They Will Cast Out Demons pt.2

Introduction

We spoke to you last time about how we have received a commandment from the Lord Jesus Christ to cast out devils or demons. In fact, Christ said that this would be the ‘sign,’ the way you will know, those who truly believed (Mark 16:17).

Unfortunately, there are many in the body of Christ who don’t practice this or even believe this. They don’t see the devil as a real threat, if they believe in him at all. They have not taken these words of Jesus seriously enough. In this series we hope to change this. Our prayer is that when we are finished you will know and will be intent on fulfilling this command from Jesus Christ!

As I said, there are many in the body of Christ that do not see the need to cast out devils, especially if they’re not serving in the ministry. They are under the impression that if they are not going to be casting devils out of other people, then what’s the point? But, what they don’t realize is that casting out devils is not just something we do for others. It’s also something that we sometimes do for ourselves. Yes, Christians, at times, have to cast devils out of themselves!

Mark 16:18

Notice that Jesus says, in addition to casting out devils, that believers will also ‘take up serpents.’ This phrase ‘take up serpents’ can be translated ‘take away’ or remove serpents (Numbers 21:6-7).

When the Israelites sinned, God sent fiery serpents among them as a form of judgment. The phrase ‘take away the serpents’ is the same Greek word aírō (in the Septuagint) that appears in Mark 16:18!

The only difference between the passage in Numbers and what we read in Mark is in Numbers the Israelites prayed that GOD would ‘take away’ the serpents. In Mark Jesus said that BELIEVERS will take away the serpents! Jesus says that those who repent and are baptized have the right to be delivered from serpents or demon spirits. And, if there’s no one to perform this task for them, they can perform it themselves!

This is what I really want to talk to you today about. I want to talk to you about how casting out devils is our responsibility, not God’s or someone else’s. Again, the only difference between what we read in Numbers and what we read in the book of Mark is the person responsible for removing the serpents. In Numbers, the people asked God to remove them. In Mark Jesus commanded believers to remove them! We’re still waiting on God to do something about the serpents when He has already give you and I the command to do something about them! (Some people are still convinced that they don’t have any demons. We’ll cover that shortly, but first we must address the issue that the responsibility to do something about our enemy lies with us and not with God.)

Judges 3:1-4

Notice that God did not clear out all Israel’s enemies from the land under Joshua. He left some enemies after Joshua’s (Jesus) death to teach the next generation war. Similarly, God did not clear out all of our enemies under Jesus’ ministry. He left some enemies even after what Christ did on the cross in order to teach us how to war against our enemies. God is not going to do all of our work for us, just like He didn’t do all the work for them!

This begs the question: who are our enemies? In Israel’s case, their enemies were the FIVE lords of the Philistines. The Philistines lived right on the coast of Canaan (see map). There were five major cities in Philistine. Each of these cities had ‘lords’ or governors over them. What’s the significance of this?

In the Bible the Philistines are described as ‘uncircumcised.’ Moreover, when it comes to circumcision, what is circumcised or removed is the flesh. Therefore, the Philistines are a type of the flesh, and the 5 lords represent the 5 senses by which the flesh is governed (touch, taste, smell, see and hear). Therefore, one of the enemies that we’re war against is our flesh (2Peter 2:11).

It wasn’t just Philistines (the flesh) that Israel had to contend with. They also had to contend with giants (Numbers 13:32, 33). Moreover, these giants were often used as guardians by the inhabitants of Canaan. In fact, the Philistines had a giant named, Goliath. So, you couldn’t conquer the Philistines unless you first dealt with and defeat their giant!

Now, when you look at the word ‘giant’ in the Bible you will discover that one of its name (rephaim) means spirit of the dead. The other name (nephilim) means hero or mighty warrior. I believe this is what giants represent in the Bible—evil spirits or mighty warriors that guard particular regions of your flesh. Oftentimes, you must defeat the spirit guarding that region of your flesh before you can overcome in that area.

People often wonder why they can’t get (or keep) the victory in a particular area? They wonder why they keep having to deal with the same issue year after year, sometimes since childhood? We don’t realize that in some cases there’s a spirit work. You might have a fear problem, anxiety issues, you may be battling with pornography or sexual identity, you maybe battling with anger or rage, you may have a preoccupation with death or things that are dead, or maybe you are encounters evil spirits in your home or while you are asleep. In these cases, it’s very possible that your problem is bigger than what you might see. There may be a stronghold in your life.

Now, the world will try to convince you to suppress these issues or learn to cope with them. That’s exactly what Satan wants you to do. He wants you to live with these issues (make peace with them). This is what the children of Israel did when they could not cast the enemy out of their own land. They learned to ‘live’ with them (Judges 1:21, 27-33).

Again, the enemies that we have to contend with are the flesh and evil spirits.

2Corinthians 7:1

Here we’re commanded to sanctify ourselves of flesh and spirit. Now, Paul is NOT saying that we’re to sanctify our flesh and our spirit. For one, the flesh cannot be sanctified; it must be crucified! Secondly, if our human spirit was really defiled, then we wouldn’t be saved. No, Paul is talking about sanctifying or cleansing ourselves of the flesh and of evil spirits.

Therefore, you don’t have to be committing sin to have flesh or evil spirits you need to be cleansed of. It’s possible, especially if you’ve recently come out of the world, to have flesh or evil spirits to deal with. When we were in the world, we were all under the control of evil spirits (Ephesians 2:2). After we come to Christ all those demons aren’t all removed or cast out.

Most Christians don’t realize this. Either they don’t realize that they were once under the control of evil spirits, OR they don’t realize that all of those spirits weren’t removed when they came to Christ. How do we know this?

For one, just look at how some of us act! Second, deliverance from evil spirits is something that exclusively belongs to God’s children (Matthew 15:22, 26)! Here Jesus calls deliverance from demons the ‘children’s bread’! So, if you are not a child of God (believer), you’re not entitled to deliverance from spirits.