CHRISTIAN VERSUS DEMONS
Study Outline
1. Can a Christian have demon
2. Demons oppression in the New Testament
3. Satan hinder believers
4. Conditions on which demons obey
INTRODUCTION
Can a Christian have demons? Oppression and possession
A Christian can have demon [oppression] but demon can not have a Christian [possession] ICor. 4:4, Eph.2:2
To have demon means, one is being oppressed or afflicted by evil, spirit such may be physical or spiritual attack e.g. sickness or weakness, [Rom 6:14] God, through Jesus Christ has given us the authority and power even ability to rule over demons and when we command them to leave in His name. [Jesus name] they will obey. So when the cause of that affliction [s] sickness, which is the demon leaves, then the oppressed will be alright.[Mk16:17, Lk 10:17-19,, Rom.6:14, James 4:7, ----17,Matt.16:23, Lk. 22:21,22,
A born again and true bonafied child of God; can he or she be possessed by demon? A Christian filled with the Holy Ghost; can he or she be possessed?
i. No! A Christian, born again with Jesus living in him as Lord, spirit filled and baptized by water & spirit cannot be possessed by demons.
ii. Yes! A Christian, born again, having had the Holy Ghost baptism with Jesus living in his life as Lord and saviour can be oppressed by demons and demons can be operating through him.
iii. A non Christian can be oppressed by evil spirit, note that the names demons, evil spirit, devil are inter-changeable. The answer NO and YSE above as often startled students they and came back with attacks and beautiful arguments that seemed to have been framed from all such demons.
It is obvious to everybody under the sun that light and darkness cannot stay together in the same place it is either the light or the darkness. [II Cor. 6:14]
Such argument stem from an incomplete knowledge of who man is. They stem from the mis-conception that man is a one apartment or house that can contain Jesus through the Holy Spirit or Satan at a time
Man is not a one room apartment or house. Man is three in one trinity of the Spirit, Soul and Body; man is a house with apartment called spirit soul and body. [I Thess.5:23]
HUMAN TRINITY ROM 8:5-16
SPIRIT Jh. , , IICor. 5:19, I Jh.4:4 ,Zech. 12:1 spirit of man is the most inner part of the man with this, man have the consciousness of God, that is he communicates with God in the spirit, because the spirit is now born anew and the spirit of God will fill, occupy the spirit of man. [Rom. 8:16] Immediately a man is born again, those demons in his spirit will fly and run out from there because the spirit of man will be occupied by the spirit of God or Christ. Some will go to the soul and some to the body, while some will run out completely.
THEIR FUNCTIONS
i. Those demons that enter into the body will be causing bodily sickness and weakness
ii. Those demons that enter the soul will be causing evil thought and negative thinking etc
iii. And the last group of demons that went out completely are those that will be given temporary joy and favour etc.
Spirit of man has the capacity to comprehend and apprehended divine things. The Greek word is called PNEUMA. The spirit has a keen sensitivity for the divine, and those who are not born again, are dead in trespass according to the Bible. [Eph. 2:1-2, 3,4] let the dead bury their dead[Lk.9:69] you can notice that they are dead even when their mind [soul] and body are still functioning, which means the spirit is responsible for the life of man. It is the spirit that needs to be born again and consequently reflect into the soul and body. A man who is born again will be alive spiritually and dead to the works of the flesh and carnality. So one can be very much alive physically and mentally but spiritually dead if he/she is not born again.
THE SOUL the soul is man itself, and it has to do with the MIND, his WILL and INTELLECT coupled with EMOTION.
Greek word for mind [soul] is PSYCHE. I Thess. the bible says the man has three parts the soul spirit and body and also the body. With the soul man is conscious in power of will to choose anything he likes either good or bad.
The Bible refers to the heart of man: Jer. 17:9-10, unless man is born again the soul [heart mind] can not discern some good thing. I Cor. 2:9-16
THE BODY The body is another part in human’s system which we can all see as the physical horizon of oneself with the inside and outside parts. The Greek word for the body is called SOMA. In Greek word, the body is compared to an egg, the egg contains three parts and the outer part is the shell that covers the inner and innermost part, so also the body is the shield or shell of the soul and spirit.
