| Using Your

_ Spiritual Authority
Using Your
Spiritual
Authority
Pat Brooks

Introduction by Don Basham

> Banner Publishing

504 LAUREL DRIVE
MONROEVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA 15146
 Scripture references are
from the New American Standard Bible,
except for a few familiar phrases
from the King James Bible.

@} 1973 by Whitaker House

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 0-88368-023-8
Banner - Publishing
_504 Laurel Drive
Monroeville, Pennsylvania 15146
(412) 372-6420
This book is dedicated to
the Lord Jesus Christ,
the
DELIVERER
 ta
ae rs
a
 Introduction

It is no secret that the Church of Jesus Christ is in the

midst of spiritual renewal. Miracles of healing, the bap-
tism in the Holy Spirit, deliverance from demonic powers,
along with other manifestations of spiritual gifts are on
_ the increase throughout the Body of Christ. Ministries pro-
claiming this dimension of God’s activity seem singularly
anointed by the Holy Spirit.
Significantly, the Spirit blesses both ministry and mes-
sage. Some Christian books published today obviously have
@ unique spiritual anointing upon them. I believe Pat
Brooks’ Using Your Spiritual Authority is one of those
books. The quiet. confidence which pervades its clear teach-
ing is eloguent testimony to the spiritual authority of
which it speaks.
Deep biblical insight and practical instruction backed by
personal experience combine to offer new spiritual victory
to every believer. My own life has been strengthened and
my own convictions deepened by reading this book. And as
I read, I found myself thanking God for the many who will
be released from Satan’s snare by wielding the spiritual
authority made real to them through these pages.

Don W. Basham
Author of
Face Up With A Miracle
and Deliver Us From Evil
 ‘Obeying the First Commandments ..... 25
‘Submitting to Earthly Authority ...... 87 _
i Binding the Spirits ...2.......0..0505 AT
Discerning of Spirits .............s+- 100
Casting Out Spirits ..............526. 73
Wrestling Against Rulers’... 0... cess ool
Keeping Your Deliverance ........... 108
 Belonging to the Lord
Jesus Christ:
Source of Authority
’ x7
RS
NE
Ay
SN
eedEN
SEENSSEEN
Ae

As a little girl growing up in the Shenendoah

Valley I had certain privileges which city
ERE
ee
Fae
RON
See
EEO
See
or
ek
Pan
AALT
children frequently miss. There were the long
walks up the hill behind our house and the
hours spent lying on the soft meadow grass.
Sometimes the gentle caress of a soft breeze on
my cheeks, as I lay there under the Dresden
china blue sky, seemed to bring an answer from
the One for whom I reached so often.
Reminiscing about those precious days now, I
realize they were mine because I belonged to my
4 family. My father happened to work near
Roanoke, Virginia, and, as one of his children, I
was entitled to the sheer joy of this environment
- because it was where we lived. There was no
way I could have provided this happy setting for
myself; it was simply my right as one of my fa-
ther’s children.
In much the same way, God longs for His own
to bask in His presence and enjoy the fresh,
_ pure breath of His Spirit in their lives—to enjoy
all He has provided for them—just because they
are in His family! How it must grieve Him to see
His children groping about in the cellars of their
lives, inhaling the foul stench of satanic decep-
tion, when they could be out in the fresh air—
11
 rejoicing in His truth, led by His Spirit,‘ond a
bathed in His love.
Once Jesus said to His followers, “If you bide
in My word, then you are ‘truly disciples of
Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free” (John 8:31, 32). The
Bible is God’s great map to lead us out of any
swamp or wasteland in which we find ourselves.
The Spirit of Truth will faithfully blow open
any cellar door we have allowed to close behind
us and beckon us to the fresh air and sunshine
of ae “life hidden with Christ in God” (Col.
3:3).
Over the years my husband has patiently
given me several good lessons on the fine art of
map reading. (Like many women, I find maps
and time tables equally bewildering and com-
plex, especially since one is almost always in a
hurry when they are needed!) Finally, Dick in-
troduced me to a revolutionary concept which
cleared much of my confusion on this subject: @
hats will only help you if you. know where you
are!
Every person born into this world has to find
his starting point on God’s map if he is ever to
discover the promised land of blessing. Everyone
must admit to himself where he is. He is at the
spot Bunyan called “the City of Destruction,” —
and all who stay there are lost. There is only one —
way out of this place, and that way is Jesus —
Christ. Unlike founders of other religions, Jesus —
never promised to show people the way to God.
Instead, he stated simply, “I am the way, and
the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Fa-
ther, but through Me” (John 14:6).
When morally upright, religious Nicodemus
12
came to Jesus one night because of a longing to
_ be sure of his standing with God, the Lord told
a him plainly that he must be born again. When
_ Nicodemus asked if this rebirth were physical,
Jesus firmly assured him otherwise. A beginning
of spiritual life was as necessary to sophisticated
Nicodemus as a beginning of physical life had
_ been. Physical birth had put him on the road of
earthly life; spiritual rebirth would set him on
the road of eternal life.
The Spirit of God brings about this new birth.
Jesus compared the Spirit’s work to the work of
nature’s wind. We can never see the wind itself,
_ but always see the results of it in the trees,
clouds, water and so on. In much the same way,
although we do not see the Holy Spirit implant-
ing divine life into a human spirit, we see some
of its results in the transformation of character
which follows. “Therefore if any man is in
Christ, he is a new creature; the old things
passed away; behold, new things have come”
(2 Cor. 5:17).
When Nicodemus was faced with this start-
ling fact, he wanted to know how such a strange
_ miracle could take place. Jesus answered by
referring to this incident in the history of Is-
_ rael’s wilderness wanderings.

“Then they set out from Mount Hor by the

way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of
Edom; and the people became impatient be-
cause of the journey. And the people spoke
against God and Moses, ‘Why have you
brought us out of Egypt to.die in the wilder-
ness? For there is no food and no water, and we
loathe this miserable food.’ And the Lord sent
13
 fiery oe among the aoe Sn a ay. bit
the people, so that many people of Israel died.
So the people came to Moses and said, ‘We
have sinned, because we have spoken against
the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord,
that He may remove the serpents from us.’
And Moses interceded for the people. Then the
Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and
set it on a standard; and it shall come about,
that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at
it, he shall live.’ And Moses made a bronze
serpent and set it on the standard; and it came
about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he
looked to the bronze serpent, he lived” (Num-
bers 21:4-9).

It is not hard to picture the bedlam in a camp

of two million people, many of whom have been
bitten by deadly snakes. There must have been
two types of reaction to Moses’ news of God’s
cure. A brief excursion into the imagination will
serve to bring them into focus.
Let us assume that “Benammi” and “David”
have both been bitten by the snakes. Writhing
in their tents and with ominous swelling in their
limbs, each hears a runner going through the
camp with this news: “God has told Moses the
cure for these snake bites. Just get someone to
bring you out to the plain where Moses has a
pe serpent in a pole. Look at it, and you will
ive!”
Benammi’s wife sends for a stretcher, but he
curses and yells at her. “Forget it, woman!” he
screams. “What I need is some antivenin, and
here some idiot is blabbering about looking at a
_brass snake on a pole! Get out of here and get
14
 es

a
m > some real help! What do you think I am—a
fool?”
os
In the tent next door, David’s wife sends for a
E stretcher and two men to carry it. David says in
wonder, “Well, I don’t see how looking at a brass
4 snake hanging on a pole would really save my
life, but if God says so, I’ll do it.”
Without a second’s hesitation we may flatly
state that Benammi died, but David lived. Why?
Because God’s Word says so. All who obeyed
lived. David chose the way of escape from death
and destruction. God had provided that way to
anyone who would take a simple look of faith.
Benammi died in his unbelief.
Just as the dying Israelite had no hope of life
4 apart from God’s remedy, so each of us must
face the truth that we are spiritually dead until
-_ we take that look of faith at Jesus Christ on the
cross, where He died to suffer the penalty for our
sins. In fact, the bronze serpent is merely Sec-
ond Corinthians 5:21 in picture form: “He made
~ Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
that we might become the righteousness of God
in Him.”
Sometime ago I had the privilege of sharing
_ this graphic, scriptural confrontation with a
young couple whose hearts the Lord had
prepared. Just as I always do at this point in the
story, I asked this man and wife if they under-
stood what it meant to take the look of faith—
and if they felt ready to take such a step them-
selves. Without any hesitation, they both said
4 they did understand and were ready to receive
- Christ as Savior and Lord.
Then Carole told her husband and me this
amazing story. Eleven years before she had gone
15
 to a Billy Graham crusade and had felt just the —
same way (i.e., that she should make a decision —
for Christ). However, her date that night had
been mocking the entire meeting, and she was —
afraid he would laugh at her if she went for-
ward. Therefore she decided to wait until the
next morning to commit her life to Christ, but
try as she might, she could not believe the same
way the next day! Burying her face in her
hands, she confessed, “I’ve never felt that way
again until tonight—never understood it again
clearly until now. I’d never let this opportunity
slip by without coming to Christ.”
The joy in that home that night can be yours
- right there where you are reading, if you under-
stand the issue as clearly as that young couple
did and commit your life to Christ at this mo-
ment. Don’t depend on seeing it clearly some >
other time. The Bible says, “Now is the day of
salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Who really knows if he
will have tomorrow, anyway? The moment we
get light from God is the time to walk in it. If
_ you have never before said that final, eternal
“ves” to Jesus Christ, just bow your head and
say something like this to Him: “Lord, I know
I’m a sinner, and there’s not a thing I ever tried
- which really changed me completely on the in-
side. Thank you for dying for my sin. Now I in-
vite you to come into my life and live out your
resurrection life through me, cleansing me from —
my fatal snake bite of sin with your precious
Blood.”
_ It was no accident that God used snakes to
punish His people for their sin. In the garden of
Eden, Eve (whom Scripture calls the mother of
all living), passed on her spiritual mutation to
16
 yes

gseeRAS ese race when she doubted God’s

a Word and believed the serpent’s lie. Since then
humanity has been bitten with the fatal snake
i bite of sin, for which God Himself has the only
%
: The Lord’s perfect righteousness demanded
_the death penalty for sin, but His perfect love
made Him leave the judge’s bench and come
down to us in Christ to suffer it for our sakes.
Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without shedding of blood
there is no forgiveness.” John the Baptist un-
derstood this mystery when he recognized Jesus
as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world!” (John 1:29). All the unblemished
lambs slain on Old Testament altars were but
types and shadows of the sinless, peerless Lamb
who shed His blood for the sin of everyone in
the world who will believe Him. :
Once we see this by faith, we put away for-
ever any notion that we can save ourselves. All
we can do is humbly thank the Lord Jesus
Christ for conquering sin and death on Calvary
and having proved His victory by being raised
from the dead. We repent—turn back from the
road we have been traveling which leads to
death and hell—and start going in the exact op-
posite direction toward eternal life and heaven, —
Such a change causes, first of all, a profoundly
different attitude. The things we once loved we
hate; the things we once hated we love. Some
people and places have now vanished from our
_ lives, for they are still part of that city we have
left, and they have no desire to follow us. Yet on
this new road there are amazing landmarks and
| ‘precious people with whom to share them. Our
- new lives are not empty, but fuller than we ever
17
 "Re OLR ay gee ire
Fite < : =

deemed eo: while we werestilldealona the |

‘inside.
My home sits just a few sdeed ‘yards from
the Adirondack Northway—a superhighway to
Montreal from the New York Thruway. In the
summer traffic is heavy, not only with cars
bound for Canada, but also with those headed
for the lovely lakes to the north. People take
this road because it is the safest, fastest, best
route to their destination, as any map will
clearly show.
In much the same way, Scripture points out a
highway to those who have been born into the
_ family of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Trying
‘other roads invites delays at best and disaster at
worst. Therefore it behooves us to find this ex-
cellent road early in our journey and travel on it
for the rest of our lives. The prophet Isaiah called
it “the highway of holiness,” whereas the apostle
Paul pointed it out as the way of the exchanged
life. He summarized it in Galatians 2:20. “I have
been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Him-
self up for me.’
The detailed portions of the map showing this
magnificent highway are in Romans 6 through 8
‘and Ephesians 1 and 2. Here God’s wonderful
plan for complete victory in the Christian life is
laid out with great precision. Briefly summar-
ized, it is a call to the believer to understand
that he can never live a life pleasing to God and
must therefore ¢ease all fruitless efforts to do so.
Rather, he must recognize that only Jesus
Christ ever could, did, or shall live a life pleasing
18
 _to God. Since we are joined to Him forever by
_ faith, we are to know the old man (our natural,
_ fleshly life) died on the cross with Him, and
— count on that fact for the rest of our earthly
lives. As our old self died in Him, so the Holy
Spirit brings new life. We are raised with Him
_ from the dead and seated “in the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:6).
In other words, because I am in Christ, His
authority is mine to use here on earth. His Holy
Spirit makes available to each believer the
power to use His authority. We may receive this
power by asking Him in faith for the baptism in
the Holy Spirit.
Shall I be a pauper or a millionaire in my spir-
- itual life? It is mine to decide. If I trust the Holy
Spirit to empower me, I can live a life in union
with my crucified, risen, ascended Lord.
Whether I see and act upon this truth will de-
termine whether I walk in victory or not.
There are millions of believers today who have ~
no trouble accepting the fact that they are one
_ with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection
(Romans 6 through 8). Yet very few realize that
_ they are also one with Him in His ascension and
present position of authority over the unseen
_ world seated at the right hand of God. The apos-
tle Paul knew that to experience this truth re-
quired special revelation from God, for he re-
- quested such light for his readers in his earnest,
magnificent prayer of Ephesians 1: 15-23.
The Lord Jesus Christ defeated Satan com-
7pletely by His atoning death on Calvary, but
- ever since then, the demon world has made it
their prime task to keep the church from discov-
ering this fact. Much current preaching em-
19
 Ca ie Ve ae Sof Sie

phasizes that a believer has all he will ever need —

at conversion, the moment of rebirth. Unfortu-
nately, such teaching fails to show that all we
ever get from God is what we appropriate by
faith. We must actively trust God for all that is
ours by inheritance, or it can not become ours in
experience. John 1:12 says, “But as many as re-
ceived Him, to them He gave the right to be-
come children of God, even to those who believe
in His name:”
A “right” implies the potential for ownership.
After a person has died and his estate has been
settled, all heirs mentioned in the will have a
right to their inheritance. However, some banks
have sizable unclaimed sums waiting for heirs
who have never appeared. Occasionally this
strange situation may have been caused by jeal-
ous relatives who never informed the rightful
heir of his inheritance. :
Likewise, with sinister malice the powers of
darkness have kept the children of God from
knowing of their full inheritance in Christ. Cun-
ning, deceptive spirits influence or close the
minds of believers with arguments designed to
' keep them from ever writing on God’s blank
checks. The inexhaustible supply of power, au-—
thority and joy deposited in their names by
Jesus Christ is unknown to thousands. Thus,
many die as spiritual paupers after living a life-
time unaware of the fortune which was theirs
for the claiming. It is God’s will for His children
to live powerful, radiant, joyful lives character-
ized by vibrant physical, mental, and spiritual
health. Yet how, many never find such victory,
simply because ‘they did not know they were en-
titled to it.
20
 Pech cinas arepeo polite hanihle people.
They would not dream of being forward or |
‘pushy” with God. Frequently they accept re-
3peated physical complaints, depression, anxiety,
_or a host of other torments because they piously
- assume these ‘to be the will of God for their lives.
_ How surprised they are to find that the Lord
- never intended such things for His children and
- is even grieved when they attribute such plans
_ to Him!
In the very beginning of His earthly ministry,
the Lord Jesus Christ appointed disciples “that
they might be with Him, and that He might
send them out to preach, and to have authority
_ to cast out the demons” (Mark 3:14 & 15). It ©
- was evidently the intent of the Lord that the
_ preaching of the gospel be accompanied by the
- deliverance ministry, and such was the practice
_ of those early believers. In Luke 10 we find that
_ the seventy were amazed that the demons were
_ subject to them in Jesus’ name. In Acts 8 we
_ read of evangelism coupled with the casting out
_ of demons and healing of the sick under the
_ Ministry of Philip the deacon. The apostle Paul
- cast a demon out of a girl following him in Acts
16.
_ Frem these widely divergent passages, we can
- gee that the ministries of power were the norm,
rather than the exception, for the early church.
_ And so they were meant to be!

