Deliverance from Demons

In my opinion the so-called "deliverance ministry" that is commonly referred to by many Christians is not scriptural. It is solely based on human experience and not firmly grounded in the Word of God. The word "ministry" suggests a person is gifted by God to serve in a particular area of need in the Church.

Having said that, however, "deliverance" among Christians and in the Christian Church is scriptural except that you cannot call it as a ministry gift. If you are a Christian, healing and deliverance belong to you. But you need to realize that the word "deliverance" does not just mean deliverance from demons. It means set free from anything that would try to bind you as a Christian believer. It is our redemptive right to be set free from Satan's dominion. Jesus Christ bought and paid for your redemption on the Cross of Calvary and that redemption includes deliverance from any satanic bondage in the whole person - spirit, soul and body. Healing and deliverance from demons are part of our covenant rights when we accept Jesus as our Savior (Matt. 8:17; Luke 10:19; 1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus and His disciples

It is interesting to realize that Jesus never once sent His disciples out to preach the gospel without also telling them to cast our demons.

Jesus said to the twelve when He sent them out to preach:

".... and as you go, preach, saying, 'the Kingdom of heaven is at hand'. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give" (Matt. 10:7, 8, NKJV).

It is true that the above refers to Jesus sending out the 12 disciples only. But Luke recorded Jesus also sent out seventy others (Luke 10:1).

"Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject ot us in Your name'. And He said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven'" (Luke 10:17, 18, emphasis added).

Notice that it is the Name of Jesus that demons are subject to. Demons are cast out because there is authority in the name of Jesus.

If you are a true disciple of Jesus Christ then you are expected to cast out demons as you go out to preach the gospel to fulfill the Great Commission.

Jesus said to His disciples, "And these signs will follow those who believe. In My name they will cast out demons; ..." (Mark 16:17).

The implication is that if you do not cast out demons in His name then you are either not a true disciple or you are an unbelieving believer! We must understand that casting out of demons is part of your Christian walk.

Christians and demons

An important fact is, Christians can and do have demons! A demon is a spirit being without a body and he is looking for a body in live in. The body he is looking for can be a Christian or a non-Christian body. What we are talking about is a person having a demon and not possessed by a demonic spirit. There is a big difference here. Confusion arises because in the King James Version of the Bible the word "possess" and the phrase "possessed by" are being usesd in the area of demon activities. Possession means ownership. A Christian cannot be owned by the Holy Spirit and the demonic spirit at the same time. The correct translation is "a man is having a demon".

Why do Christians have demons?

The likelihood of Christians having demons depends on how much they have surrendered their life to Jesus. If there has been absolute repentance at the time of salvation, and Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, occupied every recess in the inner depths of their heart, together with an absolute renunciation of all sin, then there is little or no demon activity.

Solomon said, "The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart" (Proverbs 20:27).

The Lord is searching the inner depths of our heart or belly. But many of us still have little secret areas within our heart that is not released to Him. This gives Satan the legal right to sit in there. The fact is, if we are not wholly unto God we are partly unto Satan.

I believe the greatest entry point for demon power is sexual immorality.

Paul said, ".... he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For 'the two,' He says, 'shall become one flesh'. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him" (1 Cor. 6:16, 17).

When people have sex outside of marriage spirits pass between their bodies. It is therefore conceivable that they will have the spirit of fornication or adultery still in them even though they have given their life to the Lord. Sometimes these unclean spirits follow Christians who have been in past sexual immorality and they usually become oppressed unless they are fully delivered and set free with the spirits cast out.

Our Battle and our real enemies

Paul said, "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" (Eph. 6:12, NKJV).

Here are some statements of truth:

1. Our real enemies or opponents are not physical but spiritual opponents.


2. These spiritual opponents have descending order of authority - Principalities (despotisms), evil powers, master spirits at this present age of darkness and spirit forces of wickedness.

