Thursday 13 July 2017

Try the Spirits


Scripture:  1 John 4 v 1 - 3: "Beloved believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already it is in the world."

Every Christian who truly follows Jesus Christ should be engaged in spiritual warfare. Seventy percent of Jesus' earthly ministry was casting out demons and healing the sick. The Holy Spirit was sent to the Church to bring gifts that would help us do the things Jesus did.

Unfortunately the Church has for years played down need for such ministry and sophisticated people, intellectuals, graduates and priests have pooh poohed the very existence of demons or evil spirits. However you hear it in strange places like in cricket - the demon bowler; amongst celebs - she's battling her demons; serial killers - his eyes look cold and dead.

The truth is we human beings are actually spirit beings, covered with a soul, enclosed in a fleshly body. We began as spirits in Heaven, acquired a soul as hostages of Satan, were given a fleshly body by God in the Garden of Eden to manifest what Satan had done to us so God could repair the damage and bring us back home.  The Earth is God's hospital to diagnose and treat what sin has done to us.

Our minds have been severely tampered with in satan's evil realm and need to be renewed according to the Word of God. We need to overcome everything that was brainwashed into us back then before the world was formed. Satan's very real demons were assigned to each soul to kill, maim and destroy.

Jesus died to break Satan's power over us through sin and equip us to defeat his demons ourselves. Satan's biggest and most successful deception is that he and his demons are figments of our over excited imagination. Any reality check gets filed under "Unexplained!".

The world today is in a serious mess because too few Christians believe we are in a warzone fighting beings we cannot see or hear. They sit in pews every Sunday and are content that all is well with the world.  Many are oblivious to the spiritual battle waging all around us.

It comes very close when terrorist militants of a negative spiritual nature invade our nations and kill the innocent as well as themselves destabilize our society.  People engaged in spiritual warfare through deep and specific prayer, bind up the demons using those terrorists to inflict evil.  Their prayers also release those who fight against them with ammunition and armaments to prevail and overcome them.  We are seeing victory in Mosul, the ISIS former headquarters, just days ago.

We are seeing it in Qatar, which has been isolated by major Arab nations for funding and assisting ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood.  God uses whoever is available and perfectly placed to do the push back.  We need to try the spirits to discern those that are of God or those that are of Satan.

It has taken generations for Muslims to fully infiltrate western nations and make strongholds called mosques. Britain has discovered 1500 radical extremist mosques exist there. Only 2 British mosques can be described as moderate. What is the solution? 

Churches in Britain are being turned into bingo halls.
The Church has no power when it ignores the power of God through the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. When churchgoers find no victory over terror and tragedy they drift away.  Christianity is not just a social church with elaborate ceremonies and rich traditions.  That is better called Churchianity.  It is powerless against demonic forces and has been invaded by them.

We must get back to our true nature in Christ and learn to try the spirits, not the people, the SPIRITS!! Christians engaged in spiritual warfare have the gift of discerning spirits of good and evil. When you have delivered someone from demons and seen the wonderful change in them it is joy unspeakable and full of glory.

However, it happens as you are rejoicing something catches your eye. Job is not over. The person protests that they are fine now but you discern something in the eyes. You need to try that spirit. Speak to that spirit, not the human, and challenge it with "Did Jesus Christ come in the flesh?" No demon will EVER admit that!  They will mumble and look away but they or it cannot look you in the eye and confess that Jesus came in the flesh.

And when a demon is identified it has to leave. Its like a secret agent. If his cover is broken he has to retire. When you break that demon's cover you consign it back to Hell. Policemen cannot explain why a group of youths can suddenly turn into killers, kicking and beating an innocent human to death for no reason but the fun of it. The high it gives them.  

But if you know that there are one or two members who have a violent spirit in them or a spirit of murder it incites the group in a flash. That same spirit causes them to smirk and laugh in the dock when they get long sentences. The evil spirit is achieving its mandate to kill (the innocent victim), maim the families involved, and destroy the perpetrators.

The Apostle Paul said "I don't just beat the air" I know my enemy. (1 Corinthians 9 v 26). Paul was not guessing which demons were manifesting, he was using the gifts of the Holy Spirit to discern and know what he was fighting. We should all be able to deal with demons like this. Our biggest problem is fear of the unknown.  We don't know what to expect, and no one is teaching us in churches today. 

Jesus equipped us to deal with demons.  He gave us practical lessons recorded in the gospels.  He gave us the same authority He had over evil spirits when He was on Earth.  He gave us through the Holy Spirit, the gift of discerning spirits of good and evil.  In the world the diminished form of that would be, "That guy gives me the creeps! Have you seen his eyes? Gives me the shivers!"  Or, "He gives me chills up my spine!"

In Christianity this would be much more explicit.  We would know exactly what spirit it is and its name and even how many in his gang.  We would, by the power in Jesus' name, bind each one of them, which paralyzes and silences them, before casting them out and sending them back to Hell.  If we are at all unsure, we look into the eyes of the person and challenge the spirit looking out of those eyes and it will not be able to avoid looking away.  Sometimes it speaks through the person, "My name is Lust, I own this person through pornography!"  Or, "My name is Pride, I have been here a long time, this is my house."

There are millions of spirits and unless someone is actively engaged in warfare against them they continue to be at home here.  They are sent by Satan to control the world through war, terror, disease, lies, theft, murder, rape, religion, sexual sin, insanity, greed, corruption, power, money and every other sin.

Call on Jesus to open your eyes and fill you with the Holy Spirit. Be willing to open His marvellous gifts and use them. Discover what you are really capable of and turn this world upside down for Jesus. You are not fighting a losing battle. You have Jesus with you who has already defeated Satan and all his demons so that you could do this too. Be an overcomer! Be a true follower! Give demons the boot!

Let your spirit, your real self, conquer your soul and its demons of anger, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, wrong sexual activity, false religions, bitterness, hatred, violence, murder, pride, rebellion etc. Cleanse your flesh of these gate crashers and rise up in newness of life to be part of God's army in these last days.

Prayer: Heavenly Father Forgive me for wasting time on frivolous things when I could be fighting the big battles with Jesus against demons, the real aliens who want to destroy us. I want to know the truth so I can be free to help others overcome our common,(not so) hidden enemy. Teach me to reign over them and deal with them like Paul and others have done. In Jesus' name. Amen.