THE BODY IS AS
House, tabernacle II Cor. 5:1
NOTICE: THE body is the house or temple where the spirit or soul will dwell till eternity. The human body can be compared to a craft conveying people, may be from one country to the other. That is, people have to be in it until they get to their destination, so also the soul and the spirit must dwell in the body until death comes to separate them Isaiah 38:12, II Peter1:13. It is the soul that is regarded as a person. There is no end for human soul and the spirit of Christ if such a person is born again. The same thing is applicable to other unbelieving one’s their soul and spirit will not end; they will appear in hell [Lazarus and he rich man
When Jesus comes into the life of a person, He comes in as spirit not as a physical human being, because He Himself is a spirit [Jh.4:24,II Cor.3:17, I Pet.1:4, Rom.8:29, II Cor.5:19. this new man is born of the spirit, when Christ some he will go straight to the spirit of man. [Col3:10, Eph. 4:24]
This is what the bible says in Jh.1:12, 13. This new man cannot be possessed by demons because the Holy Ghost is now inside of him. His spirit is now possessed by the Holy Spirit and now born again, new and saved. Nothing affects his/her soul or body, but the spirit. That is why it is very paramount to stand and work for the salvation of others.
Immediately this ‘NEW MAN’ is born, the Holy Ghost, will seal him or her [note the that this new or new creature has been sealed] Gal. , Eph. , 14]
The mind and the body: The mind and the body are the two dimensions for the human sphere that are not insulated at salvations. So, demons still have access to the mind and body of the believer.
Dear friend in Christ, there are thoughts and imaginations in you that are not pure and you have been seeking victory over them through the years but none seems to come. You have not had the victory yet despite many promises you have already claimed, because the problem is not just as simple as thought, it is demonic and there can be no victory until the demons have pitch tents and take positions.
FEW EXAMPLES ARE
1) Peter’s case and the devil [Matt.16:13-25] Ananias and Saphire[Acts 5:1-10 ]. If demons could get into the chief Apostles, Peter and spake through him without his knowledge-unknown to him, and they could also occupied him and operated trough him, we assume that brother Ananias and sister Saphire were members of the Christian church where among the 120 believers [acts.2:1-4]
At the latter service of Peter the bishop, there were no single person that was not been baptized [acts.8:14-27]. They attended and took part in the bible classes on Christian growth and victory taught by Reverend Cophas Simon Peter and the other Apostles. [Acts 1:41-42]. Yet, this couple’s mind were filled and used by the demons of cheating, covetousness, lying, and deceit .etc.
The Corinthian Christians, who are not lacking behind in any spiritual gift even expecting the coming of our Lord Jesus, are still carnal and still have demons of envy , strife and division [I Cor.. 1:7, 3:3,.5:1] just look around you, within the born again community, you will see many who are still under oppression of demonic forces and power. There are some physical infirmities that don’t get cured until the victim are delivered from some demons behind those problems [Prov. 26:2, Lk -13]
When deliverance is ministered to people, we force out demons from their intellect, emotion, and will [soul man] by the spirit of God and authority given to us by the captain of our salvation, Jesus Christ [Matt.16:17] so as to enthrone Jesus over those areas where demon has gone out, crowning ourselves to deliverance, we should let Jesus rule over our spirit, soul and body supremely
God’s plan is that the spirit should rule the man. That is why the soul and body depend on the spirit to survive. IThess.5:23]
2) Demon oppression in the New Testament: In this course, we have considered that Christians can be attacked, afflicted, by demons. We have also considered how demons use to operate in believers life in the entire being of the unbelievers and in the soul and body of believers, which is their limit.
