Difference between revisions of "Can a Christian have a demon?"

Revision as of 00:11, 10 January 2011

The answer is emphatically yes! If you have been taught that this is not so, then please keep reading and let the Holy Spirit guide you in this matter.

I am aware that there has been much teaching to the effect that Christians cannot have demons, but from my own experience in ministering during the past fourteen years I have found that to be totally incorrect.

CORRECT TRANSLATION

In the first place, we should understand clearly that you can have a demon without being demon possessed. The King James Version incorrectly translates the word "demonised" as "possessed" and this leaves people with the impression that if they have a spirit attacking them, or if they have a demon, then they are possessed by a demon. There is nothing in the Greek

translation to support the word "possessed". Scholars make the point that the use of this word has frightened many people who think that if they have a demon, then they are "possessed". There can of course be true demon possession when a person's whole personality and being are given over to the influence and total possession by demonic forces, but in my experience this is comparatively rare. The more correct translation is shown in scriptures such as:

"Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; .Mark 1:23

Another correct form is to describe a person as "having a demon

"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'." Matt.11:18)

"For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him, and she came and fell at his feet." Matt 7:25.

Some people recoil at the thought that our body can simultaneously be inhabited both by the Holy Spirit and by a demon. Only God knows the true state of a person's heart, and although many profess to have totally yielded their lives in every respect to Jesus Christ, nevertheless at times we find that certain sinful attitudes persist within believers and this gives ground for Satan to have a foothold.

SPIRIT-FILLED BELIEVERS

I have ministered to thousands of Spirit-filled believers of many years standing who have been attacked by, and were under the influence of forces which they could not understand. For example, a Pentecostal pastor of some twenty years' experience, in good standing in his church, came to me on one occasion because of a breathing problem. As I prayed with him, the Holy Spirit indicated that the source of the problem was a demon.

As 1 came against this demon of affliction in the name of Jesus, the spirit spoke out of this man and said that it would not leave him as this had been his house for over thirty years. In response to further ministry, the demon finally left with a great scream, but not before it was identified as the demon of monkey god. This particular pastor came from a Hindu background and this monkey god which his ancestors had worshipped over many years had followed him and entered his body at conception, with the result that it had brought with it a spirit of sickness.

After further prayer, the pastor was completely delivered from the spirit and was set free from the asthmatic problem which had bothered him for so long. This man had been born again and preached the gospel for many years, having been baptised in the Holy Spirit at a young age and was leading a good life. However this demonic power had found a place in his body from before birth.

On another occasion I was invited to speak at a conference of a Spirit-filled organisation involving members from many denominations from all around that country. On the first evening I made a call for repentance and among the people who came out was the secretary's son, aged 33 years.

The father came to me afterwards and rejoiced that his son had responded to the repentance call. He said that his son seemed to have problems which would not yield to ministry. His son had been brought up in a Pentecostal church from birth but there seemed to be some intractable problems binding him.

EXPERIENCES AT CONVENTIONS

There were two of us ministering at this convention, and as the other speaker finished the following night we stood together at the front of the platform prepared to minister to those in the convention. Without warning, a dreadful sound started up from one side of the meeting and I looked over to see the 33 year old son of the secretary manifesting in a terrible manner. His arms and legs were flying about and he was screaming in an incoherent fashion. Suddenly he seemed to leap in the air and travel in a supernatural way some ten metres towards us at about two metres off the ground. The other preacher yelled out to me, "Get out of the way, Bill!" We jumped out of the way and this man fell on the ground in the very place where we had been standing.

Some eight men jumped on him to try to hold him down as these dreadful noises came from him.

The other speaker told me that I should minister in this situation, so taking authority in the name of Jesus, I asked the men to get off this young man and 1 commanded the demon to be quiet. The man lay there and, as I prayed for him his eyes became tightly closed because the demons did not want to see me looking at him. By forcing the eyelids up, I could clearly see the demons in the man's eyes. He then began to wriggle backwards like a snake in front of 400 people who were assembled. He disappeared under various chairs and tables but, during the following hour, he was completely delivered. The only person objecting to the deliverance was a woman spiritist who had heard me speak on a radio programme earlier in the day.

