Do The Demons Know You?
People like to be associated with famous people because in some sense they feel they are famous. They like riding the coattails of people. I have been to meetings where someone of some stature was present and for a certain price you could have your picture taken with that person. I suppose the deal was that you could hang it on your wall and impress people that you know that famous lad/lassie and they know you.
I have never had my picture taken with anyone like that, but then most of my friends are in low places as the song goes. I have had the honor of shaking Lester Roloff’s hand and even have a letter that was one of the last he wrote before his death. However, he did not know me other than from the letter I wrote him and he may have remembered shaking my hand if I had the opportunity to do it again and reminded him of where we met, but most likely he would have remembered the place and the meeting but not really remembered meeting me for I was one of many that shook his hand that night.
There was a big hoopla during the last presidential campaign over whether or not Mr. Cheney had ever met Mr. Edwards. Cheney said that he had not and they have pictures to show that he had. If someone had asked Lester if he had ever met me before he might have said no even if we had been photographed. Just as I would not have left any lasting impression on Brother Roloff, Mr. Edwards did not leave any on the Vice-President so it was as if they had never met.
I have written letters to Presidents since LBJ and have received answers with their signature, but they did not know me at all. Most of those were form letters that were stamp signed rather than original signatures. The ones that look original may be legal forgeries allowed by delegation of that President. I voted for some of them, but I never received an invitation to the Inauguration nor to the White House for anything else. I know them a little but no one would interrupt the President to tell him that they got a letter from me that he just had to read.
It is not enough to just know something about a person or to have even rubbed elbows with someone. For them to know you there has to be something that impacted them about you or you had to have had some authority that they respected. The demons knew Jesus.
Luke 4:40-41
40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. (KJV)
The demons had no trouble knowing who Jesus was for they had seen Him in Heaven and knew He was the second person of the Godhead. Indeed, their crying out that He was the Christ was just a prelude to the time when they and every knee would bow and profess the same thing. He rebuked them for He needed not their testimony of His divinity and mission.
Matt 8:28-29
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? (KJV)
The demons not only knew who He was but they also knew His authority and their fate. They knew that the time was coming when they would be finally judged and put into outer darkness to suffer for all eternity. They are not omniscient so they did not know if that day had come or not, but they recognized the fact that He would be the one to seal their fate. They knew Him and knew Him well.
Acts 16:16-18
16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. (KJV)
It is interesting to note that in the Greek the word divination means python and is the name of the area where the Oracle of Delphi was located. It is speculated that fumes coming from under ground volcanic sources overcame the women who prophesied there. That maybe how they were left open to demonic possession but this passage shows where their true power came from and it was indeed from the under world of Hell.
Jeanne Dixon’s testimony was that she received her "gift of prophecy" after a huge snake came upon her bed and encircled her. Looking into its eyes she said that she saw the wisdom of the ages. That is basically the same lie the serpent told Eve in that she would be as God. Jeanne’s description of her serpent is much like a python. There is nothing new under the sun. The devil doesn’t have to change his methods much for we all have the same sin nature.
I do not know why Paul endured the croaking and raving of this lady for so long, but it is evident that though he had just gotten into town the demon knew who Paul was and his mission. Though it was speaking the truth, the attitude and tenor of the message was such that it had to be sarcastic and blasphemous to the point that Paul had to silence it. The demon responded because it knew Paul and the authority he had as an apostle of Christ.
Acts 19:13-17
13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. (KJV)
Here we see an early attempt to ride the coattails of Jesus and Paul. These lads had been casting spells or conjuring as the term exorcists is defined in the Greek. They were not saved and indeed seem to have only seen Jesus and Paul as masters of their same craft that had come up with a better incantation. Not to be undone and seeing a possible increase in their business and prosperity they tried it out.
Well, how do you respond to people who make demands upon you that have no right or authority to do so? You get your hackles up and ask them whom they think they are. This demon being less tolerant of such things then we are asked the same thing and then decided to show these lads who was in control of the situation.
The demon knew the lads. He could have called their names and told them their first sin and their most recent one. He did not know them as having authority over him or any other demon for that matter and he would not let these upstarts go unpunished. The good thing about this is that the word got out that this Jesus was not just another conjurer and neither was Paul or the other Apostles. This was something in a different league altogether and fear fell on the people and Jesus was magnified.
The demons knew Jesus, Paul and the other Apostles and feared them. They were doing great damage to the devil’s kingdom and sending demons into pit and putting them out of business so they not only knew them but feared them as well. The question is now if they know you and fear you?
Menno Simons said that the true church would always be persecuted. Martin Luther was so aggravated by the devil or demons that he once threw an inkwell at him. I have often wanted to take an M-16 set to full auto with a banana clip and if it were possible take out a few demons myself. Sometimes, I would have preferred an M-60 and a few cases of grenades so I understand Luther’s reaction.
One of the reasons so many Christians are floating through life like a piece of driftwood with no direction and no fulfillment in their Christianity is because the demons know them and don’t care. Indeed, they may look at them with greater disdain than what they have for lost men because they are no threat to them or the kingdom of darkness when they should be wreaking havoc upon it. The only time the demons bother these folks is when they want to laugh at them much like the Philistines did to Samson when he had lost his power. They mocked him then like they would never have mocked him before he lost his hair.
Tell me that the rattlesnake you are handing to me has no fangs or venom and I will pick him up and have you take pictures of me doing things that make me look like a tough guy. Let me see one that is fully armed and loaded in my back yard and my .357 will take him down while I am at a safe distance.
