Casting Out Devils

We must shed the titles. Very often, e-mail arrives asking about our statement of faith and denominational affiliation. These questions have been answered on this website several times; however, because the God Said Man Said site now contains almost 300 subjects at the time of this printing, and grows by one every Thursday evening (God willing), many people haven't fallen upon these identifying segments. In regard to our statement of faith, it is found in the entire Authorized majority- text version of the Bible, commonly known as the King James Version, from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. The hermeneutics (method of expounding) we employ is identified with the ancient term Sola Scriptura which means "scriptures alone." Concerning denominations, we are neither Catholic, nor Orthodox, nor Protestant, but are members of the body of Christ, the seed of Abraham, certified in His Word and walk in it to the best of our understanding. We endorse no denomination. "Denomination" by definition basically means "division." Our allegiance is to the Word of God.

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GOD SAID, Mark 5:2-13:

2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:

4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.

5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,

7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.

11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

GOD SAID, Luke 4:33-35:

33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,

34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.

GOD SAID, Luke 11:24-26:

24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

MAN SAID:  Satan and devils do not exist! They are simply sociological constructs employed by the uneducated to answer what they deem unexplainable (which can, by the way, be easily explained by godless naturalism).

Now THE RECORD. The following e-mail came from Antwan:

I was watching a movie called The Exorcism of Emily Rose and I had a question or two. First of all, are exorcisms real? Secondly, in the movie it was said that 3:15 a.m. is the time in which the dead walk. This is supposed to be quoted in the Bible. Are either of these two things correct?

Exorcists are mentioned in the Scriptures (Acts 19:13) and exorcism was practiced before Christ, but this is not to be confused with Christ's ministry of casting out devils or the same ministry carried out by Holy Ghost ministers today. Dispensationalism claims that this ministry was only for the days of Christ, for the purpose of the establishment of the church, and they say this without any Biblical support. As Jesus Christ prepared to leave the earth, He gave the church one very specific commandment: to tarry (which they did) at Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Ghost. Some of His very last words while on the earth are recorded in Mark 16:15-18:

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Note that Jesus said, "And these signs shall follow them that believe;" Those who are unbelievers in this regard, whether they confess Christ or not, will not be able to perform in these ministries.

Exorcism is defined by Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language as, "The expulsion of evil spirits from persons or places by certain adjurations and ceremonies." [End of quote] Jesus Christ did not perform exorcisms, but cast out the unclean spirits by the power of His Word. The ministers of the cross cast out devils in Jesus' name by the spoken authority of the word of faith, which is the most powerful force in the universe.

There are those in the field of parapsychology, which is the study of extrasensory perception and related psychic phenomena, that believe that many patients in today's insane asylums are possessed by unclean spirits or devils. The following excerpt is from The Christian Courier under the title "Demons: Ancient Superstition or Historical Reality:"

In 1846, Simon Greenleaf, Dane Professor of Law at Harvard University, produced a work titled The Testimony of the Evangelists Examined by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice.  Greenleaf was the greatest authority in the history of legal procedure on what constitutes evidence. His massive three-volume set, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence (1842-53), is, to this very day, a standard on the topic of evidence. Greenleaf argued in The Testimony—with dramatic authority—that the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John passed the strictest tests of authenticity, and thus may be regarded as dependable (1903, pp. 1-54). And without controversy is the fact that these writers described cases of demonic activity during the ministry of Jesus.

Is there such a thing as devil possession in this day? Do people actually sell their souls to the Devil? The following paragraphs are from a feature on this website titled "Beware Who You Follow:"

Atheist Karl Marx, the father of the left wing sociological system known as communism, was an ardent follower of Darwin. The leadership of Marx has resulted in the sorrow and death of millions. These following excerpts are from Dr. Morris's book, The Long War Against God:

Karl Marx was born into a well-to-do family of Jewish Christians, but later in life he became strongly anti-Semitic and anti-black, as well as anti-Christian and anti-God. At first, however, and until high school graduation, he gave every indication of being a knowledgeable and committed Christian. But then some unknown event occurred that changed his life's orientation drastically. The Rev. Richard Wurmbrand, an authority on the evils of communism, has observed: "Shortly after Marx received this certificate, something mysterious happened in his life: he became profoundly and passionately antireligious. A new Marx began to emerge. He writes in a poem, 'I wish to avenge myself against the One who rules above.'"

And then again, Dr. Morris writes:

In addition to his economic and sociological writings, which were extensive, Marx wrote a number of poems and dramas, especially during his college years. It is mainly in these that his dark religion is expressed. Just to give one example cited by Wurmbrand, consider one of his poems, called "The Player," written by Karl Marx at about age eighteen and evidently intended as a sort of personal testimony. It reads:

The hellish vapors rise and fill the brain,

Till I go mad and my heart is utterly changed.

See this sword?

The prince of darkness

Sold it to me.

For me he beats the time and gives the signs.

Ever more boldly I play the dance of death.

According to Wurmbrand, this is in reference to rites of initiation in the Satanist cults, in which an enchanted sword ensuring success in life is sold to the initiate for the price of a blood covenant with Satan for his soul at death. [End of quotes]

Satan's M.O. is to kill, steal, and destroy. Those who have followed and are following his servant, Karl Marx, will perform the Devil's true bidding. Revelation 6:4: "And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." The color of communism is red.

