Exposing the Enemy pt.3

There were three main activities in Jesus’ three year ministry: teaching, healing, and casting out demons. Everywhere He went, He would teach about the Kingdom of God , heal the sick, and He would deliver those that were possessed.

The same three things happened in Paul and Philip’s ministry.

In Mark chapter 16, Jesus lists the signs that should follow all believers:

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." (Mark 16:15–18)

Oh, how many people we could set free if each of us realized and used the power within us. Instead of quenching the Holy Spirit, we could quench a lot of the evil that is active in people’s lives today.

Satan, fallen angels, and demons have been watching mankind since we were created. They know us well. They know when we are strong and when we are weak. They attack us without mercy. 

They cannot be reasoned with and any pleading will be mocked. It would be like asking Hitler to stop killing the Jews or pleading with Saddam Hussein to stop torturing and murdering.

The enemy yields to only one power and one name: Jesus. The greatest power on this Earth is a person who walks in obedience to God and uses the name of Jesus to set people free.

How Demons Gain Access to a Person

They enter legally.

Satan, his evil spirits, and his fallen angels are bound by God’s laws. Otherwise, they would have destroyed the human race as soon as Adam and Eve were created.

People that reject Jesus as their Lord and Savior are legally Satan’s children. The unsaved are either partially or totally controlled by evil spirits.

Below are three of the many ways that the enemy gains access and control over a person, Christian or not:

Lack of self-control. Proverbs 25:28 illustrates this beautifully, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.”

Self-control places a protective wall around our hearts. But when we break down part of that wall by giving in to temptation, the enemy then has access to invade us.

Jesus referred to this when He said, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28) Notice the keyword, “already”. The man who looks lustfully at a woman has “already” broken down part of the protective wall and created an area of access for the enemy.

The lack of self-control applies to the works of the flesh, or sins, (Galatians 5:19 –21) as well as those things that are not sins but are used or practiced in excess. For example, it’s okay for a person who eats one or two bananas a day, but if that person eats one hundred a day, there’s a problem. Eating is not wrong, but consistently over-eating opens us up to the sin of gluttony.

Solomon emphasized the importance of preserving the protective wall around our hearts when he wrote: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23) “Above all else” puts guarding our hearts on the top of the “to-do” list.

Un-forgiveness. Jesus gave a parable to explain the critical importance of forgiving those that have offended us:

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. (Matthew 18:23–34)

Notice the two things that happened to the unforgiving man: he was imprisoned and he was tortured.

If we do not forgive anyone of any wrong committed against us, we too can be imprisoned and tortured by an evil spirit in this life.

Ancestral Background. Any ungodliness of our parents and ancestors can have a big impact on our susceptibility to demonic attack through curses.

Exodus 34:6–7 reveals generational curses:

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.

King David’s sins of adultery and murder brought death to his newly born son (2 Samuel 12:9–14).

If we take a moment to think about all the families that we know, we will most likely notice in at least one of them the same demonic activity that has been present in two or more generations.

I know a family where a homosexual spirit has possessed one member from each generation going back at least four generations. And each of those men had multiple physical afflictions and died prematurely.

The father of a boy that I grew up with was a pathological liar, successful in business, and left his family for another woman while his kids were still young. The boy grew up using lies to manipulate people, became very successful in sales, and left his family for a stripper.

The father of a boy that lived in my neighborhood was hated by his father. The boy’s grandfather hated his father. The boy was constantly punished and humiliated. 1 John 3:15 says that hate and murder are the same sin. Within a year after graduating high school, the boy brutally murdered the mother of a friend that lived in the same neighborhood. He is now thirty years into his fifty-year prison sentence.

Can a Christian be Possessed?

If he or she wants to be.

God gave everyone a free will. We are free to be possessed and free to be free.

Acts 5:3 says that two Christians, Ananias and Sapphira, had “Satan filled” hearts: “Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?”

In Acts chapter 8, a sorcerer named Simon became a Christian and was baptized. When he saw that people were getting baptized in the Holy Spirit by Peter and John, he offered them money to buy the ability to do the same. Peter rebuked him and said, “For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."

Several years ago, I was with a few other Christians in an informal setting. The conversation was lively and at one time when a young lady spoke, I heard a very low, gruffly sounding voice right along with her normal sounding voice. The sound of the voice was much like, well, when a person (usually guys!) speaks and burps at the same time, which is what I initially thought happened!

I looked around at the other people but no one reacted. Then I realized that I was the only person that heard the voice.

I was puzzled because there was no evidence of demonic activity in her life. But within a few months, evidence manifested that there was indeed an evil spirit in her life—it was trying to remain undetected until the woman got into a leadership position at the church.

Battling against a demonic attack is one thing. Constantly yielding to the temptations from an evil spirit is something very different. Continual yielding to a demon opens up anyone to possession—Christian or not.

It is my prayer for you that Father will continue to help you to hear His voice, and more and more frequently.

With God’s grace and in His peace,

Gary

Permission is granted to forward this e-newsletter without alteration to others as well as reprint it in hard copy form. We ask only that you keep the Ears-2-Hear website, email contact info, and author contact information intact. Thank you and may God be revealed more and more to you and through you.

Gary (gary@ears-2-hear.com), Author, Web Designer, www.ears-2-hear.com.

If you wish to subscribe, click here and be sure that “SUBSCRIBE” is in the Subject field of your e-mail (or send an email with "Subscribe" in the subject field to: subscribe@ears-2-hear.com ). If you wish to unsubscribe, click here and be sure that "UNSUBCRIBE" in the the Subject field.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of International Bible Society.