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DEMON POSSESSION AND DEMON OPPRESSION : THE WORKS OF DARKNESS
THE DEMON POSSESSED AND JESUS CHRIST :
In His ministry here on earth, the Lord Jesus exhibited great authority and power against the demonic world [Mark 1:27; Matt. 8:16, 31]
The demons recognized Jesus as the Son of God and were quick to proclaim it when they came into the presence of Jesus [Mark 1:24; Matt. 8:29; Luke 8:28]
But the demons were very afraid of Jesus also, not only because Jesus had authority over them, but because they thought that Jesus had come to judge them and send them to the everlasting fire.
There were many situations that Jesus cast out demons from people during His ministry to Israel
JESUS EXPLAINS THE SITUATION WITH DEMONIC POSSESSION :
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV
The demon is cast out of a person who was demon possessed.
The demon is sent into dry places spiritually and is seeking rest but find none; it needs a human body.
He decides to return to the person he was cast from and that person has not asked Jesus into his heart.
The spirit of the person is clean and empty; God is not there. The demon takes 7 more demons with him
The demons go into the man who is now in worse shape than the beginning since he now has 8 demons and NO JESUS.
BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS AND DEMON POSSESSION :
Humans have a body and a spirit [Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7]. The body helps them live on this physical earth.
Demons are spirit beings with no physical body. They are fallen angels from Lucifer’s rebellion.
It seems that in order for the demons to be in the earth’s physical environment, they need a human body.
When a human is forgiven of sin and Jesus washes their sins with His blood, the Holy Spirit of God comes to be in the person’s spirit, which has become born again — from spiritual death to everlasting life.
The Holy Spirit is in the believer’s spirit and when a demon tries to enter into a born-again believer, he reacts the same way that they reacted when they saw Jesus — they can’t go into the believer because Jesus is there and they are afraid of Jesus. The power of Jesus Christ does not permit demons to come into born again believers.
BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS AND DEMON OPPRESSION :
Demons can come to oppress believers because believers open the door to their oppression.
The oppression can be in the mind or in the flesh of the believer but not in the spirit of the believer.
The believer is not indwelled by the demon, but the oppression comes from the outside
A spirit of fear can come to oppress a believer and rob the believers of the joy and peace of the Lord
Lack of trust in God’s provisions can open the door for a demon of money and greed to come and oppress.
Not following God’s commandments to live a pure and holy life can open the door to many different types of demons: alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, and pornography. The believer quenches the Spirit and His power
The oppression can be so severe that the enemy can come to steal, kill, and destroy like Jesus said [John 10:10].
BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS BEING SET FREE FROM DEMONIC OPPRESSION :
The Word of God states, as the apostle John write to believers: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and
walk in darkness
, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if
we walk in the light
as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and
the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin
. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
” 1 John 1:6-9 NKJV
The LORD says He will look on him with a poor and a contrite spirit, and who trembles at His word.” [Is. 66:2]
“The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 34:18
Repent
; come to the Lord with a broken repentant spirit seeking deliverance. Confess your sins to the Lord and confess the moment that you opened the door for the enemy to come in. Jesus is faithful to forgive all your sins.
God said: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil…Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:16, 18 NKJV
Paul said: “Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonian 5:22-23 NKJV
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