Pastor Edgar Mayer;
For more sermons and other writings check out pastors homepage: http://www.geocities.com/mayeredgar
2 Kings 6:8-23 Open our spiritual eyes, Lord.
Listen
Satan
Peter
preached to Cornelius and we want
to pick up on another theme in his sermon which is shedding more light
on the
nature of our salvation. This is how Peter began his message Acts 10:36-38: You know
the message
peace [with
God] through Jesus Christ
You know what has happened
how God
anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power and how he went around doing
good
and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was
with him.
When
God anointed Jesus with the Holy
Spirit and power when God
intensified his presence with Jesus through the Holy Spirit what did Jesus then do? He confronted the
devil. He was healing all who were under the power of the devil. This
was his
core business when he toured the country before he died. Peter did not
even
tell Cornelius that Jesus was speaking in front of thousands announcing
the
Only on
one occasion this was
challenged. The Bible records that
Matthew 12:22: . they
brought to Jesus a demonized man who was blind and mute, and Jesus
healed him,
so that he could both talk and see. Some
people did not like the healing and the growing profile of Jesus and
therefore
at that one time they argued
Matthew 12:24:
It
is only by the prince of
demons, that this fellow drives out demons. However,
Jesus replied: Nonsense. It should be obvious to
anyone that Satan would have no power if he was divided against
himself. No.
The truth is Matthew 12:28: If
I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the
Jesus
confronted Satan and this morning for us the
confrontation with Satan continues because we ourselves want to be free
from
anything that comes from him. Carlos Annacondia, an evangelist in
This
kind of confrontation may not yet
be our normal church practice we
may even feel uncomfortable right now but
Carlos Annacondia would not rush this process. A magazine article said
the
following about him: After observing the ministry
of Carlos Annacondia
for several years, I am prepared to offer a hypothesis: Annacondia may
well be
the most effective citywide interdenominational crusade evangelist of
all time
Annacondia has a great deal in common with traditional crusade
evangelists.
He preaches a simple gospel message, gives an invitation for people to
come
forward and receive Christ as their Lord and Savior
If I am not
mistaken, the
major difference is Carlos Annacondia's intentional, premeditated,
high-energy
approach to spiritual warfare. A
permanent fixture of Annacondia's crusades is what has to be one of the
most
sophisticated and massive deliverance ministries anywhere. Under the
direction
of Pablo Botari, a wise, mature and gifted servant of God, literally
hundreds
of individuals are delivered from demons each of the 30 to 50
consecutive
nights of a crusade. The 150-foot deliverance tent, erected behind the
speaker's platform, is in operation from
I have never observed a crusade
evangelist who is as publicly
aggressive in confronting evil spirits as Annacondia. With a
high-volume,
high-energy, prolonged challenge he actually taunts the spirits until
they
manifest in one way or another. To the
uninitiated the scenario might appear
to be total confusion. But to the skilled, experienced members of
Annacondia's
31 crusade ministry teams, it is just another evening of power
encounters in
which the power of Jesus Christ over demonic forces is being displayed
for all
to see. Many miraculous healings occur, souls are saved, and so great
is the
spiritual power that unsuspecting pedestrians passing by the crusade
meeting
have been known to fall down under the power of the Holy Spirit (http://www.strategicnetwork.org/index.php?loc=kb&view=v&id=4895&printerfriendly=Y&lang=).
This
morning we may try this on for
ourselves. We stir ourselves up to be aggressive towards any tormenting
demon
among us and in this city. Therefore
this morning more so than at other times I
also understand my preaching to be part of a prolonged attack against
Satan and it has to be prolonged because as Annacondia
experienced
himself: We sometimes demand something for two or three days,
and then we
stop. We have to snatch out of the devils hands all that he took away
from us.
We need to be firm and consistent in
our prayers (Carlos
Annacondia: Listen
To Me Satan, Lake Mary: Charisma House 1998, p137).
Before
we expand on the confrontation
with Satan, lets put this in context and continue learning from a man
like
Annacondia. We wouldnt mind the same ministry. He writes: Maybe you wonder what I
do. I simply preach the
good news as the Bible says in the Gospel of Mark: I
speak the Word. Once the people have accepted Jesus and come
forward to the platform as a public demonstration of their step of
faith, I
cast out the demons in the name of Jesus Christ, and they come out. I
pray for
the sick, and they get healed. I also pray, in every meeting, for the
baptism
of the Holy Spirit. Its very important to fulfill these four facets.
