Category: Spiritual Help

Experiences and manifestations can be from many sources; physical, emotional, mental, paranormal/demonic, or from the Lord. ALL experiences need to be tested against the testimony and teachings of the tried and true written word of God. “Slain in the spirit” is an occult technique imported into Christianity, and has nothing to do with what we are taught in the Scriptures. The prophets, Apostles and Jesus Christ did not do it or teach it as something that should be done. If you have an experience, you had better check the source. Think twice before you submit to people laying hands on you for whatever reason.

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“I can understand why you felt that way,” said Ben.

“Well, Dad couldn’t,” said Judah. “What I said grieved him deeply — because he loved you. And his grief made me angrier, because — I’m ashamed to admit it — because I didn’t love you.” Judah paused and dropped his eyes. “In fact, I don’t think I loved Dad, at least not like I should have loved him. I loved me, though it still took a while for me to see this. I still thought my anger toward you was justified, righteous even.”

“I’m sure it was, at least in part,” said Ben.

Judah shook his head. “I’m pretty sure none of it was. You know, I asked Dad once why he wasn’t more angry with you. He said it was because ‘the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love’ (Psalm 103:8). I took this as Dad avoiding coming to terms with what you did and trying to use Scripture to make it look holy. So I reminded him that other Scriptures clearly show that God gets angry over sin, and so should we. To which he said something like, ‘When men get angry, God’s righteousness is rarely seen.’

“I said to him, ‘So, we’re never supposed to get angry. Ben can walk off to only God knows where with all that money you worked so hard for, blow it on whores and whatever else, and we’re not supposed to get angry? We’re just supposed to bow our heads and meekly pray that God brings him back home? I don’t think so!’

“Dad said, ‘I’m not saying we shouldn’t be angry. But the Scriptures say, “Be angry, and do not sin”’ (Psalm 4:4). I wanted to pull my hair out. ‘Tell me what you think that’s supposed to mean, Dad!’ I don’t think I’ll ever forget his answer. He said, ‘Jude, I’ve been trying to figure that out for decades. And, honestly, I don’t know if I’m getting the balance right with Ben. But what I do know is this: if God’s mercy and grace and steadfast love make him slow to anger toward his sinful children — of which I am one — then when my children sin, that’s what I want them to experience from me.’”

Both men were quiet for a moment. Then Judah said, “That’s when I realized loveless anger cannot be righteous anger. It’s also when I realized just how not like Dad I was, not to mention just how not like God I was.”

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Mormons made the “burning in the breast” standard fare for their followers, but now a large cross section of Christendom has been taught to judge everything by similar criteria. Modern Christians are, for the most part, not being taught to submit to the Word of God — but rather to the way they feel emotionally. The phrase “I think” has been replace by the phrase “I feel”. This is partially due to influences from the New Age through movies like Star Wars. But in the last twenty years teachers in the Church have taught a whole generation to rely on their feelings.

Emotions are a part of the realm of the flesh and the mind (soul). Emotions can be used by God, but often they are a way for the enemy to get Christians away from the truths of the Bible and gain a foothold in their lives.

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Jesus made it clear that there are things which defile a man, meaning, they make the man unclean spiritually. Do we dare say that a Christian can do such things, and not have Jesus’ words apply to them?

Matthew 15:18-20, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”

Apparently, the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to warn the believers that through bitterness, they can become spiritually defiled:

Hebrews 12:15, “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”

When Jesus shed His blood for our spiritual freedom and physical healing, does this apply to believers or those who reject Christ? In Matthew chapter eight, Jesus was demonstrating what was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah when He went about casting out demons. At the same time, He was demonstrating the healing that was purchased for us through His work on the cross. Do we dare say that these things were intended to be received by those who reject Jesus?

Matthew 8:16-17, “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”

If casting out demons was only valid while Jesus was here on earth, then why did Jesus appear to His disciples after He rose from the dead, and told them that His children will be casting out demons as well? Also, why did the early church go about casting out demons as well? The fact is that the early church went about casting out demons, long after Jesus went on to be with the Father.

Mark 16:17, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils…”

Acts 8:6-7, “And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.”

