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Warnings on Spiritual Battles
In spiritual warfare one needs
to be aware of all the people out there who are “making a living”
doing exorcisms and who give true deliverance a bad reputation.
Remember Satan will do anything to discredit the work that true
warriors do and if he can make it appear that deliverance is all
fakery he will do so. Unfortunately many well meaning Christians
fall into this without even realizing it.
There have been countless
television programs about deliverance, books written about
deliverance as well as tons of information available on the
internet. In a recent internet search I found over a quarter of a
million websites dealing with deliverance from demons in one way or
another. It is a multi-million dollar industry playing off of fear,
mental issues and showmanship. There are huge discrepancies among
many of these with each saying their way is the only correct way.
There is no way every one of these are correct. That is why we
instruct you to follow the word of God.
As mentioned earlier a demon
can and will admit that Jesus is the son of God. This does not cause
them pain. Another common misconception that is often seen is
someone who will lay a Bible on a demon possessed person with the
belief that it will somehow cause the demon pain and cause it to
leave. This is simply not true; it is just one of those ritualistic
things that have taken hold with no basis in fact. There are people
who have demons that go to church and these folks carry Bibles all
the time. Obviously if this caused a demon pain this would not be
possible.
It is important that you not
get caught up in some of these methods. Not everyone is going to go
into battle the same way in every situation. Not everyone is going
to face the same types of demons. Not everyone may be called to face
a demon but it is our responsibility as a Christian to be ready to
step forward if called to do so. Should this be the case, there is
no “how to” manual to go by other than the word of God.
Many people when first
learning about spiritual warfare get caught up in the excitement
that can develop. It can be exhilarating when one first truly
experiences the power and authority over the demons. People start
seeing demons in everyone and everything and take it way overboard
deciding this is the best thing ever. As they learn about authority
and power they tend to get cocky. In Luke 10:17-20 we see where the
disciples return and are rejoicing saying even the devils were
subjected unto them and Jesus cautions them against this. Jesus
tells them that he has given them power over the enemy but that
shouldn’t be why they were happy but should be happy that their name
was written in the book of life. Jesus warns of this because it can
lead to a feeling of “look what I can do” which can lead to people
getting caught up in pride and self righteousness among other
things.
One never knows when that
first encounter on the spiritual battlefield will take place, which
is why it is always so crucial to be ready. You have to be
spiritually prepared at all times. In order to be spiritually
prepared one must stay “prayed up, read up, and always on guard” to
defend should it become necessary and you come under attack. You
have to be strong and able to defend yourself from attacks before
you can go out and effectively fight for others.
Many of the things that we
face in a day to day basis that we try to fight in the natural are
actually spiritual. From the feeling of “the blues” to fear to
worrying, all could have a basis in spiritual attacks. Demons are
not always going to make themselves known, in fact rarely will one
be aware of them unless you have discerning of spirits. Also another
common mistake made is not recognizing that demons actually can
cause more trouble than one gives them credit for. Not all demons
are spirits of murder, suicide, depression, witchcraft,
homosexuality, etc. There are also spirits of fear, worry, vanity,
guilt, religion and more. Demons actually can and do specialize in
certain things. While all are capable of pretty much anything you
will have demons that enjoy certain things more than others and they
will play games with you if you do not know what you are doing.
While we’re on this subject
let us go on to clarify something. Many times people will “ask a
demon its name” and it will reply something like murder, rape, or
whatever. Do not be deceived, this is not the demon’s name, this is
the type demon that it is. Once again this is a case of someone
playing around and not really knowing what they are doing. Let us
emphasize Jesus did not have to know a demon’s name to cast it out
as we have seen from several of the earlier lessons. The ability to
cast out a demon does not require knowing its “name, rank, and
serial number” to borrow an old phrase. All it requires is the power
and authority we received when we were filled with the Holy Ghost.
Before we go any further in
these lessons we want you to make sure you are ready to advance. Can
you defend against the spiritual attacks on yourself with ease? When
those spirits start whispering in your ear that no one loves you are
you able to resist them? When those spirits start telling you that a
Christian friend is lying to you, do you recognize it for what it
is? When you start feeling sorry for yourself because everything is
not going like you think it should be, do you have the ability to
rebuke these spirits and tell them to leave you alone in the name of
Jesus? You have to be able to do this before you can be an effective
spiritual warrior.