Dont
neglect to do it, since each one is necessary: salvation, deliverance,
healing
and the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Carlos Annacondia:
Listen To Me Satan,
Lake Mary: Charisma House 1998, p29). [I
want to close this chapter with some words that God spoke to me: Love
for the
lost produces revival. When love ceases, revival does too. He who has
passion
for souls lives in an ongoing revival (Carlos Annacondia: Listen To Me
Satan,
Lake Mary: Charisma House 1998, p33).][1]
Now
just in case that we think that
this is too much from an evangelist in Argentina and not normal
Christianity,
let me assure you that the church from the beginning practiced the same
confrontation. Every new believer was asked at his baptism: Do you renounce the
devil and all of his works?
The church from the beginning understood
that none of us is free from the influence and attacks of the devil.
The Bible
says the following about those that are not yet saved and under the
lordship of
Jesus Christ Ephesians 2:1-3:
you are
[original: you were] dead
in your transgressions and sins, in which you live [original:
used to live]
as you follow [original: when you followed] the
ways of this world
and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air [Satan], the spirit who is
now at
work in [all] those who are disobedient
you are [original:
you were] [like
all of humanity] by nature objects of Gods wrath. We belong to a fallen human race.
When
Jesus sent out Paul to do mission
work, he sent him out with these words
Acts 26:17-18:
turn
them from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness
of sins and a place among those who are made holy by faith in me.
turn them
from darkness to light
from
Satan to
God
Jesus sent out Paul with
the
clear understanding that without him everyone without
exception will remain in darkness and under
the power
of Satan.
Even
Christians are bearing the cross of
Satan persisting in pressuring them. We are no longer under the rule of
Satan
but Jesus himself was Matthew 4:1:
tempted by the devil and
therefore knowing from experience the fierce battle of the will in
temptations
gave us the urgent advice Matthew
26:41:
pray so that you will not fall into temptation.
The Bible warns us further that 1
Peter 5:8:
your
enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. [Therefore, we are to be self-controlled and
alert.] Then, Satan is the
ultimate reason for
doing it tough in mission work. The Bible explains that
Ephesians 6:12: . our
struggle is not
against flesh and blood, but against the [demonic] authorities, against
the
powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in
the
heavenly realms.
According
to this last Bible verse many diverse
authorities, dark powers and spiritual forces of varying strength populate the heavenly realms and their level of
penetration into our
lives also varies. What we all experience is some demonic
activity on the outside
of us. For instance as mentioned before temptation
is common to us.[2]
Sometimes we are simply tempted because of
the sinful desires within us and there is no concerted demonic attack
on us.
But at other times demons magnify the force of temptations
pressing us to
sin with the goal of having us break
our relationship with God.
Then,
some other outside influences
include physical attacks or obstructions such as when a demonized slave
girl kept shouting after Paul in the
city of Philippi (Acts 16:16-18) and
emotional
oppression. We have to be careful here because we do not always feel
bad
because of an unclean spirit even Jesus wept when he came
to Jerusalem
(Luke 19:41) but sometimes there is a
demon or demons creating a heavy atmosphere around us a
phenomenon which
even occurs among worshipping Christians.
However,
demons are not content with
mere outside influence. One pastor writes: I describe demons as
disembodied spirit beings that have an
intense craving to occupy physical bodies (Derek Prince:
They Shall Expel
Demons, Grand Rapids: Chosen Books 1988, p89) our human bodies and if they cannot remain within humans,
they prefer animal bodies rather than nothing. For instance, at one
time a
legion of demons begged Jesus to let them go into a herd of pigs and
they did
with the result that the pigs drowned themselves in a mad rush down the
bank of
a lake (Luke 8:32-33).
Once
inside a human demons again exert
varying levels of influence from mild harrassment to complete
possession.
[The Bible
uses the word demonized (daimonizomai) which means subject to
demonic
influence.] Even Christians as
much
as they tolerate ongoing sin in their lives or suffer from generational
curses or
other unrepented sin, leave themselves open to demonic powers (cf.
