Medical Illnesses Don't Speak!

"Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, 'Let us alone! What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God!' But Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet, and come out of him!' And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him." Mark 1:23-26 The ministry of "deliverance," such an important ministry in the life of Jesus Christ as he walked this earth - where has it gone? Why do we hear little about it these days? The ministry of deliverance, or setting people free from demonic affliction, played a major part in the ministry of Jesus. There is account after account after account of Jesus's interaction with demonic spirits. Early in my walk with the Lord, I was reading a book on deliverance and I remember putting it down on my lap and asking, "Lord, is this true? Are there really such things as demonic spirits? And if you casted them out of people, where did they go? Are they still here?" Shortly after that prayer, I found myself in the first Christian conference I ever attended. After one session, I stayed behind while the others left because I wanted to ask the speaker some questions about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, a doctrine I had only just heard about. As we talked, I heard a terrible sound coming from the back of the auditorium. It was so startling that I automatically turned around to see what it was. There was a young man about the age of 20 sitting in a chair, and two ministers of the Gospel were commanding a spirit to leave him. What was so astounding was that the spirit answered back in a voice that was definitely not human. It argued that it had been in this man since he was born, and that this was his house and he would not be leaving it! The ministers answered, "oh yes, you will leave, because he has surrendered his life to Jesus Christ who is now the owner, and you are no longer welcome here." The argument continued for quite some time, with the spirit convulsing the man several times, sweat dripping from his very pale face, a look of utter misery upon him. Finally the command was given to leave immediately, and the spirit once again convulsed the young man, brought him to the floor, and it looked like he was dead. But he wasn't. He was set free. It was a spirit of homosexuality. The next morning he was at the conference and he radiated the freedom he had obtained the day before. I knew someone, a believer, who had a lying spirit, and saw that spirit cast out of him. He who had been a compulsive liar ...never spoke a lie again, and that was earth-shaking to me, because I knew this person well. An argument one hears from many believers is that a born-again person can't be "possessed" if they are filled with the Holy Spirit. The error in this argument lies in the mistranslation of the word. It isn't "possessed," it is correctly translated "demonized." One wouldn't say a person cannot be “possessed” by a bacteria or virus. No one would make that connection. A person can be afflicted with agents of evil, bacteria, viruses, and also evil spirits. Once a believer realizes this, then it becomes easier to recognize a demonic affliction as a source in people so afflicted. Believers can be held in bondage by deaf spirits, dumb spirits, the number and name of them is myriad. A believer can be afflicted in their bodies, and they can be afflicted with "mental illnesses" caused by demonic spirits, making the soul sick. "Science" puts names to these afflictions, such as "paranoia," "schizophrenia," but paranoia and schizophrenia won't hold conversations, yet the demonic spirits behind them will if one with authority casts them out. Jesus told the one in the passage above to "be quiet and come out of him." To whom was he speaking to be quiet? And to "come out of him?" These are sentient beings who speak and act and can cause all manner of havoc in a person so afflicted. For many afflictions, doctors can only give a person medications and treatments which can subdue the symptoms somewhat. A person with an affliction caused by a demonic spirit cannot become well because the underlying cause is not taken care of. The best they can hope for is medication to ease some of the suffering. A tell-tale sign that an affliction is demonic lies in the fact that nothing and no one can succeed in curing the person. If Jesus were walking the face of the earth today, his ministry would be the same. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). If you have an affliction that won't yield to any kind of treatment, or a sin you cannot control, ASK the Lord to reveal to you if it is being caused by a demonic spirit, and if so, ask him how to proceed to deliverance. Don't ever try to deal in this area alone, because you will encounter resistance and even retaliation. Ask the Lord to bring someone to you who is trained in this ministry. Better yet, ask Jesus himself to set you free. Jesus said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the CAPTIVES and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are OPPRESSED;" Luke 4:18