Scripture: Ephesians 6 v 11 - 13: "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Ever since I knew what we were up against at the end of the 70's, my concern has been to bring this truth to as many as I can reach. I never knew that demons were real, or Satan had a personal vendetta against me and all who follow the Lamb.
My first encounter with spiritual warfare started after my pastor asked me if I could take into my home a young woman with two very young children and help her. I said yes and then found out she was in hospital after attempting suicide. She recovered and moved in with her children.
She told me that her husband was a Satanist who had threatened to kill her and abuse their daughters. She needed lots of ministry and a small group of five Christians, including ignorant me, came together to pray for her.
Before we had our first prayer session she manifested a demon in church. Lyn and I took her to another room to deal with it. Lyn was an authority on casting out demons but I was suddenly very knowledgeable on the subject to my great surprise. I knew the name of the demon and started binding it and rebuking it like this was my profession!
Even stranger, this evil spirit was responding and resisting and trying to bluff its way out of trouble as I was a novice. However Lyn stepped in and together we saw that one leave with a loud groan. Gail, the victim, was very weak and spittle was coming out her mouth. We got her home and the team gathered for more prayer.
It took quite a few dramatic sessions with Gail to see her set free of seven demons. The change in her and her daughters was very strong. The Lord had dropped me in the deep end, spiritually, but He had equipped me with on the job training. I was no longer ignorant of spiritual warfare but I had much to learn, and I am still learning! You never stop learning and growing in authority.
There are those that argue that Christians cannot have demons. I have only prayed for Christians for nearly forty years and there is absolutely no doubt that being born again starts with Jesus within you pushing the demons to the surface. He is in your spirit and the demons are in your soul. When you go from darkness to light in your spirit it sends light into your soul which alarms whatever is lurking there.
It creates a disturbance in your soul, emotions, mind and will, and you have some kind of meltdown. No one understands that some demon has been given the boot by Jesus and it is panicking. You are having this panic attack but it is really the demon manifesting in your flesh. Before a demon leaves a human body it will manifest. Before Satan is cast into the lake of fire he will manifest on Earth as the Antichrist.
What happens in spirit will manifest in flesh on this planet. Jesus is a manifestation of the Father. He told His disciples, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. Demons are disembodied spirits who seek a body of flesh so they can manifest. They cause a person to commit horrific murders then they retreat and leave him to face the consequences. Many murder-accused people say, "I don't know what came over me!" Some say they heard voices in their head compelling them to kill, rape, abuse, mutilate or assault their victims.
Some may remember the Christian cricketer, Hansie Cronje, who got involved in gambling and match-fixing. He was horribly mocked when he confessed and said, "The Devil made me do it!" People had prayed for him to be set free of those demons and he was speaking the truth.
The word demon is in our everyday vocabulary. We have demon bowlers, for instance, or speed demons. I heard Simon Cowell of XFactor say this week after he fainted at home and fell down stairs hurting his neck: I need to rest and get rid of some demons!
Resting is not going to get rid of those demons, Simon, you need deliverance Jesus-style. But you should not attempt this unless you are fully committed to following Him, otherwise when you are all cleaned out but still empty, those who left return with seven times as many more malignant demons and you end up in a far worse state.
Demons have names like Cocaine, Heroin, Weed, Nicotine, Crystal Meth, Death Metal, Familiar Spirits (spiritualism, psychics, ancestral worship), Morpheus (morphine, death), Legion (groups of many different demons), Rebellion, Pride, Rejection, Adultery, Bitterness, Lust, Addiction, etc. All have been conquered by Jesus and we have the power and authority to set Christians free, and see Jesus fill them with the Holy Spirit who seals them against the demons returning.
Jesus died to set us free. He knows how we are affected by evil spirits which may have been inherited from past generations. Exodus 20 v 3 - 6: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."
So 160 years ago an ancestor made an idol and worshipped it which brought misery on four generations before God could deal with it. Many people have been set free of generational curses from ancestors who practiced Satanism, Freemasonry, Cults, Witchcraft, Buddhism, Antisemitism, and any other practice forbidden by God. Things like Astrology and Yoga very common and 'acceptable' practices are manifestations of demons. The individual star signs are all demons.
There are many TV series, movies and video games that are demonic in nature. Themes of witchcraft, vampires, zombies, violence, all in fantasy realm seem innocent but they get those demons into the soul through the senses and the mind. If these viewers or gamers have an ancestry of some cult it all comes together and can cause suicides, murders, rape, violent acts you never imagined your child could be capable of.
Think of the horrific murder of toddler James Bulger in England by two eleven year old boys. It was a demonic attack and those two are now out of prison but I doubt if those demons have left them. The objective of every demon is to destroy human personality, to destroy God's creation.
It is in the power of every Christian filled with the Holy Spirit to engage in spiritual warfare and fight the good fight. It's messy, its ugly, its hard work, but the rewards are wonderful. To see the change in people who have been set free of demonic bondage and filled with joy and peace just glorifies Jesus Christ. We have His authority but we don't know how to use it. I didn't know either but when the moment came I was equipped by God to challenge, bind and boot those demons out of Gail.
The horrific attack in Manhattan by an IS militant who boasts of his kills is the manifestation of a demon. We don't know where these creeps will strike next but if we pray in our communities all over the world and take authority over terrorists inspired by demons, bind those demons and stop them in their tracks, Jesus will answer and fight them on our behalf. He gave us the authority and we must use it. If we don't pray and fight spiritual warfare it will keep happening.
Protesting and blogs and Facebook, Twitter etc are great forums but they cannot stop a demonic onslaught. In USA, UK and Europe fears are growing about migrant invasion and the agenda of Sharia Law. This is totally contrary to Christianity. Only Jesus, responding to the prayers of His followers can keep it at bay. Politicians keep promoting tolerance towards this peaceful religion while blocking Christianity. Any that try to buck the system are hated on CNN. Just saying.
The war is on - drugs, terror, murder, abortion, rape, corruption in government. God says our fight is not against flesh and blood people, it is against spiritual wickedness in high places. Let us get into praying for these high places to fall and the wickedness to be bound. Jesus will show us where to go from there.
Prayer: Father God, when we are weak, Jesus adds His strength to us so we call upon His name to help each one of us stretch our faith, increase our knowledge and understanding and use our Godly authority to deal with evil spirits destroying our peace of mind. Father, we trust You in all things and know that You do answer our prayers for our nation, our children, our communities. Thank You! In Jesus' name. Amen.