Luke
13:10-17). [It does not even need any
gross sins to invite demons into oneself.
One
Christian had friends who were practicing table rocking(laying
hands on a table and letting a demon move the table) and he was only
peeking
into the room through the key-hole of the door when a demon used his
curiosity
to attach himself to him. Demons wander about and may not be close to
us when
we practice sin but if they happen to be near us and then catch us in a
sin,
they have their opportunity to come inside us.]
Coming
back to Carlos Annacondia do you remember? at every
preaching crusade he first leads people
into accepting Jesus
as their Lord which makes them Christians but
then continues the work by setting them free from demons. Not every
demon automatically leaves you
once
you become a Christian. We need to complete the joy of salvation by
commanding
demons to go, saying: Listen to me, Satan
One
pastor was depressed for years until
he read in the Bible about the
spirit of heaviness in Isaiah
61:3,
wondered whether this spirit could be the cause of his depression,
asked Jesus
to deliver him and then experienced the following I quote
from his book:
The response was immediate. Something like a huge vacuum
cleaner came down
over me and sucked away the gray mist that shrouded my head and
shoulders. At the same time a
pressure in the area of my chest was forcibly
released, and I gave a little gasp (Derek Prince: They Shall
Expel Demons, Grand Rapids: Chosen Books
1988, p33).
There
is no demon under every bush and
there is no demon in every person but
on the other hand they are not rare.
Every single time Jesus and the disciples preached the kingdom of God,
they
would manifest in many and according to the Bible we are to experience the same Luke
4:41:
demons came out
of many people, shouting
Mark 6:13: The
disciples [original:
they] drove out many demons
Jesus
said about us who would believe in him Mark 16:17:
In
my name they
will drive out demons
He
commanded
us Matthew 10:6-8: Go
preach
heal the sick
drive out demons
How
then is it done? This morning I only
want to give one answer what is
most important. Deliverance
comes by faith by faith and
this
is precisely where we may have a problem. Be honest now. What do you
expect
will happen, when we say: Listen to me, Satan
Do
you expect anyone manifesting anything? Do you think that this church
is growing weirder by the day? You may agree with the concept
the Bible
teaching but what do you expect? What
do you demand by faith to
happen?
When
the disciples of Jesus were
learning the ministry, they were already enjoying some success in
driving out
evil spirits (Matthew
10:1) and they knew the method of rebuking
demons
in Jesus name but and this made Jesus so angry listen
to Jesus angry
outburst Matthew 17:17 charging those around him: O
unbelieving and
perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you
the disciples were not consistent in
getting results. They did what they usually did but with them the demon
did not
budge. Why? They asked Jesus later Matthew 17:19:
Why couldnt we drive it out? To
which Jesus replied Matthew 17:20:
Because
you have so little faith
Faith
is more than a general knowledge
of how it works. Faith is more than giving it a go. According to the
Bible
Hebrews 11:1:
faith
is being sure
of the promised
outcome. There is no room for maybe or maybe not. I
am not sure whatever God wants.
Jesus gave us specific instructions and
he said Matthew 21:21-22:
if you have
faith and do not doubt
you can say to this mountain, Go, throw
yourself into
the sea, and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive
whatever you
ask for in prayer.
Do we
have the kind of faith which is
free from doubt? My feeling is that if a
person were
to start foaming at the mouth or shouting with an alien voice right now in
this worship service, we would be rather intimidated. Demons also
intimidate
those that have them because they become afraid of challenging their
power. Not
so long ago (2008) a young woman
came to faith at the Station St Community Centre. She welcomed Jesus as
her
Lord. At the end of the night I went up to her
again
and rather nervously asked about any occult involvement or demonic
oppression.
I was not quite sure how she would take my questions but to my great
surprise (I
am still a pastor on P-plates) she
immediately said: I have two demons. One is on my
back to the right
and one is inside. And then she
started crying because she did not know how to become free of them.
That night
she was not ready for more prayer and facing them. So we simply bound
them and
gagged them in Jesus name until she had enough faith for the
confrontation
with the minions of Satan.
