Walking In The Spirit & Understanding The Demonic(Part 3)

This is the third article on walking in the blessing and power of the Holy Spirit. This subject has many aspects but I wanted to address what I think is lacking by many believers, especially by pastors. Walking in the Spirit is far more than walking in the gifts of the Spirit. It should also encompass the knowledge and freedom of walking without the hindrance of demonic spirits that still operate on the earth as they did in biblical times.

I have established in the previous two articles that whenever Jesus ministered the word and healed, he also did deliverance for the main reason that demons hate humanity, especially those who believe. Followers of Jesus are so hated by the demonic because of our allegiance to the Lordship of Christ and we seek to preach the good news to the lost and broken of this world. We, by our very nature and lifestyle, should bring change to this world around us, just like Jesus did.

One of the most creative books on the subject of the operation of the demonic was “The Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis. The book does a wonderful job of illustrating how the demonic world operates and why. The Christian community today, for the most part, has lost the awareness of the activities of the demonic and thus have neglected the ministry of deliverance to people so only a small select few receive such freedom, if any, in the local church. If the demonic activity is as large as it was in the days of the gospel during the ministry of Jesus, then we are foolish for not learning how to recognize demonic activity as well as how to confront it as Jesus did.

Here are a few good examples of deliverance that will illustrate just how pervasive and vast demonic activity is. An especially good example is when Jesus cast out a demon in a man attending a weekly religious service. This is one of the earliest miracles in the ministry of Jesus.

Mark 1:23-24 

Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ²⁴saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Here are some facts. It appears the people in the synagogue were not aware of the man having a demon. Often people don’t realize demons are active in people’s lives and actions, even in our religious weekly meetings. In most cases, this man was a regular attender as people did not travel from town to town when it comes to attending the Sabbath.  Secondly, the demon was the one that cried out, not the man. The very presence of Jesus provoked the demon to speak. I wonder if our services do the same thing or are these demons able to keep hidden while we offer worship to God?

In the same chapter, people started bringing sick and demon possessed people to be healed. The Greek word for demon-possessed is really a power translation and misleading. The word should be “Demonized,” meaning the demon did not possess the people but rather tormented them.

Mark 1:32-34 

When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. ³³And the whole city had gathered at the door. ³⁴And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

How often in our church service do we encounter demonized people? Far more than we realize I am afraid and the skill to “Discern” the types of spirits, good or evil, which is moving in people’s lives is lacking.  At the end of his life, the apostle John was encountering the same problem of people not being aware of what was inspiring people around them. His advice was for people to “Test” or discern what was going on in people so we don’t become deceived ourselves.

1 John 4:1 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

When Jesus would preach he never separated the ministry of the word of God and healing with deliverance. Today, we separate them and, in most cases, never offer deliverance at all so people stay in bondage. Why is this? Is it because we lack the discernment or is it that we are afraid of this type of ministry?

In the next example of deliverance, note the type of problem and the degree a person can be suffering from a demonic activity. Most people have a very narrow mindset about what a demon does or doesn’t do so we easily can discount demons being involved in people’s sickness and difficulties. We automatically assume sickness is natural, not spiritual, and thus treat people with medicine and surgery without investigating first.

Luke 13:10-12 

And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. ¹²When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.”

For 18 years this woman was tormented by many demons and today we would probably diagnose the issue as arthritis of the spine.  Personally, I have 85% of my spine fused together because of arthritis so I can totally relate. When a doctor checks out your body, they look for the “Symptoms” for different ailments, not the causes. What if the symptoms we have are not genetic or caused by some other natural problem? What if the issue is caused by a demonic spirit and not a natural biological thing? We are so quick to diagnose problems as being natural and not spiritual, yet we live with both operating simultaneously. The problem is that we are still uncovering natural causes and treatments yet we are unaware about the spiritual dimension, both from scripture and from history.

When Jesus released his twelve disciples to go on their first ministry journey, it was about two years into Jesus training them. He sent them out two by two and gave them “Authority” to heal the sick, cast out demons and preach the good news. In my mind and study, I believe we often lack the authority to do deliverance. Now, I know some will say we all have authority in Jesus but the evidence speaks to the contrary. Secondly, I fear that although we may have gained authority in Christ we have little training or experience in deliverance, thus we don’t use our authority.

Matthew 10:1 

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

I will go farther on this topic of deliverance in part four of this series.  I want to not only deal with a few more examples of demonic types and how Jesus confronted them but also suggest ways to confront and cast out demons.

Let me close by admitting I am no expert in deliverance. However, I can spot when demons are involved in people either to torment them or to use them as negative influence in the body of Christ. We should not be afraid of demons so long as we are operating in the authority of Christ and are submitted to his lordship.

Questions:

1) Can you recognize people who have demonic activity or are you fairly ignorant of such activity? The Holy Spirit is the one that gives us discernment so ask him to help you spot demonic activity.

2) Do you feel you have the faith and authority in Christ to confront and challenge a demon? Again, the Holy Spirit is the one that gave Jesus the power and he can give it to you as well so long as you are submitted to God’s Lordship.

May God help us to see what is going on in the spirit and trust the Holy Spirit within us,

Pastor Dale