HOW DEMON DID OPPRESSED CHRISTIAN,
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Some examples:
a) The daughter of Abraham was afflicted by the demons with infirmity. Lk. 13:11-16
b) Using the voice of Peter, Satan spoke through Peter m,att.16:21-23
c) Paul’s thorn in the flesh II Cor. 12:7-10
d) Satan hindered Paul from going to the church in Thessalonians to pay them a visit [I Thess2:18] that is by circumstances
3. Satan hinder believers: Satan can hinder believers in many ways
i. Satan can bound with the spirit of infirmity resulting into physical afflictions such as sickness, problems of money etc. just because the devil wants to see and make sure that believer’s life is not functioning in the way of the Lord God. Lk , , 18
ii. Speak through believer. Demons can speak negative words to you or by you: using someone’s voice like Peter{Matt. ] and occupies someone’s mind [Act. 5:1-10]
iii. Satan can hinder believers by circumstance. I Thess 2:18
iv. Satan can hinder by substituting one thing for another , exchanging good for bad
v. Through trials, temptation Matt 4:1 and discouragement Heb.3:6,10
vi. Satan do hinder ministering spirit or angels Dan. 13
vii. Satan do hinder by destroying believer flesh. I Cor. 5:1-4
viii. Satan do hinder by destroying believers possessions Jh. 10:10 Job 1
ix. Satan hinder believes by sifting them as wheat. Lk 22:3-32
x. Influencing believers. James 3:14,15
CONDITION ON WHICH DEMONS OBEY
To be a deliverance minister, there are some definite conditions which those demons and the devil their father will obey. It is not to be begging the demon to leave; instead we command them to leave in Jesus name.
Jesus with His own authority dealt with the enemy [demon] in the life of His own people. In such occasions, the demons may cause the victims to shout, scream or with strong physical movement’s accompanied the departure of the demon [Mk. 9:26, Lk. 4:33-36, 41]. The disciples used the same approach by calling the name of Jesus to give them authority to cast out demon. [Lk. 10:17-19]
THE CONDITIONS
1. Believe: This ‘believe’ is divided into two
a) Salvational believe: it is not possible for a sinner non born again personality to cast out demon. You must be thoroughly born again, your salvation must be a sound one, you must be known in God’s kingdom, on earth, and in hell that you are a child of God.[ Acts 19: 1-11, 14-17, Jn.1:10-12, ,12, Mk 16:15-20, Acts 4:12
b) Believe: having faith in Jesus Christ: There’s no name which demons Satan their father can respect than the name of Jesus Christ. You must believe the name, have faith and depend on that name alone. Isaiah. 61: 1-4, Mk. 16-17, Phil2:5-10
2. The name of Jesus Phil. 2:8-10
3. Anointing [anointing breaks yokes] Isaiah 10:27. The Holy Ghost operates in our lives through the anointing and it is by it that yokes of oppressions are broken in people’s lives. One can feel the anointing physically or sense it in the spirit. Whenever this happens; it is not a time to pray but a time to make pronouncements and decrees that will be effective in your situation. An example of this is Ezek. In the valley of dry bones [Ezek. 37:1-10].
He felt the present of God in a vivid way and thus led him to make some pronouncements. When you feel the anointing of the Holy Ghost you can pronounce or decrees your deliverance, blessing upon yourself, your victory, judgment on your enemies. Isaiah 54: 17,15,16,14.
4. The word of God: Some argumentative demons will ask for proof from the word of God before they will go out. Lk. 4:4,8,10,12
5. Fasting and prayer: Biblical fasting and prayer is a paramount condition which demon will tremble before. Matt. 17:21
6. Submission unto God. James 4:7, II Cor. 10:6
7. God’s power and God’s approval: God is all powerful and is able to help whoever He wants to help anytime. His power is unlimited because He has the resources of heaven and earth at His disposal. [Neh. 1:7]
8. Holiness: God is Holy so we His ministers have to be holy. Holiness simply means to run away from sin and obedient or obedient to God Jh. 15:10, I Pet. 1: 13,14,15,16,17,-19
9. Authority: God’s authority in your mouth can send any category of any demon out if you depend on the Holy Ghost alone. And the authority of God in your mouth must be accompanied with the life of holiness. Matt. 7:29, prov 29:2, Matt. 8:9 ,20, 25: 21-23; Mk. 1:27,13:34,Lk 9:1, 19:17, Jh.5:27
Note: There are different types of demons: lesser spirits, chief demons, legions [Battalions] chief, and their response in obedience is not the same.
We do not argue that deliverance ministry is the only ministry or even that is should be dominant, our hope that it will be allowed to take its proper place in partnership with other ministries. We also hope for the day, for example, when Christian ministers in psychiatrists can some together in mutual trust and see how deliverance prayer can be helpful. But this will require openness to explore its truth as a means of healing
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