faces around you, smiling as your friends, but inwardly some of them may be ravening wolves. It took me some years to understand this part my father’s lecture, but how truthful my late father was isn’t what we are going to examine in this book. That is because this war is deeper than the way my father presented it. It isn’t even a war that must be faced alone without the help of God. It’s life’s war; it’s the war of life to stay alive.

Seemingly, the majority of people are aware that life is full of various battles, in which brutal foes and best friends may serve as instruments the devil may use to unleash this war against us. Everybody on the surface of the earth faces storms of life. Such storms don’t respect the wealthy; neither do they