spiritual warfare part v - victory in christ
DESCRIPTION
Victory in Christ comes from our position in Christ at salvation, then in faith yielding and surrendering to Him in total obedience, renouncing the ground that we have given Satan and evil spiritsTRANSCRIPT
Spiritual Warfare
Robert D. PattonMissionary to SurinameBaptist World Mission
What do we need to do?
First, if the person is not a Christian, then the person needs to accept the Lord as savior
Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world….
BRING THE PERSON TO FREEDOM IN
CHRISTWe want more than simple relief of symptoms. We want the person free to serve the Lord
Remember the goal - Freedom
The goal is not to simply drive out the evil spirit for that moment, but for the person to be free.
Many will stop when the evil spirit goes away, but what about when he returns with seven evil spirits worse than himself? And what if we are not available when there is an attack?
John 8:31-32, 36The truth shall make you free
8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews who believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 36. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
How to come free?
We must renounce sin and falsehood, step by step, and affirm the truth.
First, the individual must be capable of responding.
The evil spirits need to be bound in the Lord Jesus Christ
How to release the binding initially Have the person confess the Lord
Jesus Christ as savior if possible Pray Read scripture, especially those
places raising up the Lord Jesus, and showing victory over the devil – for example, Ephesians 1:17 Revelation 18-20
Praise the Lord in spiritual songs
Prayer is the ultimate help!
State our dependence on the Lord Pray for those whose eyes are blinded
- 2 Cor. 4:[4] In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Prayer is the ultimate help!
.We can claim the promise of I Jn. 5:14-15 that if we ask anything in His name that is His will, He will hear
.Directly after that, he talks in 1 Jn. 5:16 about the unsaved
.Pray for those eyes of the saved to be open to the spiritual victory which is ours in Christ
I Jn. 5:14-15
[14] And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: [15] And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Prayer is the ultimate help!
Resist the devil in our position in Christ
We lay hold to God’s property and hang on until satan loosens his grasp.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Prayer for those demonically oppressed:
Pray that demons will be cut off from communication with other demons and satan
Pray that demons will be confused and weakened in their hold on the person
Pray that the person will be strengthened in faith to understand his position in Christ and to trust and obey God’s word
Prayer for those demonically oppressed:
Pray that the person will be able to distinguish between his own thoughts and those of satan
Pray that the person will recognize the demonic influence and seek godly help and counsel
.Pray for God’s protection, and that the angels will break up every scheme of the enemy
For freedom from demonic involvement… We must give Christ total
allegiance, with death to self and living for Christ, walking in the Spirit. Gal 2:20 & 6:14; Jn. 15, Gal. 5:16 -23.
We must reject false worldviews: Rom. 12:2
We must break allegiance with self-centered profit and pleasure.
For freedom from demonic involvement… We must confess and reject any
involvement with the occult Any special gifts or transference from
laying on of hands All false religions Removal of false ways and possessions -
cleaning house Break contacts with those involved in
demonic worship
Witchcraft
Renounce every episode of witchcraft which you remember. Ask the Lord to bring back the necessary areas.
Ask for forgiveness, and break any promises or accords made with the spirit world
What about amulets, etc
We throw away any witchcraft items such as amulets, lotions to wash with, idols, etc.
We will often help the individual to clean out the house and yard and pray throughout the home.
We sometimes anoint a house as a symbol of the Holy Spirit – placing the home in His hands
Family involvement Remember that this can go back four
generations, and most persons don’t know about their great-grandparents
Renounce all ties, promises, etc. Ask forgiveness for any personal
or family involvement Take your position in the family
of God
During infant dedication or marriage We take these occasions to
make a declaration that we have broken with any evil spirits personally and from any family involvement.
We declare that we are in the family of God
We ask the congregation to help pray for the individuals
During soulwinning
I usually have the individual who is praying to receive Christ also state that they reject any involvement in witchcraft for themselves or their family
Family involvement
We break any accords made or sins done by ourselves or our ancestors
Remember the prayers of Nehemiah Daniel
They prayed for forgiveness of the sins of their fathers as well as the leadership of the nation
False teachings
There are the doctrine of demons. A few examples:
Worship of Maria Worship of the sacraments Acceptance of teaching of cults,
etc.
Each of these false teachings need to be renounced
We go through the common false teachings of any cults/religions in which the individual has participated
We renounce the false teachings and ask for forgiveness, and removal of any ground given evil spirits from accepting them
Bitterness
All bitterness needs to be renounced.
