Deliverance
In
contrast to exorcism which is
the process of getting demons and evil forces from hell to leave
people, deliverance is also concerned about prevention and
aftercare - that is, keeping them out. Deliverance is to deliver -
to set free. Freedom must have long-lasting value. It cannot have
any real meaning if it only lasts for a few
days.
Now, this is a good time to remind you that,
if you are in
Christ,
you have nothing to fear from demons and evil forces from
hell.
"Listen! I have given you
authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions
and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you." (Luk 10:19)
'Snakes' and 'scorpions'
are symbolical of demons and evil spirits,
but God proved later (in the life of Paul) that this can also be
interpreted literally.
Deliverance Case Study
I was again asked to go
minister to a young man who was living alone in an apartment. I
went to see him and because I knew I needed prayer support, I made
an appointment for a later date. He had some interesting stories to
tell though. One of them was that some strangers came to him and
bowed in front of him and gave honor to the one inside of him. It
was clear that he was strongly bound by the evil forces from
hell.
The demons and other evil forces from hell involved
in this case exuded a strong aura of fear.
I asked various people to go
with me in support. Initially they were enthusiastic, but a day or
two later when I tried to confirm with them, they were scared. This
happened time and again. After immense trouble, and even becoming
fearful myself, I finally succeeded in obtaining the support of one
of my friends. This friend had some experience with the evil forces
from hell and a strong faith in Jesus. We even had some prayer
backup, but I was still uncomfortable, especially in the light of
the wake of fear following me around.
We kept the appointment -
ready to confront the evil forces from hell.
The signs of possession were
clear. Once again, eye contact with the victim was only possible
when I commanded the evil forces from hell in the name of
Jesus. There was also that strong feeling of fear about the
place. However, when we tried to find the root cause of the
possession, we had difficulty making progress as it seems like he
was playing the fool with us. Eventually I discerned a mocking
spirit and forbade it to manifest in the name of
Jesus.
It came out then that he had
even been to well-known a local Christian deliverance specialist
without success. Actually, the minister had chased him out for
mocking him. Discerning the mocking spirit was the first
break-through, but it wasn't enough. We had to demonstrate our
authority over the evil forces from hell.
Whatever we tried we couldn't
make progress. Eventually in anger I admonished the possessed
person for not resisting the evil forces from hell.
Then a strange thing happened.
He asked to be excused and
left for the next room. He was alone, but we could hear clearly as
he, in no uncertain terms, swore at the demon for not keeping its
promises. He used enough expletives to make a sailor blush, but he
came back after a few minutes and the evil forces from hell were
gone.
There was no need for us
to exorcise the demons, for after he had dealt with the grounds,
they left on their own.
Before this, when we entered
his apartment, he was chain-smoking. After this, even while
continued ministering for several hours, he did not touch a
cigarette. Also, he could make eye contact again and he was
smiling. All that we had to do was to test for any other doors in
his life where evil forces from hell could enter and to make sure
that he was born-again and filled with the Holy Spirit.
The only negative
experience from this encounter was an increase in demonic attacks
on my own life for as prolonged duration of time afterwards. This
forced me to not only to learn more about the evil forces from
hell, but also to be more vigilant against attacks.
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There are no alternatives! If you want to be safe from the evil
forces from hell, it is Jesus or nothing, for without Jesus we are
nothing
"Remain united to me, and I
will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by
itself;
it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you
cannot bear fruit unless you
remain in me. "I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who
remain in me, and I in them,
will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me. Those who
do not remain in me are
thrown out like a branch and dry up; such branches are gathered up
and thrown into the fire,
where they are burned." (Joh 15:4-6)
A true
born-again believer cannot be "possessed" by Satan in the real
sense of the word. Possession by Satan involves control of body,
soul, spirit, conduct, and thought. But if a believer continues to
practice fleshly sins there comes a time where the practice may
move from a sin of the flesh to a sin controlled by the evil forces
from hell.
True deliverance requires continuous and persistent
offensive spiritual warfare against the evil forces from
hell
"Run your best in the race of
faith, and win eternal life for yourself; for it was to this life
that God called you when you firmly professed your faith before
many witnesses." (1Ti 6:12 GNB)
For this, we need to apply
all possible offensive strategies against the evil forces from
hell
"Timothy, my child, I entrust
to you this command, which is in accordance with the words of
prophecy spoken in the past about you. Use those words as weapons
in order to fight well." (1Ti 1:18 GNB)
We are to fight this
battle purposefully, intelligently and with
determination.
"That is why I run straight
for the finish line;
that is why I am like a boxer who does not waste his punches." (1Co
9:26 GNB)
The following are your offensive weapons
against the evil forces form hell.
Prayer
Prayer is a powerful
offensive weapon. When you use it for offensive warfare you do not
just pray only for your own personal needs and problems. You pray
for other people, for leaders, and for nations, pulling down
strongholds of Satan and his evil forces from hell.