“And these signs will accompany those who

have believed: in My name they will cast out
demons, they will speak with new tongues;
they will pick up serpents, and if they drink
any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they
21
| willLie ‘hands on “ihe sicke and
d theywill re- ee
cover.” (Mark 16: 17 & 18)

Although this passage of eepne has been

controversial for some, history has documented
cases of such occurrences scattered over the past
two thousand years. St. Augustine wrote that it
was to be expected that believers would speak ~
with new tongues, and occasional references to -
healings and exorcism are also found throughout
the ages. 5
In the present outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
the church is again being empowered to take the
good news to the whole man. Where believers
are taking Jesus Christ at His Word today, they
are having New Testament experiences and re-
sults. In contemporary Indonesia almost every
miracle of the Bible has been repeated many |
times, as those with childlike faith trust God to
work on their behalf as they evangelize their
land. Raisings from the dead, multitudes of
healings and deliverances, walking on the water,
seeing water changed into wine for commu-
nion—all these have been experienced by the
Indonesian church on the island of Timor. (Like
A Mighty Wind, by Mel Tari, Creation House,
1970.) In the wake of this undeniable evidence
of the power of God, multitudes of Muslims.
have forsaken the way of their fathers and have
put their trust in Jesus Christ.
In recent years North and South America
have also been experiencing increasing revival.
Miracles of healing and deliverance are happen-
ing here in thé, western world'as God awakens
His sleeping giant, the church or body of Christ.
22
 eat Wae <

ae
pi have ietgthontn, of limbs, healings,
ae deliverances become common in some
groups, but also there are occasional reports of
‘even more extraordinary miracles. Babs and Bill
Owen of Easton, Maryland, friends of the au-
thor, told us of speaking with a humble pastor in
‘Mexico who went with his elders to pray for a
twelve year old girl. She was a daughter of one
of the elders and had been murdered by enemies
of the gospel. A bullet had entered her head
from the front and come out of the back of her
neck. As the men laid hands on her and prayed,
they saw the holes close up and the flesh
restored to normal. Little pieces of neck bone
chips were forced out onto the pillow as the mir-
_acle took place. The child awoke to live again by
the mighty power of the name of Jesus Christ.
__ It is about time that the church of Jesus
Christ act as His body and take His glorious sal-
vation to a lost and dying world on His terms,
‘not ours. Of course, it is good news that Christ
died for our sins. However, it is even better news
to find out that He took all that we are and
nailed it to His cross, raising us with Him to a
new kind of life in His resurrection. In Him we
are also seated in the position of authority at
the right hand of the Father, and all His and
our enemies have been put under our feet
(Psalm 8:6; I Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians
#1222; 2:6).
No wonder He said, “Behold, I have given you
authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions,
_and over all the power of the enemy, and noth-
ing shall injure you.” (Luke 10:19)

23
werear

pines
eh
9 Obeying the First
Commandments

_ A brother in Christ was a practical, no-non- -

sense approach to his faith prayed this way:
“Lord Jesus, thank you for making me miserable
until I went and talked to that man as you told
_me to. I’m glad you’re the Boss and everything's
_ fine between us when I do what you say.’
- How much misery could be spared a mullti-
BS of God's people if they only understood
this!
Everywhere Jesus Christ preached, He
stressed the need for people to repent and be-
_ lieve the gospel. Not long ago we had a vivid il-
_lustration in our New Testament Fellowship of
what it meant to repent. A mightily-anointed,
-yet childlike brother, got up in front of the
adults and children present and began walking
In one direction. Then he said, “Now I repent.”
_ He turned around, and began to walk in the op-
_ posite direction.
- Nothing less than this total change of direc-
tion and attitude is Biblical salvation, and we do
_no kindness to people if we try to convince them |
otherwise. Surely no tragedy will equal the
plight of those at the final judgment who sin-
-cerely believed they were right with God—but
Who were sincerely wrong.
25
 a
Jesus did‘hot et onane Cros that we Lge :
remain exactly what we have always been and —
continue in the behavior that drove the nails
into His flesh. Rather, He offered His blood for —
our sins so that He might have the opportunity |
to live His own life through us and to show
those around us what a profound and total
_ change this transaction can make in a life.
The first two of the ten commandments make
it clear that God intends to be absolute Lord of
our lives, the object of all our worship and the
motivation for all our service. Yet no sin is so
universal to humanity as idolatry. In the
Western Hemisphere, hedonism, intellectualism,
politics and human relationships often crowd
God out of first place in our lives. With proper
teaching, committed Christians can generally
see that these things are wrong when they domi-
nate the life. However, there is a far more dan-
gerous form of idolatry which some believers
take quite lightly. It is the threat of occultism.
Currently, popular occult practices such as.
fortune telling and astrology in the civilized
world have their counterparts in the animism —
(i.e., worship of evil spirits) of primitive socie-
ties. ’ Approximately one-third of the earth’s pop-
ulation are animists in religious practice, a fact
which archaeologists, anthropologists and histori- |
ans note with equal surprise. In other words,
where areas have been affected little by modern
communication or evangelism, demon worship is
almost universal.
Whatever our reaction to such facts as these,
certain deductions seem to suggest themselves.
- First of all, there are evil powers which in some
way convey their existence to human benigs. and
26
 hold them in tae eGecond: these demons are
_ seeking worship and pose as gods to their unin-
- formed, sadly duped victims.
: Even where a society is fairly sophisticated, it.
can be fully pagan. When he apostle Paul
_ preached the gospelin Ephesus, God performed
some extraordinary miracles through him. Many
_who had been practicing magic in that area be-
came convinced of the superiority of God’s
power. They brought their books on occult in-
volvement and built a large bonfire. Scripture
records the amount of their economic loss as
_ fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19:19). Ob-
viously the Greek-speaking world of that day -
must have been on a psychic binge similar to
_ that of our own society, but with one tragic dif-
ference. First-century Christians realized that
God would not tolerate occult involvement in
_ their lives, but modem Christians are sometimes
_impudently blasé on the subject.
Sad to say, there are few contemporary bon-
fires of occult literature and games. Some have
occurred in New Guinea and Indonesia in recent
_years. Both areas have been experiencing a
mighty spiritual awakening. Recently some
_desus people in California burned occult objects
worth $3,000. Also, many individual Christians
_ are being convicted of the sin of playing with Sa-
-tan’s toys. Our fireplace is often the scene of a
_ ouija board or occult book going up in smoke!
_ A woman came to us who had become deeply
involved in the occult. We explained to her from
_the scriptures that there would have to be a
‘complete break with her occult practices first.
We told her to burn any occult books she might
_have, as well as her ouija board.
2h
 She palided the word of God as
sb wane "
plained to her. The following Saturday she and —
her two sons put the books and their ouija board —
into a small incinerator at the door of their ga-
rage. When the ouija board caught fire, a flame
leaped several feet from the incinerator, appear-
ing to run across the floor of the garage. An ap- —
parition of a woman’s face appeared in the
flame, and all three heard it scream, “Youll
burn in hell for this!”
A few days after this shattering experience,
this woman came for deliverance from evil spir-
its. A local pastor, his wife, and I worked with
her for an entire afternoon. Many demons were
cast out of her during that period, each one put-
ting up a battle of some minutes before it would
come out. Sometimes the demons would throw
her against the side of the pew or onto the floor
before they came out with loud screams.
As occasionally happens during a deliverance
session, the evil spirits in this woman spoke
right out of her, using her own mouth. Several
demons she had were connected with religious
deception. One demon, in a loud, shrieking voice
began to chant the following phrase: “No love,
no love, no love. Separate yourself! Separate
yourself! Separate yourself!”
It is my firm conviction that this woman
could never have been delivered. from her tor-
ment had she not burned her occult books and
objects. \
If we as a nation are ever to experience the
Sweeping, widespread fire of revival, there will
have to be some bonfires. There -must also be
some fires burning in the hearts of a multitude
of God’s people. God has not changed His mind
28
about. fe See énd He is dalling for mighty
repentance and a final parting with it on the
part of His Church. His word to Israel on this
subject is still relevant for us today:
“When you enter the land which the Lord
_ your God gives you, you shall not learn to
_ imitate the detestable things of those nations.
There shall not be found among you anyone
who makes his son or his daughter pass
through the fire, one who uses divination, one
_ who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets
omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell,
or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up
the dead. For whoever does these things is
_ detestable to the Lord; and because of these
detestable things the Lord your God will drive
_ them out before you. You shall be blameless
_ before the Lord your God. For those nations
which you shall dispossess, listen to those who
practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for
- you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to
- doso” (Deut. 18:9-14).

- Ignorance or indifference to this warning has

reaped, a terrifying whirlwind throughout the
world. Billy Graham says that in Great Britain
80% of the population are in some way involved
with the occult, whereas only two per cent at-
tend church. Brazil has 150 spiritist newspapers,
and seances are conducted in so-called Christian
‘services of worship. There are purported to be
thousands of witches in New York City, and the
hippie sub-culture of the United States is as en-
‘snared in occult practice as it is characterized
by drug usage.
In fact, one troubled young man confided to
my husband and me, “Astrology is where it’s at
29
 rei cae oy

these days; that’s where thebigkicksare.”‘This

boy was so controlled by strange powers that he
was able to look at a person and know under
what sign of the zodiac he had been born. Hap-
pily, this is no longer the case, for the Lord
Jesus Christ has delivered the youth from his
torment. He is now a vital, witnessing Christian.
The Bible says in Isaiah 47:13 that the Lord
challenged “the astrologers, the stargazers, the
monthly prognosticators (horoscope readers) ”’ to
save Babylon from His curse, for its ruin and
doom were certain. Genesis 11 records the prob-
able beginning of this occult practice, for the
tower of Babel was not a naive and ridiculous
attempt of man to reach toward heaven in a
physical sense. Instead, it was an attempt to
search out the heavens in the same way that
modern astrologers do. The meaning of the word
translated “tower” in Genesis 11:4 is “ziggurat,”
a tower on whose top was a zodiac. Since this
was the forerunner of the modern horoscope, it
is doubly significant that God came down and
confounded man’s first attempt to satisfy his cu-
riosity by occult means.
Fortunetelling, extrasensory perception, heal-
ing services characterized by metaphysical prac-
tice, addiction to drugs, water dowsing, parlor
games involving levitation and body lifting, as
well as the rise of religious cults, are all earmarks
of the vast occult explosion of our day. In all of
these activities supernatural powers are being
evoked who are happy to oblige the seeker with
some information to satisfy his wrong curiosity,
but God detests and condemns such behavior.
God’s Word continued to say some significant
30
“thingshaa Me ands for eupemmataral ex-
_ perience from the wrong source:

“And when they say to you, ‘Consult the

mediums and the wizards who whisper and
mutter,’ should not a people consult their God?
Should they consult the dead on behalf of the
living? To the law and to the testimony! If
they do not speak according to this word, it is
because they have no dawn” (Isaiah 8:19, 20).

“The secret things belong to the Lord our

God, but the things revealed belong to us and
to our sons forever, that we may observe all the
words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).
“So Saul died for his trespass which he com-
mitted against the Lord, because of the word
of the Lord which he did not keep; and also
because he asked counsel of a medium, making
inquiry of it, and did not inquire of the Lord.
Therefore He killed him, and turned the king-
dom to David the son of Jesse” (I Chron.
10:13, 14).
“Therefore, having these promises, beloved,
let us clense ourselves from all defilement of
- flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear
~ of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

What happens if people ignore these warnings

and experiment with forbidden spiritual powers?
They eventually become subject, to the forces
with which they once played.

“For sin shall not be master over you, for

you are not under law, but under grace. What
then? Shall we sin because we are not under
law but under grace? May it never be! Do you
31
 not know that when you present. yourselves —
to someone as slaves for obedience, you are _
slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin —
resulting in death, or of obedience resulting
in righteousness?” (Romans 6:14-16)

Our Friday night prayer meetings have often

been the scene of deliverance for those caught in
a web of occult subjection, but seldom are such
souls set completely free in a single evening.
This fact offends some people who hasten to
point out that the Lord Jesus Christ cast out
the entire legion of demons from the Gadarene
at once. For this argument we can only point
out the following facts: the Lord Jesus Christ
did a number of things during the time of His
incarnation which few of us have ever seen du-
plicated. Also, there is virtually nothing in the
account of the Gaderene’s deliverance to indi-
cate that he was seriously involved in occult
practice.
In our local New Testament Fellowship we
have observed that the deeper the occult in-
volvement of the individual, the more violent
and tortuous his deliverance is likely to be. Per-
haps this is because God has not repealed His
law of sowing and reaping, given in the Scrip-
tures above, and aptly summarized in Galatians
6:7. “Do not be deceived, Godis not mocked; for
whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
No one would suggest that Christian young
people who are loose in their morals are immune
to pregnancy or venereal disease. Yet many
seem to think. that God will wink at their occult
dabbling, and they will have no torment or
reaping from such deadly sowing.
32
 : aR Sanne wife fee mother hs came to us one \
Friday night has a history which vividly em-
phasizes the danger of occult involvement. As a
teenager, Cynthia had run around with the
wrong crowd, at one point dating a boy who was
fascinated with witchcraft. He took her to visit
-a witch only once, but Cynthia cooperated with
him to the extent of giving him a strand of hair
that the witch used to make a charm. Many
kinds of torment began in the girl’s life at that
point, including recurring, compulsive ideas of
‘suicide.
Once she renounced witchcraft and any spell
or curse which had been placed on her through
it, Cynthia was dramatically delivered of many
‘demons. She retched and moaned in terrible
pain as each one came out, often pulling on her
own hair and causing extra agony in this way.
However, when they were all gone, she was won-
derfully, gloriously free.
Christians and Christian groups who treat
psychic dabbling lightly will begin to discover
that they are increasingly unable to receive
God’s blessings. Several years ago a Christian
youth organization published an article in its
magazine suggesting that divining for water and
lost objects was a harmless pastime, and even
gave directions on how to make a divining rod!
Since that time this group has been beset by fi-
nancial need and has had to resort to many
types of pleas for funds. This organization and
others who encourage occult practice will con-
tinue to experience various kinds of need until
open confession and repentance is made for such
gross encouragement of sin in Christian youth.
33
God forbid that we wink aeorSee what =
Lord regards asanabomination!
One of the tragic harvests reaped when 1 mai
sows occult seed is the passing on of some of hi
deepest problems and torments to succeedin
generations. In the warning accompanying thi
first two commandments (Exodus 20:1-6) Gox
says He visits the iniquity of the fathers on th
children for three or four generations. Evidenth;
idolatry, demon worship, and occult involvemen
are inseparably connected, from God’s viewpoint
First Corinthians 10:20 is the climactic point iz
a passage warning believers to flee from idolatry
and even meat sacrificed to idols.

“No; but I say that the things which the

Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons,
and not to God; and I do not want you to be-
come sharers in demons.”

‘Visiting iniquity” always puzzled me unti

we began to see people being delivered fron
demons. Many demons will give their names be
fore coming out, and often these names rep
resent specific sins or wrong attitudes, such a
pride, lust, fear, unbelief, self-pity, hate or re
bellion. Slowly it began to dawn upon us that un
welcome character traits often run in certaiz
families because God literally fulfills His Wore
in this warning. God is always true to His Word
There is a “payola” connected with occult in
volvement which no informed Christian woulc
dare to inflict upon his family. However, many
have already unwittingly harmed themselve:
and their loved ones with psychic experimenta
tion. For these, it is necessary to confess eack
34
 Shtact with he Gackt as sin, no matter how
casual it may have been. To confess is to agree
with God about the sin: to accept His view of it
and turn away from it.
. For many of us, muddling through life with
:inherited torment has become a way of life
which we regard as irrevocable and which we ap-
proach with abject resignation. Praise the Lord!
~This need not be the case! But like all His other
wonderful ways, it is by no means automatic
_ just because we are born again. It still requires a
: definite act of faith and obedience on our part.
_ God’s Word says, “If they confess their ini-
quity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in
their unfaithfulness which they committed
against Me—I also was acting in hostility
against them, to bring them into the land of
their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart
becomes humbled so that they make amends for
their iniquity, then will I remember My
covenant...” (Lev. 26: 40-42).
— In 1968 my husband and I were agonizing
over our youngest son’s problem. We could find
no solution, no matter how hard we prayed. Ev-
ery morning at exactly 2:45 a.m. he would cry
out in terror, in the throes of horrible night-
‘Imares. His body would be stiff, his eyes glazed,
and the shrieks would continue for several min-
-utes even after he woke up and was being held
‘in our arms.
_ Finally the Lord sent a friend our way who
| lmew something of using his spiritual authority.
He pointed out to us that such a weird pattern
of nightmares was doubtless demonic in origin,
and probably stemmed from a hereditary prob-
lem in one of our families. He led us in a simple
35
prayer te fooek this pevchie hold,
| in Jesus’
Name. Although Billy was asleep upstairs as we
prayed in the dining room, the demonic bondage
was miraculously broken. He was never again
awakened at that hour and seldom even hasa
bad dream.
In recent years we have known many children
to be similarly delivered without being physi-
cally present, simply because their parents have
taken spiritual authority in this way: “I now
break, in the name of Jesus Christ, all psychic
heredity, and any demonic hold upon my family
line as a result of sin or disobedience in any of
my ancestors!”
How wonderful to wipe our demonic torments
which may have been inflicted upon our families
for three or four generations in a moment of
time, through the power in the matchless Name
of Jesus! Should skepticism or unbelief rob us of
such wonderful relief from Satan’s hereditary
web? How can we justify hanging on to such
spiritual filth when God commands us to cleanse
ourselves?
If we are to obey fully the first commandaic ©
and have no other gods before our living Lord,
we must rid our family closet of old idols which
rebellious ancestors may have hidden there. Cer-
tainly we must also make a clean break with all
forms of occult dabbling ourselves. When we do
so, we will be conscious of a new peace and di-
rection in our lives. We will also be freer in our
great adventure with God as we get ready for
the imminent return of Jesus Christ!