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If Jesus could forgive sins while He was here on earth, and if all it took was removal of the demon’s legal grounds in order to send them to flight, then why did Jesus go about casting out demons? The Bible is clear that He had power here on earth to remove the demon’s legal grounds through the forgiveness of sins:

Matthew 9:2-6, “And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.”

If all you had to do was get a person saved and their demons went away automatically, then what is the point in casting out demons at all? After all, are we trying to bypass salvation and just apply a patch to that person’s problem or bondage? What is the point of going through a messy deliverance session where you have to confront demons face to face and drive them out, when all you have to do is get the person saved, and all the demons go without a whim?

The truth is that this belief that Christians cannot have demons, completely undermines the whole point of casting out demons. The reason the church today does not practice deliverance is because they don’t really see the purpose of it… they think it all happens automatically, and that’s why most pastors have never cast out a demon in their life!

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This is a good question. Jesus referred to the casting out of demons as Children’s bread, referring to those who are in covenant with God. Those who have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior, are not children of God, and have no covenant with Him.

Matthew 15:26, “But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.”

If light cannot dwell with darkness, and all darkness leaves a believer’s life when they become a Christian, then why do we still have evil thoughts, desires, feelings, and bondages to lust, pornography, anger, etc. long after we accept Jesus? This is a very good question. Is there anywhere in the Bible which tells us that some darkness can remain, while other types of darkness is automatically shed at the time of salvation? No, it does not. If light could not dwell with darkness, then Paul couldn’t have had both the Holy Spirit, and evil present in him at the same time, as we can see in this passage:

Romans 7:20,21, “Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.”

Why is authority required to cast out demons, if they leave on their own the moment their legal rights are removed? It is through our authority in Christ, that we are able to drive out demons. Why did God give us this authority, if what we should really be doing is simply winning souls for Jesus?

Mark 1:27, “And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.”

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If a person comes to you, wishing to remove a demon, but refuses to accept Jesus as their Lord and savior, then the purpose of such a deliverance would be to simply fix a problem in their life. They aren’t interested in Jesus, they just want their problem solved. The truth is that you aren’t really helping them, because the root of their problem has not been addressed, and therefore no lasting results will be achieved. The demon can return before they even get to their car, because it has full rights to that person’s life!

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Signs and wonders are a dime a dozen today and have just as many evidences in false churches the occult as they do in biblical Christianity. Jesus did state that those who saw him perform miracles should have believed, though for the most part they did not. They couldn’t even tell the signs of the times (Matt. 16;1-4). People today love to be able to claim they saw or experienced a wonder or miracle from God. Perhaps this is because they want to feel like they have been touched by God personally, are holy, or simply want to be accepted by their peers. If you are going to claim you have seen or experienced a miracle from God, then that miracle must be held up to biblical criteria to prove it is a biblical Divine healing as opposed to many other forms of healing. I cover this subject later on in the chapter called “Test Everything”. True believers are careful not to use deceptive methods, to lie about experiences and signs, in order to gain converts.

2 Corinthians 4:2  Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

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After another pause, Judah said, “But you know, at least I hadn’t blown my inheritance and ruined my reputation, right? That was something! Maybe I wasn’t as godly as Dad, but I was still better than you! Or so I thought . . . till you came home. Then Dad threw you your big party and invited everyone, and everybody was celebrating the dead brother who came back to life. Everybody except me. I was angry — at you, at Dad, at God, at everyone at the party. I knew my anger wasn’t righteous, and I didn’t care. When Dad came out and pleaded with me to join the party, I lashed out at him. I was mean. No way was I going into that house. I wasn’t happy to see you. And I wanted to make Dad feel bad.”

Ben couldn’t help but cringe at these words. They were hard to hear. But they were harder for Judah to say.

Judah went on. “It wasn’t until Dad had gone back in the house and I was alone with myself that I saw the whole ugly truth: all my efforts over the years to please Dad, all my hard work, all the time I was pouring into everything I did — none of it was really for Dad’s sake. Or for God’s sake. It was all for my sake. My anger toward you and toward Dad, it was all about me — me not getting the recognition I craved and me having my shameful selfishness exposed. And it suddenly hit me: I was as much a prodigal as you had been. I was blowing my inheritance on myself as I chased my heart’s desires. I was doing it in more socially commendable ways, but they were just as selfish at the core. And I was as distant from Dad as you had been.”

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