Without invitation she walked into the meeting during the course of the deliverance, obviously drawn by the spirit which was within her. She objected violently to the ministry but I soon found that she was a spiritist, and told her to keep quiet.

Finally the man was delivered and stood up praising God, knowing that all the demon power had left him. The next morning, he stood before the convention and gave his testimony. He knew he was now free from all the forces which had been operating within him and twisting his life and tormenting him. I subsequently prayed for nearly every local leader in that organisation as they all sought deliverance from spirits binding them.

Following that particular convention, I was invited along with the other speaker to attend a similar convention held in another part of the same country. This convention also consisted of Spirit-filled Christians, all of whom claimed to be baptised in the Holy Spirit. There were some 300 people present.

As we arrived, we were told that the topic for this particular convention was to be "Freedom from Oppressive Spirits". We felt that we had seen enough of demons for a while but now we were being called to minister again in this dimension.

Following a two hour teaching session, when we described the effect of demonic powers on people and how demons operate. a number of people came to me and asked whether I felt that they were bound by oppressive spirits. 1 suggested to the other speaker that, at the conclusion of his talk, we should perhaps have a mass prayer for deliverance. In due course, he completed his talk and then invited those who felt that they had problems to come forward. Approximately 100 of those present came and stood at the front of the meeting. The other speaker had to leave immediately due to a further engagement, and I was left with these people waiting for help. I called on the Lord Jesus Christ to guide me and was given clear direction to take authority over the demon powers, binding them. As I did so in the name of Jesus, many of the people fell to the ground with demons manifesting in a dramatic way. Some slithered as snakes, others were screaming, and altogether it was an incredible sight.

I stood in front of groups of ten at a time and commanded the demons to be bound in the name of Jesus. With some people, the Lord clearly indicated the source of the problem, namely wrong relationships and wrong attitudes to parents, and the demons left screaming as we took authority in these areas.

Due to the shortage of time, we were able to minister to the people for only about one hour, but fortunately there was a brother there who had experience in this ministry and, to the best of my knowledge, he was still ministering to some of these people several months later.

All of these people came from Spirit-filled churches which claimed the baptism in the Holy Spirit but you can be sure that their local churches no longer teach that Christians cannot have demons.

SICKNESS

If we accept that the source of much sickness is from the devil, then we must also accept that Christians who have sickness in their body could have spirits attacking them which are from the devil. We remember the woman who was bound by the spirit of infirmity for eighteen years and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up:

"But when Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said to her, 'Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.'

And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God." Luke 13:12-13.

My experience of such sicknesses as asthma, arthritis, cancer and heart attacks is that they can have a demonic source. When the sufferer is properly counselled in the area of repentance, particularly in the area of forgiveness and relationships with other people, then the Holy Spirit is free to act in the power of healing. In the case of a child suffering from asthma, oftentimes the spirit enters the child through disagreement on the part of the parents. When they are properly counselled, the spirit departs from the child. Sometimes of course the spirit is of an hereditary nature and has come down through several generations. We sometimes find, for example, that the spirit of asthma has been present in earlier generations, having entered through sin on the part of some earlier member of the family. When this power is cut off in the name of Jesus, then the spirit of asthma leaves the sufferer.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

To sum up, we are in spiritual warfare. Even though we have turned our hearts and minds over to God and seek to yield to Him, there can be hereditary spirits which bind us and from which we need deliverance. It is noteworthy that the gift of discernment of spirits in<a href="/KBJ/bible_study/av/1co012.htm">I Corinthians 12</a>, like the other gifts referred to in that chapter, is for the body of Christ. In other words, the gift is there to discern spiritual forces which are attacking members of Christ's body, namely our fellow Christians, and when they come for help we must be able to discern these spirits.

