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Have you ever read the gospels and noticed how often Jesus dealt with evil spirits? It seems that everywhere Jesus went, He was casting demons out of people.
Several years ago I began to wonder why I had never seen deliverance from demons occur in all my years of going to church. I had assumed that deliverance from evil spirits was only for rare or extreme cases, or for other parts of the world. But as I began to dig deeper into this, I saw that my assumptions were not biblical. Soon, God led me into the ministry of deliverance.
The following is an excerpt from my book Can a Christian Have a Demon? that addresses the great need for deliverance:
The gospels reveal just how common it was for Jesus to deal with demons. It was neither a rare occurrence, nor only reserved for extreme cases. Consider the examples below, which portray Jesus ministering on a broad scale to those with evil spirits.
And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.
–Luke 6:17-18
At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.
–Mark 1:32-34
And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons.
–Mark 1:39
Everywhere Jesus went, He dealt with demonic spirits. This was just a regular part of the gospel. And when Jesus sent out His followers, He specifically equipped them to cast out demons (for example, see Matthew 10:1, 7-8). Deliverance was normal; it was not the exception but the rule. However, if you are in a church context like the one I grew up in, and never see or hear about deliverance from demons, it would be easy to assume that casting out evil spirits is very rarely needed. It would be easy to believe that only in an extreme case would deliverance be necessary.
Where then, have all the demons gone? If so many people were tormented by evil spirits in the time of Jesus, why would we expect that any fewer are being tormented today? If the ministry of deliverance was so common for Jesus, why is it so uncommon for us? We have no reason to believe that there are not as many demons here and now as there were in the place and time of Christ. Could it be that we fail to understand how demons operate, we fail to discern their presence, and therefore we fail to drive them out?
Having been involved in deliverance ministry for several years now, I have found that just as in the time of Jesus, it is very common for people to need freedom from evil spirits.
In my next article I will outline some barriers that we need to remove so that we can see deliverance ministry restored to the church!
This may be too in-depth of a question for this forum (or may be phrased in a way that will confuse others). I trust your wisdom/discernment and ask that you feel free to simply delete the comment if so. That said: this question occurred to me in devo time this morning and your article brought it back to the surface, so:
Scripture uses phrasing such as ‘spirit of fear’ “vexation” or ‘lying spirit’…typically (perhaps preferably for those of us from ‘traditional’ backgrounds) fear/vexation is relegated to the emotional level and lying to a sinful act. Is it possible negative emotions/sins are a shadow of the evil world as some other things are shadows/types of the Kingdom of God? An earthly manifestation of eternal evil so to speak.
If so, are those negative shadows actually pathways for the demonic spirits…and what are some keys to discerning whether it is a soul level or spirit level issue?
Alternatively, is it ineffective to ‘simply’ focus on strengthening the straight paths (vs. attacking the negative) for the Spirit to traverse there and work inside out?
Hey BillieJo,
Those are some good questions! It seems that certain emotions can be in the area of the soul, but if left unchecked can become spiritual/demonic in nature. For example, in Ephesians 4:26-27 Paul warns that anger that is left unchecked can “give place to the devil.” I think the same can be true of other emotions or sinful actions. When an emotion or sinful action becomes compulsive and enslaving, it could have spiritual roots.
As far as “strengthening the straight paths” vs. “attacking the negative” I believe that it is a both/and situation!
Hope that helps!
Jake
The spirits are still here.
This is a great article and frankly, I’m always put out when someone within the church minimizes the spirit world -I think it intimidates some — understandably if you don’t stand in sound wisdom and discern what you’re dealing with.
I think some folks have demons trailing them — maybe they are not possessed, yet they have “guests” hanging around.
In our modern world — you hear people talk about “ghosts” and “aliens” and some really believe in these things. It seems to me that what they really think are ghosts and aliens are fallen angels, demons, who have mastered deception.
It’s so exciting! We are in a real-live battle! If only some would wake up to it and fight!
Demons haven’t gone anywhere — and neither have angels.
Great points Lindsey, glad you enjoyed the article!
Jake
I agree Jake, most of us just fail to discern these demons. Their names haven’t change. It doesn’t matter how nicely we dress the name…the bottom line is, demons are still alive and kicking. We first need to pray for the wisdom to recognize their presence, instead of burying our heads in the sand, so that we can then move on to the deliverance process with God’s help.
Amelia,
Yes, discernment is so important in the spiritual battle! If evil spirits are undetected, they can work behind the scenes without being dealt with. But when they are exposed, they can be driven out. Thanks for the comment!
Jake
Clear and concise! Thanks much.