Demons & Authority in Christ

[Chad]

A Demon-Possessed Man Healed

1 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”
8 For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” 9 Then He asked him, “What is your name?”

And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.

Definition:

Legion
a regiment of the Roman army, the number of men composing which differed at different times. It originally consisted of three thousand men, but in the time of Christ consisted of six thousand, exclusive of horsemen, who were in number a tenth of the foot-men. The word is used (Matt. 26:53; Mark 5:9) to express simply a great multitude

Ephesians 6:10-18

The Whole Armor of God

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints

 

[fightngwrmwood]

From - taking on the whole armor of God - some battles require a continual surrender to Him, getting rid of all distractions and such perserverence in that armor.

In Mark, the story of the epileptic demoniac, (where the disciples can't drive it out and ask Jesus why, He responds, "This is the kind that can by driven out only by prayer."

(I have read versions- not where it says only by prayer and fasting, not sure which gospel though.)

In Luke, we are given the persepctive that Jesus told them they "must have these words constantly in mind: The Son of man is going to be delivered into the power of men."

There the words constantly really pops out to me. Here is the full version of the story:

Matthew 17:14-20
"As they were rejoining the crowd a man came up to him and went down on his knees before him. 'Lord,' he said, 'take pity on my son: he is demented and in a wretched state; he is always falling into fire and into water. I took him to your disciples and they were unable to cure him.'

"In reply, Jesus said, 'Faithless and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.' And when Jesus rebuked it the devil came out of the boy, who was cured from that moment.

"Then the disciples came privately to Jesus. 'Why were we unable to drive him out?' they asked. He answsered, 'Because you have so little faith. In truth I tell you, if your faith is the size of a mustard seed you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you."

Here I am reminded of James 4:2 (and a half)
"It is because you do not pray that you do not receive, when you do pray and you do not receive, it is because you prayed wrongly, wanting to indulge you passions."

Which reminds me of a quote from CS Lewis's Weight of Glory:
"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.  We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an igonrant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.  We are far too easily pleased."


Sometimes perhaps demons and strongholds can remain in the lives of Christians because, although we pray, we don't give Him everything. Even as I pray for miracles, I find my heart believes He can do them, but isn't sold out that He will do them. I pray that He changes that in me and for our whole body in Christ - that we become radically devoted to Him to the point of being able to drive out demons.

The Gospels suggest a constant focus of our minds and hearts, not just on his Word, but also setting aside all other desires but for His will.

 

[kindsfater]

Sometimes perhaps demons and strongholds can remain in the lives of Christians because, although we pray, we don't give Him everything. Even as I pray for miracles, I find my heart believes He can do them, but isn't sold out that He will do them. I pray that He changes that in me and for our whole body in Christ - that we become radically devoted to Him to the point of being able to drive out demons.[/
The Gospels suggest a constant focus of our minds and hearts, not just on his Word, but also setting aside all other desires but for His will.

Amen, FWW! I find this to be true in me too, but I long for God's transformation and Jesus' victory over this unbelief in me! The Holy Spirit has been speaking the word "BELIEVE!" to me for some time now but I kept questioning, "Believe what?!" and it finally sank into my spirit-man and really got hold of me this week. The Word of God, friends, church fam and posts like yours continue to confirm this word for me...PRAISE GOD! Full-hearted belief in the One who took our punishment on the cross is the key!

"The gospel of God tells us that He has given His Son to us. His son has become righteousness, holiness and redemption (see 1 Cor. 1:30).

When you believed Him as your savior, you were already perfectly joined to Him. Do you believe this?

God in His word assures us that we are joined to Christ.

God's word says that since He gives His Son to us as life, we must positively, believe in Him as our life. Thus shall He manifest all that He is through us.

Do we believe this? All that is Christ's is ours. Do we believe that God has given us His holiness, perfection, life, power and riches?

Do we believe that Christ is now our righteousness and sanctification and redemption? Do we believe that He is presently living out His life in us?

Just as in initial salvation we previously believed Him to be our righteousness, so today let us likewise believe Him to be our holiness.

How do we receive this gift? By doing nothing; let us simply accept it. As we believe God's word, we receive His gift. This is the gospel.

I know the failure of many lies just here: they cannot believe that the Lord has already taken up His dwelling place in them and thus they will not believe the Lord overcomes for them.

Do not look at me as though to find a most energetic person, for the truth of the matter is that I feel tired every day.

