A0396_Theres a Demon Under the Bed
Date: 27th July 2008 (Sunday PM) Ref: A0396
Place: Kambah P.S.
Title: There’s a Demon Under the Bed
Text: & 1 Samuel 28:7-12
Illust: Received a flyer in the mailbox during the week, It was for a clairvoyant.- Living in a time when lots of people are “secular” don’t believe in God, yet at the same time, for clairvoyants, astrologers etc business is booming.
I. Rise of the Occult
A. Occult Practice
i. The occult is rising. Subtle hidden danger of the rainbow. - More people involved in New Age, Crystals, aromatherapy, reflexology, acupuncture, alternative medicine, chiropractors, Yoga. – You name it multitude of therapies & ‘alternative’ programs people can get involved in
ii. Then you have the rise of the straight out demonic – Witchcraft, Wicca, Satanism, Paganism, Gothic. – Dark, Demonic & evil.
iii. Daily occult – Astrology – hardly find a newspaper / magazine, that doesn’t have an astrology / clairvoyant section. – Mainstream – Mediums talking to the dead on live television. Write in letters to find out how great grandma is coping on the ‘other side’
B. Rebellion
i. Make no mistake at the core of all these is rebellion against God. The desire to have another way, to believe something else, anything else but have to acknowledge accountability to God
1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, (NKJV)
ii. The desire to know the future. – What will the day hold:
Weekend’s Herald Sun, Jonathan Cainer – “Weekend forecasts” – (sounds like the weather)
“You have a secret admirer. Who? I can’t tell you it’s a secret ...” blah blah blah – For your amazing in-depth prediction, call 1902 222 700.
iii. Wanting to know what the future holds, wanting to influence the future with spells, rituals. – Rebellion – lack of faith in God, lack of trust in Him.
II. Curse Of Occult
A. Forbidden by God
i. Any involvement in any occult practice is expressly forbidden by God.
Deuteronomy 18:9-11 9 “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. (NKJV)
ii. Pretty comprehensive list, pretty much covers all that popular culture calls new age and accepted. – God hates it
Deuteronomy 18:12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. (NKJV)
iii. Why did God give the promised land to the the children of Israel. – He had promised it to Abraham, but notice in the verse I just read that God lays a legal basis for dispossessing the current inhabitants. – Because the people were practicing the abominations of witchcraft, astrology, spiritism. – God says they have no right to live here.
B. Brings a Curse
i. Need to understand that because any involvement in the occult is rebellion, it brings with it a curse – & Gal 3:10 ~ Defiles you
Leviticus 19:31 ‘Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. (NKJV)
ii. When something is defiled, God has nothing to do with it, has no access to His presence. So much so that God turns away – Saul lost his Kingdom, his health, his mind & ends up calling on a medium. – Exactly what God said not to do. God sets his face against him. God sets His face against those who rebel. - Cursed
Leviticus 20:6 ‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. (NKJV)
iii. Need to understand that this curse is not just for the one involved. – Generational curses. That effect the grandchildren. – You may not have involved yourself in witchcraft, astrology, clairvoyants etc. You may have & repented. But what about your parents / grandparents
Deuteronomy 5:9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (NKJV)
III. Kick the Demon Out
A. Spiritually Blind
i. One of the biggest problems we have in the western world I think is that we fail to grasp the spiritual nature of so much that occurs around us. – Maybe even be worried about seeing a demon under every bed.
ii. The issue is that we fail to see the demon that is under the bed. The demonic influence / access that is bringing the curse of sickness / torment to your life.
iii. Generational curses of fear, rejection, anxiety, stress, - playing out in physical symptoms – Demonic root
B. Kick the Devil
i. Saul had started our right by removing all the mediums from the land. - & 1 Sam 28:3b Need to Kick the demon out that is behind the curse, the sickness – Kick them out from under the bed.
ii. Three R’s – Recognise, Repent, Take Responsibility.
Recognise that there is a direct or generational curse in your life or that may influence your children through your or your ancestors involvement in the occult
You need to Repent. – You need to stand before God and repent of your involvement and the involvement of your ancestors
Nehemiah 9:2 Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. (NKJV)
Now you need to take Responsibility. – Responsibility to stand against the demonic influence and claim your place as a child of God, delivered, freed from the curse by the Blood of Jesus. – To walk in your freedom & deliverance to demand that every demon that may be plaguing your life goes in the name of Jesus. ~ & Gal 3:13
iii. In any combat a lot of investment / spying etc goes into identifying & understanding the enemy. Need to understand that there is a very real devil, very real demons & they have access through rebellion / sin. – But we have the weapons of warfare to vanquish the foe.