Sadly, many Christians have allowed their hair to be cut and they wist not that the LORD has departed from them. (Judges 16:20) Without that power the demons just ignore them. They do not fear their prayers nor their ministry for it is just ritual without reality and tradition without truth.
Those Christians do not understand why other Christians seem to have so many problems or talk about the struggles they have with the flesh or the spiritual battles they are facing. They think to themselves, "What is wrong with these people? My life is going really smooth. I’m happy and contented." That may be so to some degree, but do they have any fruit? Are they exercising their gifts at all let alone with power?
Brother Simons was right. The reason the Church in America and other First-world countries is doing so poorly is because it succeeded in squelching persecution at some point and became the majority. When that happened, the Church got lazy and started coming up with theologies and philosophical ponderings to occupy itself since peace was taken for granted and even boring to some.
We started believing that we would be Christian nations until the end of the world. When our churches got to be a certain size and capable of a good budget we grew contented. We assumed everyone knew the Gospel so we just needed to disciple the saved and yet we forgot what we were to teach them as disciples. Soul winning was primarily for the heathen overseas. Separation and holiness became radical or divisive ideas that needed only to be discussed in seminaries, but had no real practical application since we only needed unity in essentials, but charity in all else. We sat in our four-walled Zion singing songs of victory when we were actually being lulled into a false peace while the enemy regrouped and recruited in our neighborhoods.
Now the assault is beginning and we are in a daze wondering how it could happen. It is because the demons no longer fear us for we have surrendered our power for pomp. We have traded our armor for activity and our manna for mammon. We are no threat for we do not sweat for we believed the lie that the battle was over and all we had to do was wait for Christ’s return on our padded pew, chanting our choruses and patting our pious backs for a job well done.
It is time for us to wake up and dust off our sword and lubricate our armor with Spirit assisted prayer. We have rested too long and have been deserters. It is time to seek our Lord and receive from Him the power we have forsaken. It is time to make the demons tremble again at the name of Christ and fear the ones that serve Him.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (KJV)
We must return to a full submission to God if we are to fight victoriously. No half-hearted application for service will do. The fighting is going to be fierce and there will be casualties. We must forsake all thoughts of comfortable duty in the rear echelon. We need to expect the hardships of the front lines and be committed to fight until death, if need be.
If you do this, you can expect conflict for the demon horde will be frothing with rabid hate of you. They laughed and ignored you when you were double minded or lazy, but dare to take up the armor in full submission to the Lord and Hell will attack. You are called here to resist or oppose the devil and above all to stand and Christ promises that the devil will flee from you for He fears the power of Christ within you and the authority that He has delegated to you with your submission. (Ephesians 6:13)
Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. (KJV)
Job did not really understand the battle until God allowed the enemy to attack. Job did not understand himself or even the God that he worshipped faithfully until he did battle with the enemy and the Lord gave him the victory. The devil called for the removal of the hedge from Job, but you may have to call for it to be removed yourself.
There is no victory without the battle or strength without struggle. If you have been living in a bubble world it is time to pop that bubble and live in reality. The devil hates the Lord. The world hates the Lord. The flesh hates the Lord and if you are truly His child they all hate you as well. The war is declared and there are no civilians. Ask God to put you on the front line. Ask Him to take down the hedge and fill you with His Spirit. Spirit filled battle is better than being a baby on formula all your life.
It has been said that it is better to die on your feet a free man than to live on your knees as a slave. Christ died to set you free and so let’s fight as free men (and women) for our King. William Wallace is reported to have said that all men die but not all men really live. Jesus died that we might have life and have it more abundantly. It is time we live that life.
Hosea 2:6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. (KJV)
If you want God to give you a hedge this is the one you need to ask for. Have Him hedge you in that you may not be able to desert to your fleshly desires but rather have no joy or fulfillment unless you stay with Him. Ask Him to keep all that would sway you to leave your battle and return to the cushy life of defeat at bay with a hedge of thorns that they cannot get through.
It is time to rise up, O Children of God and take back you birthright. You are called to be mighty spiritual soldiers crashing in the doors of Hell not hiding in your Church waiting for Hell to break down your doors. Submit yourselves to God and put on your armor. Make the demons dread every morning you wake up. Let them know your name well and that you are walking in the authority of Christ as a redeemed child of God. Expect the persecution and battle accordingly.
Make Hell moan and mourn every time a demon reports your name to HQ. Let the devil get so mad at you that he throws an inkwell at the wall. He already hates you so let him hate you more as you tear down his strongholds in your life and those around you through the power of the Holy Spirit. Make sure you are not trying as those sons of Sceva or it will get messy, but if you are in the will of God and relying upon His power your victory is assured.
Don’t look for trophies or spoil. You may never know how much you are accomplishing in this life. I get some feedback from my ministry, but I will never know what my messages on the Internet or my answers given on the Ask the Expert site have accomplished until I get home. I won’t know if the conversions at the jail or the rescue mission were real until I see the lads in Glory, but I must preach on. In Heaven, I will pass in review of my Commander-in-Chief and receive rebuke for my errors and rewards for my, no rather His victories that He did through me. I will rejoice that though the demons knew my name the greater joy is that my Lord knew my name and even gave me one that only He and I know! (Luke 10:20; Rev. 2:17) Maranatha!!!!!