3. Our battle ground is at the heavenly or supernatural realm or sphere.

Dealing with spirit forces of wickedness

The Lord willing, I plan to deal with Spiritual battle in greater details in other future messages. In the meantime let us consider our spiritual opponent of the lowest order of authority - spirit forces of wickedness. Take as an example, a situaltion when people (believers or non-believers) are unkind toward us and saying things against us.

Our natural inclination is to use our mind to deal with their mind whereas in fact it is the evil spirit forces in them that is attacking us. These spirit forces might have affected their mind and give them unkind words to say to us. We must not respond to their mind when in fact we are dealing with the spirit forces within them. That is why we need the gift of discernment of the spirits (1 Cor. 12:10) in the Church.

When somebody hates you and speaks spitefully against you, your first reaction is to defend yourself, Jesus did not do that but instead He said:

".... bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ..." (Matt. 5:44).

In other words, your are to use God's love to deal with that person. The demon power in that person cannot handle God's love. So when you are praying for someone who has hurt you, you are actually using the weapon of God's love to fight against the spirit in that person. The result is, the evil spirit is thrown into confusion and you will begin to win the battle. But if you begin to react because that person is speaking against you, you are doing exactly what the demons want you to do. The more you fight in the natural the less chance you have in victory in the spiritual. When the spiritual is won the natural will be won also! The fact is that Satan's kingdom is controlled by fear but God has a parallel kingdom controlled by love.

John said, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).

So do not fear the person who hates you and says unkind things to you. Instead fear God and use God's love to deal with that person.

Demons over Christian Churches

Satan loves religion, including religious ritual and religious forms of worship. The greatest way in which Satan operates over the Christian Churches is through the spirit of sectarianism. For a long time the Catholic Churches claimed they are the right ones and then the Protestant Churches claimed likewise. Then there is the problem of denomination barrier. Then there is the division between the Calvinists and the Armenians - division between those who believe in predistination and those who believe in freewill. If we dwell on these differences we become tools for Satan and his evil spirits.

The fact is that there is not a single Local Church that has no carnality in it, criticism in it, fighting in it, argument in it, split in it and problem in it. The only way to resolve these problems and divisions is through God's love.

In the beginning of the Charismatic movement there was a great division between Spirit-filled Christians and non-spirit filled Christians. In the beginning of our Spiritual life Satan will show us we are better that the people around us; that we have more knowledge and more wisdom; that we speak in tongues and cast out demons. The greatest problem in the Charismatic renewal has been the lack of God's love shown by those who became born-again and baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Bible Colleges and Seminaries and their deceptive teaching

A renowned Bible teacher, who is with the Lord now, once said, "Many Bible Seminaries are breeding grounds of unbelief and strongholds of Satan. Many students enter the Seminaries with a measure of Biblical faith but have their faith totally shipwrecked after graduation"?

The Devil did a marvelous work in these seminaries. Some theologians who teach in these seminaries are proclaimed atheists who studied the Bible using their intellect, and form their own theology using their own wisdom. Students of these seminaries are told, among other ungodly things, that demons do not exist; you do not cast out demons or heal the sick and divine healing is not for today - all ceased to exist and died with the 12 apostles! They totally ignored Mark 16 and failed to understand the power of the early Church. They even failed to understand that casting out of demons and healing the sick is part and parcel of our Christian walk. No wonder our Churches lack power.

Conclusion

Many contemporary Churches are busy implementing Church-growth, Church development and revival programs. My question is, why do we need Church growth program? What we need is the Holy Ghost program. All we need is to emulate the early Church - lay hands on the sick, cast out demons and set captives free. When such power is seen and manifested in your Church, people will come and very soon you will need a much bigger Church building. When some smart experts on Church-growth come to offer their services to your Church, ask them do they cast out demons, do they heal the sick. Also ask them how many miracles do they see every week in their own Church. If they cannot give you a satisfactory answer they are wasting your time!