Exorcist Lecture
The Enemy
Yes folks, we have an enemy, whether or not we believe in him. Examples below.
As
a strategic commander Satan is equally pleased with the two opposite errors
of giving him too much attention and giving him too little. Since many modern
people don't make the connection that he's responsible for some of their suffering,
my first goal is to show his existence.
If we don't believe he exists we'd better be sure otherwise we're terribly vulnerable, which is what the devil wants—freedom to act undercover.
The Existence of an Evil Agent
If you're a doubter, know that you're in direct contradiction to the life and teaching of Christ, and the vast wisdom and experience of Christians.
A few devil-sightings:
- Many of my friends who receive visions often see the enemy attacking. On one occasion a brother of mine saw the devil in the form of a large dragon peering into a stadium arena at night where we could be seen praising God. Our worship was like an intense beacon of bright light extending to Heaven, and was too much for the devil, causing him to recoil. Satanic panic. The message: the worship of God is our protection.
- A friend of mine had just converted to Christianity after being involved in New Age meditation (often a cover for the devil), but one evening decided to open himself up to "the spiritual realm". While drawing on paper he said something took over his hand and began to spell out the message "This is SATA...." Thrusting his arm off the paper, he immediately phoned me, and we called on the power of Christ to get rid of Satan. The lesson: don't just be "generally spiritual"; submit directly to the authority of Christ.
War stories like these are more common when we're engaged in the spiritual
battle. 
Another example: This audio of a demonic
manifestation
(MP3, 1.2Mb, 5 mins.) occurred in the middle of one of Derek
Prince's talks. The demons that spoke out of her mouth revealed that the lady
opened the door through participating in lies and sexual immorality.
Theological Insights
- Most people believe in angels and most believe in free will. Put them together and you get demons, self-corrupted angels.
- Evil is not something in itself, but perverted good. Evil is a negative, in the way that darkness is the absence of light and cold is the absence of heat. So, note that there isn't a struggle between light and darkness, but only a struggle to be in the light—darkness is always cast out by light.
- Satan was once God's most beautiful creature, but because he put his own will before God's, he self-perverted himself. (Isa 14:12-14, Eze 28). According to the medieval maxim,"the corruption of the best is the worst."
- Why would Satan rebel against God? The same reason we do: we want to be independent of God. All sin is a form of insanity.
The Enemy's Strategy
- His first goal is not to harass, but to keep one from submitting the will to God—by questioning a person's identity as a child of God (e.g., the attack on Jesus, Luke 4.) Just like for Jesus, our defense is the Word of God.
- The world's greatest exorcist called the devil "the father of lies." To maximize deception, Satan mixes in as much truth as possible. (E.g, counterfeit money is more effective the closer it is to legit money.) So when he tempted Jesus he backed up his lies by "supporting" them with Scripture quotes.
- If he can't tempt one directly to sin, he will tempt with a lesser good to prevent God's highest will. This may occur by knocking one off balance. (E.g., promoting good works while neglecting prayer; preaching the gospel while neglecting self-discipline, etc.) The only valid extreme is love.
- The occult is a common door that may lead one to full possession.
- If Satan can't possess you, he'll oppress you, frequently via fears, anxieties, doubts, insecurities, disbelief, despair, division, unfaithfulness, etc.—look for clues here. For one completely submitted to Christ, the enemy is merely a barking dog on a rope.
Can a Christian Have a Demon?
Only if he wants one! Just as sin and vices don't automatically leave when
you become a Christian, the victory over demonic influence isn't always immediate.
Being in Christ means you now have the capability to deal with them. As a
healthy body may contract an illness when its immune system is weak, so also
a 
person's spirit may attract demonic influences when attacked.
The Catholic church verified that even Mother Theresa experienced freedom
from demonic oppression. Access the 9/7/01
CNN Report on Mother Theresa's Exorcism
How Does All This Matter Practically?
For the backstory of the audio clip
above read Derek Prince's compelling book They
Shall Expel Demons.
Though Derek suffers a little from finding demons under every rock, this book is a rare, powerful practical supplement to the Bible for dealing with them.
His clear thinking and real-life examples will compel a person to update their theology!
Discernment is needed to distinguish between natural (e.g., "the flesh") or genuine demonic influence. As the saying goes: "You crucify the flesh and cast out demons; you don't cast out the flesh and crucify demons!" We don't want to blame every problem on them, yet we want to be on the offensive towards them. There's no way to have Spirit-led insight unless Prophecy is operating, which lets us peek behind the curtain into the spiritual realm.
Chasing Out the Devil
In my life there have been a few times when oppressive influences have shown up, and only when I'm in blatant disobedience to God, which provides the opportunity. Then they may "latch on." For example, once I was hurt by a friend and I festered in heavy resentment towards him even though I could directly sense the Lord's displeasure in that. Simple communication resolved it, but the next day at a prayer meeting and I noticed I couldn't shake an odd, nasty, dark cloud over me, even though the situation was clarified and I let go of any bitterness. It finally occurred to me that I may have "picked up" a foul spirit, which we then specifically rebuked in the name of Christ. I immediately felt an instant release, and could even tell the direction it took for an exit. It felt as if someone had removed thick sunglasses off me.
How Can I Expel a Demon?
Obviously for serious cases, team with professionals. However, many Christians are not aware of their enormous authority simple by being Christian. One must be fully submitted to Christ's (by repentence, forgiveness, praise, etc.); then simply exercise your authority in faith—as Christ.
For
example, a good friend of mine was called over to pray for someone experiencing
a demonic manifestation, but when they tried to cast it out the demon spoke
through the person and said "you can't expel me—you're a fornicator!"
Both Christians looked at each other and said "it's not me." After
unsuccessful attempts to drive out the evil spirit, they left. Later the second
Christian admitted to my friend that he was involved in premarital sex. After
he confessed it, my friend went back and kicked out the demon with ease.
Deliverance Notes
- The demons are not impressed by a show of theological knowledge or religious circuses—only by Jesus in you.
- Both the deliverance leader and delivered one must be willing to lose dignity, if necessary. Deliverance is for the desperate.
- This is false thinking: "if I leave demons alone, they will leave me alone."
- Satan cowers when we worship God with praise, music, and joyful spirits.
- Angels, both good and bad, are bodiless spirits that battle using their wills. Likewise, we battle them using the will—not by asserting our strength, but by affirming God's strength working through us. We trample the plans of Hell because Christ in us is doing it.
- Good tools include:
prayer, worship, repentance, fasting, fellowship, charisms
God Has the Last Word
You are an overcomer. My Word is still true despite what you see. Satan fears the goodness and greatness of the Lord in you. Your fear is nothing to his for he truly has something to fear: the God of the universe against him. The best he can do is to try to make you as miserable as he is. Misery loves company.
Go beyond the attacks of the enemy, for they are mere smokescreens to My abundant, anointed flow. The devil's power is only fueled by your doubts, how much you choose to believe the mirage of a lie he puts before you.
So much of the battle between the kingdom of good and evil takes place in the mind. But it is there where it stands its only chance for victory as the devil is a defeated foe. Giving the devil place in your thoughts leads you only to lies and destruction.
So often you marvel at My grace and deliverance because you have already been expecting the worst. Only then do you know the joy of believing, but I tell you that you can have joy and peace now if you believe the words of My truth.
Why wait and be crushed under the oppressive weight of anxiety
and fear? When you begin to know and believe who I AM, you will know that
you are only in the world and not of it. Therefore, as citizens of Heaven,
heirs to the throne, people of a faithful inheritance, covenant people—you
are entitled to glory.