Satan has come to me many times, accusing me: 'You do not feel happy and you are so cold emotionally every day; is this Christ living in you? In days past you were frigid and without feeling; now you are still frigid and without feeling. Is this the victory of Christ?' When this happens, God gives me an answer at once: 'If I feel, then I am living; but if I believe, then it is the Son of God who is living. I feel with my flesh, but I believe in the Son of God. I feel with physical senses, but I believe in the word of God.'

Hence you should pray: 'O God, I praise and thank You that what I feel is nothing, for in this matter the biggest lie of Satan is feeling; it is a close ally of the enemy himself. O God, I thank You that I can believe Your word instead of my feeling. For only Your word is true, whereas feeling is undependable.'

As you let go and believe, you shall see the son of God fighting on your behalf. He will gain the victory for you.

Praise the Lord that from ancient days to the present hour there is only one Overcomer in the whole universe! Praise Him that all the people in the world are feeble! We are all defeated, we are all useless! The Lord alone is Victor! We cannot help but boast in Christ Jesus! For in truth, what have we that has not been received? Of what can we boast? Praise to the Lord, we have not changed, we have only been exchanged!" Watchman Nee, "The Life that Wins"

I know this is a bit off subject and I apologize, but I guess reading your reply, FWW, was just another confirmation for my spirit-man and I got a little excited! I PRAISE GOD, that it's ALL HIM and none of me!!!! I thank the Lord that He lives in me and thru me!!! (Gal. 2:20, John 15:5) I praise God that victory is not dependent on how I feel or on me at all but simply in believing in Jesus as the Overcomer! AMEN and thank You Lord!

 

[sheep9999]

Lord bless us with the faith to move mountains. To cast out demons, to heal the sick and to really move in Your will. The promises of God are there in Your word. Let those promises flow from our minds and get seeded into our hearts and attach themselves to our spirits.

Let the fire of God blaze through the body of Christ that all Your children would produce such a harvest of love, joy and peace that no devil in hell could touch. I break the powers and plans that the devil has against us and speak live into the purposes of God. I ask all these things for all the saints, in Jesus mighty name.

sheep

 

[fbipeeper]

Which Mod Just Deleated My Post And Why? I Would Like To Know What It Was I Said That Was Not Fact

 

[fbipeeper]

Which Mod Just Deleated My Post And Why? I Would Like To Know What It Was I Said That Was Not Fact

IM STILL WAITING FOR THE MOD WHO DELEATED MY POST TO MESSAGE ME ON HERE, MAIL ME AT [email protected], OR AIM ME AT FBIPEEPERJR TO EXPLAIN WHAT I SAID THAT WAS NOT FACT. I POINTED OUT A TOOL OF THE DEVIL AND WHAT TO LOOK FOR AND YOU DELEATED IT FASTER THEN A RABBIT RUNS FROM A FOX, SO WHAT I WANT TO KNOW FROM YOU IS DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TOOL OF THE DEVIL? OR DO YOU JUST FEEL YOU KNOW BETTER. If YOU FEEL YOU KNOW BETTER THEN HAVE THE BOLDNESS TO TALK WITH ME AND PROVE YOUR POINT COWARD, OR JUST HIDE IN THE SHADOWS. I WILL NOT BE PART OF A FORUM THAT HELPS THE DEVIL.

 

[Chad]

Are you serious? Your waiting and posted two times in 8 minutes? Are we obligated to answer you? No. You posted, it was deleted with reason. It had nothing to do with demons and authority in Christ. You pointed something that was fruitless.

Also, do not SHOUT with all caps. That is rude and not called for.

 

[sunshine307]

I did try to send you a pm here but it says you have chosen not to receive pms here. I am also doing other things here, but I do apologise for the delay. Chad has answered just what I was going to say anyway.

 

[Chad]

Would you all like to read the friendly email I just received from this "fbi"peeper (did you read carefully the username? FBIpeeper) [fraud, not FBi anyway].

Here is the friendly email I just received from the lil demon:

Don't bother to ban, you can just deleate my account. God is not in charge as you say, YOU are in charge in editing words of God. The post you deleated had FULL basis is fact, and you didn't want it on your site, showing that you are NOT of God no matter what you may think.
I'm not going to be on a forum that has satan on the edit trigger. It was not my "opinions" you deleated, it was full factual data that could be backed up by hundreds of third party data, but you would rather be ignorant and follow the devil lol....

And I demanded an account because I can. You hide your satanic ways, and I DEMANDED to know why. Now I see.
Good luck with the whole devil worshipping thing lol... Oh, and you have fun pressing the trigger on other people's posts then claiming it was God, I'm glad you have that view of yourself lol.

The best thing about this is that GOD will bring His perfect justice on this person. I'm grateful. Thank you Jesus. I love being persecuted for You. We'll see who is "lol" in the end.