36
3 ‘Submitting to
Earthly Authority

- Amood of rebellion and anarchy is so common

_ today that many regard respect for authority as
a quaint historical phenomenon. Strikes in in-
dustry and on campus, tune-outs and sit-ins,
noisy classrooms and school halls, the rising di-
- vorce rate—all point to a state of affairs where
_ each man is doing what is right in his own eyes
_ (Judges 21:25).
However, the whims of mankind cannot affect
God’s Word. He makes it clear that He is the fi-
nal authority over His creation, and that He has
_ established orderly chains of command for the
accomplishment of His will here on earth. The
_ teaching of Romans 13 is that God has ordained
human government and purposes that it be
_ obeyed. Young people who argue otherwise are
Susually unaware of this fact or indifferent to it.
_ Yet ignoring truth does not change it. Wishing
will not make it so, and God has some stern
_things to say to those who call good evil, and
evil, good (Isaiah 5: 20-30).
; The fifth commandment (to honor one’s par-
ents) carries with it a promise of longevity and
blessing. God’s chain of command in the home is
clearly presented in Ephesians 5. Christ is to be
“Head of the home, with the husband and father
as human head directly under Him. Then the
Wife is to submit to the authority of her hus-
37
 band, whereas the children ce be in ia ne
tion to both parents. |
Larry Christenson’s excellent book, The
Christian Family,* reveals that any disruption
of this divine order will result in a breakdown of
the authority of that home. If the father is not
- submitted to Christ, he may find it difficult to
command the respect of his wife and children. If
the mother is not submitted to her husband, she
will likely find that the children rebel at her au-
thority over them. Children who do not submit
to their parents may never develop the self-dis-
cipline and power over their own will which
they need to become responsible adults.
The way out of such a vicious cycle is simply
to realize that God is the Creator of all author-
ity, and then to come under that authority in
our daily lives. Submission is an act of the will.
When we will to do what God says is right to do,
_ He honors us with deep conviction in our own.
human spirit and gives authority and credibility
to our lives as they touch others. Jesus said, “If
any man is willing to do His will, he shall know
the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I
speak from Myself” (John 7:17).
A careful study of the Scriptures on the sub-
ject of authority will reveal that authority is al-
ways delegated from a greater power above it,
upon which it depends. The centurion of Mat-
thew 8:5-13 understood this principle well, for
he based his amazing statement of faith on the
recognition that the Lord Jesus Christ represent-
ed the authority of:the heavenly Father. With
all the power.of heaven behind Him, would not
*Bethany Fellowship, Minneapolis, 1970.
 waits
fy DRS Spee pe or
eget eke hye) et
Saeeiee ae ee
7Jesus’ word carry with it instant obedience in
the unseen world? The centurion knew that his
4 own word carried the authority of the Roman
Empire behind it; he also realized that the
power behind Jesus was far greater.
- Scripture is rich with examples of those who
were blessed by God for obedience to human au-
_ thority, even when it would have been more
convenient to disobey. David refused to kill
King Saul on two occasions ominous with possi-
_ bilities, on the grounds that Saul was the Lord’s
- anointed. Saul was not even a good king, and
David already knew he was God’s choice to suc-
ceed Saul. However, David preferred to resist
the temptation to do away with his mortal en-
emy, Saul, and continued to honor Saul’s au-
_ thority until the latter’s death.
The Lord Jesus Himself, who had no earthly
_ father, chose to submit to Joseph in the plan of
_ God when he was found in the temple at the age
_ of twelve while seeking to do the will of His
_ heavenly Father. Samuel was a type of Christ in
_ his submission to Eli, and it is said of both Jesus
and Samuel that they increased in favor with _
|God and men.
A life in divine order knows Jesus Christ as
_ Lord, absolute “boss” over all human decisions.
_ It accepts His estimate of family. relationships
and takes its place without question under the
proper authority in its home. It reveres His
_ Word and makes it not only the guideline for
faith and conduct, but the final appeal in every —
argument. Such a life has the faith to say to
_ those who question “why?’—“Because God says
_ so.” It knows no vacillating from the sure course
39
 of God’s written Word off into the shoalsofae
man tradition and opinion.
_ The Lord Jesus Christ is the supreme exam-
ple of a life lived in such a way, for He never
deviated at all from the pattern laid down for
Him by His Father. Jesus never acted indepen-
_ dently. He could say, “I have come down from
~ heaven not to do My own will, but the will of
Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). And in the
great test in Gethsemane, seeking to find if
there were any way He could avoid Calvary, He
said, “Yet not My will, but Thine be done”
(Luke 22: 42).
One of the first lessons the Lord wants His
people to learn is that we are not to act indepen-
dently. His will for our lives involves our sub-
mission to His authority (i.e., quite literally con-
fessing Him as Lord), and then being His person
in all of our circumstances, submitting to the
chain of command under which He has placed
us. When we do this, we discover a strange and
wonderful thing: we ourselves are then in a posi-
tion to command respect from those answerable
to us in the same chain. The essence of success
in exercising authority, then, is to submit to au-
thority ourselves.
Perhaps the biggest single problem inj our cul-
ture today is that of floundering families. U.S.
News & World Report (April 24, 1972) said there
are 10,000 run-away children in the United.
States each week and that the divorce rate has
climbed from one out of every four marriages to
one out of thrée in the past decade. A current
best seller in England makes in its title a poig-
nant suggestion as to what is wrong: The Death
of the Family.
40
 Any thoughtful observer knows the home is in
LNeee
BRE serious trouble, but few are willing to face the
cause. Yet the increasing anarchy of our age did ~
not develop in a vacuum. Within the past cen-
tury, the Word of God has been attacked with a
diabolical viciousness never before equaled. Lib-
_ eral theology and permissiveness in education
have given many the notion that biblical author-
ity patterns are irrelevant and archaic in our
time. In the massive, subtle attack upon our in-
stitutions, none has suffered so much as the
family.
The man, once the unquestioned head of the
home, is now relegated to a position of competi-
tion and even derision by his often more aggres-
sive, dominating wife or mother. The woman, on
the other hand, secretly longing for a man who
will take his rightful role of leadership, feels that
_ she is forced into decision-making and more
forceful behavior simply because her husband has
abdicated his role. More and more she finds him
2 unbearably wishy-washy and ineffectual; he
finds she is always running things, and more in
: despair and resignation than anything else, he
lets her do it.
Stumbling through the maze of conflicts their
parents pass on to them, the children become
victims of the confusion. What they see may
- convince them that marriage is nothing but a
guarantee of misery, and they will have none of
it. They often buy the cheap philosophy of the
“love-in,” rationalizing that here, at least, they
can walk out of it whenever it becomes hard.
God is looking for Christian couples who have
the courage to swim upstream against the cur-
rent of this destructive pattern which threatens
41
 : Ad Any

to destroy eee itself. ve in homes where

- only one mate knows Jesus Christ, the case is
not hopeless. Not a few unsaved partners have
been converted through the return of their be-
lieving husband or wife to a Biblical pattern of
divine order. Where the unbelieving partner does,
not readily respond to the claims of Christ, the
home situation can still be greatly improved by
such positive action on the part of the one who is
a child of God.
_ Very simply, God is looking for wives who will
submit to their husbands and respect their hus-
bands’ authority (whether they deserve it or
not), and for husbands who will love their wives
with great unselfishness, as Christ loves the
Church. Just as important, God wants each of
us to fulfill our role as a member of the sex in
which He created us. He wants masculine men
and feminine women, and nothing short of this
goal will satisfy Him.
The road back from the “unisex” swamp is the
same approach which spells victory in any area
_ of human life: to find out what God says and act
on it. As we teach the children in Sunday
School and Bible clubs, “God has said it, I be-
lieve it, and that’s the end of it.” Dogmatic?
_ Yes, quite frankly so. It is the ancient issue of —
right and wrong, debated over and scoffed at so
freely today. Yet all around us the bitter fruit of |
“situation ethics” and moral relativism gives
mute testimony to the fact that God’s word is
right, and man is terribly wrong in trying to im-
prove on it.

Our own family was no different from millions

today. My husband and I suffered under a ma-
42 ‘
—- jor confusion of our roles, even for the first de-
cade after we were born again. Often I wondered
whether keeping our home together was worth
all the anguish and unfulfillment it cost both of
us; certainly our children knew something was
wrong, and they, too, were unhappy.
About two years ago we began to hear much
teaching on divine order in the home. We de-
cided the light we were getting was from God
and we had better walk in it. One day the Holy
Spirit spoke directly to my heart and told me to
take a permanent back seat in the home. I had
often been the decision maker; now I had to
train myself to bite my lip, say nothing, and
wait for my husband to step forward into his
rightful place as leader.
It was not easy. At first Dick did not enjoy
being forced into this position. We faced some
unpleasant times and long silences while the
children looked back and forth at both of us in
- Obvious amusement.
The first specific area over which I abdicated
an area of authority was the family budget. I
turned over check books, bills and worries to my
husband and have not troubled myself since
with anything except the household money he
gives me to spend.
One awkward incident occurred immediately
after this transfer was made. The bank returned
a rather large check which I had failed to record
when I wrote it. The overdraft came in with the
bank statement as a big surprise, and served to
be God’s way of proving to Dick that we had
_° done the right thing. I really was as unfit for
this job and as disinterested in it as I had been
protesting for years!
43
 a a om
Se

Discipline of the children was “the next big

hurdle we faced, Christenson’s book stresses
that the father should administer punishment .
when he is in the home; the mother only in his
absence. I had wanted this for years, and with
such Biblical ammunition behind me, made my _
pronouncement: if Dick waited for me to punish
the children in his presence, he’d be waiting un-
til the Rapture!
The sea was réally turbulent during the first
few months of this new policy, but a new
Daddy, increasingly less able to be manipulated
_by the children, began to emerge. I felt the real
victory arrived the day he spanked one of the
children for a poor attitude. It proved to be the
“most therapeutic punishment that the one had
received in months, and was followed by a
marked improvement in behavior.
Dick and I worked out an effective chore
schedule for the children together, but he issued
the edict that put the schedule into effect, and
it has been he who has enforced it since. Now I
do not have to be in the kitchen at dinner time
except to cook and eat. One of the four sets the
table, another clears, another loads the dish-
washer, and the fourth scours the pots and cleans
up the kitchen. We assign chores for six-month
periods. In this way it is always easy to get after
anyone who has forgotten to do his share. (No
one has the excuse of not remembering it was his
night to do a certain task!)
In the process of bringing our own home into
divine order, I have discovered that it is now
much easier to’ give my husband the respect
Ephesians 5:33 commands, and Dick is certainly —
more devoted to me than ever. Both of us feel
~ better about the example we are setting for our |
children, and especially for their opportunities
to make good marriages themselves. I am much
less subject to depression or negative moods
oe I used to be before I learned to submit to
ick.
Young people today need to realize that they
are under authority which has been placed there
by God Himself. To be subject to parents,
teachers, employers and government is not a
sign of weakness but rather of great strength.
The Lord will bring great favor on any young
person’s life who dares to stand against the tide
of rebellion in our culture today. One of the
blessings such a young person will know is the
joy of being master of his own passions, for the
fruit of the Spirit includes self-control.
My brother Bill, now a missionary, served
three years as a naval officer on an aircraft car-
rier. He led Bible studies for both officers and
enlisted men, but found both groups greatly en-
larged on the return half of the Far East cruise.
The reason? So many men had observed the
purity of his life and his refusal to indulge in im-
moral relationships while in port that they came
to Bible study to find out his secret!
When people want to get free from demonic
oppression, one of the first things we discuss
with them is getting their authority patterns
into divine order. We emphasize to them that it
is only those who honor God’s natural chain of
command who can effectively submit to Him
and resist the devil (James 4:7). If they resist
this truth, we believe it will be hard for them to
stay free after their initial deliverance, and we
prefer not to minister to them.
45
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 SN a
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aa
|

However, where individuals are willing to do ~-

the will of God, truly wonderful things can hap-
pen to their lives and those of the members of
their families. Only those who submit to rule are
fit to rule. Every child of God will one day be in
a position of authority over others in eternity (I
Cor. 6:2, 8; Luke 19:11-27). The Lord intends
that this life be our effective training ground for
the life to come in His glorious kingdom.

46
 4 Binding the a
Spirits aa

In addition to the obligation to bring our hu-

man relationships thoroughly into divine order,
we have a sacred trust given us by the Lord to
exercise the authority He gave us in the spiri-
tual realm. The Bible teaches that a full, factual
and final victory over Satan was won by the
Lord Jesus Christ through His atoning death
and resurrection. Even before Calvary, so irrevo-
cable was the word of the “Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8), that He
could claim His victory as an established fact,
and delegate His authority over the powers of.
darkness to his disciples. When His amazed fol-
lowers came back with reports that the demons
were subject to them in His name, the Lord told
them that He had seen Satan fall from heaven.
Then He gave them this extraordinary promise,
this biggest of blank checks ever passed on to
mere man, “Behold, I have given you authority
to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over
all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall in-
jure you” (Luke 10:19).
Very few Christians know what this means,
for ever since Calvary the powers of darkness
have made it their prime purpose to keep us
_ from finding out. It is the old story of living des-
titute because we do not realize the spiritual for-
tune we have inherited in Christ. How sad is the
47

eee
SE
e
 plight of the believer who lives his entire Chris-
tian life in defeat because he believes the lies the
enemy has told him.
_ The very first step out of this prison is to be-
lieve what God says. The key of His promise still
unlocks the gate of Doubting Castle and releases
us from the grip of Giant Despair. It is not
enough to believe in God. We must believe God,
or else we make Him a liar and fall into the
tragic error of Eve—talking of God’s Word, but
acting on Satan’s implanted doubts. Since God’s
word says that Jesus was truly manifested to
destroy the works of the devil, that He led cap-
tivity captive, and that He gives us authority to
tread on the powers of darkness, then we had
better begin stomping! When we do, we will .
make this amazing discovery: It works!
An argument one frequently encounters when _
the believer’s authority is taught is that the epis-
tles do not teach it, only the gospels and Acts.
Yet, the first chapter of Ephesians gives us a
majestic, panoramic view of our full inheritance
in Christ, and ends with the prayer that we
shall come to know it in our earthly experience.
There are five different Greek words connoting
“power” in verse 19, and the sense of the pas-
sage which follows is that the Lord has dele-
gated the authority to use this power to His
body, the Church. In fact, the whole passage is a
magnificent picture of divine order and author-
ity: Christ seated at the right hand of God and
thereby able to exercise His authority, then our-
selves in Him, the body carrying out the will of
the Head, and finally, under our feet (for the
feet are part of the body) “all principality and
power.” These are the powers of darkness with
48
 ees,

: shich Paul says we ects (Ephesians 6:12).

What a different attitude we shall have toward
the battle once we realize that we face only de-
feated foes!
_ These are days in which the Lord is opening
up the whole matter of body ministry. Perhaps a
‘simple example will help to show what we mean.
‘Suppose someone decides to take a walk. Can
his brain or head do this for him? No, the feet
must do the walking, but they will be unable to
move until they get orders from the brain.
Scientists tell us that every function of our body
is inoperative without control and direction
from some part of the brain. Perhaps it is for
this reason that Scripture calls Christ “the
Head” and the church “His body.” We cannot
function without vital union with Him, nor can
we expect the Head to do the work of the hands .
_and feet. It is in this latter area of our responsi-
bility to act as the body of Christ that we have
been so blinded by Satan and have so largely
failed. Jesus notes this point with a different il-
lustration in John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are
the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in
him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you
can do nothing.”
The first step toward fulfilling our proper
function is to believe God. If He says that I am
‘in Jesus as a member of His body, that the pow-
ers of darkness are beneath my feet, and that
He has given me authority to tread on them
then I can crush their activity at every turn, in
Jesus’ Name. I may be the most insignificant or
‘newest believer—indeed, only a cell in a small
toe of the body of Christ—but since evil powers
are beneath my feet, too, I will do.
49
 _ Now, aed of ade at 4 sree ‘ror
a purely human point of view, as any worldling
can, one begins to deal with the unseen powers
behind the circumstances. Is this not a basic
purpose of prayer? We know that “the effective
prayer of a righteous man can accomplish
much” (James 5:16).
The Lord Jesus Christ has told us how to deal
with demonic hindrances in Matthew 12:29. “Or
how can anyone enter the strong man’s house
and carry off his property unless he first binds
the strongman?”
Jesus often spoke of loosing people, for they
had been bound by the enemy. However, He
made it clear that we too have every right to
bind the strong powers which have previously
done the invisible chaining. These two passages
together indicate that the most successful minis:
try of this kind is possible when two believer:
agree together on it. Together they join in hear
and spirit with their risen Lord and bind the evi
powers behind a given situation, at the same
time loosing the people to do the will of God.
While I was typing these paragraphs my
phone rang, and a sister in Christ who know:
her authority in Him told me of a distressin:
- problem in her church. It seems that the
women’s group has been plagued for two month:
by a member who causes strife and bitterness ir
each of the meetings. Together my friend and |
agreed that this was the work of ‘the enemy
bound him and his demons for a Monday nigh
meeting coming up, and loosed the people to d
the will of God, in order that they might recon
cile and forgive one another. The victory wa
won; concord prevailed in the meeting.
50
Aikely to be satanic or evil hindrance, we are to
come against those powers responsible for such
Opposition in the name of Jesus. This involves
more than just praying about the matter. We
have to say to this mountain, “Be taken up and
cast into the sea” (Mark 11:23). A direct ap-
proach is absolutely necessary. A suggested com-
mand is as follows: “By the authority of my
_Yisen Savior and Lord, I bind you, Satan, and all
your evil powers disturbing this situation today,
in the name of Jesus Christ. I command you to
cease your maneuvers to hinder the Lord’s will
from being done.” Results will be instantaneous
and often dramatic.
A friend was asked to help out in a Vacation
Bible School where discipline problems had be-
come rampant. Most of the children were from
-under-privileged city homes and had not been
previously exposed to the gospel. When this be-
liever who knew her authority in Christ entered
the building, the din and confusion were so
great that she was able to speak out loud, bind-
ing the spirits as she walked down the aisle to
the speaker’s platform, without a soul realizing
what she was doing. A hush immediately fell on
the children, who listened attentively as she told
the Bible story.
It is not necessary to bind the evil spirits in
the presence of those in the situation you are
considering; indeed, it is often not even wise. In
the first place, demons communicate by telepa-
thy or ESP. In the second place, it is a rare
group that you will find prepared to hear such
commands addressed directly to the powers of
darkness. The enemy would like nothing better
51
than to stir up controversy because of misunder-
standing resulting from such a move. We are to
be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. In no
area is this caution more important than when
dealing with the powers of darkness.
During a regular Thursday morning Bible
study in 1970, my telephone rang. It was Jerry
Myers, husband of one of the women present,
calling to tell Lois of a desperate situation he
had just observed nearby. A man clad in a black
cloak was striding up and down a narrow ledge
high up on the State Office Building in Albany,
getting ready to jump. Jerry had bound the
demons in the situation, and then felt prompted
to call us so that our whole group could join in
agreement. This we did, addressing the spirit of
suicide specifically and commanding its activity
nullified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That night the news media recorded the fact
that, shortly before noon, the man stopped strid-
ing back and forth and meekly climbed back in
the window of the building—just minutes after
the spirits were bound. The reports also in-
cluded this interesting fact: never before, in the
long history of suicides from its ledge, had this
building ever received back a potential victim!
Such poignant examples can be found by any-
one who will act on these principles. We are to
be “doers of the Word, and not merely hearers
who delude themselves” (James 1:22).
It would be misleading to give the impression
that binding the spirits is to be reserved only for
small, individual situations. Many of us believe
that we are now moving into an era in God’s
plan when we will bind the demon princes who
hold entire cities, and all their underlings. We
52
v aTa ne the deat corOnaty? privilege of
loosing people within those cities who are hungry
for God.

“Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind

on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and
whatever you loose on earth shall have been
loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if
two of you agree on earth about anything that
they may ask, it shall be done for them by My
Father who is in heaven. For where two or
three have gathered together in My name,
there I am in their midst. ” (Matthew 18:18-
20)

Such moves are not to be entered into lightly,

though. They are only for obedient saints who
walk in humility with their glorified, risen Lord,
and have sought Him thoroughly for His answer
and His timing in a given situation. Fasting is
not only appropriate in such times, but perhaps
even necessary (Isaiah 58:6). If we are unwilling
to deny the routine appetites of the flesh for at
least brief periods of time, we have certainly not
yet realized that we are to be soldiers in a great
warfare. Hedonism has no place in those who
would bind vast armies in the unseen world. The
apostle Paul understood this well when he
wrote, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good sol-
dier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service
entangies himself in the affairs of everyday life,
so that he may please the one who enlisted him
as a soldier” (II Tim. 2:3, 4).
_ Perhaps the most dramatic application of
this principle in my own experience was in con-
nection with the massive demonstration of
young radicals in Washington, D.C., during the
53
4
May Day rock cid in 1971. L was ee i
charismatic conference in Fairfax, Virginia, the
week prior to the May Day activities. There I
met a perceptive believer who had had a vision
of the Capitol building a few nights before. She
had seen it loom before her with a huge Ameri-
can Indian spirit poised over its dome. She felt
prompted to share this revelation with a group
so that we might agree together to bind that
spirit in the name of Jesus Christ, which we did.
It is now history that the widespread destruc-
tion planned for that weekend never amounted
to much. Yet police and other government agen-
cies were expecting serious trouble, and were re-
lieved that the weekend did not include great
bloodshed.
The most diabolical of human plans require
demonic aid for their completion; hence the rela-
tive impotence of the human vessels when they
are not so aided. A good example of binding the
spirits in a situation which seemed hopeless for
many years was in the recent end of United
States involvement in the Vietnam war and re-
lease of our prisoners of war. Countless Chris-
tians had been praying to these ends for years.
However, some months before the cease fire, our
New Testament Fellowship began binding the
spirits in this situation, and we are confident
that God led other groups to do the same thing.
Perhaps the release of millions of prisoners be-
hind the Iron and Bamboo curtains can be
brought about in a similar way. Certainly such a
desperate need makes it worthwhile for believers
everywhere to’ seek God about His will and tim-
ing in such exercise of our authority. We can
trust God to instruct us when, where and how
54
 ane ce ne faery Toe
aOR)
' _
ie AI <a
Coral i :
Ie iwiiL ‘

to act in binding the powers of darkness and

loosing human wills from their grip.
In recent weeks we have received mailings
from two excellent organizations seeking to
provide help of various kinds for persecuted
Christians in communist countries: Open Doors
with Brother Andrew (P.O. Box 2020, Orange, ©
California, 92669) and Jesus to the Communist
World. (P.O. Box 11, Glendale, California,
91209). There is no doubt in my mind that
prayer support for such endeavors is near to the
heart of God. However, such moves without cor- —
relative moves binding the spirits behind the op-
pression of Christians could prove heartbreak-
ing. We, as the Church of Jesus Christ, need to
bind the spirits directly oppressing persecuted
believers as well as those operating through
thei human oppressors. At the same time we
-can open for the believers the greatest possible
‘spiritual freedom in the midst of their circum-
stances, and pray that their oppressors do the
will of God in each case.
_ The Lord will probably allow still more to re-
ceive the supreme crown of martyrdom, as did
_twenty-year-old Vanya described in the Febru-
ary-March issue of Open Doors. However, per-
haps there will be fewer of the other type of
tragic case described in the magazine: a believer
‘imprisoned for years for her faith who suc-
-cumbed to the terrible pressures of the concen-
tration camp and denied her Lord. .
It is well to remember that everywhere in the
“New Testament we are exhorted to pray for be-
lievers and to do all that we can for the house-
hold of faith. Even the exhortation to pray for
ely rulers and authorities is “in order that
55
we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all
godliness and dignity” (I Timothy 2:2). When
Paul wrote these words, he was a prisoner of the
Roman Empire, awaiting his own execution for
the sake of Jesus Christ. ae
God is giving us hints in these days that He
plans to surprise some of the citadels of atheism
with His hand of judgment. No communist edict
could produce the grain that God withheld from
both China and Russia this past year (1972).
Suppose this lack, which reduced those nations
to unprecedented trade with the free world to
get life-saving grain, proves but the harbinger of
much more serious famine ahead? The United
States, Canada, and Australia may then well
find ourselves in the position of Joseph in the
time of the famine of Egypt—and able to de-
mand our own terms for the release of such
grain!
If Christians intercede as never before, bind
the spirits as God directs us, and communicate
to government leaders and lawmakers our will
concerning our desire for freedom of religious
prisoners in those parts of the world needing
food, who can tell what God may do? Part of our
problem in seeing so little done in the world for
the cause of righteousness is believing God for so
little. Today the Lord is looking for those who
will scoff at impossibilities and keep a firm eye of
faith upon God and His Word. Only as He has
those who meet His conditions can He gloriously
breve how literally true are such promises as
these: a :

“Truly I say. to you, whoever says to this

mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’
56
and does not doubt in his heart, but believes
that what he says is going to happen; it shall
be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all
things for which you pray and ask, believe that
you have received them, and they shall be
granted you.” (Mark 11:23, 24)

Sections for chapters 3 and 4 have been reprinted by

- permission from the author’s article, “Is There A Filiarchy
_ Near You?” in the Jan.-Feb., 1972, issue of The Christian
_ Teacher, Box 550, Wheaton, Illinois (60187).

57
. Discerning of
Spirits

A problem which has bothered many is how

believers who are using spiritual gifts can at
_ times do such foolish things. One would expect
__ those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit and
conscious of His presence and leading in their
lives to make very few mistakes. Yet the reverse
_ sometimes is true. Moreover, it is not uncommon
_ for such believers to preface a wrong move with
such a statement as “The Lord led me to do this,”
or, “God told me to tell you this.”
Such a remark puts an awkward burden on
the hearer. If he rejects the idea, he implies that
he is rejecting God’s will. If he accepts it, he
may be receiving wrong guidance as well as en-
_ couraging another believer in an erroneous prac-
-. tice. For the one who claims infallible guidance
_ the danger is even worse. Pride may sweep in,
establishing a powerful beachhead in his life. If
that believer then becomes unteachable, much
of his usefulness to the Lord is lost.
How can we avoid such a dilemma? One very
_ obvious way is to refrain from telling anyone
that “the Lord is leading us” to pursue a given
action. In this way we are freed from the temp-
tation to blame God for our own foolishness, but
- we are still able to give God the glory if our
- guidance proves genuine.
When we act unwisely, it is important to real-
59
 pe hc enttak: sellsa

ize that we
3 are ee We forifees our sin
to God in order to enjoy His bountiful love and
forgiveness in unbroken fellowship. Notions of
infallibility put us on dangerous ground.
Our verbal testimony about divine guidance is
only the tip of an iceberg, however. The bulk of
the problem lies in the unwelcome fact that we
can be wrongly led spiritually. The Word of God
warns of this danger in many passages and gives
us clear ways to protect ourselves. Because some
Christians refuse to heed these warnings, many
projects begun in the will of God have bogged
down in the quagmire of satanic deception.
It is well to know that Satan and his minions
are battling for the mind of the believer. This is
_ why Scripture stresses, “Watch over your heart
with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of
life’ (Proverbs 4:28); “as he thinks within him-
self, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7). Often our conver-
sation reveals just what kind of thoughts we
have, no matter how cleverly we feel we can
conceal them. “For the mouth speaks out of
that which fills the heart’ (Matt. 12:34).
Years ago in Africa I was puzzled by a fellow
missionary who seemed to resent spiritual dis-
cussions of any kind. She was uneasy and hostile
until a conversation would turn to secular mat-
ters. Once she confided to me that the only way
she could stand life on the field was to take
tranquilizers three times a day. When this un-
fortunate friend left Africa, she ordered her pos-
sessions to be sold. To their amazement, her fel-
low workers found many boxes full of cheap love |
stories and detective thrillers among her things.
These were the thoughts that filled her mind
and rendered it daily less fit for God’s service.
60
= “Today ie aoe of defeated Christians
_ is with us on every hand, many of whom will not
even take the trouble to read. An inquiry about
_ such a person’s daily habits often reveals long,
vacant hours spent in front of the television set,
imbibing some of the worst ideas the world has
to offer. Women sometimes spend vane hours on
the telephone, gossiping and indulging in self-
_ pity. Men find themselves being sucked into
wrong companionships at work in plant or office,
often listening to off-color jokes and cynical con-
versations. Both sexes could turn these areas of
defeat into opportunities for witness, if their
minds were saturated with the Word of God.
Yet such people seldom see their lives in the
light of Psalm 1:1-3, God’s revealed secret of the
life of victory.

‘How blessed is the man who does not walk in

the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
And he will be like a tree firmly planted by
streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season,
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”

Very simply summarized, this passage declares

that a happy, godly man is one who does not fol-
~ low the advice of the unconverted, nor find him-
~ self in agreement and close fellowship with the
- enemies of God. He is one who delights in Scrip-
_ ture, ae in it day and night. Bishlife shows
: 61
 Rie
eae

God’s favor by:the way that hedis picestalein

doing what he attempts for God.
Now by these standards many Christians will
fail to pass the test. The non-spiritual ones will
fail in verse one; the super-spiritual ones who
have followed false leadings will be shown up
easily by verses two and three. The latter, how-
ever tragically earnest they may be, are often
experience-centered and will not obey the re-
vealed Word of God; furthermore, they some-
times care very little to change the situation by
getting into the hard work of Bible study and
application to the life.
The late Ulric Jelinek, scientist and lay
preacher, used to say that anyone who means
business with God should read His Word once
through every year. Such a schedule entails
three chapters each weekday, and five each Sun-
day. (Years ago I discovered a system which
works beautifully for the purpose; it follows in
chapter 8.) Those who decide to discipline them-
selves into God’s pattern will soon discover what
these words of the Lord Jesus mean: “If you
abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of
Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free” (John 8:31, 32).
The transformation and renewing of our minds
which we are called to in Romans 12:1 and 2 re-
quires a displacement of our own negative think-
ing with God’s thoughts—His Word. Anyone
who is truly serious about wanting liberty in the
spirit and ability to discern between good and
evil spirits must dwell in the Word of God. In
this way we become accustomed to God’s ways
and principles, ‘as well as His specific deeds and
laws. In time we have a sense of rightness or
62
 b SPAY Ye eeepass) oe

; _wrongness about given situations or people, not

based on anything as flimsy as human intuition,
buton the revealed Word of God.
_ For those who want to have Jesus as Lord of
their lives and live by His Word, there is a par-
ticular ministry and gift of the Holy Spirit
which is designed to determine spiritual origin.
The gift of discerning or distinguishing of spirits
is mentioned as one of the nine gifts of the Holy
Spirit in I Corinthians 12: 9 and 10. This gift is
coming into increasing prominence and usage in
the contemporary charismatic movement be-
cause of the great need on every hand. How does
it work? What may we expect if we ask God to
give us this gift? — .
Well, first of all it is important to realize that
the gift is in the Holy Spirit—not a separate
package neatly wrapped up for us to take and
use, disregarding all the other eight gifts. It is
essential that we ask God to fill us with His
Holy Spirit; then we may be sure that He will
distribute to us such usage of the gifts as He
wills (I Corinthians 12:11). Perhaps we should
_ add here that we cannot dictate to God. It is
folly indeed to pray or secretly think, “Lord, I
want the gift of discerning of spirits, but I don’t
want the tongues.” Such a statement may reveal
what Scripture calls “an evil heart of unbelief”
(Hebrews 3:12), and could put a barrier be-
tween ourselves and a Holy God who warns us
that iniquity can prevent our prayers from being
heard and answered (Isaiah 59:2).
Secondly, God gives to us, as someone has
said, “according to our need, not our greed.” We
shall find we have this gift operative in our lives
when we need it in ministry or occasions de-
63
manding discerning of spirits. We do not just
walk around with this gift as a possession, able to —
use it by an act of our own will. Rather, the po-
tential is there for us to draw upon, from the in-
finite resources of the Holy Spirit, when He
ascertains that there is a need for its use. Some-
times He will make us aware of His checks and -
warnings in this area even when we are unaware
of a need for this kind of help.
Let me give an example of what I mean. Re-
cently in our New Testament Fellowship a visi-
tor started coming who had a background of
teaching and preaching. It so happened that we
had a need for speakers around that time, and
our board was seriously considering using this
man. Yet three of us, absolutely independent of
one another, discerned a spirit of heresy in him.
To appreciate this fully, we must clarify that
nothing he said or did in our group indicated his
error. The warning was entirely supernatural
and was given to those of us who are frequently
used of God to manifest the gift of discerning of
spirits. Each of us told members of the church
board of our concern, and on that basis the man
was not approached to teach.
_ Some weeks later we found that the visitor -
was involved with the “Jesus Only” heresy.
How grateful we were to God for His mercy and
supernatural revelation which spared us the
cancer of that error being spread in our group.
How much we need the gift of discerning of spir-
its when we assemble together as Christians,
since “the Spirit explicitly says that in later
times some will ‘fall away from the faith, paying
attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of
demons.” (I Timothy 4:1)
64
 Ea ee a
Dita
a
pa oe
%
Not all evil spirits are concerned with wrong
om

doctrine, however. In another incident, a char-

-ismatic group was troubled by a sense of cold-
ness and lack of spiritual power for some
months. Finally the group:sought God for the
reason, and one man blurted out that he had
“violent disagreement” with certain members of
the group over methods of ministry. He shared
his views with those with whom he disagreed
and with the elders of the group. Yet he could
not seem to overcome his problem with resent-
ment. Again the group sought the Lord and
asked Him for guidance. Several members of the
group had the term, “a spirit of jealousy,” come
to their minds. As they shared these experi-
ences, it was generally felt that this was the
man’s problem. However, to make certain that
they were not wrongly using or interpreting this
gift, they asked God to take care of the problem
in His way. Soon the man disassociated himself
from the group, and the former warmth and
spiritual life of the body of believers returned.
. This example will show several things about
the gift of discerning of spirits. First, it is often
given to solve a problem in a group of Christians
by pointing to the unseen enemy behind that
problem. Secondly, it is seldom if ever a private
revelation. God sees to it that several in a given
group receive the same information, which
serves to confirm it to the whole group. Thirdly,
it is not a gift which can be used without the
operation of other gifts as well. When the
presence of an evil spirit has been verified by the
Holy Spirit and its identity named, there is still
need for the word of wisdom to know what to do
about such knowledge. The ideal situation (and
65
 Ada OY MUN aes ae Mens:

the one, happily, that we usually see) is that the

person is able to face up to the presence of that.
spirit so that he may renounce it and cast it out
or have it cast out. (See chapter 6 for details on
this subject.) However, when the person is un-
willing to face up to his problem, as was the case
in each of the two examples just given, the
church or body of believers locally must decide
what to do about the situation to avoid harm to
the whole group. In both of these incidents just
described, God’s word of wisdom came to wait;
very soon He removed both men from these re-
spective groups. Sometimes, however, God will
require the elders to take disciplinary action.
One such case with which I am familiar took
place some years ago in a church which was not
charismatic. A certain individual disrupted the
prayer meetings by praying for twenty minutes
or more each time, often in a preachy and con-
demnatory manner for the sake of exhorting
others who were present. Finally many people
stopped coming to the prayer meeting, and it be-
came evident to the church board that this
woman was being used by the enemy to hinder
God’s work. She had to be approached by the
ruling body of men and asked to leave the
church. It seems clear that this woman was ob-
sessed by some religious demons, for she was so
deluded that she thought the elders called her in
for the purpose of calling her to preach. Had the
supernatural gift been in operation in the con-
gregation, it is,probable that her problem would
have been discerned far earlier and dealt with
before it became such a serious matter.
Up to this point we have examined how God
protects the body of believers by giving them us-
66
 (Sania Loy Nr ol

7 ge of the gift of discerning of spirits for others.