What
about your faith? Are we ready for
the ministry? The good news of salvation includes must include the
deliverance from demons. Lets become practical now. If faith is the
key to
victory over Satan, how can our faith be
strengthened.
The Bible says Romans 10:17:
. faith
comes from hearing the message, and the
message is heard through the word of Christ. Faith
comes from hearing the message the good news of Jesus
Christ which means that faith comes
from being immersed in the truth of salvation listening to
the right
report on life.
According
to the Bible there are 1 Timothy 3:9:
deep
truths of the faith
which we
have to learn and understand so that we grow in faith assurance. The
Bible can
even say that we Ephesians 4:20:
learn
Christ
This is an important key
to victory in our lives. The more we immerse ourselves in the truth of
Christ,
the more our faith power grows because again this is from
the Bible 2
Corinthians 4:6: It is
God
[that]
makes [original: made] his
light shine in our hearts to
give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Christ.
More on this John 15:26:
the Spirit of truth
. goes
out from the Father, he . testifies
[original:
will testify] about Jesus [original: me]. John
16:13: . [from
God the Father]
the Spirit of truth comes to guide us [original: he will
guide you] into
all truth
God makes something happen in us when we are under
his word the
message of Jesus Christ the truth.
Therefore,
when you are confused when you are down open up your Bible, read a sermon, listen to some
preaching, watch a
Christian video, listen to the truth in worship songs. You may not feel
like it
but stir yourselves up. This is what I do. When I know that I need some
faith
refreshment, I am getting into the truth according to the Bible
allowing
God creating an opportunity to make
it come alive in my heart.
For
instance, when I need a greater
revelation
a greater faith knowing
that God loves me, then I listen to
some preaching by Heidi Baker because she is so in love with our loving
God.
God makes it rub off on me. Then, when I am getting a little
discouraged or
fearful because the challenges get on top of me I may have
a crisis of
faith doubting that God will manifest his power and glory in our
worship
service then I listen to Bill Johnson
and some other preachers because they have walked the walk and God uses
their Bible
trust and testimonies and their faith courage to build my faith. Faith comes from hearing the
message from
being marinated in the truth. If you
want to have more faith, spend more time in the truth.
The
next practical step is and this is what only a few
people seem to know the next practical step
is to live the
truth or lose it. What we do determines what we think and
this is a
spiritual law. The human mind can design
spacecrafts and nuclear powerplants but when it comes to working out
God only
those that are obedient to God and his truth,
will be
able to grow in the truth and retain the truth. Commit a sin and you
confuse
your mind.
Why is
this so? According
to the Bible when you sin and
(above all) when you refuse to repent you
step outside the will and protection of
God which gives Satan and his demons a legal right to mess with your
mind.
Satan wants nothing more than lie to you deceive you because if you believe his lies, you will
lose the truth and your salvation. Jesus himself warned us that
John
8:44:
the
devil
was a murderer from the
beginning
he is a liar and the father of lies. The devil murders by lying.
[Not
even the Christians that are
closest to Jesus are safe from demonic deception. We have a great need
to
remain humble and dependent on God. One day Jesus asked his disciples
who
people thought that he was. Many thought that he might be on of the
great
prophets of the past having coming back to life Elijah or Jeremiah
maybe or
maybe the recently murdered John the Baptist. Then Jesus asked his
disciples
what they thought. Peter came up with a stunning answer the right
answer. He
said Matthew 16:16: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus
blessed him for this answer, saying that this answer was given to him
by God
himself and that he favoured by God in this manner would be given
the keys
of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever he Peter would bind on earth
would be
bound in heaven and whatever he would loose on earth, would be loosed
in
heaven. Wow. Peter was a great leader. Yet only a few verses on the
same Bible
chapter reveals how fragile our hold on the truth is. When Jesus
explained that
he would be a Saviour that would have to suffer and die, Peter
objected, saying
Matthew 16:22: Never Lord. This shall never happen to you! Peter
did not
even have to think about his response so sure was he of his opinion.
Only the
man that was so commended earlier is now rebuked by Jesus with some
strength.
