Nov. 06, 2022

Living by Faith II - Casting Out Demons (6 November 2022)

Introduction - As Christians, we’ve been given a mandate to make disciples.  This involves, for the most part, baptizing the new converts and teaching them the finer points of the faith.  For most Christians, finding their place in the Body of Christ and maintaining fellowship as they learn to serve their brethren is sufficient for them to progress into maturity.  The vast majority of the problems which we all encounter are solved by the basic dynamics of Christian growth: putting off the old man and putting on the new.  This teaching does not address that process, but a more specific one, freeing the Christian by casting out a demon.  

Sometimes, however, evil spirits have gained such a foothold in a person’s life that the spirit must be “cast out” before the person can progress any further.  It is interesting that Jesus spent almost no time teaching his disciples how to do this! He described it in only a few cryptic sentences: that prayer and fasting was sometimes involved, and that demons wander through dry spaces seeking to return to their former dwelling place.  He repeated a command to a demon on one occasion and asked for its name.  With little more than that for instruction, He left it up to the disciples to discover how to use the authority he had given them.  This probably meant that we are all to depend on the Holy Spirit for guidance for each situation, each person, in each congregation, and in each setting, rather than compile a set of practices based every Christian’s experience.  It probably also means that casting out demons should be rather routine, not secret and mystical.  In this teaching I will try to emphasize the instructions and information given by Jesus, emphasizing the things He emphasized.  Let’s approach this interesting subject with a series of questions:

What are demons?  They are disembodied spirits, almost certainly spirits of fallen angels who were cast out of heaven during the war in heaven:

Revelation 12:7-10 Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. 8 And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. 9 This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. 10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night.  NLT

Think of demons as grumpy old men.  They are thousands of years old, always seeking a body in which to live and express themselves.  They are condemned to hell, some of them already bound there, others free to roam the earth for a time.  They will never be saved, for there is no means of salvation for them.  John 3:16, “For God so loved the world…” does not apply to them.  They are purely spirit beings, described by the Greek word “pneuma,” meaning air.  There seems to be a hierarchy amongst them, as there appears to be amongst the angels, where some are chief, and command others beneath them.  Some are probably more intelligent and powerful, others less so.  

How do they get into a person?   They only can inhabit a body in which they have a right to be, because they have been given a place due to the owner’s sin.  They cannot just arbitrarily jump in to a Christian’s body.  The provisions of your salvation take care of that:

John 8:36. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.  NLT

1 John 5:18. We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.  NLT

Some demons seem to remain attached to families or even larger groups of people based on types of sin and sin patterns.  God said He would visit the iniquities of the fathers to the 3rd and 4th generations.  This happens, of course, if the sin practiced by the parents is copied and accepted by the succeeding generations.  This repetitive pattern of affliction is called a generational curse. This phenomenon It is recounted at least 4 times in the Old Testament.  If a person repents, the curse can be broken.  

Exodus 20:5. You must not bow down to them (idols) or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.  NLT

What do they cause? Demons cause human suffering of all kinds. They are commissioned to carry out Satan’s desire to steal from, kill, and destroy God’s people.  When Jesus healed people of an unnamed spectrum of diseases, it was often closely associated with the casting out of demons.  Physical ailments of all kinds, including epilepsy-like disease, and deformities like spinal deformation, are two which are specifically named.  Mental anguish, depression, and all kinds of emotional torment may be caused or amplified by demons.  To be sure, it is normal for all of us to experience temporary sadness over the loss of a loved one, or a decline in health, or a similar bad circumstance.  But depression and torment which have no circumstantial reason, or that continue for long periods of time despite basic Christian discipline of thought and action, is probably the work of a demon.  

Matthew 8:16 That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick.  NLT

How do we get rid of them?  Many demons, maybe most, leave at the moment of belief in God, as He reveals Himself to the person He is saving.  This is why most of the time, for most of the people, just the basics (belief, water baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit and continued fellowship with the Body) are all that is ever needed.  For uniquely troubled people, we cast the demon out with a “word.”