However, by far the most serious need of the
charismatic Christian today is to know how to
discern or recognize an evil spirit influencing
himself. To locate and identify such enemies
within the body of Christ is the most important
exercise of this same gift. Whether individual
groups and assemblies recognize this fact and
learn to discern spirits in their midst could well
be the determining factor of their success or fail-
ure in these last day’s before the return of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
In medical practice it is considered folly for a
doctor to allow a diagnosed cancer to remain
and grow unhindered. In like manner it is surely
folly for members of Christ’s body to allow evil
spirits to remain in them once they have been
found. How do we know when we are vexed,
harrassed, oppressed, or even obsessed by de-
mons? How can we be sure that the gift of dis-
cerning of spirits is used accurately in our own
local body of believers?
_ The Word of God lists the gift of discerning of
spirits in a context which includes eight other
gifts intended for body ministry. Thus, we can
find no excuse for the common flip dismissal of
this gift as needed only to minister to unbeliev-
ers. If this gift were to be exercised so differently
from all the others, surely the Holy Spirit would
have included such instruction in First Corin-
thians 12-14. We conclude that this gift was to
be used, as were all the others, in ministering to
-both believers and unbelievers in the group. Ex-
perience has taught us that this gift, like all the
others, is primarily used for believers in provid-
ing knowledge necessary for setting them free.
67
 _ We are daily coming to appreciate the mighty
gift of discerning of spirits more and more. Al-
though it is not necessary for locating a compul-
sive attitude or habit of which one is aware in
his life, it is invaluable in identifying demonic
torment of which we are unaware.
Let me give an example. For four long years
_ after my own initial deliverance from an evil
spirit, I knew I was still seriously bound. Yet
pray and agonize as I did, I could not locate the
_ source of the difficulty. Then iin March, 1970, we
learned much more about deliverance in this
area through the one-night ministry of Don
Basham. Soon afterward we began having group
_ deliverance services for people needing help, and
after the very first of these I went to bed very
tense. As I asked God what the problem was, I
closed my eyes. To my amazement, with my
mind’s eye I suddenly saw SELF-PITY spelled
before me in great capital letters. I renounced
this spirit and commanded it to leave me, and
not only was relaxed in body but underwent the
greatest change in my personality I had ever
known apart from my conversion experience.
It is my firm conviction that this spirit was
the key or ruler spirit in my life, and evidently it
was so much a part of me that I never would
have guessed it to be an intruder apart from
_ the supernatural revelation of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, had I been aware of feeling
sorry for myself much of the time (which I was
not), I would have assumed it to be a problem in
the flesh. He
We are told’ plainly in
i Hebrews 4:12 that only
the living Word can divide soul and spirit; thus
His gift is doubtless intended to reveal which
68 : ~
 ay, Tey p-e
a a wi
, rae tC
a,

‘ problems we have are demonic (and therefore

_ Yequire the word of command to depart) and
which are simply problems in the fiesh or carnal
- nature (requiring putting them off and reckon-
ing ourselves dead to them).
Countless times since my own deliverance
from the spirit of self-pity, we have been privi-
_ leged to see the Lord move in a similar sovereign
way to deliver others. Once a brilliant intellec-
tual who was quite psychotic was brought to us
_ for help. He could easily out-talk and out-reason
any of our body of believers. Yet he was invisi-
bly chained by the merciless bonds of a spirit of
pride whose identity was revealed to three of
our group at once, and on this basis he
renounced it, we cast it out, and the Lord set
- him free.
Once a man came for help who had tried to
live an exemplary Christian life. Yet he was
caught in the bonds of a vicious lust that would
give him no peace day or night. He was too
ashamed to mention the nature of his torment,
-but was delivered of it later while intercession
was offered for him in the prayer language.
Here, evidently the Holy Spirit not only iden-
tified the demon but also commanded it to go as
the unsuspecting intercessor did all that he
knew how to do. In this case a spirit of lust was
involved, not just a fleshly desire, for the man
felt a slithering presence leave his body.
- Sometimes we are not given a word to identify
a spirit which is troubling someone, but rather a
- mental picture or an idea. Often a demon is dis-
cerned by observers as it confesses itself through
the tormented person. Once a woman said, “Oh,
I wouldn’t feel so guilty if I didn’t hate my
69
othe I’ve aha hated my ae 7 can’ t
remember when I didn’t hate my mother.” The
spirit confessing itself here was the spirit of hate,
but before this woman could be delivered from
it she had to forgive her mother. This example
shows how the Holy Spirit will reveal several
different things at once during a time of minis-
try: the identity of the spirit, and the ground or
reason in the beilever’s life that this torment has
been permitted to stay. All that the Holy Spirit
reveals has to be applied and obeyed if a person
hopes to stay free.
It is my firm conviction that God is revealing
the identity of evil spirits to countless believers
everywhere in these days, and they are not
aware of it. When words which describe negative
attitudes or torments cross our minds, we are of-
ten being given discerning of spirits so that we
will do something about them! If it is for our-
selves or someone who is open to deliverance, we
should share this information with the person
and help him to get free. If the person appears
to be closed to that kind of help, we can then
bind that spirit and keep it from ruining a given
situation.
When a tormented person is spreading false
guidance or false prophecy because of leadings
from an evil source, it seems imparative that the
individual be approached and warned, as well as
those that person is trying to influence. A few
questions might serve to clarify such situations:
Is the guidance compulsive; in other words, did
the person have to do it with no power to con-
trol himself? Does the message of prophecy or
interpretation of tongues draw attention to the
giver of the message or to the Lord Jesus Christ?
70
Is feemessage pees? Is there a falsetto
_ quality to the voice of the message-giver, or con-
_ tortions in facial expression? Is information given
which amounts to individual fortune-telling,
rather than comfort or edification for the be-
lievers (I Cor. 14:3)?
If the answer to any of the above questions is
yes, it would be very wise for the body to con-
_ sider that fact a warning: a time to stop, look,
and listen to the guidance of the Lord as to how
to handle the situation. No better time could be
found for asking God for an exercise of discern-
ing of spirits, a word of wisdom, knowledge,
faith, or any other gift which may prevent havoc
or chaos in the body of Christ.
If the person giving a prophecy refuses to al-
low it to be judged (I Cor. 14:29), or if someone
is approached about leading others astray with
alse guidance who fails to heed, there can be no
continuing fellowship with that individual.

“Reject a factious man after a first and sec- ©

ond warning, knowing that such a man is per-
verted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”
(Titus 3:10, 11)

71
: Casting Out
Spirits

When the Lord Jesus Christ began His earth-

_ ly ministry and called His disciples, He com-
manded them to continue in fellowship with
Him, to preach, and to cast out demons (Mark
3:14, 15). Had these simple instructions been
obeyed over the ages, the church could have
been saved much heartache. Praise God that we
live in a day when this simple yet powerful way
is again becoming the norm for thousands of be-
lievers.
Possibly the greatest heresy the devil has ever
injected into the church is the notion that all
demons leave a human personality once he has
received Christ as His Savior and Lord. We
must affirm again, as at the beginning of this
book, that all we ever get from God is what we
appropriate by faith. Clearly the Lord Jesus re-
garded casting out demons as a necessary minis-
try which should accompany the preaching of
the gospel. Where this is being done, new believ-
ers are freed from their compulsive hangups and
obsessive wrong thoughts as they start the
Christian life, not after years of failure. But let
me hasten to add, (as one believer who waited
_ nearly a decade after conversion to have the
first demon cast out of me) better late than
never!
. 73

Patan
eats
 Prost of the.Seige t that 1se allpega a
leave at conversion* can be found in the fact ©
that most church and mission boards go to
elaborate means to cover up cases of severe sex-
ual aberration (sometimes among leaders) which
they discover. Sometimes the tormented individ-
uals have been so used of God that there is no
question about their being born again. The only
real question is why do they behave as they do?
When a believer dwells in the Word of God and
prays earnestly for victory over some sin in his
life, it seems to us that there is no other answer '
to his dilemma apart from deliverance from evil
spirits.
However, let us hasten to add, this explana-
tion is not tantamount to giving a person license
to continue with his behavior under some such
lame excuse as, “the devil made me do it.” Oh
no! Once the demons, are cast out, the person
then has the responsibility to walk with the ~
Lord and keep them out, crucifying the sinful
thought life of the old carnal nature that would
invite them back. Deliverance from evil spirits
can be a wide open door to the life of victory, but
not a magic cure from temptation, which would
conveniently bypass the need for self-discipline.
It is well to remember that demons are disem-
bodied spirits which seek human bodies through
which they can express their evil attitudes, ap-
petites, and afflictions. Often they enter through
occult experimentation, unforgiveness, or great
emotional stress on the part of the person. Fre-
quently they remainin a family line which they
_ have previously succeéded in attacking through
*Don Basham, Can A Christian Have A Demon (Mon-
‘roeville, Pa. Whitaker, 1971).
74
Bee
149 : one of these means. Descendants of such ances-
tors sometimes find themselves tormented; they
may be caught in a snare for which they are not
responsible, and from which they fear they can-
not escape. Praise Jesus! There is an escape.
But, like all other things God does, it must be
handled His way.
In the Old Testament era we find no recorded
cure for demonic oppression. God required the
death penalty for those who practiced the occult
arts. (See Exodus 22:18 and Leviticus 20:27).
Apparently the danger to Israel if they inter-
mingled with demon-controlled people was so
great that God ordered Israel to exterminate the
Canaanites to protect them (Deut. 18:9-14).
The failure of the Hebrew nation to obey this
command fully was responsible for their down-
fall, over and over again. Only in the very severe
judgment of the Babylonian Captivity did Israel
finally learn her lesson. That dose of punish-
ment did cure her.
With the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, a
new day dawned for the demon-harassed. Early
_- in His earthly ministry Jesus began casting out
demons, and He instructed His followers to do
likewise, in His Name. Chapter 10 of Luke’s gos-
pel is a poignant account of the thrill and
amazement Jesus’ disciples felt when they found
@ they could expel demons in His Name.
This ministry is a prominent characteristic of
the New Testament era. We can be very thank-
ful that we live on this side of Calvary, for the -
Lord Jesus has completed His work of human
redemption by destroying the power of the devil
(I John 3:8). However, it is well to remember
that His work is finished. The Lord Jesus Christ
75

EE,
Oa
 does not need to do one more thing about the
devil and his demon powers. He expects us to ©
believe His Word when He tells us that He led
_ captivity captive and gave gifts unto men (Eph.
4:8), and He also expects us to rout the demons _
in His Name just as He commanded (Mark
16:17).
_ A pastor once told me that he and his elders
met daily for two years to pray for the deliv-
erance of a tormented woman in his congrega-
tion; yet as far as he knew, that prayer was
never answered. Of course not! For these men,
however earnest, were disobedient to the re-
vealed will of God. The ministry of deliverance
from evil spirits is effected by casting out, al-
though prayer and fasting are also sometimes
necessary (Mark 9:29). We need not beg God to
do what He has plainly told us to do. It is just
as simple as that. Only unbelief hinders
present-day disciples from exercising their au-
thority over demons, just as unbelief was the
prime hindrance among Jesus’ own disciples
when they encountered a difficult case (Matt.
17:20).
For some reason contemporary Christians find
it quite difficult to accept the fact that born-
again believers can be tormented by demons.
Some have admitted that they have run into
this problem on the mission field (see Power for
Living, published by Scripture Press, January
16, 1972), but many are still tragically naive
about the reality of-demonic oppression among
believers right here at home. The source of this
“blind spot” is ‘the prince of darkness himself,
who fears nothing so much as the awakening of
76
 the’‘Chieti to hee total power and authority
over him and his demons.
.Two years ago a friend had been losing con-
sciousness and having violent dizzy spells for
several weeks. Although exhaustive medical
tests revealed nothing, she was forbidden to
drive. A demon of epilepsy was cast out of her
during one of our first group deliverance meet-
ings in this area, and she has been fine ever
since.
Stella was another believer who had severe
problems. Emotionally very tense, she found
herself unable to control a hideous laughter dur-
ing prayer meetings. The laugh never occurred
again after a demon called madness was cast
out. Stella has since been delivered of many evil
spirits, and today is as calm and radiant as she
was once tormented. Before her deliverance,
Stella was a compulsive talker. Now she is a.
wonderful listener who counsels many troubled
Christians with their problems, often teaching
them how to cast out demons from their own
_ lives.
Satan has provoked a very clever controversy
over a commonly-used term which is based on
an unfortunate rendering of the King James Bi-
ble translators. The Greek New Testament word
_daimonizomai simply means, quite literally, “be
demonized.” However, the King James and
other English Bibles translate this verb “be
demon possessed.” In modern English the word
“possession” carries with it the connotation of
ownership, and this is the point of the contro-
versy. Since the Lord Jesus Christ owns the
Christian, having paid for him with His own
blood, it is obviously impossible for Satan or any
77 .
~ demon to own a believer. This exaggerated inter-
pretation “possession”, is prejudicial against one
who “is demonized.” In John 8:48 the Gospel
writer speaks of “having” a demon, while in
10:21 he uses “demonized” in the very same
‘sense as in the earlier verse. “Having” a demon
and being “demon-possessed” clearly do not
sound synonymous in English. And confusion of
the two concepts is inappropriate, at the very
least.
The difficulty comes in the assumed deduction
that if a demon is within a person’s body, the
demon is in full control of that body. This is
very seldom the case; in my opinion it is never
the case for a born-again Christian in whom the :
Spirit of God dwells. It is a gross oversimplifica-
tion to say that the Spirit of God and demon
spirits cannot occupy the body of a believer at
the same time. Notions of geography just do not
apply to spiritual things. Who is to say what
part of the believer the demon actually controls,
and what part the Holy Spirit controls? The
many admonitions in Scripture to crown Jesus
completely Lord of our lives would seem to indi-
cate that the issue is by no means setiled at the
time of conversion.
My husband and I own a deed to the home in
which we live. This deed does not guarantee
_that a thief will be unable to sneak into our
home at three o’clock in the morning and steal
some of our goods. Invasion into our home by an
intruder is always possible, even though it is
quite undesirable. One thing is certain, though:
if a thief does break in,
i we would hardly give the
deed to him! Quite the contrary. Our sole inter-
78
est would be to oust him as quickly as possible.
So it is in the deliverance ministry.
When the Lord freed the crippled woman
from her condition, He diagnosed her problem as
having a spirit of infirmity (Luke 13:11-16). It is
also significant that Jesus called her “a daughter
- of Abraham” though she had been “bound” by
Satan for eighteen years. During a controversy
with the Pharisees in the eighth chapter of
John, the Lord denied their claim to the term,
“sons of Abraham.” He noted that they were
the “seed” of Abraham, but not his “children,”
for they did not love the Son of God. In fact, He
plainly stated that their father was the devil.
_ This line of thought is prominent in the Pauline
epistles. All who have Abraham’s faith are said
to have him as their father (Romans 4:16), and
all who belong to Christ are Abraham’s only
true seed and heirs (Galatians 3:29).
Actually, most people attending deliverance
meetings are Christians. Usually they are com-
mitted believers who have been puzzled for
years about certain areas in their lives or
thought patterns which are inconsistent with
their testimony of new life in Christ. On one no-
table occasion an unbeliever was present during
such a meeting. Nothing effective happened un-
til she left. Even the Lord Jesus Himself did few
mighty works in Nazareth “because of their un-
belief” (Matt. 13:58).
I learned about the reality of demonic oppres-
sion the only way some of us ever learn any-
_ thing—the hard way. In 1966 I was flown home
‘from an African mission field three months early
for furlough, a physical, emotional and spiritual
wreck. There was a rare parasitic disease in my
79
 Hic
- lymph glands, my body was emaciated, and I —
had lest my will to live. |
A few weeks after I got home, I picked up an
issue of Christian Life magazine describing the
plight of believers caught in a web of demonic
- torment. The author declared that people could
be released from their bondage when the demons
vexing them were cast out in Jesus’ Name.
Great light turned on miy darkened soul. I knew
I needed deliverance from evil spirits.
God saw to it that I got the help I needed,
but it came little by little over a period of years.
First He led me to people who knew how to cast
out spirits. They used a method of counseling to
find out the identity of the demons. After talk-
ing with me for two days (during which time I
fasted), they discovered that I was obsessed
_ with ideas concerning future happenings. Then
they cast out a lying spirit of prophecy and
wisely advised me to pay no attention to impres-
sions on my mind involving future events.
Before long I felt much better and gained |
back the thirty-five pounds I had lost. However,
for several years I struggled with depression,
tenseness, and a vicious temper. The great
breakthrough in my life came in 1970, but the
telling of that story is another whole book
_ (OUT! In the Name of Jesus, published by |
Creation House, 1973). Suffice it to say here that
God is teaching many of His children today the
things that we learned at such great cost. The
answer for many children of God is to have
demons cast out of them which should have
been banished long ago, had they only known
_ what to do.
Contrary to popular belief, we have learned
80
 i ae _

