Luke 4:31-37
"Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region."
Mark 1:25-26
"But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him."
The first thing to look at here is the man with the unclean demon was IN the synagogue with all the other Jews and religious leaders but none of them knew the man was demonized. It's very likely even the man himself didn't know! And if you think satan, or demons can't be inside you or in somebody sitting right next to you in a church building or anywhere else, you are absolutely wrong!
Remember Jesus chose Judas and he called him a devil! And wasn't Judas reclining with Jesus at the last supper when satan himself entered him and took over his body to go and betray Jesus? And how did Jesus handle that? He told Judas and satan, to go and do what he was going to do quickly, Jesus has ALL authority!
John 13:26-27
"Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.” And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
I've learned that you don't really know what's in you until it manifests itself or it's revealed by the Spirit through dreams, fasting and prayers.
The Lord also uses His ministers to discern the spirits and those who have been given spiritual authority and power to cast out demons, like the apostles and evangelists. But if you don't have the authority and power to cast them out, you could end up like the seven sons of Sceva!
Acts 19:11-16
"Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded."
Deliverance is the children's bread, if you are in the body of Christ and you are not completely holy like John the Baptist, or Jesus, (and it IS possible to walk in holiness!) then you have demons IN your flesh!
So many Christians don't understand the truth about demons, how they operate and how they get inside your flesh. Demons can enter you through many ways, the obvious ones are occult practices, i.e. witchcraft, Ouija boards, going to séances, having your palms read, worshipping satan, etc...
Demons can also enter you through traumatic experiences, like witnessing a death, being the victim of rape or molestation, and having a near death experience. Demons can enter through generational curses, through family members that practice witchcraft, or who are involved in secret societies, like freemasonry, skull and bones, etc...
The truth is that even after you become a Christian by being baptized in water and the Holy Spirit, all the evil, strongholds, infirmities, and yes demons are not completely dealt with the moment you enter the body of Christ. Yes your sins are forgiven, you are a new creation in Christ, the old has gone the new has come etc... but many of the things you did in the past still have to be dealt with through prayer and fasting, bible study, repentance, forgiveness of yourself and others.
That's why you can see so many believers who are hypocrites and spend years in church attendance and participate in all the church functions, but never experience the life changing deliverance that Jesus bought for us at the cross, because of lack of knowledge and fear!
I didn't think I had any demons in me until I listened to Derek Prince's sermon, "How To Be Delivered From Demons" I watched until the end and followed along as Derek explained in detail so many things I had no knowledge of, then I repeated what he said when he started the deliverance part of the sermon and immediately I felt within myself that evil spirits started to leave my flesh! It changed my life and opened me up to a whole new world of spiritual truths and realities that I had many preconceptions about!
If you really want to be free, the Son can and will set you free indeed!
In Jesus Name,
Tyrone