Years ago on a Saturday evening, I was lying on my bed after work while my wife was preparing dinner. Later that evening, we were to attend a church service. My relaxation was interrupted when I heard the door to my house opening abruptly. A sister in the Lord came rushing in to the kitchen shouting, "Where is Brother Dave? Where is Brother Dave? I have a demon-possessed woman in my car!" I quickly took my raincoat and went out into the kitchen. The sister told me she had picked up a woman who was hitchhiking and that she had grabbed the steering wheel of the vehicle three times attempting to wreck the car. She asked if I would cast out the devils.

Up to that time, I had little experience in the act of casting out devils, and that which I did have was strictly as a supporting role. I told the sister that I would go with her. As we walked out into the dark during an electrical storm—complete with booming thunder, lightning, and pelting rain—she told me to watch out because this woman was very strong. Under my breath, I spoke to the Lord explaining my lack of experience. But, I was fully believing His Word and telling Him that I was stepping into this confrontation with the devil solely in Jesus' name. I got into the driver's seat and my sister in Christ sat in the back. The hitchhiker was in the front passenger seat looking at the floor in what appeared to be a catatonic stupor. I addressed her as she continued staring at the floor and ignoring me. As I began to speak to her in Jesus' name, she began to respond.

She told me she knew all about Jesus Christ and was instead studying eastern religions. As I began to speak about Jesus Christ, she became agitated and these words came out of her mouth repeatedly: "Leave Leona alone. She'll be all right when she gets home." The sister in the back seat excitedly tapped me on the shoulder telling me the hitchhiker's name was Leona! This third-person conversation was a devil speaking through Leona as described in the passages from the Word of God quoted above. As I began to confront the devils directly, they responded, "Leave Leona alone or we will kill her when she gets home!" Now fully in the middle of this high-energy confrontation, I began to bind the devils by the authority of the Word of God and their heated response was, "Jesus Christ is nothing! I gave you all that you have! I am the source!" I called the devil a liar and reached out and laid my hand on Leona's head, commanding the devil to come out in the name of Jesus. She began to writhe like a snake, shouting "You're burning my head! You're burning my head!" as she swung open the door of the parked car and began running down the street. As the lightning flashed, we could see Leona's silhouette running, with her hair and hands in the air. I quickly started the vehicle and we pursued her. As we got next to her, the sister in the back seat jumped out of the vehicle and forced Leona into the car. Now all three of us were in the front seat. It appeared that the situation was much more severe than before I had called the devils out.

Leona was frantic and in this dangerous moment, God spoke to me very clearly and said, "Did you command the Devil to leave?" I responded that I did. He told me the devils were in fact gone from Leona's body but they were bluffing in order to break my faith, so that they could repossess her. God's truth to me in that extreme moment was so obviously clear. The devils were bluffing! Yes, of course they were bluffing! I began to laugh at the top of my voice. Leona's frantic ruminations were replaced with hands uplifted as she praised God for her deliverance through Christ Jesus!

This was not an exorcism, but rather the casting out of devils by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Since that time I, along with other saints, have had numerous such confrontations with unclean spirits.

Antwan's final question reads: "...in the movie it was said that 3:15 a.m. is the time in which the dead walk. This is supposed to be quoted in the Bible. Are either of these two things correct?" Antwan, there is no such concept I'm aware of that is found in the Scriptures. In regard to the dead walking, one must know that according to the Bible, a very quick transition takes place from this life to one's ultimate destiny, whether it's eternal life in Christ Jesus or eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire. Jesus speaks to the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43:

Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

There are other passages that deal with the quickness of the transition, in passages such as Luke 16:22-26, I Samuel 28:15-19, and II Corinthians 5:6-8.

God's Word shows a quick transition from here to eternity, but there are very real, evil, unclean spirits operating in this earth pretending to be something they are not. However, I must mention the relevance of 3:15 a.m. It's relevance is in the 180-degree principle—the principle of the opposites.

In this existence there are only two camps and they are directly opposed to each other. The camps that I'm referring to are the camp of God and life, and the camp of Satan and death. Satan deals in the identical type of endeavor as God, simply 180 degrees out from God—exactly opposite. Using the yardstick as an example, God would be one and Satan 36. Consider the short list that follows:

God is life. Satan is death.

God is light. Satan is darkness.

God is love. Satan is hate.

God is joy. Satan is sorrow.

God is faith. Satan is fear.

God is blessing. Satan is cursing.

God is hope. Satan is hopelessness.

God is truth. Satan is lies., and so on.

What do the opposites have to do with 3:15 a.m.? The Lord Jesus Christ gave up the ghost during the ninth hour of the day, which is 3:00 p.m.— and these two hours are exact opposites. Matthew 27:46- 50:

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.

48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

The ninth hour was also the hour of prayer. Acts 3:1:

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

Do devils exist? Are people actually possessed by them? Jesus said "Yes," and mounds of empirical data and anecdotal evidence abound.

GOD SAID, Mark 5:2-13:

2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:

4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.

5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,

7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.

9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.

10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.

11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.

13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

GOD SAID, Luke 4:33-35:

33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,

34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.

GOD SAID, Luke 11:24-26:

24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

MAN SAID:  Satan and devils do not exist! They are simply sociological constructs employed by the uneducated to answer what they deem unexplainable (which can by the way be easily explained by godless naturalism).

Now you have THE RECORD.




References:

Authorized King James Bible

www.Christiancourier.com

 

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