Jesus said Matthew 16:23: Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling
block to
me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of
humans. Jesus
targeted Satan in Peter, saying: Get behind me, Satan! One moment
Peter
received the greatest revelation from God about his Son Jesus Christ
was spot
on but the next moment he was in the grip of Satan and a stumbling
block to
the purposes of God. Therefore all of us,
beware of
pride.]
We let
the Bible explain this to us
further.
Point 1: When we are
obedient to God we are safe
from Satan. 1 John 3:18: We know that the true
child of God does not
sin, he is in the charge of Gods own Son [Jesus Christ] and the evil
one must
keep his distance (JB Phillips translation). If
you do not sin, the devil must keep his distance.
Point 2: Sin
deceives the mind. Ephesians 2:2-4:
the ruler of the kingdom of the air [Satan]
is now at work
in those who
are disobedient
[making them follow the]
desires and thoughts [of
our
sinful nature]
2 Timothy 3:2-4:
the time
will come when people
will not up with sound teaching. Instead, to suit their own desires,
they will
gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching
ears
want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth
Thus here sinful
desires determine the teaching content of a great number of
teachers. 2 Corinthians 4:4: The god of this age
[Satan] has blinded
the minds of unbelievers
One
more Bible
reference which underscores the spiritual connection between
disobedience and
the delusion of the mind 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12:
They
perish
because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason
God
sends them a powerful delusion [God allows Satan to blind their minds]
so that
they will believe a lie and so that all will be condemned who have not
believed
the truth but have delighted in wickedness. Therefore
once again if
we do not love the truth and live the truth, then over
time and it is
over time because God is slow to anger and abounding
in love
(Exodus 34:6) we risk the delusion of
the mind the believing of a lie by Gods design and
judgement.
Point 3 and this is the
positive flip-side: Obey God and your
mind will be in order. You will grow in your faith in
boldness and
courage the understanding of the truth. Jesus
promised John 7:17: If anyone chooses to do
Gods will, he will find
out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
[John 8:31-31:
If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will
know the
truth, and the truth will set you free. Colossians 2:2-5: "My purpose
is
that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they
may have
the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know
the
mystery of God, namely, Christ ... " 1 John 4:7-8: " ... let us love
one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born
of God
and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is
love."]
This is
practical: Faith comes from
hearing the truth and doing the truth. Therefore right now why
not take Jesus by his word check it out choose to listen
choose to obey and find out about his
truth. If you are aware of a particular sin in your life, determine to
let go
of this sin. Turn away from lying from gossip, from
laziness, from sexual
immorality, from gluttony, from greed to
Jesus and let him grow you.
Another
practical advice to help you in
this comes from Jesus. He explained to his disciples that they could
not drive
out the demon in a sick boy because they had so little faith (Matthew
We
continue in being practical. If we
are to overcome Satan by faith in the truth, what are some of his lies
which
make us waver in our confidence. What about the lie that sin is more
attractive
than God? Satan may say to you: All
this talk about Jesus is fine but you cannot possibly give up clubbing.
Stay
with me and you wont have to embarrass yourself in church. These
days
you can sleep with a girl on your first date. Dont give that up.
What
can be better than the high of a drug? Satan
is such a persuasive liar but Jesus exposed the truth, saying
John 8:34:
everyone
who sins is a slave to sin.
Any sin over time enslaves you. For instance, even the
government and newspapers are now talking about pornography addiction [or even mobile phone or sms addiction
(seeking significance through communication rather than in God making
this
gadget an idol)] enslavement. There
is no joy in sin and there is no freedom.
One of
Satans biggest lies if you want to become a Christian
and be set free is that he tells you that
you cannot be
forgiven and that you cannot forgive anyone that has sinned against
you. In my
own experience there are some that pull back from Jesus because Jesus
taught us
to pray Matthew 5:9-13: Our Father in heaven
forgive us our sins as
we also forgive those who have sinned against us
The devil tells you: No! You
cannot forgive. The hurt is too
great. You must have revenge. But
God encourages you in the Bible Romans 12:19: Do
not take revenge
leave room for Gods wrath,
the Lord says, It is
mine to avenge; I will repay.
You
can trust God and leave your case with him. He is just and he will do
what is
right. As for you Jesus spoke rather clear words Luke
6:37:
Forgive
and you will be forgiven. Matthew
6:14-15: . if
you
forgive people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will
also
forgive you. But if you do not forgive people their sins, your Father
will not
forgive your sins.
