Can a Christian Be Demon Possessed?
by David K. Bernard
Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--can-a-christian-be-demon-possessed
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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well i first of all from the bible particularly the new testament i do believe demons are real it appears that they're fallen spirits angels who who sinned and became demonic under the influence of satan and we do see accounts in the bible of demon possessions demons have caused physical disease mental disease a spiritual rebellion um i do believe there's demonic activity in the world today i grew up in korea where my parents were missionaries and it was a non-christian culture primarily ancestor worship and shamanism or worship of spirits of nature buddhism and when you find a pagan culture or non-christian culture where there's overt worship of spirits the apostle paul explains in first corinthians that demons receive that worship so it's not just neutral but demons actually receive that so that explains in non-christian cultures there is often more overt demonic activity whereas in the u.s at least historically we've been more or less a biblically oriented christian or any culture so there's not a lot of openness towards demonic influence now sadly that has changed a lot so i do believe that when people engage in idolatry or witchcraft or open promiscuity or open drug use they do open themselves up to the demonic world and to be honest when you read about some of the heinous crimes the torture child abuse just gratuitous violence and you might just say well it's mental illness and maybe that is a factor there's often an overlap but i do think probably we are seeing although we don't recognize it uh maybe we are seeing an increase in demonic activity across our world and even in the united states and canada it's probably far more prevalent than than what we know i have personally both in korea and ministry overseas and in starting a church in austin texas uh i have encountered demonic spirits and we have cast out demons i believe it's real um then the way that you deal with that situation is you rebuke them in jesus name sometimes it's not always clear there there is a maybe a continuum where certainly there is human rebellion not not all sin is caused by the devil people say the devil made me do it no it could be your own will you know you can cast out the devil but you can't cast out the flesh so if your your temptations and your habitual sins are caused by fleshly indulgence well no amount of praying is going to cast out the demon because that's not the real issue

yes but i will say when people just open themselves up in an unrestrained way to evil then that gives an opportunity for the devil and in some cases it may be demonic influence which i think that's extremely prevalent some cases it may be oppression where the devil has you know is dominating the the person's thoughts and minds maybe not completely controlling them and then sometimes it is possession where the the demonic the spirit has taken over where that person cannot freely exercise choice and they're being motivated by evil spirits within them now i will say this we shouldn't exaggerate the devil's power because notice when jesus cast out demons i'm thinking of the man in gadara that was so possessed by demons he couldn't be restrained he would break chains and he would he would howl and cut himself and and he would roam around he was what we would call you know insane but yet he came to jesus and jesus rebuked the demons and delivered him now notice he couldn't free himself he was bound but all those demons could not stop him from coming to jesus surely they would have if they could have but even with a demon-possessed person there is a human will and i believe deep inside if there is a will that will is not 100 crushed so even though the person may not have free control and may be influenced and even compelled to do things that they didn't want to do if they want deliverance they can't deliver themselves but when they come in contact with an apostolic believer spiritual believer then we can pray the prayer of faith in jesus name and they will be delivered now sometimes people aren't delivered and i think it's usually because in their will they have chosen this and they desired this and they have lit maybe they didn't really expect to be filled with demons but they persistently and rebelliously chose a lifestyle and so even though you pray for deliverance and cast out the demon if their will is not seeking deliverance then i believe the demon could remain on the other hand if they desire deliverance even though they're not capable of acquiring it on their own they are capable of coming in contact with the church and seeking in their own way for someone to deliver them by the power of jesus christ and that probably would explain why jesus is constantly encountering people who are demon possessed because those people there's something inside of them wanted to make contact with jesus right

and i would say understanding as we do what a new testament christian is someone who's baptized in the name of jesus christ filled with the holy ghost the answer is no if you're filled with the spirit well and of course we're not talking about physical quantity but that's that's a good analogy if you want to describe what that means if you're filled with the spirit you're led you're guided you're owned now the difference between holy spirit infilling and spirit possession god always honors your will so we don't really think of ourselves as possessed by the holy spirit because that implies force we're filled with the spirit because it's voluntary we receive the spirit it's a gift we accept it but having said that there is a parallel if you're filled with the spirit voluntarily but still the holy spirit is controlling you're you're guiding your thoughts your mind you're bearing the fruit of the spirit you're exercising gifts of the spirit well then how could there be room for a demon if you're filled with the spirit where's the place for a demon if you're submitted to the will of god can you be submitted to a demon no and so i do not think a christian can be demon possessed if they're truly filled with the spirit now there are many experiences people relate but we always establish doctrine by the word of god not by experience we interpret our spirit experience in light of what the bible teaches having said that there are many explanations of various experiences first of all maybe a person is demonically possessed because they're not really a new testament christian filled with the holy ghost as we know it second they could be have backslidden and i do think if they're backslidden they can open themselves up to demonic spirits third they could be oppressed or influenced so they are encountering real spiritual forces but those forces haven't controlled them and for a christian we should understand the only power the devil has is bluff james says resist the devil and he will flee from you so that's why i don't think we can be a we can have a demon in this if we're full of the holy ghost because if we say flee the devil has to flee but of course the devil could control us in the form of a bluff if we don't realize that his power is limited and we allow him to to guide us and influence us and oppress us then it could be the same effect as if we were possessed but we're really not possessed the devil doesn't really have the power but he pretends to have the power and if we're ignorant we let him get away with it and of course the answer to that is to pray in jesus name and rebuke the devil so there can be many explanations of why people have had various experiences but if you are a child of god you're baptized in jesus name you've received the holy ghost then whatever demonic force you encounter in the middle of the night you feel oppressed attacked you you see a form whatever the simple thing is to realize i have power in jesus name so you rebuke the devil in jesus name and we sometimes say plead the blood what does that mean it's not a new testament phrase but it simply means jesus died for my sins he shed his blood for me and he rose again to give me liberty so i'm gonna plead the blood of jesus in other words based on the death burial and resurrection of jesus christ i have power i have victory devil you're defeated you already have been defeated by jesus and i'm not gonna listen to you and you're not gonna have control of me and so we call that i plead the blood or i call on the name of jesus christ and i do believe and i haven't experienced that whenever you feel that you're under demonic attack or oppression if you will call on the name of jesus christ plead the blood of jesus christ and to have confidence and pray in the holy spirit then you will be victorious the so in summary christians don't have to fear the devil and we shouldn't try to find the devil everywhere because as i said many problems are because of the flesh but i do think the discerning of spirits first corinthians 12 talks about sometimes we'll recognize this is not of god for sure and this is not just the human spirit this is a demonic spirit we take authority over it in jesus name other times we may recognize well this is really a human spirit so while we're going to resist the devil to get at the root of the problem that person needs to repent that person needs to be committed to jesus christ and be willing to pursue holiness to be willing to grow to be trained and how not to yield to temptation so it's important for us to understand what we're dealing with so that we can give a comprehensive answer but thankfully in the gospel of jesus christ we do have the comprehensive solution to human sin and we have victory in our lives