All Christians are to pray at
times, but there is a special calling to intercessory prayer for
some people. They wage mighty battles in the unseen realm against
the evil forces from hell. Praise and worship are are also powerful
offensive weapons for bombarding the evil forces from
hell.
The sword of the Spirit, the word of
God
"So put on God's armor now!
Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the
enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold
your ground." (Eph 6:13 GNB)
The "sword of the Spirit" can
be used both defensively and offensively. The Word of God can be
used to defend against the attacks of Satan and his evil forces
form hell or to claim territory for the Lord through the
deliverance of others.
Thinking like Christ
You are to arm yourself
with the mindset of Jesus, a mind set to wage warfare on sin and a
mind that is not afraid of the evil forces from
hell.
"Since Christ suffered
physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of
thinking that he had; because whoever suffers physically is no
longer involved with sin." (1Pe 4:1 GNB)
"The attitude you should have
is the one that Christ Jesus had." (Php 2:5 GNB)
"The Son of God appeared for
this very reason, to destroy what the Devil had done." (1Jn 3:8
GNB)
You must
aggressively arm yourself with the same mental
attitude.
Do not conform yourselves to
the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by
a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the
will of God---what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.
(Rom 12:2 GNB)
The goal of offensive warfare is to destroy the
strongholds of the evil forces from hell
The weapons we use in our
fight are not the world's weapons but God's powerful weapons, which
we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull
down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of
God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ. (2Co
10:4-5 GNB)
The night is far
spent, the day is at hand; therefore let us cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. (Rom 13:12
MKJV)
Binding and Loosing
Christians have the power
to bind the evil forces from hell and loose the forces of
good:
"And I will give the keys of
the kingdom of Heaven to you. And whatever you may bind on earth
shall occur, having been bound in Heaven, and whatever you may
loose on earth shall occur, having been loosed in Heaven." (Mat
16:19 MKJV)
Whenever you bind something,
you should also loose something. For example, if you bind the
spirit of lying you should loose the spirit of truth to operate in
its place. Otherwise the place of the evil forces from hell will be
left empty and they will be able to return.
"When the unclean spirit has
gone out of a man, he walks through dry places seeking rest, and
finds none. Then he said, I will return into my house from where I
came out. And when he has come, he finds it empty, swept,
and decorated. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits
more evil than himself, and they enter in and live there. And the
last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so it
also shall be to this evil generation." (Mat 12:43-45
MKJV)
The blood of Jesus and your
testimony
When Jesus died on the cross
of Calvary, He delivered us from the dominion of sin and from the
power of Satan and his evil forces from hell. His blood secures our
access to God and release from the bondage of Satan.
"And they overcame him
because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their
testimony. And they did not love their soul until death." (Rev
12:11 MKJV)
Salvation, healing, and
deliverance are all available because of the blood of Jesus. His
blood enables you to wage offensive warfare for the souls of men
and women and bring deliverance and healing in the name of Jesus.
Your power to "overcome" the enemy is because of the "blood of the
lamb."
The word "testimony" means
"evidence or record" like that used in a legal case in a court of
law. Jesus often commanded people who had been delivered to
go and tell others what God had done for them. As you give evidence
to the power of God in your life, you are waging offensive
spiritual warfare against the evil forces from hell. Your testimony
must be based upon the truth of the Word of God.
The Name of Jesus
The name of Jesus is
the most powerful offensive weapon in the arsenal of the
believer.
"And miraculous signs
will follow to those believing these things: in My name they will
cast out demons; they will speak new tongues; they will take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt
them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will be
well." (Mar 16:17-18 MKJV)
The name of Jesus is not a
magical phrase that is used to drive out the evil forces from hell.
Using his name demonstrates that you are operating under his
authority. It is like signing a document on behalf of the CEO. It
is very powerful when you have his permission, but it will backfire
on you if you don't.
If you don't know Jesus, you have no right to use his
name!
"God was performing unusual
miracles through Paul. Even handkerchiefs and aprons he had used
were taken to the sick, and their diseases were driven away, and
the evil spirits would go out of them.
"Some Jews who traveled
around and drove out evil spirits also tried to use the name of the
Lord Jesus to do this. They said to the evil spirits, "I command
you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches."
"Seven brothers, who were the
sons of a Jewish High Priest named Sceva, were doing this. But the
evil spirit said to them, "I know Jesus, and I know about Paul; but
you---who are you?" The man who had the evil spirit in him attacked
them with such violence that he overpowered them all. They ran away
from his house, wounded and with their clothes torn
off."
(Acts
19:11-16)
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Unbelievers are defenseless against the attacks of demonic
powers, but believers have powerful spiritual weapons and
strategies for dealing with this evil forces from
hell.
The seventy-two men came back in great joy. "Lord," they
said, "even the demons obeyed us when we gave them a command in
your name!" (Luk 10:17 GNB)
In the
name of Jesus we can conquer the evil forces from
hell.
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