Too often, I find that people who should be receiving help in their own churches are bound by demonic forces which are affecting their personality or their physical wellbeing, or both. Because their churches do not operate in the deliverance ministry, these people remain bound until they seek help elsewhere. They are prayed for without result because those praying for them do not believe that a Christian can have a demon. When the spiritual forces attacking them are properly discerned, then they are set free and are able to say. "Hallelujah... Jesus is indeed Lord!" Jesus went about healing all who were oppressed of the devil Acts 10:38. The devil has not ceased to try to oppress the Christians, so let us be aware that this ministry is just as valid as in the days of the early church.

MASONIC LODGE

Another form of hereditary oppression can come through the Masonic Lodge. This Lodge which worships the gods of Baal and Ashtaroth, was founded in England in 1717 as a universal religion. Jesus is not central and the oaths taken are totally contrary to the Word of God. The person whose parents have belonged to that Lodge may well find that they are under a spirit of oppression. Until they renounce the involvement of their parents or ancestors in that Lodge, forgive their parents and ancestors and command the familiar spirit of Freemasonry to depart. they will find there is an occultic influence over them. They will have difficulty in witnessing to the presence and power of God in their lives. Many well meaning Christians belong to the Freemasonry Lodge without realising its origin and the source of oppression upon them.

I well recall a leading member of a Christian organisation who came to me because he and his wife were having some problems. The Holy Spirit quickly showed that this man had been a member of the Freemasonry Lodge approximately twenty five years earlier, and although he had left the Lodge he had never formally severed his connections with it, and in fact still had some of the regalia in his home. Like the other persons referred to earlier, this man was a Spirit-filled, tongue-speaking Christian of high standing in a Pentecostal church. He readily agreed to renounce again all involvement with the Freemasonry Lodge and to burn the regalia.

After he had made this renunciation and the deliverance ministry commenced, a demon clearly manifested itself through this man. It threw him on the floor like a snake and he slithered along the floor and up the wall of the bedroom. His wife was horrified. Finally the demon left him. The power of the strong man had been bound and, as often happens in the deliverance ministry, the man was left weak after the strong man had departed. We prayed again that he be filled with the Holy Spirit. He rested for approximately two hours before he regained his full strength.

I met him one year later and both he and his wife were changed persons. They were rejoicing in the fullness of the power of the Holy Spirit. The demonic force of Freemasonry had so bound this man that even though he had left the Lodge, their marriage had been seriously disturbed. Now there was tremendous healing and rejoicing because the power of the Holy Spirit was able to fully operate in their lives.

Yes, we can be free. Rejoice, saith the Lord, for we can be free!

Our body is intended to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Only God knows the state of our heart,

For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." I Sam.16:7.

OUR HEART

Our heart itself can be described like a house.

"The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart." (rooms of the belly) Proverbs 20:27

We can open one door and let Jesus come in as Saviour, but have we let Him in fully as Lord? This involves opening all the dark recesses of our heart to the power of the Holy Spirit. Some of us stop short of doing this and hold within our heart envy, jealousy, fear, rebellion, Unforgiveness, and other wrong attitudes which in turn give Satan power to operate in our lives and bring in his demon powers. In Acts 5:3, we read the words of Peter, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?"

Peter discerned a wrong spirit on the part of both Ananias and Sapphira with the result that they both died. It is noteworthy that they were followers of JESUS CHRIST or what we later called Christians.

Yes, as we have said in the foregoing, we are in spiritual warfare. Satan is a legalist, and if he can find any legal ground on which he can establish his right to occupy part of our being because of sin, then he will immediately occupy that ground. Even God Himself will permit a Christian to be attacked when the Christian is unforgiving.

"And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

"So my heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses." Matt.18:34-35

The torturers referred to here are clearly demons. It is therefore clear that we must walk before God in true repentance and continue to resist the devil. It is also clear that Christians can have demons sometimes from inheritance as the result of the sins of their parents or forefathers and sometimes as a result of their own sins. Thus we have the need for the gift of discernment of spirits in the body of Christ to help discern these demon powers and see the other members of the body of Christ set free.