_ that taking authority over evil spirits should be

_ a first move toward solving a problem, not a last
_ resort. Here again, God’s Word is the standard.
Jesus did not wait until He got an especially
spiritual group off to a deeper life convention to
unveil the mysteries about evil spirits and cast
them out. Quite the contrary! Everywhere He
went, He preached the gospel, healed the sick,
and cast out demons. He did it as a matter of
course immediately on entering an area. He
never entertained any arguments about whether
there were evil spirits or not; He simply cast
them out. .
Another thing that Jesus Christ did not do
was take the people aside for very private,.
hush-hush counseling when He cast demons out
of them. He seemed totally unconcerned about
their embarrassment about the process of get-
ting free; His entire emphasis was on their deliv-
erance itself and resultant change in. the life.
Jesus cast out demons from the people in the
groups where He found them and where they
- met Him; His disciples found out it worked the
’ game way for them when they challenged the
spirits in His Name (Luke 10).
Occasionally one has a request from a tor-
mented person who would rather have a “private
session” for deliverance; perhaps there is noth-
ing wrong with this idea if no one else is around
who understands and believes in the Lord’s cur-
rent ability to meet such needs through the
ministry of His people. However, if the person
intends to keep his deliverance quiet afterward,
he has a very poor prognosis for staying free. It
was not an insignificant matter that the Lord
Jesus told the Gadarene demoniac to “Go home
81
_ to your people and report to them what great _
things the Lord has done for you, and how He
had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19).
Evil powers work in darkness; “God is light,
and in Him there is no darkness at all” (I John
1:5). Just as turning over damp, mossy rocks
and exposing them to the sunshine will send the
swarming vermin beneath them scurrying for
darkness, so our cheerful testimony of deliv-
erance will send demons in dismay looking for
someone who cannot be so honest. God’s Word
has this powerful victory formula for saints over
a ages who will be found to have victory over -
atan:

‘And they overcame him because of the blood

of the Lamb and because of the word of their
testimony, and they did not love their life even
to death.” (Revelation 12:11)

We cannot claim the protection of the blood of

Jesus Christ and see it avail in our lives if we
are unwilling to share the word of our testimony
with others, caring nothing of what they think
of us in the process. Our Lord made it power-
fully simple when He said He will deny those
before.the Father who deny Him before men
(Matthew 10:32, 33).
_ How do we know we need deliverance from
evil spirits? How may we be sure of success in
this area of ministry? What kind of preparation
do we need before spirits are cast out? How we
can we stay free once we have been exorcised?
Perhaps a simple acrostic will help us to
remember some basic facts in answering these
questions and helping others. A person who is
82
:Boisraits)to be set foes hence we Reet cho-
sen that word to stress these four important
points:

F—Forgive everyone, living or dead, whom we

have ever resented (Matt. 18:21-35).
R—Renounce all occult practices, and burn or
destroy all occult games, books, or objects
(Deut. 18:10-14; Acts 19:18-20) ;renounce
and confess any such sins of ancestors
(Lev. 26:40-42).
E—Expel demons by name in direct verbal
attack against them in the name of Jesus
Christ (Mark 5: 8,9; Mark 9:25; Acts 16:
16-18).
E—Exert our human will in line with God’s
will from then on, by:
1) praising God (II Chron. 20: 21, 22;
Psalm 149)
2) dwelling in His Word (John 8:31,32;
Psalm 119) and obeying it, and
3) putting on the whole armor of God
(Ephesians 6:10-18).

When Christians are exposed to teaching like

that in this book and especially in this chapter,
their reactions are a good indication as to
whether they have need for deliverance or not.
Feelings of anxiety, excessive drowsiness, nausea,
tremors, headache, or other sudden physical
symptoms are a fair indication that there is a
need for having demons cast out. The reaction
of fear which many will experience is not actually
a human reaction at all, but that of the spirits
who are afraid of expulsion from their home. _
If the reader is.experiencing such discomfort
at the present time, cheer up! This is a good
83
 sign. Probably the heart 4is ae a He Tan be
and ready to be dealt with in a way that will
make the pathway to full deliverance easier.
However, if the main reaction is one of skepti-
cism, violent negativism, or hostility, and there
is virtually no sense of need in the life, we would
suggest that you leave this whole subject alone
for a while. Ask God to show you if you have
need, and read through the New Testament
again looking for teaching on this subject. If you
are a child of God, He will surely show you what
He wants for your life.
Now for those who feel they do have a need,
and want to know how to go about having it
met, we offer the following suggestions. Get a
group of likeminded Christians together with
you, all of whom have had some recent teaching
on this subject. We suggest my own book, OUT!
In The Name of Jesus, or Don Basham’s book,
Deliver Us From Evil, as excellent for this pur-
pose. A tape or casette on deliverance heard im-
mediately prior to ministry together is also an
excellent faith builder.
Find a time when all of you can spend at least
two hours together. Fast if at all possible before-
hand (Isaiah 58:6-8). Open your time in praise
and prayer, taking several minutes just to bless
the Lord and affirm your faith in Him. A peti-
tion for His guidance might go something like
this: “Father God, we ask your guidance and
blessing upon this meeting as You set Your peo-
ple free. We claim the protection of the blood of
Jesus Christ upon every member of every family
represented here, and upon all members of the
family of God everywhere. We thank You that
we come against.only defeated foes; that the
84
 38

! Son of God was manifested for this purpose, to

_ destroy the works of the devil. Praise You, bless
You, our mighty God.”
Someone present should act as leader and —
then lead the group in prayers of renunciation of
the occult sins and prayers of forgiveness. Since
an important part of successful ministry appears
to be breaking the demonic heredity in the
family line, we all repeat out loud the entire list.
(None of us knows all that our ancestors may ©
have been up to!) The format which we use fol- )
lows:

“Thank you, Lord, for dying for my sins, for

your glorious resurrection, and for making mea
new creature in Christ by faith in your precious
blood. Dear Lord, I have a confession to make:
I have sought supernatural experience apart
from you.
I have disobeyed your Word.
I want you to help me renounce all these things
and cleanse me in body, soul, and
spirit in Jesus’ name.
I renounce witchcraft and magic, both black
and white.
I renounce ouija boards and all other occult
games.
I renounce all seances, clairvoyance, and medi-
ums; ESP, second sight, and mind-
reading.
I renounce all fortune telling, palm reading,
tea-leaf reading, crystal balls,
Tarot and other card laying.
T renounce all astrology and interest in horo-
scopes.
I renounce the heresy of reincarnation and all
healing groups involved in meta-
physics.
85
a0 renounce all jeobons ‘under. any excuse or. eee
authority. oe
I break any curse placed on me from any se
occult source, in Jesus’ name.
I renounce all curiosity about either future
or past, and which is outside Thy
will
I renounce water witching or dowsing, levita-
tion, body lifting, table tipping,
psychometry, and automatic writ-
ing.
I renounce astral projection and other demonic
skills.
I renounce all literature I have ever read in
any of these fields, and vow that I
will destroy such books in my own
possession.
I now break, in the name of Jesus Christ, all
psychic heredity, and any demonic
hold upon my family line as a re-
sult of the disobedience of any of
my ancestors. I also break any
bonds of physical or mental illness,
in Jesus’ name. .
I also break all demonic subjection to my
mother, father, grandparents, or
any other human being.
In the name of Jesus Christ I renounce every-
thing psychic and occult.
I renounce every cult that denies the blood of
Christ.
I renounce every philosophy that denies the
divinity of Christ.
I call upon the Lord to set me free.

Lord, I have another confession to make. I

have not loved, but have resented
certain people.
86
‘ Pe ne alhi hod

: aa5 I call upon You, Lord, to help meforgive them.

do now forgive ..............
(Here we pause for several minutes
while each person puts the names
in there which the Lord brings to
mind, either of persons living or
dead.)
I do now forgive myself.
I renounce every evil spirit that binds or tor-
ments me and [I call upon the Lord
to set me free.”

The above list is a frank copy of some actual

prayers used by our friend, Don Basham; some
which appear in my other book, and some new
ones which we have discovered in recent months
and weeks to be especially important for some
people. The Word of God warns in Ephesians
4:27 that we are to “give no opportunity to the
devil.” These prayers of preparation remove the
ground or opportunity which demons have had
for attacking us and make the ministry of cas-
ting out spirits far more certain of success. In a
. certain sense, the devil is a legalist; he knows his
rights and will hold on as long as he can present
any case against us, based on disobedience to
the Word of God.
Once the group has affirmed these prayers and
renunciations aloud, the leader of the group may
then come against Satan and the demons in
some such verbal attack as the following: “In
the name and authority of the Lord Jesus
Christ, I come against you, Satan, and all
demons tormenting all persons present. I com-
mand you to name yourselves and come out, in
Jesus’ name, ruler spirits first.”
87
 oS entire pee will follow onie rulere
- demons; suffice it to say here that it is helpful if—
the “big fellows’ are located and gotten rid of ©
first. Seldom does a person have only one demon —
spirit. They are found in gangs in much the
same way as the underworld of crime operates;
their success depends upon the control of a
strong man or big bully which has been devastat-
ing the life, often without the victim being aware
of the existence of such a one.
Reactions in the bodies of those tormented
should follow the general command against the
. spirits: headaches, nausea, shaking, fainting,
stomach pain, and so on. When such manifesta-
tions occur, command the spirit within that per-
son to name itself. Sometimes it is wise to make
it clear that you are not speaking to the person,
in such a way as this: “I am speaking to the
demon and not the person: give me your name,
spirit now manifesting, in Jesus’ name I com-
mand you.”
Occasionally the demon will speak right out of
the person in a harsh voice of its own. More of-
ten a word is powerfully suggested to the mind
of the individual. If no word comes to the tor-
mented one, we have found the Lord is faithful
in revealing its identity to others in the group
through the gift of discerning of spirits men-
tioned in the last chapter. 3
Once the spirit is named, we ask the whole
group to renounce or pit their human wills
against it, like this: “I renounce the spirit of
hate (or whatever has been named) in the name
of Jesus Christ.” :
Then it is a‘ ‘simple matter to say, “spirit, of
hate, we command you to come out of him in
88
 Jesus’ name.” Continue the commands for a few
ee:- Minutes if necessary, or sing songs about the
eie
blood of Christ. Quoting Scripture that counters
f
the specific sin represented by the spirit is also
found to be most effective. (A list of such Scrip-
tures is found in the appendix at the back of
this book.) General verses that help often in de-
liverance services are Revelation 12:11, Luke
10:19, James 4:7, and Galatians 5:22, 23.
When the demon leaves, the person usually
will sense some release, (often through the
mouth) with coughing, sighs, sobs, or burping.
Sometimes there will be screams such as those
recorded in Acts 8 under the ministry of Philip.
: _ Usually there is more than one demon within a
person. Therefore the feeling of release upon ex-
pulsion of a spirit is often short-lived, and new
negative experiences by the tormented person
follow in a few moments. For this reason, we
-find it. helpful to address the next spirit some-
what like this: “Spirit now manifesting, next one
in line, give us your name.”
The same process is followed for each spirit
_ until a clear indication is given the group that
the time of ministry should end. Frequently it is
simply the testimony of the person being deliv-
ered who testifies to being free and feeling bet-
ter. However, often it is through a word of wis-
dom given to those ministering that the person
has endured enough; probably the spirits al-
ready cast out are all the person is able to stand
against in the days ahead. More may come out
later. These the person may either cast out of
himself or have friends cast out of him. The im-
portant thing to realize is that the Lord is the
alienand He alone knows the hearts of all
89
 of us. He is the One who must direct the deliv-
erance process, and He knows how much any of
us are able to bear. |
There is a whole chapter in Don Basham’s
book, Deliver Us From Evil, on self-deliverance,
_ as well as a directory of places where deliverance
is ministered. Both that book and OUT! In the
Name of Jesus have many detailed examples of
deliverances. We urge the reader to study both ©
of these for further enlightenment on this sub-
ject. Detailed discussions of individual exorcisms —
are beyond the scope of this brief summary.
However, we should answer the frequently
asked question, “Why not cast them out all at
once, as Christ did the Legion?” The most obvi-
- ous fact here is that the Lord Jesus Christ did a
number of things in His earthly ministry which
have not yet been done by members of His body,
such as being transfigured before the disciples.
Some day He may give us more power. Now we
rejoice in what He sees fit to do as spirits are
cast out one by one. For those who doubt
whether this is necessary, we can only reply
that many people who come to our Friday night
meetings have earlier tried the “quick conven-
tion method” and have remained in their tor-
ment. Praise God that He does want us to be
free, and will see us through to that point, by
whatever means He chooses to use! .

90 ©
4 7 Wrestling
. Against Rulers

One of the great blessings of the New Ameri-

can Standard Bible is its great clarity, accuracy,
_ and consistency in translating words in the
_ original languages the same way each time. Be-
cause of this policy of the scholars, some truths
have emerged quite prominently which Satan
and his hosts have done their level best to keep
from the Church. One of these truths is that
there are ruler spirits which are our first and
most formidable enemies in spiritual warfare.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the powers,
against the world-forces of this darkness, against
the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heav-
. enly places.” (Ephesians 6: 12)
In the contemporary deliverance ministry we
are finding that the ruler spirits must be iden-
tified, cast out and stood against, if a person
hopes to remain free of demonic oppression.
_ These spirits have exactly the opposite qualities
to the fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in Galatians
5:22, 23. Usually a tormented person is bound
by one ruler spirit, although he may also have
other ruler spirits. For example, a person bound
_ by a spirit of pride as the ruler spirit can con-
ceivably have all the others we often find as rul-
ers: self-pity, hate, lust, fear, rebellion, and un-
91
 belief. However, the big problem in that person’s —
- life will be pride, and this will be the thing he ~
will have to stand against most consistently. In
other words, many of his most subtle tempta-
tions after deliverance from the spirit of pride
will be opportunities for proud behavior and ac- —
tions.
In order to locate which spirit is ruler, we in.
the New Testament Fellowship use the methods
outlined in chapter six. Then after the person’s
- deliverance from that demon, we urge him to
memorize verses which are effective in standing
against it. A list of these for each of the demons
we have found to be rulers is found in the ap-
pendix of this book.
Perhaps examples will help to show how im-
portant this matter is. During the past three
years we have seen people delivered from ruler
spirits, some of whom have stood in victory af-
terwards, and some not. We must present both
success and failure stories if we are going to be
true to the facts and heed the Lord’s warning of
Matthew 12: 43-45.
A young woman had been miraculously healed
of a terrible disease. She had a sparkling testi-
mony in most areas of her life, but often wept
before the Lord in secret because of a problem
she could share with no one: she hated her own.
children. When she heard teaching about deliv-
erance and the ruler spirits, she realized hate
had bound her all her life. She renounced it, cast
it out of herself, and was set free.
A young teenager became quite disturbed and
ran away from home. When the heartbroken
parents got her back, they brought her to our
Fellowship for ministry. The key spirit in her
A a.
- case proved to be rebellion. Until she would
- agree to submit to her parents, there was no re-
- lease. As soon as she yielded, verbalizing it in
_ the practical way of agreeing to go back to
school, the demon rebellion (which she had
- renounced an hour earlier) left her. She is a
happy, normal young person today.
A mental patient came for help some years
ago. We cast demons out of her, all of which ap-
parently returned very soon. Recently a visiting
speaker in the area spoke on deliverance, and
this girl again decided she wanted to be free.
_ Terry started coming out of our regular prayer
_ meetings, but our approach with her this time
was different. Having learned in the interim
about the ruler spirits, we made it our primary
‘business the first night she came to locate that
one. It was revealed to us through discerning of
spirits as pride. Because of its great hold on
Terry, she had come under many religious delu-
sions. She has also been a compulsive talker—a
problem often associated with a great need for
deliverance.
After we cast out that spirit, we instructed
Terry to “study to be quiet” (I Thess. 4:11) and
learn to listen. We urged her to carry a little
notebook with her and write down what people
tell her so that she may check at the end of a day
whether she has really been listening or not. On
days when she listens to others, reads and mem-
orizes the Word of God, and fulfills her daily
chores, she has victory. When she slips back into
the old pattern of constant talk and an un-
teachable attitude, she has failure.
Over the months she is making progress, how-
~ ever. She has just those spirits cast out that she
93
 can stand against, and casts out some nersefle.:
when she feels strong enough. We are believing
God for the full transformation of this girl in—
time as fleshly pride gives way to true humility. —
This case will serve to help those who think of
the deliverance ministry as an “easy out” for
people who do not want to face their problems
in the flesh. It is no such thing! Deliverance
from evil spirits removes the supernatural part —
of the problem, so that the person is able to deal
with the natural one.
Once my husband and I ministered to a man
who was terribly bound by the spirit of self-pity.
Although it did not repond to the command to
name itself, its name was given to us through
discerning of spirits: Once we challenged it and
had Frank renounce it, it began manifesting in a
very dramatic way. The man began to moan and
writhe, while the spirit spoke out of him in an en-
tirely different voice with a foreign accent, using
terrible grammar. (This fact was. most striking,
for the man himself has an excellent command
_ of English and is a native-born American.) We
finally cast it out and several others, each of
them manifesting itself in a dramatic way. We ©
warned him that self-pity was his basic problem
and that he must guard against it.
It was soon apparent that the spirit had come
back, and Frank was more tormented than ever.
His pattern of behavior since then has been to
follow courses of action in which he will be forced
to feel sorry for himself. In other words, the
spirit of self-pity evidently motivates much of
his behavior, which in turn gives him an excuse
to be miserable.
Once recently we were praying with a couple
94
of powerful intercessors who mentioned having a
burden for this man. As they prayed, one
woman said the Lord revealed that Frank had
given ground to the enemy in his life by believ-
ing a false prophecy said over him personally
some years before.
_ This case brings up an important point. Per-
sonal prophesying over details of people’s indi-
vidual lives is often divination or fortune telling,
not divine prophecy at all. It is to be avoided
and groups which practise it should be warned
that they are treading on very dangerous ground.
The author knows of two instances of this which
brought heartbreak into lives and set back untold
numbers of observers in their spiritual growth.
Once at a convention a prominent speaker
was asked by a pregnant woman whether her
child would be a boy or a girl. The speaker said
it would be a boy; it was a girl. However, that is
far from the end of the story. Many heard of it
and were disillusioned with both the speaker
and the spiritual movement in that area. The
couple themselves have suffered from severe
demonic oppression since.
On another occasion a godly woman ap-
proached another whose husband was unsaved,
giving her the happy “prophecy” that the
unconverted husband would attend the next
charismatic convention with his wife. The
woman believed the statement and made plans
to attend the next convention. Despite all
maneuvers to try to get him to go, the husband
refused. For a long time the wife was bitter and
upset, although she did go to the convention
alone.
The sequel to this story is interesting. The
95
would-be sibel found it
fe ineuseas to get ces
from an affliction for which she had much prayer —
until the spirit of pride was cast out—responsible —
for all this havoc. She will stay free from the ©
affliction only as she stays free of pride, if other ©
cases we have observed teach us anything. The
Lord Jesus Christ is still saying, “Go, and sin
no more,” to those who come to Him for healing
and deliverance.
On one ignominious day, someone actually
prophesied “over a young unmarried couple at
one of our New Testament Fellowship meetings
that they would marry and serve the Lord to-
gether. Fortunately this unwise comment was
heard by several of our elders who judged it to
be spurious and told the “prophet” so. One elder
went to the young couple at once and urged
them to ignore the whole thing, advising them
that God would show each of them in His time
what His will was for their lives and relation-
ship.
It is well for people who have allowed them-
selves to be used by the enemy in this way to con-
fess all such matters to the Lord as sin. Then we
have also found it helpful for them to take the
ground back from Satan which they gave him in
such incidents. A good way to do this is simply to
address a command directly to Satan, such as:
“Satan ,in the name of Jesus Christ I take back
all the ground I gave you in my life when I gave
a false prophecy to———or believed one said
over me on these occasions: .” Since I my-
self was bound'by a lying spirit of ‘prophecy and
had no small difficulty getting free, the Lord has
given me special compassion for those so bound.
Words of encouragement are in order. If one can
96
 ee NY Pos as
fs easy ~

<
“humble himself under God and submit to the ob-
_ jective judgment of his mature Christian breth-
5 ‘ag about such matters, he can be set completely
_ free.
There are no lone rangers in: the Christian
faith. We are meant to function as a body made
up of many different members, and it is this in-
- terdependence which is our greatest safeguard
against the spiritual deceptions of the evil one.
Those seeking to be free must humbly accept
_ the evaluation of freinds who are kind enough to
- give us insight we may lack ourselves. One very
dear friend of mine talked with me on the phone
one day and frankly assessed my comments this
way: “That sounds like self-pity to me!” As soon
as I got off the phone, I told the Lord I was
sorry and confessed this as sin. I also renounced
the spirit and commanded it to leave again, in
case it was also back. Thank God for friends
who can be honest with us and give us light
when we have none ourselves. Perhaps no state
is more dangerous than that which resists help
or criticism. The subtle nature of our battle, es-
pecially against the ruler spirits, requires humil-
ity and a teachable spirit.
Vivian is a young woman who had exactly the
opposite problem to the ones mentioned earlier
in the chapter. As a new believer she actually
had a vision of the Lord Himself and from that
time on an extremely close walk with Him. Not
only did He endow her with a number of spirit-
_ual gifts, but also He gave her considerable di-
rect guidance. Not once did anything revealed to
her during this period of real closeness to Him
contradict itself, and the fruit of actions based
97
on her guidance was excellent bath ince own ;
life and others.
However, in one meeting Vivian heat a
woman prophesy who evidently was under the ©
influence of demon spirits. This experience so
troubled Vivian that she began to discount her
own genuine experience. Before long there was a
great silence between her and God. Although
she read the Word faithfully, she got no more
specific direction for her life.
As she told me her story, the Spirit of God im-
pressed upon my mind that a spirit of unbelief
had gained a hold on her life because of her
wrong interpretation of her own experience after
hearing the disturbed woman prophesy. When I
shared this with her, she renounced the spirit of
unbelief, took the ground back she had given
Satan for not believing God, and confessed the
sin of unbelief to the Lord. We cast the spirit
out and she cried with great relief as it went.
Soon afterward she reported that the peace she
knew in her former close walk with the Lord
Jesus had returned.
This account will point up the fact that there
is much genuine supernatural divine guidance
and revelation today, which is why Satan is
trying to discredit it by counterfeiting. Unless
there is a real article, there are no counterfeits
of it. The very presence of the counterfeits em-
phasizes the existence of the real thing.
How do we judge supernatural gifts, minis-
tries, and guidance? It seems to me that there
are three primary ways. 1) Are they scriptural?
God never contradicts Himself; all guidance or
power truly from Him confirms His written
Word and is confirmed by it. 2) What is the
98
 fruit of them, both in the life of the one minis-
tering and of those being ministered unto? If
havoc, chaos, deteriorating or wrong relation-
ships result from such ministry, it must have an
evil source. If, on the other hand, “love, joy,
- peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self control” result from such
ministry, it must have originated with God. 8)
Is Jesus Christ lifted up and exalted from the
ministry being judged? Here is the third “acid |
test” for such ministry. If anyone other than
the Lord Jesus Christ is being magnified there
- must be a “check” registered within us.
The apparent aim of the ruler demons is to
impress those we meet with their characteristics
rather than those of the Spirit of God. As a per-
son comes under a greater and greater degree of
control by such a spirit, God’s Spirit will be
more and more grieved and less evident in that
life. Thus it is imparative that the evil presences
be recognized and stopped.
A basic rule of warfare is that we identify and
locate the enemy. Had not India countered the
slaughter of the Bengali people by defeating the
west Pakistan army, even more than three mil-
lion would have been murdered during the
bloody birth of Bangladesh. It was no good pre-
tending that there were no malicious, merciless
enemies, for every day they did more harm.
Just so in the spiritual warfare. It will not do
for the Church of Jesus Christ to ignore the en-
emies in the camp and longer. A steady stream
of refugees (ten million of them in ten months)
showed India and the world that there was a
problem in Bangladesh demanding solution. To-
day a steady stream of backsliders, professing to
99 .
_ be Christians but fleeing from the battle, prove
powerfully the existence of a fifth column work-
ing within the body of Christ which must be ex- ©
pelled. te
If we ignore this truth, we do so at great pe
Some years ago when we were first learning
about spiritual warfare, a tormented friend called
for help. We suggested he contact the only char-
ismatic church we knew of at that time, for
we had heard they had a deliverance ministry.
Sam went to these people and they asked him
how he felt. When he said confused, they cast a
spirit of confusion out of him. When he said de-
pressed, they cast a spirit of depression out of
him. He felt better and left, but within days was
-much worse off. He and his family discounted
the deliverance ministry from that time on and
sought medical help.
Once Sam sought my counsel and asked me
what I thought was wrong with him. I told him
I believed he was oppressed by evil spirits and
had given up too easily after just one brief time
of ministry. He answered me that he could not
believe his trouble was caused by evil spirits; he
could just never believe that.
_ At that time I knew nothing of spirits confess-
ing themselves in conversation nor did I know.
of ruler demons. Later, with the insight of
several years’ experience, I realized God was al-
lowing me to hear a ruler spirit of unbelief con-
fess itself over and over in that otherwise futile
conversation. We wrote and asked Sam to come
for help, but neither he nor his wife believed we
had any answers for them.
Not long ago Sam committed suicide.
What will it take to wake us up to the fact
100
 that we must wrestle against these rulers, as
the apostle Paul said? May God open eyes and
_ bring repentance to thousands of readers before
- it is too late. After all, He is the Deliverer!
Think how the great bondage of His own people
must grieve Him. Today He is saying to His
Church as He said to Moses:

“T have surely seen the affliction of My people

who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their
cry because of their taskmasters, for I am
aware of their sufferings. So I have come down
to deliver them...” (Exodus 3: 7, 8)

101
; 8 Keeping Your
Deliverance

As I have pointed out through the whole of

this book, deliverance is God’s provision to set us
free from the inroads that Satan and his demons
have made in our lives. Once we have been de-
livered, we must determine to remain free. Just
as in the salvation experience, man must decide
with his own will to turn his life over to God
and then trust God to make this decision a real-
ity, so, after deliverance, man must decide to re-
main free and then trust God to supply the
power and self-control that are necessary to
keep his freedom.
There are two keys to keeping our deliv-
_ erance: we must abide in Christ, and we must
resist Satan. The word abide is briefly summar-
ized by the first half of James 4:7, “Submit
therefore to God.” Without crowning Jesus Lord
of our lives and submitting fully to Him, there
_ can be no abiding in His presence; no love, joy
and peace; and certainly no permanent deliv-
erance from evil powers.
Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My
words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and
it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). Moses said,
“Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all
generations” (Psalm 90:1). Another psalmist
said, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most
103
 High wilohige a the shadow of the Almighty”
(Psalm 91:1). Where we live, in our innermost .
being, determines our victory as Christians.
Once we submit to God, we are ready for the —
second command in James 4:7: “Resist the devil —
_and he will flee from you.” For some strange rea-
son (known best by our cunning deceiver) con-
temporary Christians often regard that sentence.
this way: “Ignore the devil and he will flee from
you.” By some it is considered a mark of spiritu-
ality never to mention Satan or his demons.
_ Many cling to the notion that if they just leave —
Satan alone, he will leave them alone. Nothing ©
could be further from the truth, as the defeated
lives of the believers who argue this way so often —
show. Ephesians 6:10-18 should be memorized
_ and written on the hearts of every believer. We
are to stand on the Lord’s side against Satan and
every attempt of his minions to oppress us again.
The remaining part of this chapter will be di-
vided into five areas that will help you to keep —
your deliverance by abiding in Christ and resist-
ing Satan.

1. Bring Your Life Into Scriptural Order:

The Scriptures teach that only those who are

_ willing to make Jesus Lord of their lives can also
claim Him as Saviour (Matthew 7:21-27; John |
15). A young married woman called me one
night complaining bitterly that her life had
never changed after she accepted Christ as her
Saviour. Betty*had married an unbeliever and
found that things had gone from bad to worse.
There was profanity, quarreling, and a total lack
of discipline or even routine in their home. She
104
_ and her preschool children slept everyday until
noon. Could she come for deliverance?
: Simply, but methodically I told Betty she
_ needed to commit her life to Jesus as Lord: to
_ declare Him “Boss” over her entire life and get
herself and her children in to a disciplined life
_ for His sake. I outlined the practical steps of
bringing one’s life into order which follow in this
chapter, and told her that after following them,
she would be a candidate for deliverance.
A month later Betty called again, her life and
home in order, her voice calm and assured, and
her conversation filled with Jesus—who had in-
deed changed her life. She still wanted deliv-
erance from torment, for which she was now
quite ready. Of course we agreed to help her,
and she came right away even though—a blind-
ing snowstorm raged outside.
Betty’s life became so radiant following her
deliverance and baptism in the Holy Spirit on
that snowy day, that she has been used to influ-
ence a wide circle with her light. Soon a lifetime
_ friend, Kitty, came to the Lord; her life was
equally transformed. Both young women attend
the spiritual retreats we hold in this area month-
ly, and both have seen their husbands come to
the Lord within this past month.
Many people do not see the importance of
having one’s life in order scripturally. But, un-
less one’s life proves that a person is living the
Word of God, Satan has a right to question
whether Jesus is Lord. We always try to explain
_ to people this whole matter of standing against
the demons once they are cast out. You see, the
demons look for a place to come back as Scrip-
ture says in Luke 11:24. “When the unclean
105
spirit goes out of a man, it pans ees: wile :
less places seeking rest, and not finding any, it
Says, I will return to my house from which I
came.’ And when it comes, it finds it swept and —
put in order. Then it goes and takes along seven
other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in
and live there; and the last state of that man be-
comes worse than the first.” Lack of Scriptural
order in a life is the ‘for rent sign’ that shows
that a house is empty and God’s Spirit and His
Word have not filled the vacated places in that —
life. This person is in danger of being worse off
than he was before deliverance. Dick and I feel
that it is dishonest to minister deliverance under
such conditions.

2. Be Filled By The Holy Spirit:

We feel that it is absolutely essential for a be-

liever to be filled by the Holy Spirit if he is to
have a fighting chance against Satan. When the
believer is infilled by the Holy Spirit, he is em-
powered to use his spiritual authority. This is
not an optional dessert in the Christian diet, but
it is the bread and meat of our life in God. And,
though a person may say he has received the
baptism in the Holy Spirit, this is not the end of
the story. The Greek tense used in Ephesians
5:18 is the continuing present tense. This could |
accurately be translated “be being filled with
the Holy Spirit. ” ‘We see that not just a one-
time experience is commanded but a daily walk
in the Spirit. *. .
One of the first evidences of the filling of the
Holy Spirit comes as a believer dedicates his life —
more and more to the will of God and the Holy —
106
_ Spirit in him. He will find certain help and
4 strength from God that will enable him to resist
_ Satan. We find that it is the Lord’s strength, not
_ ours, that helps us to stand firm against the lies
_ and schemes of the devil. It helps greatly to be-
_ gin every day by a statement of intention to do
- God’s will and then to follow through on it.
- Stella (Chapter Six) starts her day by saying, “I
_ will read three chapters of the Word. I will learn
a verse today. I will witness to my unsaved
neighbor in the hospital. I will not feel sorry for
_ myself today.” In this way, she puts her human
dee
ntis
_ will (empowered by the Holy Spirit) against the
Ataiaion
stmt
ebad bier

_ will of the demons. Victory is assured, even

_ though there may be a battle before it is won.
_ At Columbia Bible College, where Dick and I
_ trained for missionary service, Frank Sells
_ taught thousands the secret of victory in living
_ the Christian life with this simple diagram:

Feelings Mind
(Emotions) (Intellect)

Will
(Decision)

- When the foundation is right, the rest of the

_ structure will eventually be built in order above
_ it, Making the right decision governs the right
~ outcome. Salvation and a life of victory are both
a matter of the will. My feelings or my mental
arguments may cry against what God says, but
if I trust Him and decide His way, everything
107
7 will bam out all right. On a other hand, | im-
pulses that are followed solely on the basis of
emotional experience or a well reasoned argu-
ment may never reach the will at all. No matter
how God’s Word reaches us initially, it must get
down into our wills in order to change our lives.
We have seldom seen anyone delivered from
nicotine who did not first say, “I will never
smoke another cigarette.” Similar strong affir-
mations (all of which involve the human will)
must be made by a drug addict, an alcoholic, or
a homosexual who desires to be freed. Our words
are more powerful than we realize, as Mark
11:23 clearly indicates. Those who confess vic-
tory in Jesus’ name are entitled to it, for they
are on God’s side, and He will use His mighty
resources to see them through. Those who con-
fess defeat will also have defeat. So again I em-
phasize, through the Lord’s strength we can
stand firm in victory.
The second evidence of the infilling of the
Holy Spirit will come to the believer as he sees
God’s kind of love, Calvary love, evidenced in
his own life. In ancient Greek, this type of love
is referred to as agape or divine, self-giving love.
God’s agape love asks nothing about the
worth of the one loved, but only reveals the
character and grace of the one who loves. God
loves because He cannot help it; it is His nature
to love.
In I John 4:16b, we learn that “God is love,
and the one who abides in love abides in God,
and God abides in him.” Moreover, to love isa
command, not merely a nice. idea (Matthew
22: 37-39). Only when we love Christ with a pas-
sion that eclipses every other love will we find
108
 “hatrwe
con love others His way. In fact, our
love for one another is simply the proof that we
_ really belong to Jesus Christ: “We know that we |
_ have passed out of death into life, because we
love the brethren. He who does not love abides
- in death” (I John 3:14). Is it any wonder that
“We love, because He first loved us?” (I John
4:19).
A third evidence of the infilling of the Holy
_ Spirit in a believer’s life is that he becomes a
“doer” of the word, not just a “hearer”. Those
who put God’s Word into practice in their lives
are earmarked for God’s continuing blessing in
their lives (James 1:22). God gives us light from
His Word in order that we may walk in it. Light
received and applied will mean more light given;
light rejected will result in less light afterwards.
Walking in the light is God’s great condition for
close fellowship with others and for the cleans-
ing of His blood upon us for all our sins (I John
1:7). We can expect neither fellowship with Him
nor cleansing by Him if we disobey.
Balance is the fourth mark of a Spirit-filled
believer. Balance shows the self-control and dis-
cipline of the Holy Spirit in a life (Galatians
5:22, 23; II Timothy 1:7). Great variations in be-
havior and mood should not be tolerated in the
mature Christian experience. A Christian who al-
lows his decisions to be made on the basis of his
feelings will be sharply limited in his usefulness
_ to the kingdom of God, since “we walk by faith,
not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7). The sooner
one finds that he has been saved to serve, the
more profitable he is. “Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing
109
RON
ee
ET
eS
 ae e eve ;tne

that your toil is not in vain in theLord” aCor-

inthians 15:58). pon
Fifth, a person who is truly walking in the
Spirit will find that he delights in his Lord—
_ gives praise to God (Psalm 37:4). Learning to lift —
the hands in praise (Psalm 63:4) and surrender
(Psalm 119:48) and to bless the Lord at all
times (Psalm 34:1 and II Thessalonians 5:18)
are two of the church’s great discoveries in to-
day’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God tells us —
in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18, “Rejoice always; pray
without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for
this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” There
is power in praise, and we find that a praising
Christian is well on the way to continual victory
over Satan’s attacks.
Singing in the Spirit is perhaps the most de-
lightful way to find release in praise. Hither in
English or in the tongues we can lift our voices
to God in song. Sometimes we use familar tunes;
often God gives fresh, new melodies, especially
for important scripture verses.
A while back, in my private times of singing
in the Spirit at the piano, the same tune and
words in my prayer language kept coming. I
mentioned this casually to Dave and Judy
Brown, who have a coffeehouse ministry in Sche- .
nectady called “Snoopy’s Place.” Judy asked me
to play and sing in her presence, and took out
her notebook. Soon the Lord gave her the inter-
pretation: one verse that night, and two verses
ten days later. The message is a prophetic word
to all of Christ’s own, calling them to a banquet
of full fellowship with Him. Heeding its message
will prepare us for the great wedding feast which
is coming when the heavenly Bridegroom returns —
110
 for fits bride, ¢the Cae Because of the vic-
_ torious invitation given in this song, and because
of the;joy that we have singing itin prayer groups
in my area, I am including it at the end of the
book. May it bless many of your prayer groups
as it has ours, and may it be the start of many
_ Spirit-given songs that you will sing in your
_ times of praise.

3. Maintain Communication With God:

If we are to keep our eyes on Jesus, if we are

to abide in Christ, then one of our most impor-
tant duties is to keep in continual communica-
tion with God. God knew our need for communi-
cation with Him from the beginning of time. We
can be sure that He will go far to keep us walk-
ing in His way as we sincerely desire to do so.
For this reason, He gave us the Bible. It is His
Word, His guidance, His way. It reveals His
heart and His mind. It records His working in
the lives of men from the beginning of history.
’ The Word of God is truth. It is our main source
of strength against Satan. It must be read sys-
tematically, believed, and memorized, and then
applied to displace Satan’s lies. Scripture is
called “the sword of the Spirit,” and Jesus used
it as His only weapon against Satan in the wil-
derness temptation. Jesus answered each of the
devil’s temptations with statements prefaced
_ with the words, “it is written... it is written...
it is written.” Then He commanded Satan to de-
part. ;
In 1959 I discovered an effective plan for daily
scripture reading through the teaching of Roy
_ Gustafson, who shared his own method. I have
111i
 been using ever since and find that in
i this man-
ner I can get through the Bible once a year or at
least every 15 months.
Very simply, the plan divides the Bible into is
six sections which I read on six week days. Mon-
day’s reading is from the Pentateuch (Genesis
to Deuteronomy), Tuesday’s from the historical
books (Joshua to Esther), Wednesday’s from
the poetical books (Job to Song of Solomon),
Thursday’s from the prophets (Isaiah to ud

Malachi, Friday’s from the Gospels (Matthew

to John), and Saturday’s from the rest of the
New Testament.
The schedule works like this: each day at
_ least three chapters are read from the assigned
section, the stopping place marked by a penciled
_date at the end of the passage. For example, if
we read Genesis 1-3 on Monday, we mark the
date at the end of chapter 3. Then the following
Monday we erase last week’s date and begin
reading at chapter 4. The same procedure will be
followed on Joshua on Tuesday, Job on Wednes-
day, etc. The advantages of the date markings
are many, including a gentle rebuke for negli-
gence when the date is two or three weeks old!
Mercifully, the human mind cannot think two
thoughts at once. When oppressive thoughts -
come, we are to displace them with appropriate
scripture verses (II Corinthians 10:3-5). Even if
- we must repeat these verses many, many times,
it is surely worth the effort in
1 order to be com-
pletely free.
Of course, equally ‘parent in our communi-
cation with God is our personal meditation, our
time of private communion and prayer with the
One that we serve. As you study the lives of the
112
 men and women who have been used greatly by
God, you'll find without fail that each was con-
_vinced of the need of prayer. In almost every —
case, these saints began each day with an hour
or more of seeking God’s face. It seems wise for
_ each individual to seek God’s will as to the time
_and place most appropriate in his life for daily
prayer. As.a person grows in Christ, he will find
_the Spirit leading him more and more into fuller
and deeper prayer times.
One should remember that there are many
_ different types of prayer, and that in your per-
sonal meditation you can combine all of these
_ types. A person can spend time simply praising
God. Again, he may find that he has many needs
_ that he wants to present to the Lord for himself
and for others. The prayer of petition is cer-
tainly in order at this time. Praying in the
Spirit, that is in tongues, speaks secrets to the
heart of God while the believer is edified and
_ built up in his faith.
_ The interesting thing that many Christians
seem to forget, is that communication is a two-
way street. As we pray we should always be
ready to receive God’s answer. Therefore, quiet
times of waiting and listening should be a part
_of our personal meditation. God will speak to the
heart of the believer if we will give Him a
chance. These times of comfort, instruction and
love should become part of the life-blood that
flows daily into the believer’s life.
_ I keep a precious little notebook of prophetic
words, and I urge all of God’s children to
maintain such a notebook. God will speak very
gently in your spirit as you ask the Lord for the
bread of life for the day. It is well to seek God
; 113
4
 :
for His specific word to you ‘after youae been —
reading His written word; then His thoughts are —
already dwelling in your mind. (Let me stress -
that there should never be a compulsion to —
write, however, for such pressure would meee |
a demonic source. Not a few people these days —
need deliverance from a demonic spirit of auto-
matic writing.) However, do not allow the fear
of deception to keep you from truly enjoying ~
one of God’s gifts.
One day recently the Lord put these words
into my spirit:

“There is a river, the reality of which none

can know except those who drink from its well
_ springs high in the mountains of suffering. Be
pleased to dwell on these mountains in My
presence, singing my praise, and you shall be
carried on to this river.

No earthly circumstance can touch you once |

you are released upon its waters. No fury from
hell can change its course. You are moving
towards this river of My rest. Keep your eyes
fixed upon Me and I will never fail you. Do not
be anxious about tomorrow, for it is already
bathed in the sunlight of My love—already
written with the pen of My fulfillment.

Yet a little while and you shall see Me. Can

you not wait for earth’s little hour? The joys
ahead exceed your powers to express them in
mere words or imprison them with your
thoughts. Trust Me to do what is right, and I
will guide your footsteps to the land of eternal
_ daylight. Shadows are spawned in hell; joy is
the legacy I have given each of My children
114
who siiceto eee his back on every earthly
_ treasure. PB,

We must remember that all of our communi-

_ cation with God rests upon our voluntary accept- ©
ance of His Lordship. God will never force Him-
_ self upon us. When Eve turned her back on God
and listened to the subtle, serpentine lie that
_ she would be like God if she disobeyed Him, she
let self sit on the throne of her heart. Ever since
then, God has had this goal with all His chil-
_ dren: to become King as well as Father; Lord as
well as Saviour.
Since self dies hard, there is a continuing
_ struggle within the heart of every Christian. Sa-
tan is happy to provide a host of his helpers to
keep tottering self alive and perched on the
throne of the human heart as long as possible.
The proper strategy is to admit that we are un-
able to live the Christian life by ourselves. Then
we bow down to our victorious Lord and invite
His Holy Spirit to reign supreme from within our
hearts,
If we allow the Spirit to reveal Christ within
us, we will learn to accept with joy the “nails”
He uses to crucify our flesh. God can then use
painful circumstances or difficult relationships
_to pierce quite effectively our self-centeredness.
Jesus said, “if anyone wishes to come after Me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his |
life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My
sake, he is the one who will save it” (Luke 9:23-
24
: Oletsis this cross? It is the life of voluntary
Bele denial. We live as disciples of our Lord, who
115
 had no ee to lay His head Tor:some this :
means a life which includes loneliness, physical—
privation, and travel in order to carry the Gos-
pel to those who have never heard. For others it —
means staying in a difficult marriage or place of —
service so that God may get the glory from a life —
of obedience and His word might be honored. |
For still others it means facing the misunder- —
standing and rejection of those held most dear —
because we refuse to compromise the truth. .
Bearing one’s cross means simply that we no
longer do our own will, but the will of the One —
who has sent us. Yet the strange mystery is
this: the more fully we accept His will, the more
real His presence becomes in our lives. One
-young woman, Donna, had a real battle with
_ passivity of the mind after the expulsion of the
spirit of unbelief. Depression, even suicidal
thoughts bothered her during times when she
did not make the effort to keep her mind active.
Finally the Holy Spirit helped her to see that
she had been a sponge for Scripture rather than
a channel. Her practice had been to take and
take under preaching and teaching ministries.
Now she determined to give others the Word of
God,. and began finding opportunities with
friends and neighbors to sit down with the Bible
over a cup of coffee. She was amazed to find how
God used her once this change took place in her
life. And as an interesting by-product of her
sharing, she noticed the yo-yo moods were less
frequent and were not as extreme. Out of her
former suffering emerged a rapidly maturing be-
liever experiencing more of the presence of God
in her life. 3
So it becomes evident that our growth and
116
 ON el BP. es aed OS Seas eas
cr
oe J

= our communication with God is directly related

to our willingness to give up our right to our
Own way in our lives. God will communicate,
will guide, will teach, will reveal His Word to
those who voluntarily seek His will.

4, Put on The Armor Of God:

The armor of God is the secret of victory both

in defensive and. offensive warfare with Satan.
Our righteousness is not our own, but Christ’s
righteousness with which He clothes us (I Cor-
inthians 1:30). Salvation is nothing we have
done for ourselves, but a gift Jesus bought with
His own blood (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; I
Peter 1:18-21). When Satan tempts or accuses
us and we feel we will never make it, we turn
the battle over to the Lord Jesus, saying,
“Jesus, You are my strength, my goodness in
this situation.” :
Our feet wear Gospel shoes (Ephesians
- 6:15)—a perfect fit for people who want to re-
- main free from demonic oppression. We ought to
be sharing Jesus with people wherever we go. It
is almost impossible to complain, criticize, or re-
sent people if our conversation is centered on
the Lord Jesus.
Faith, as our shield (Ephesians 6:16; I Peter
1:5), is held out against every attack of the en-
emy as the attacks come. Satan’s lies bounce off
God’s promises when those promises are calmly
stated and firmly believed. In 1967 and ’68 I was
often rudely awakened in the middle of the
night by something which said to me, “You are
going to hell; you’re going to hell.” Commanding
the enemy to depart in Jesus’ Name, I would
117
: slip ee the bathroom where Iada. use the a
light and not awaken the family. There I learned —
many Bible verses and repeated them over and
over again until they were written on my heart.
In time, the demon saw that I meant business
and the attacks ceased. By doing this, I was A
d
Pete
a
using the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
This is also using the Truth—the Word of God, uk:
and in Ephesians 6 we find that the girdle of —
truth is another part of our armor.
Without this armor of God, we find ourselves — Tete
ON
eee

defenseless against Satan. It is important that

the believer put on the armor of God each day
by faith and that he walk by faith in the protec-
tion of God throughout the day. Te
Pe
e
ee

5. Be Honest About Your Own Deliverance:

aeMta
In order to keep one’s deliverance, it is most —
important that a person be totally honest about
it. Though we may feel embarrassed or may
even be ashamed of some of the inroads that we
find in our own lives, we should remember that
Satan and his demons are not a part of our per-
sonality. When we have gone through deliv-
erance, the freedom that comes is the freedom
from bondage. This freedom is to be joyfully —
shared with others so that God’s whole message,
His whole Gospel of the freedom of Christ, can
be preached. You must realize that your experi-
ence may lead to another person’s freedom.
In Philippians 2:7, KJV, we see that Jesus
made Himself of “no reputation.” We should be
willing to share His ignominy on earth if we are
to share His glory in heaven. Jesus told the
Gadarene demoniac to go home and to tell peo-
118
§ iit
Vs Tits
(Nisao
§
may
@i)
=

SS ee
a Re as, SS ea
 WILL YOU COME WITH ME?
Oh, lift your eyes up and see Me coming,
You'll see me coming, ye pure in heart.
I am the light of lights, the love of all loves,
You have but tasted Me, the best is yet to be.
Look! See the table now is being set for thee.
Oh will you come with Me, or turn away?

(Refrain)
The guest listiis already written;
I await the reply of all.
Who have been invited?
Those who heed My call!
Do you hear your name?
Do you walk in love?
Oh, will you come with Me, come to the banquet?
Look up for I am here, Jesus your Lord.

2. Open your ears to Me, and hear Me speaking;

You'll hear Me speaking to you, My child.
IT am the Word of Life. You'll never hunger;
If you but taste My bread, you will be satisfied.
Oh listen! Hear my call; the meal’s prepared for
you. .
Oh will you eat with Me, or turn away? (refrain)

Oh, lift your hands up, and feel My presence;

You'll feel My presence as you give thanks.
You will be filled with joy; you will drink of My
love.
You have but touched Me, but I want more of
thee.
Feel you belong to Me; will you give Me your
voice?
O, will you: sng My praise, or turn away?
(refrain),

124
 Bibliography

fe

_
ae
Basham, Don
Can a Christian Have a Demon? Whitaker Books,
Monroeville, Pennsylvania, 1971.
Deliver Us From Evil. Chosen Books, New York,
New York, 1972.
Handbook of Holy Spirit Baptism. Whitaker
Books, Monroeville, Pennsylvania, 5th Ed.,
1972.
Handbok of Tongues, Interpretation, & Proph-
ecy, Whitaker Books, Monroeville, Pennsyl-
vania, 1971.
Brooks, Pat
OUT! In the Name of Jesus. Creation House,
Carol Stream, Illinois, 1973.
Occulé Experimentation. Moody Press, Chicago,
Illinois. 1972.
Cerullo, Morris.
The Backside of Satan. Creation House, Carol
Stream, Illinois, 1973.
Christensen, Larry
The Christian Family. Bethany Fellowship,
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Freeman, Dr. Hobart E.
‘Angels of Light. Logos International Publishing
Co., Plainfield, New Jersey, 1969.
Hagin, Kenneth
Ministering to the Oppressed. P. O. Box 50126,
Tulsa, Oklahoma, no date.
125
 The Authority of the Believer. P. O. Box 50126, .
Tulsa, Oklahoma, no date.
Lindsey, Hal
Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth. Zon-
dervan, Grand Rapids, Mich. 1972.
Macmillan, J. A. |
The Authority of the Believer. Christian Publica- —
tions, Inc., Harrisburg, Pa. no date.
Penn-Lewis, Jessie, and Roberts
War on the Saints. Christian Literature Crusade,
Fort Washington, Pa. no date.
Whyte, Rev. H. A. Maxwell
The Power of the Blood. Whitaker Books, Monro-
ville, Pa., 1972.
Dominion Over Demons. Whitaker Books, Mom
roeville, Pa., 1969.
Pulling Down Strongholds. Whitaker Books,
Monroeville, Pa., 1971.

126
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 ANOTHER WAVE ROLLS IN—Bartleman
BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT: COMMAND ae
OR OPTION—Campbell oO -ae
CAN A CHRISTIAN HAVE A DEMON—Basham 1.25
COOKBOOK OF FOODS FROM BIBLE
DAYS—McKibbin 95
DEAR DAD, THIS IS TO ANNOUNCE My,
DEATH—Kast 1.25,
DOMINION OVER DEMONS—Whyte 95
FACE UP WITH A MIRACLE—Basham 95
FAITH IN ERUPTION—Robeson 95
GATEWAY TO POWER—Smith 1.25
~ A HANDBOOK ON HOLY SPIRIT;
BAPTISM—Basham 95
A HANDBOOK ON TONGUES, INTERPRETATION
AND PROPHECY—Basham 1.25
HE SPOKE—AND | WAS STRENGTHENED—
Mills 1.25
IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYBODY!—Bixler 1.25
- JESUS IS ALIVE—Stockhowe 95
THE LAST CHAPTER—Rasmussen 1.25
LEARNING TO LIVE IN THE LOVE OF
GOD—Pickerill . 95
LET GO!—Fenelon a, 95
LET US MAKE MAN—Beall 1.25
LOOKING TO JESUS—Monod -50
MINISTERING THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY,
SPIRIT—Basham 1.00
ONE BODY IN CHRIST—Kurosaki 1.25
THE POWER OF THE BLOOD—Whyte 95
THE SCHOOL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT—Beall 1.25
_ A SCRIPTURAL OUTLINE OF THE BAPTISM
IN THE HOLY SPIRIT—-Gillies .50
SEVEN TIMES AROUND—McKee 1.25
SIGI AND i—Schmidt 95 «
UNDERSTANDING GQD—Gruits 3.00)
VISIONS BEYOND THE VEIL—Baker . 95
WHAT’S YOUR QUESTION?—Sumrall 95
 Based on her own personal experi-
ences with demonic powers, Pat Brooks