Luke 4:33-36 Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil spirit—began shouting at Jesus, 34“Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 35 Jesus cut him short. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further. 36 Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!” NLT

Jesus did this using more than one or two words, as some translations lead us to believe.  Notice in the following verse that Jesus had been commanding the demon to leave.  We will have to do some of the same.  In this instance, he gave several short commands, then asked the demon for its name, then gave a tacit reply:

Mark 5:6-13. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he said, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 8 For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And He was asking him, "What is your name?" And he said to Him, "My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 The demons implored Him, saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. NAS

Notice that Jesus did not use an incantation or other props like incense or crystals.  His short, concise, word of command was sufficient.  You have been given great authority to command demons to leave:  

Luke 10:17-20 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.  NLT

By His example, He did not teach us to enter into two-sided discussions with demons.  Demons are of their father, the devil, who lies continually.  They will only waste time and attempt to distract you. If you wander away from short, specific commands.  One helpful hint taken from a good book, The Devil in the Back Pew, by Joe Kovalcik, is to demand to speak to the demon in charge, as there are sometimes a number of demons of different authority levels troubling a person.  

How do we minister to someone who has a demon? First and foremost, we minister in love.  The special abilities we have (discerning of spirits, word of wisdom, word of knowledge) are not to be used to evaluate the congregation to see who is demonized and who is not.  This causes us to have a judgmental attitude toward each other.  Without love, we can be technically right, but never succeed at the good we hope to do.  So, we treat people with patience and kindness, never with pride or rudeness, never keeping a record of wrongs done to us, never being irritable or moody, never losing hope for anyone. 

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.  NLT

• Our ministry starts with friendship and relationship.   A troubled person in our midst will usually ask for help in some way; we don’t have to go looking for them. We just ask questions in response to their earnest requests.  What is the problem? How long has it gone on?  Did you do anything unusual which started the problem? Have you had unusual sensory experiences? (dreams, encounters with spiritual beings, hearing voices, sensations in your body like electricity, tingling, cold, heat, etc.).  Was there any occult history in your life or your family’s life?  Do you have unforgiveness toward anyone?  If his answers affirm some or most of these, then it’s possible that a demon is troubling him.  We discuss this possibility with him and tell him that we’d like to pray for him. 

• We assemble a small team (two or three people is fine)

•  When the team meets we affirm our love and support for the person and start with prayer for the person, thanking God for them and praying in tongues.  The actual ministry then starts.  In our church’s early days, we developed an acronym, a mental checklist, to help us to remember to cover the main bases.  Here it is:  DATNRF.  I pronounce it dat-nerf.  Here’s what it stands for:

        D — The person must DESIRE to be free from the problem.  

        A — He must ACKNOWLEDGE that his problem may be due to the presence of a demon.

        T — The ministers must TAKE AUTHORITY in Jesus’ name.

        N — Address the demon by NAME, if it known.

        R — The person must RENOUNCE the particular sin or forgive anyone against whom he holds                     unforgiveness        

        F — After the demon is gone, pray for the person to be FILLED with the Holy Spirit by                         anointing him with oil.

• During the actual ministry, One person takes the lead.  The others pray in the Spirit.  The leader commands the demon to look at him, much like Peter and John said to the lame man at the Temple “Look at us!” He addresses the demon directly, telling it to leave.  There is often a response from the person such as a choking sensation, huffing, drooling, coughing, etc.  They may need a waste can to spit into.  They will probably report a sensation of lightness once the spirit leaves.  Wait a few minutes and ask the person how he feels.  He may sense that there is another spirit, maybe several to be expelled.  When he is relieved or wants to stop, close the session down and anoint him with oil. 

• After the demon is gone, explain the importance of staying in fellowship at some level.  Jesus plainly taught that the expelled spirit will return, looking to see if it can take up residence again.  It will bring 7 spirits along, worse in character than itself and the person will be worse off.  It is a blessing to know this, because it is a major motivation to stay connected to the Body of Christ and develop close friendships.  We stay in fellowship, we are untouchable!

Luke 11:24-26 “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ 25 So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. 26 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.” NLT

Conclusion — Jesus did not glorify this ministry, but told His disciples that the basic citizenship in the Body of Christ was more important.  His attitude seemed to be “This is what I want ALL Christians to do: cast out demons. It should be as commonplace for you as waking up in the morning.  What really equips you for it is water baptism, baptism in My Spirit, and good friendships in My Body. These glorify Me”