Dealing With The Demonic - Lesson 5 Series

A. Jesus came for two purposes.

1. The first was to reconcile man to God. When you are involved in the ministry of reconciliation, you are doing that which pleases the Father and displeases satan.

2. The second reason was to destroy the "devil's work." (1 John 3:8)

B. The good news is that you have a Savior, the Creator of the universe, living inside you, and His power has already defeated satan!

Sadly, too many believers think that "spiritual warfare" is simply using the words "I bind you in the name of Jesus" like a magical mantra.

1. If you want to resist the devil so that he will flee from us, you must first humbly submit yourself to God. Then, as you "draw near to God," He will "draw near to [us].” (James 4:8 NKJ)

2. Only after submitting to God will you be able to resist the devil so that he will flee from us.

If you are not submitted and obedient to the Lordship of Jesus in your life, and you attempt to resist and rebuke Satan, the only response you will get is the sound of Satan’s laughter echoing through the halls of hell.

3. The real spiritual battle of forgiveness goes on in your mind and in your thoughts.

4. Your warfare must be targeted not at breaking people but spiritual strongholds.

Anger, bitterness, hate, and unforgiveness all originate in the mind. You must pray fervently to break these strongholds in your own life as well as in the lives of others. You must never give up; rather, you should be confident that you have been promised the victory already as you walk humbly, yielded to the Lord.

C. The Greater Truth

Your warfare must be based upon the written Word of God and not personal experience.

One of the main problems of modern teaching on Spiritual Warfare is that too little emphasis is given to the Scripture, and too much emphasis is given to personal experience, personal revelation, and speculation. To be on the safe side, you should rely on what the Scriptures teach to understand your experience rather than your experiences shaping or adding to your perceptions of the Scriptures. You must consider experience, but you should also note the limits of the knowledge which God has revealed.

Where the Scripture is silent, you want to be silent. Where it speaks, you want to speak.

Some Christians had claimed that they knew a demon was in them because they felt “a thickness leave their throat” or “something moved inside them” when they were prayed for. If I had a rope that was tied so tightly around my wrist that it cut off the circulation of blood to my fingers, they would like ultimate die and fall off my hand. I could go to the doctor for an exam and have x-ray’s taken, but unless they took the rope off my wrist, no medication or surgery could help to keep my fingers from falling off! The cause of my problem was not something inside of my body but the OUTSIDE pressure and torment of the rope binding my hand! In the same way, demonic forces can cause so much external pressure and torment upon your body and mind that it could manifest INTERNALLY.

When pilots are trained to fly, they are taught that they must entirely trust the instruments of the aircraft. If they rely only on sensory input, they could get into a situation they may not be able to get out of. The five senses are reliable only to a certain point. But the ultimate proof is checking the instruments to verify their feelings. A pilot could have a “gut” feeling that something is wrong, but he or she must confirm it by checking the instruments. While flying through clouds, they could “feel” as if they are flying straight and level when in actuality, they may be in a slowing turning spiral or even totally upside down and not even realize it because everything “feels” ok. But if they look at their instruments, they will know for certain if they are flying straight and level or upside down. You should never interpret the Bible in the light of your experiences but rather interpret your experiences in the authority of the Bible.

The test to prove the validity of those that claim they have a demon living inside them to see if this happened to any Born-Again Christian in the Scriptures. The answer is ultimately “NO”! You don’t have to criticize the person who makes the claim, but you need something more than subjective feelings upon which to base your teaching.

D. Trust the Scriptures above all!

The foundation of this study is the Bible. A thorough understanding of it is the only way for a person to know if someone is being deceived by supernatural terrorists. Jesus prayed that the Father would protect every Christian from the evil one and: