Bible Studies
Demons and You, Chapter 7
In this final study I want to bring the subject home and ask the question, “What does this have to do with you and me?” I began by saying that this is not a merely academic subject; it has enormously practical implications. If demons behave today as they have always behaved, and if we are to deal with them as Christ and the early Church dealt with them, then the modern Church has missed out on a powerful weapon in our warfare against the Devil.
An important truth that the Lord has revealed to us for our ministry is that demons can only inhabit people as the demons find ‘ground’ in the individual. Ground is some condition that gives the demons a certain right to be there. Things that provide ground in us for demons to come in and remain are curses, unforgiveness, occult involvement, the guilt of unconfessed sin, unbelief, fear, bitterness, self-hatred and self-rejection, false ideas about God, severe spiritual traumas such as rape, molestation, abandonment, and the like.
Jesus once said: “...the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me [literally: he has nothing in me]” (John 14:30). Satan had nothing on Jesus because he could find no ground in Him. He found nothing in Jesus to give him any right over Him. Jesus always did only what He saw the Father doing (John 5:19, 30; 6:38; 7:16; 8:28). His only delight, indeed His very 'food,' was to do the Father’s will (Psalm 40:8; John 4:34). He was “tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin” (Heb. 4:15).
In us fallen, self-centered human beings there is a ready-made ground for the Devil in our ‘flesh,’ our sinful nature. What Paul calls the flesh is the natural, soulish part of man, which does not come under the rule of God, but seeks to be a god unto itself. The essence of the fallen nature is independence from God, unwillingness to be ruled by God.
Rom. 8:5-7: “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man [Or mind set on the flesh] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind [Or the mind set on the flesh] is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”
As long as our nature is following the flesh it will groan against, resist, and remain hostile to the righteous claims of God on our lives. And insofar as Christians are still giving ground to their natural mind they give ground to demons. When we crucify the flesh, we remove the ground for demons to occupy or lead astray. When that is done it is easy to get rid of demons.
It should be noted that we cannot crucify demons, and we cannot cast out the flesh. We deal with the sinful nature according to the words of Scripture:
Col. 3:5-10, 12-14: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.... 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
We must resist mightily the claims of our old nature and follow our new spiritual nature, which is being changed into the image of Christ (II Cor. 3:18). We put away the “works of the flesh” and cooperate with the Holy Spirit in cultivating the “fruit of the Spirit.”
Gal. 5:17-23: “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful-ness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
So you see we can't cast out the sinful nature, we must let the Spirit change us as we “put to death the sinful deeds of the body.” But neither can we crucify demons; we must cast them out. We deal with the sinful nature as Scripture instructs us to deal with sinful nature; and we deal with demons as Scripture instructs us to deal with demons.
Of “those who believe,” Jesus said: “...In my name they will drive out demons...” (Mark 16:17).
To the Seventy Jesus said: “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” (Luke 10:19).
James the Lord’s brother wrote: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
One of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit, all of which were given for the mutual building up of the Church (I Cor. 12:7), was the ability of “distinguishing between spirits.” To me, at least, this implies that discerning and casting out demons was probably a regular part of the life of the Christian community.
Early Church History bears strong witness to the continuation of exorcisms after the apostolic era. Fr. William Saunders wrote in The Catholic Herald (11/02/00): “The practice of exorcism is recorded in the writings of the early Church Fathers, including St. Justin Martyr (d. 165), Tertullian (d. 230), and St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386). Over the course of the centuries, the Church has well documented cases of possession and exorcism...”
The church ‘father’ Tertullian (200 A.D.) issued the following challenge to pagan magistrates: “Let a man be produced right here before your court who, it is clear, is possessed by a demon, and that spirit commanded by any Christian at all [my emphasis] will be cast out.”
Finally, Jesus gave this unqualified, entirely open-ended promise: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). Everyone is free to believe or disbelieve this promise as he or she sees fit. One can explain it away, rationalize it, ‘spiritualize’ it, or simply believe it. God help me, I believe it! And may God help me to believe it enough to see it fulfilled in my own life and ministry.
I will conclude this lesson with a couple of testimonies, which show that a Christian can have a demon and clearly not be ‘possessed.’ The influence of demons in a Christian’s life is more often subtle than dramatic. But many, many problems, which could be solved by deliverance, we endure an entire lifetime.
For example, we ministered to a girl who complained that whenever she got near a high ledge or drop-off she felt the inner urge to jump. A small voice in her would tell her to jump. Without much difficulty we discerned a spirit of suicide and cast it out. She later reported that on her vacation she stopped at a scenic overlook, sat on the wall and dangled her legs over the side without fear or inclination to jump.
Another girl was irrationally afraid of nearly everything; eaten up with fear. While her relatives were away on a mission trip, she lived alone in their large house, which was located in a secluded area surrounded by woods. Needless to say she never had an easy moment in that house. We cast out a spirit of fear. After that she felt no more fear and (in fact) was able to do what few people could do: she walked home through the woods one night without fear.
All irrational fear, fears that are usually called phobias, are demonic. They are cured by deliverance from the demon and a renewing of the mind.
In complete candor I can’t prove from any scripture or set of scriptures that the Bible clearly outlines such a ministry as Jeanette and I have practiced (off and on) for about 30 years. But I'm quite certain that nothing in the Bible can be brought against such a ministry. In giving the Great Commission in Mark chapter 16, Jesus makes a general promise to “those who believe.” He says, “In my name they will drive out demons” (v. 17). To my mind that should be good enough for anyone. It was this scriptural basis on which we proceeded with the ministry we believe God led us into, and has blessed.
Appendix, Prayers in preparation for Deliverance