Dealing with Demons
Power over the Enemy!
by
Ralph Woodrow
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Jesus said: "Behold, I give unto you power ... over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10:19). In dealing with demons, while prayer is never inappropriate, it is usually not a case of asking God to cast them out. The Christian believer should speak directly to the demon involved, in the name of Jesus, and order it to leave. Demons cannot be coaxed out, or politely entreated to leave - they must be boldly cast out! Jesus set the example: he "commanded the devils to come out." In casting out demons, we should be as specific as possible. A child might pray a general prayer - "Lord, save everyone in the world. Amen" - but most realize that effective prayer involves bringing specific needs to the throne of grace. So also is it in casting out demons. If the type of spirit is known, be specific. Say, "Spirit of fear, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, be gone!" Demons might be likened to a bunch of mischievous boys, trespassing onto property where they have no right. Then a man with the authority to do so, orders them off the property. Some of the boys will quickly flee, and others may argue for a while, but all ultimately vacate the premises. So, because demons believe in God and tremble in the face of his authority (James 2:19), having trespassed onto God's property, they know it and leave when ordered to go in the name (authority) of Jesus. The "greater" Spirit resides within the believer (1 John 4:4). Demon spirits do not like being cast out and sometimes cause violent or emotional reactions when coming out. It might be screams, as when "unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them" (Acts 8:7). Or convulsions: "And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead" (Mk.9:26). "And when the unclean spirit had torn him" - had "thrown him in the midst" - it came out and "hurt him not" (Mk.1:26; Lk.4:35). TALKING DEMONS When demons are being cast out, they may become nervous and start talking, using the person's mouth and tongue. This fact is well established Biblically. When unclean spirits were confronted by Jesus, they "fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God" (Mk.3:11). Spirits within a man cried out, "Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee?" (Mk.1:23,24). "Devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art the Christ" (Lk.4:41). "The devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine" (Matt. 8:31). "And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" (Acts 19:15). In a voice different from the person's natural voice, a spirit of hate may come up growling, a spirit of self pity in a begging voice, a spirit of pride may speak in arrogant tones. Some will talk in a silly manner and others in anger with cursing and vile language. Demons can speak through people, to people, or to other demons. In the Old Testament we have a strange case of a spirit talking to the Lord: "And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade [king Ahab]... I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." Four hundred prophets, influenced by the lying spirit, prophesied to the king that he would be successful in battle against Ramoth-gilead. But one man, Micaiah, understood what had happened behind the scenes - about the lying spirit - and prophesied the true message: that defeat was inevitable (1 Kings 22:21,22). One minister had the experience of casting several demons out of a very tormented woman, each coming out and naming what kind of demon it was. Then the woman said, "There are not any more demons in me. They have all come out. They are all gone." But the minister discerned this was not the woman talking, but a lying spirit! Again the demons were commanded to leave. Out came another demon, saying, "I am a lying demon. I am the one who said, 'There are no more, they are all gone'." I know this sounds strange. But such things have happened many times. Paradoxically, though demons, working through the mind and mouth of an individual will lie, sometimes they will cross themselves up and expose their own lie. When asked: "Will that statement stand before Jesus in the judgment?", they will admit the lie. Why? Because "the devils also believe, and tremble" (James 2:19). They openly acknowledged that Jesus was the son of God (Mk.3:11). Some demons are clever and intelligent, while others are of very low intelligence as in the following case: A minister, not being totally certain if he was dealing with a demonic spirit in a young man, asked: "Are you there?" and the answer was: "No"! I know of cases when prayer was to be offered, an individual would be asked to bow his head, only for the reply to be: "We don't bow OUR heads!" A DEMON OF FEAR One night at a church where I was speaking in California, I asked all who had a spiritual need to form a line and come across the platform for prayer. One man, about 30 years of age who was married and had a family, told me he was possessed by fear. He lived in a constant state of fear, but it was especially tormenting at night. In the darkness he would see faces looking at him - heads without bodies! He could not sleep without a light on! Knowing that such an abnormal condition could not be of God - for God has not given the spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:7) - the pastor and I began to order this demonic spirit to come out. Soon it began to manifest. Words came from the man's mouth, but it was like someone else was speaking. The voice said: "I'm not coming out of him! No! I will not come out. You don't have the power to cast me out!'" The way this prayer line had formed - with people coming across the platform - we were now standing with this man right behind the pulpit. He began to twist and convulse, as with a seizure, and then fell over on the floor. The spirit of fear continued to resist. In a few minutes the demonic voice said: "You should not try to cast me out. People do not understand. People are leaving!" From this position (on the floor, with the pulpit and other obstructions between him and the audience), there was no way the man could have seen what was happening! Yet, it was so - there were people leaving! "I will not come out!" the voice screamed. A short time later, in a weaker, subdued voice, it said: "I might come out," but added - and this is admittedly weird: "If I come out of him, I know where he lives. I will be waiting for him in his closet tonight when he gets home!" Then the man became