[Carlos
Annacondia: Listen To Me Satan,
This is
the truth
maybe a tough truth but the truth and the
devil will tell you that it cannot
be done. You dont want to forgive. You cant but you can with God.
One
evangelist writes after years of experience: Every
feeling of anger,
hatred, or resentment is an open door to the devil. These feelings,
once under
the devils control, bring about suicides, depression, madness, and
every kind
of disease. Seventy percent of the people who come into our tent of
deliverance
are demonized [original: demonically possessed], but most of their
spiritual
problems are due to a lack of forgiveness (Carlos
Annacondia: Listen To Me
Satan, Lake Mary: Charisma House 1998, p104). This
morning make a decision to come to God with your hurt and lack
of forgiveness.
The
other concrete point that the devil
will argue with you is the victory of the cross. He will test your
faith in what
Jesus has done. When a minister was still lacking experience in these
matters,
the following happened. He writes:
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I
commanded,
you spirit of hate, come out of this woman. An insolent voice, not in
the
least like Esthers [the womans name], replied, This is my house.
Ive lived
here for 35 years. And Im not coming out.
The demon continued to
defy me
while I continued to say, In the name of the Lord Jesus, you are
coming out!
It was a real conflict of wills. It seemed that I had to beat the demon
down stage
by stage. Each stage took quite a while. But the more I quoted
Scripture and
used the name of Jesus, the more I gained ascendancy over my enemy.
Eventually
the demon began to bargain with me. If I come out, it said, Ill
come back.
I said, No, youll come out and youll stay out.
(Derek
Prince: They Shall Expel Demons, Grand Rapids: Chosen Books 1988,
p45-46). In due time the demon of hate [ and other demons in her such as pride,
jealousy, self-pity,
]
had to come out of Esther.
The key
was that the more the pastor
quoted Scripture, the more he was winning the battle. The truth of God
spoken
with faith
spoken with the boldness
and authority of faith compels any
demon to leave. By the way Jesus himself used the same technique. When
the devil
tempted him, he simply quoted the Bible the truth of God
against him. When hunger seemed to get the
better of him, Jesus rose up against the devil and quoted the verse
that said
Matthew 4:4:
People
do not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is practical and helpful. In sticky situations
we also quote the
Bible truth of God against the devil and then live on every one of
Gods words
by faith. Victory will be ours.
What
then are some good Bible verses to
remember before we challenge demons? I give you six references 1 John 3:8: The reason
the Son of God appeared
was to destroy the works of the devil. Colossians 1:13-14: For God has rescued us from the
dominion of darkness and brought us
into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom
we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 2:13-15:
God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us
all our sins
And having
disarmed the [demonic] powers and authorities, he
made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. James
4:7: Submit yourselves, then, to God.
Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you. 1 Corinthians 15:57: But thanks be
to God,
who gives us the victory
through
our Lord Jesus Christ. John 8:36: So
if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Get the Bible get the truth into your system let it seep into
your souls and you will have faith
that no demon can resist. This is how it works and this is what honours
God.
Jesus will respond to the trust that you put into him.
My last
point is also practical. Faith
does not only think the truth but speaks the truth. According to the Bible the power of faith is released in our speaking
when we speak words
of authority. This is how Jesus operated
Matthew 8:16:
many who were
demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with
a word
The spoken word drove the demons
out. God created the world by speaking the world into existence (Genesis
1)
and so now as his children he also makes us wield power by speaking
words Proverbs 18:21: The tongue has the power
of life and death.
If you
think about becoming a Christian,
remember this. This is how God works. If there is a sin or power that
keeps
holding you down, open your mouth and speak. Renounce your sin aloud in
front
of a witness or witnesses break the
power of Satan who loves silent secrecy hidden guilt. Then
declare aloud your allegiance to Jesus. There is power in that
which the devil cannot touch. One last reference on this from the Bible
Romans 10:9-10: . if
you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart
that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your
heart that
you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you
confess and
are saved. The faith in your heart
wields
power on your lips.