You need to decide to forgive. It is not a feeling, but a decision of the will
Forgive as the Lord has forgiven us – of everything – Ephesians 4:32
Forgive – no bitterness
Ephesians 4:[31] Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:[32] And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
What is the goal for forgiveness
It is not to change the other person. It does not depend on his response. It takes two to reconcile, but only one to forgive
It is to make us come free. As long as we hold onto bitterness, we are bound to the other individual, and also we may give ground to evil spirits
Pride
All pride needs to be renounced
That is the purpose of the Cross – to show our insufficiency but His sufficiency in: Victory over our old nature Victory over the world system Victory over the devil
Pride
God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble
The sin of the devil is pride He gave us His nature Be careful that you are not
proud of your humility
Anger Our problem is that we are angry
when our personal rights are violated, rather than those of the Lord.
Jesus was angry when the Lord’s rights were violated, but He did not resist when His own rights were violated at the cross
We need to yield our rights to the Lord Jesus
Sexual immorality Renounce all immorality Break each relationship Remember that our thoughts are also
important: Mt. 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery; 28. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in her heart…
Thus pornographic pictures, films, and the internet are sin.
Remember, if you don’t go ahead in your warfare…
Mt. 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through the dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out, and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. 45. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
What about other groups of individuals?
In talking with a friend dealing with other groups – Creoles and Javanese, his church uses the basic same techniques.
Prayer is the basis Spiritual songs Scripture Removal of all witchcraft items
Our goal is permanent freedom
We do not want the person dependent on us – but on the Lord, and to be confident in his position in the Lord
He can pray; he can command the spirits to leave
Those who have found freedom our our most effective counselors
What about unconscious persons
We have this problem quite often. We pray, rebuke, read scripture, and sing.
When the person regains consciousness, if not saved, we present salvation. If saved, we have them begin to rebuke the spirits. This may take some time before they can do so
Follow-up care
Church attendance regularly Daily prayer
Acknowledge God’s greatness Yield to Him daily Confess and abandon all known sin Walk in the Spirit
Maintain freedom with Bible study
Follow-up
Further problems can mean: You have other areas not yet
confessed and abandoned You have re-opened areas to the devil
You must be active – not passive
We are responsible:
To put on Christ - Rom. 13: [14] But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
To resist the devil - James 4: [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
We are responsible: Wear the armor - Eph. 6: [10] Finally, my
brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.[11] 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.
We are responsible:
[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.[14] Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;[15] And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
We are responsible:
[16] Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.[17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
Yield to God - Rom. 6:[11] Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are responsible: [12] Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal
body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.[13] Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
We must choose the truth & live a righteous life
Reactions to demonic deliverance with Christ
Some were amazed - especially glorifying God
Some were afraid – and sent Jesus away Some were antagonistic – and accused
Him of conspiring with Satan and using Satanic power
As His disciples, we can anticipate the same reactions
Biblical results of deliverance The demons are no longer inside,
and cannot control from INTERNAL use of the mind and the body
Sometimes there were visible signs that the demons were gone
Also often there was physical healing
There may be transference - eg - Legion to the pigs
Biblical results of deliverance
There is often loss of occult power Restoration to normal function
.Physical .Social .Reorientation to life
Sometimes, if the healing was occult, there may be loss of occult healing
Relief of Symptoms after deliverance
Relief from: Passivity & depression Lust Thoughts in the mind, suicidal
tendencies Problems with thinking
Relief of Symptoms after deliverance
Freedom to grow spiritually .Sense of personal worth
.Satan and his demons are works and achievement oriented
.They oppose grace It is important that we recognize
our true worth with God
Relief of Symptoms after deliverance
Ability to make decisions now Improvement in marriage
relationships Loving Christ more Greater awareness of sin and
satan
Do not always expect instantaneous victory
It may take time to see someone come free from demonic activity. It need not occur the instant you command the demon to leave.
It is preferable if possible for the person themselves to command the demon to leave. They need to get victory themselves, not depending on others, but the Lord
Sometimes victory comes more slowly
Even Christ did this repeatedly with the man with Legion - verb is in the imperfect tense
He may need to grow in Christ and in surrendering all to Christ.
We must dedicate ourselves 100% to what is good, and hate that which is evil.
Why no instantaneous victory?
Unyieldedness or sin that the Lord wants the individual to judge: Ps. 94: 12] Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
Something that either the counselor or counselee must learn about the heinousness of sin, and the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ
We can learn how to recognize and deal with demonic forces to be able to help others: 2 Cor. 1:3-4
Helping others
2 Cor. 1:[3] Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;[4] Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
Why no instantaneous victory? We must learn to walk in dependence of
the Lord in trials and demonic warfare God may put the demon to shame before
many witnesses, both angelic and human, as the individual walks in the Spirit in faith and obedience. Remember Job
God may show the proper need of counsel and support in the Christian walk
Like peeling an onion
It is possible to have victory, but to see further demonic involvement.
The mere fact that the person seemed free and now has problems could mean that you removed some but not all of the demons, and not that you did nothing
Follow-up is important
You need to work on keeping free, and not just getting immediate victory.
This means resisting the devil - keeping the doors closed that were open to give the demons a foothold.
I want to spend some time on spiritual principles to help maintain real freedom and spiritual growth