Spirit of Death

"There was blood splattered all over the walls. Her neck was just hanging from her head; half off. Nobody knows why he did it. It was the most disturbing thing I've ever seen."

This is a paraphrase from a conversation I had with one of my friends this week. I called her to see how she was doing, and she told me the gruesome story of how her husband's aunt had been murdered by her own servant. Living in an upper to middle class section of the city, an incident like this came as a shock to the family. Nobody knows why, but the servant (hired about a month an a half ago) attempted to chop off the aunt's head with an axe. The blade was too dull to make a clean cut, but he succeeded in cutting into her neck enough to kill her.

A second servant had gone out for Friday prayers when the murder took place. When the second servant arrived, he saw the aunt partially decapitated and the other servant running away. He caught the murderer and called the police and family. My friend was one of the first to arrive at the scene, even before the police had come.

Are you wondering why you did not see this story on the news? If this had happened in the US or Europe it surely would have been in the papers. But here, these kind of unnatural deaths happen all too often. I wrote another blog before about the little blurbs about gang rapes, killings, and other horrendous crimes that come in the back of the paper where almost nobody bothers to read them.

As I reflected on this crime, I felt that there must be a spiritual reason behind the high frequency of unnatural deaths and heinous crimes. My friend's aunt who died was only in her early fifties. It reminded me that we are engaged in a spiritual battle. Over here, I feel that we are deeply entrenched in territory the enemy has held for thousands of years.

Oh Lord, even though many times it seems so hard to pray and to press in, help me to intercede for the peoples of this land. So many people die unnatural deaths every day, and most of them have probably never heard the gospel. Lord, help me to be intentional in sharing the Word of truth. Empower me with boldness. Send more laborers for this harvest over here, so that all may hear the truth that is the power of salvation to those who believe.

Demons in the New Testament Part I

Here's the first part of a study through the NT about demons and evil spirits. The more I study, the more I realize that casting out demons was meant to be an integral part of ministering to the lost and sharing the message of the gospel. When people are set free, they give glory to God. This is what I've learned so far by going through Matthew & Mark.

A. Demons can oppress people

23And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (Matthew 4:23-25)

15He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases." (Matthew 8:15-17)

22And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." (Matthew 15:22)

25But immediately a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. (Mark 7:25-26)

32That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. (Mark 1:32)

B. Demons can be cast out in the name of the Lord

21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' (Matthew 7:21-23)

C. Demonized people can display violent behavior/cause harm to themselves

28And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,[e] two demon-possessed[f] men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" 30Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31And the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs." 32And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. (Matthew 8:28-24)

1They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.[a] 2And when Jesus[b] had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. 6And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me." 8For he was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" 9And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many." 10And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12and they begged him, saying, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them." 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea. (Mark 5:1-12)

D. Demons can be the cause of physical problems

32As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, "Never was anything like this seen in Israel." (Matthew 9:32-33)

22Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. (Matthew 12:22)

14And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and, kneeling before him, 15said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." 17And Jesus answered, "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." 18And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.[b] 19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:14-20)

E. Jesus commands his disciples to cast out demons as part of their ministry

7And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,[a] cast out demons. (Matthew 10:7-8)

14And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3:14-15)

F. Demons know who Jesus is and His authority

34And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. (Mark 1:31)

G. People who were not part of the 12 apostles can cast out demons

38John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name,[f] and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." 39But Jesus said, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40For the one who is not against us is for us. 41For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. (Mark 9:38-41)

16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." (Mark 16:16-18)

H. More than one demon can be with one person

9[a] [[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons (Mark 16:9)

Demonic Strategy - Jack Deere

I listened to another session from the Morning Star Conference by Jack Deere on Demonic Strategy.

Here is Jack Deere's website if you're interested in more material from him
http://jackdeere.com/

Here are my notes from the session and all the Bible references:

Why is it important to know about demonic inroads? Because people have areas of agreement with evil that allow spirits to hold influence in their lives. Demons must have a legal or spiritual right to be there.

The following are inroads for demons to gain influence in our lives.