Therefore
are we ready now? Can we now
confront Satan
by faith in Jesus? I speak the words in
agreement with you (and
I refuse to feel awkward): Listen to me, Satan. We are
standing against
you. Demons of hate, anger, false religion, unforgiveness,
get out. Demons of sexual immorality, perversion, lust and incest
leave now. Let
go of your grip in peoples lives. We send you to Jesus for judgement.
We have
victory over you in him by the power of Jesus sacrifice on the cross
by
the power of his blood which he shed for us on the cross. He made a
spectacle
of you. You lost because we have forgiveness of all of our sins in his
name. You
must leave now in Jesus name. Listen to me, Satan. You rob, steal and
destory
but today we command you to flee from us. Demons of discouragement,
tiredness, fear,
out
of here now in the name of Jesus. My Lord is
stronger than you. Go.
I say
it again:
Listen to me, Satan. You are defeated for all
eternity. Amen and amen.
Lets
do this step by step with faith
perserverance:
As we now pray, I encourage you to
meet four conditions (Derek Prince:
They Shall Expel Demons, Grand Rapids: Chosen Books 1998, p64):
1.
Be sure you have repented that
is, turned away from
every form of sin.
2.
Look only to Jesus; He alone is the
Deliverer.
3.
Base your appeal solely on what
Jesus did for you
through His death on the cross, not on any good works of your own.
4.
Be sure that, by an act of your
will, you have
forgiven every person who ever harmed or wronged you.
Take hold of the promises:
1.
Joel 2:32: Whoever calls on the
name of the Lord
shall be saved.
2.
Mark
Derek Prince: They Shall Expel
Demons,
1
Personally
affirm your faith in Christ:
Lord Jesus Christ, I believe You
are the Son of God
and the only way to God that you died on the cross for my sins and
rose again
so that I might be forgiven and receive eternal life.
2
Humble
yourself:
I renounce all pride and religious
self-righteousness
and any dignity that does not come from You.
I have no
claim on Your mercy
except that You died in my place.
3
Confess
any known sin:
I confess all my sins before You
and hold nothing back. Especially I confess
4
Repent
of all sins:
I repent of all my sins. I turn
away from them and I
turn to You, Lord, for mercy and forgiveness.
5
Forgive
all other people:
By a decision of my will, I freely
forgive all who
have ever harmed or wronged me. I lay down all bitterness, all
resentment and
all hatred. Specifically, I forgive
6
Break
with the occult and all false religion:
I sever all contact I have ever
had with the occult
or with all false religion particularly
I commit myself to get rid of all
objects associated
with the occult or false religion.
7
Prepare
to be released from every curse over your
life:
Lord Jesus, I thank You that
on the cross You were made a curse, that I might be redeemed from every
curse
and inherit Gods blessing. On that basis I ask You
to
release me and set me free to receive the deliverance I need.
8
Take
your stand with God:
I take my stand with You, Lord,
against all Satans
demons. I submit to You, Lord, and I resist the devil. Amen.
9
Expel:
Now I speak to any demons that
have control over me.
[Speak directly to them.] I command you to go from me now. In the name
of
Jesus, I expel you!
Each time you experience a release,
praise and thank God for it. Giving
thanks and praise is the simplest and purest expression of faith. It
also
creates an atmosphere that demons find intolerable.
When you feel your
deliverance is complete, or that you have come as far as you can at
this time,
be sure to kneel down and make Jesus Lord
of every area of your life. Remember the warning of Jesus
that if a demon
comes back and finds the house empty, he will return and bring others
with him
If you feel your
deliverance is not complete, wait until your strength returns or you
feel
prompted by the Holy Spirit. Then continue with the process of getting
the
demons out
Finally, here is a
reminder that applies to every Christian: You
never need to be ashamed of having been delivered from demons.
In the
gospel record there was one person to whom God granted a unique and
glorious
honor: to be the first human witness of the resurrection of Jesus. The
incident
is recorded in Mark 16:9: Now when He rose early on the first day of
the week,
He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven
demons.
Think of it! Jesus
appeared to Mary Magdalene, who was identified as the one out of whom
He had
cast seven demons.
[1]
Cf.
Derek Prince: They Shall Expel Demons,
[2]
John Wimber &
Kevin Springer:
Power Healing,