calm, changed, and now, in his own voice, testified that this strange power had gone! We then prayed for God's protection over him. All rejoiced when the man came back during the remainder of those special meetings and told how he had been set free and was no longer tormented. I have felt I should share this information regarding casting out demons. It is neglected Biblical truth. This is not to say I have all the answers or understand the subject totally. Along with some successes, there have also been failures. I recall the case of a woman some people brought to a meeting where I was going to speak. There had been some discussion about a sign in front of the building, and I had gone with two other men out by the front door. When this woman approached and saw the three of us standing there, she pointed to one and said: "You're God the Father!" To the other man, she said: "You're God the Son!" When she looked at me, she said: "You're the Holy Ghost!" We recognized right away there was something wrong! During the song service, she would jabber, disturbing those around her. As I spoke, her outbursts got louder. She was brought forward for prayer and as we tried to cast the demons out, there was twisting and resisting. Horrid cursing and profanity came from her mouth. In her rage, while calling me such things as "a brown-eyed bastard," she was trying to spit in my face. But like a case that confronted the disciples of old, I was unable to cast the spirit out or help this pitiful woman. A DELICATE SUBJECT In a way, it is understandable why some ministers tend to avoid the subject of demons. It is a delicate situation to confront people with the idea that their problem may be demonic. Some take it as an insult. They don't want to think they are "demon possessed." Occasionally there have been wild excesses, and respectable pastors do not want to tarnish their image in the community. Even with the support of an abundance of scriptures, talking about demons gives some people the heebiejeebies. To admit the existence of demons calls for deliverance from demons. This means a warfare. Some choose, simply, to avoid the confrontation. SECTARIAN ATTITUDE Sometimes one minister will criticize another minister who is casting out demons - especially if the other minister belongs to a different organization. As strange as it sounds, in somewhat the same way, even one of Jesus' own disciples was critical of a man who was casting out demons! John said: "Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us." But Jesus said: "Forbid him not: for ... he that is not against us is on our part" (Mark 9:38-40). Certainly these words of Jesus provide a warning against a sectarian attitude. Another form of criticism is that this "other" person is not really casting out demons - that he only pretends to. But in some cases the deliverance cannot be denied. Then the criticism takes another form: the method is criticized! Did not Jesus face the same criticism? "And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils .... But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? .... And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out?" (Luke 11:14-19). Did he ever have them on the spot! They were criticizing him for the way in which he cast out devils, so he asked by whom did their sons cast them out? Since their sons were not casting out devils, the whole thing was thrown back in their faces! When Jesus cast out demons in the synagogue at Capernaum, "they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what NEW doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him" (Mark 1:27). The authority with which Jesus brought deliverance from demons was considered new, unusual, unique. Clearly, success in casting out demons was not the norm among the Jewish religious leaders. Two ministers were talking - one belonged to a church that believes in casting out demons; the other minister sought to avoid the whole issue. At one point in the conversation, it was mentioned that on the judgment day some will say: "Lord, Lord, have we not cast out devils in your name?" And to these Jesus will say, "Depart from me ye workers of iniquity"! The minister who believed in casting out demons asked the other minister: "Who are these to whom Jesus will say depart?" The other minister replied: "Well, it must be your group, it could not be us [naming his denomination], we are not casting out any demons!" What an excuse! But this does present a valid question. Who are these that will say: "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils?" (Matt.7:22). If we consider the context, these are "false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" - not men of God! And, though THEY claim to have cast out demons, Jesus never says they did. Instead, he will say to them: "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity" (verse 23). This is not to say that casting out demons is iniquity! If casting out demons is iniquity, then the twelve apostles, the seventy disciples, the seven deacons, and Jesus himself, were all workers of iniquity! Casting out demons is a part of God's program. But that there would be false prophets - phonies, imitators, wolves in sheep's clothing - Jesus made abundantly clear. "Ye shall know them [false prophets] by their fruits," not by their claims. His warning should not be taken lightly. We must be fruit inspectors. But if there is a false, there must be a true; if there is a counterfeit, there must be a genuine. It is our desire to take a stand for that which is genuine and true. As with any ministry or gift, there is a proper use. After the seventy disciples reported to Jesus that "even the devils are subject unto us through thy name" (Luke 10:17), Jesus said: "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven" (verse 20). By these words, Jesus taught balance. Casting out demons may be good and great; but having one's name written in heaven is greater! Demons might be cast out in a few moments; but salvation involves eternity. The emphasis must be on the positive, not the negative. If one were to preach on demons and deliverance, without the emphasis being on JESUS as the great Deliverer, the imbalance could easily bring frustration. Though we pass through the lowlands, those demonic dry places, exposing demons for what they are, we will not remain there. Our journey is onward and upward to those highlands of victory, "looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb.12:2). ..................... To be continued |
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