1. LUST, SEXUAL IMMORALITY, PERVERSION

A. Man living in sexual immorality "handed over to Satan"

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5hand this man over to Satan, so that the flesh may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 5:1-5)

B. There is sin that leads to death

16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God[a] will give him life--to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. (1 John 5:16)


C. Adultery can lead to death
1My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, 2that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. 3For the lips of a forbidden[a] woman drip honey, and her speech[b] is smoother than oil, 4but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to[c] Sheol; 6she does not ponder the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it. (Proverbs 5:1-5)

D. Comments from Deere on Sexual Immorality
- Sexual immorality weakens the church
- It causes shame which cripples us
- The annunal revenue of the pornography industry is more than professional , basketball, and football combined.
- 1 out of 4 Americans look at porn every week
- 50% of ministers in a survey admitted to struggling with porn
- Goal of porn is to lead us to be disatisfied with our spouse or future spouse
- Porn leads us into experimentation
- Think of Revelation where the Harlot makes the earth drink the maddening wine of her adulteries
- Porn is as addictive as cocaine
- It works to change the chemistry of your brain
- As long as we believe we can control any addiction it has power over us and we won't be free

2. ANGER, HATRED, VIOLENCE

A. Disciples rebuked for anger against the Samaritans

54And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"[a] 55But he turned and rebuked them.[b] 56And they went on to another village. (Luke 9:54-56)

B. Anger gives the devil a foothold

26Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and give no opportunity to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26-27)

3. ENVY, JEALOUSY, SELFISH AMBITION

A. Jealousy is more severe than anger

4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy? (Proverbs 27:4 NIV)

Anger = an evil anointing to cause pain
Fury = carried away by anger
Jealousy = the feeling of "they don't deserve it," the hope that other people lose their blessings

Jealousy is sneaky. People are not prone to admit jealousy. Jealousy is a higher form of anger. Jealousy is the opposite of grace.

B. Envy and selfish ambition are of the devil

13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:13-18 NIV)

C. Saul's jealousy leads to an evil spirit coming on him

6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. 7 As they danced, they sang:
"Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands."

8 Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?" 9 And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

10 The next day an evil [b] spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David eluded him twice.
(1 Samuel 18:6-11)

Notice it says, "an evil spirit from God." God is sovereign. He is above all rule and authority. God uses Satan to accomplish his purposes. He tests us, strengthens us, and causes us to rely on him.

D. God sends Paul a messenger of Satan

7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)

4. OCCULT PRACTICE

5. IDOLATRY

A. Sacrifices to idols are sacrifices to demons

20No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. (1 Corinthians 10:20)

B. Greed is a form of idolatry

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. (Colossians 3:5-6)

Materialism is a form of idolatry. If you think, "I'll be happy when I get a new car." "I'll be happy when I get married." "I'll be happy when we move into our new house." "I'll be happy when ___________"

Whatever is in that blank for you is most likely an idol. We are stuck in a trap of deferred joy in our material culture.

Time magazine did a study on happiness and found that the level of income and the level of education do not have any effect on happiness. The #1 factor was personal relationships.

6. BLASPHEMY

7. DRUGS
*There is no scriptural support for this claim but a lot of support from experience

8. INVOLUNTARY WAY

A. There are different kinds of spirits

14And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16And he asked them, "What are you arguing about with them?" 17And someone from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." 19And he answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." 20And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21And Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." 23And Jesus said to him, "If you can! All things are possible for one who believes." 24Immediately the father of the child cried out[d] and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" 25And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." 26And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, "He is dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" 29And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer." (Mark 9:14-29 ESV)

Other translations say "This kind cannot be driven out by anything by prayer and fasting."

Jesus refers to "this kind" meaning that there are different kinds of spirits.

The kind of spirit which is attached to a young child, since before the age of accountability, seems to be the kind that is involuntary on behalf of the child. Many people suffer from traumas at a very young age (rape, sexual abuse, etc.). In these cases a demon can become attached to a young child. The longer it stays the more it will become part of that person's personality and character. The evil spirit will try to pull the person into whatever evil was done to them. If they were sexually abused the spirit will pull them into abusive relationships or sexual immorality. Many young girls who are raped end up as prostitutes.

B. There are different ranks of spirits

43"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation." (Matthew 12:43-45)

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How do you break the power of addictions?

3But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7Therefore do not associate with them; 8for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,and Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:3-14)

Let there be no obscenities
coarse words
pornographic addiction
phone sex
prostitution
adultery/ illegal heart attachment
chemical dependence
hatred/jealousy

If you struggle with any of the things mentioned in this session, make a confession to God.
Share it with at least one other person that you can trust.

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For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1)