Should Christians Seek Help from Deliverance Ministries?
by David K. Bernard
Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: James 4:7

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--should-christians-seek-help-from-deliverance-ministries
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 to answer these questions we're going to focus on the Bible as our Authority experiences are not our Authority they're subjective and they should be interpreted in accordance with the Bible many people have genuine experiences but hownavigation to interpret them how to understand them is another question and we don't establish Doctrine from experiences rather we use the Bible to help us understand our experiences so if you read the Bible and let's just take an example first John tells us that there are three main influences towards evil there is the devil and demons evil spirits we believe in the reality of this evil spirit just as we believe in the reality of God and the angels who are good spirits we believe in the reality of the devil and demons who are fallen angels and evil spirits so there's that influence a second influence is the world and that means the value system the culture of the world that's contrary to God the lust of the flesh the less the eyes the pride of life these things constitute the world and then there is our own sinful nature internal lust or evil desires we're not born in a state of Innocence like Adam and Eve were created but were born with the nature of sin there's a a disposition and even a compulsion to sin even a bondage of sin without the grace of God we are going to sin we're Sinners by Nature we will commit sinful acts when we receive the Holy Spirit we receive power to overcome the sinful nature so what we need to understand is the influences are of evil include evil spirits but are not limited evil spirits so when you announce examine something like an addiction uh it there could be a demonic component but there could be an influence from the world and there could be your own flesh your own sinful nature and sinful desires so while we believe in the reality of evil spirits not every problem is created by evil spirits and therefore not every solution is going to be just attacking evil spirits now when it comes to the Christian we are filled with the Holy Spirit now some Christians don't really teach that or don't experience that and so it would be understandable that a professor and Christian who actually is not filled with the spirit might have a struggle with demons in a way that we do not and so their experience would lead them to believe that Christians have demons where that is not what scripture teaches so the Bible would indicate to us a true Christian not only believes in Jesus Christ intellectually not only his repented of their sins but has received the gift of the Holy Ghost actually been filled with the Holy Ghost now if you think of that term filled means you're controlled by God's spirit not against your will not as a puppet or Not by force but by voluntary surrender so there's no area of your life if you're filled there's no area of your life where the holy spirit is not supreme or doesn't have um Authority and so I do not believe that it's scriptural to think that a Christian could be possessed with the devil or an evil spirit because that would be contrary to being filled with the spirit we are owned by Jesus Christ not by an evil spirit however if someone is not a Christian or maybe they are beginning or they're in the Journey of being Christian but have never received the gift of the Holy Ghost well yes it is possible that they could be possessed by an evil spirit or demonized you might say I will say however that Christians can be attacked by the devil they can be tempted by the devil that's clear even Jesus was tempted but he of course he never sinned so we sometimes talk about being oppressed so uh and and the devil doesn't have power over Christians except the power of the bluff in other words if he can convince you that he has power then he has power so sometimes we go through trials we go through presentations maybe we ourselves have failed personally we've sinned and so the devil convinces us that we're under his control even when we're really not to the extent we believe that then we are a nurse control and so there are times that he can oppress us he can and make us have thoughts of of depression and discouragement even suicide but the true Christian needs to realize I don't have to be subject to that I can resist that in the the name of Jesus Christ and of course every Christian can be influenced or tempted by the devil so I think it's legitimate to pray against the devil in fact the Lord's Prayer gives us a good example uh lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil and some commentators point out the connotation is the evil one not just evil generically but the opposing evil force so certainly it's biblical to pray for God's grace and to pray against evil to pray against the devil if there's a time where we feel like we're attacked by the devil we're influenced or tempted or even oppressed then we should pray in the name of Jesus Christ and sometimes we say I plead the blood of Jesus that's not a new testament expression but it goes back to the Old Testament sacrificial system but it's a way of saying I know Jesus died for my sins he was buried he rose again he won victory over the devil so I have Victory through Jesus Christ and so I plead the blood of Jesus Christ or I call on the name of Jesus Christ Christ in the Book of James says resist the devil and he will flee from you both both first Peter and James talk about how the devil attacks us but if we resist him then we have authority over him in the name of Jesus Ephesians talks about how Jesus Christ by his crucifixion and Resurrection is already defeated the devil so the Devil is a defeated foe now when it comes to Deliverance Ministries uh and you mentioned um generational curses well I do believe we're all Sinners by Nature we're all born into sin and we inherit that all the way from Adam uh himself our original Parent uh once he fell into sin but I don't believe there's some mystical thing whereby if an ancestor is committed a certain sin you are bound to that sin it is true of course that the decisions and lifestyles of ancestors uh grandparents parents can influence us so certainly a person is born in a Christian Home has many advantages where a person who's not born a Christian home or even worse a person who's born in a home of say drug addiction or prostitution or paganism or idolatry they already have certain things set against them because of the freedom of demonic influence because of poor teaching because of wrong thoughts because of wrong examples but I don't think that's something that has to be mystically broken I think all of us no matter our background no matter our influence we all contend with the same thing uh of that I've already mentioned and and the flesh that's internal the sinful nature the world and the devil and so the solution is always going to be the preaching and teaching of the word of God prayer in the name of Jesus faith in Jesus Christ repentance from sin being filled with the Holy Ghost and walking in the spirit and so we appropriate the victory that Jesus Christ has already won we don't have to create a new victory but we simply apply the victory that Jesus Christ has already won so when it comes to there are some people who are possessed by the devil we can by Discerning of spirits we can know when somebody's possessed we can rebuke them in Jesus name and we can cast out the demons I do believe there has to be in that person's heart even though they're bound there has to be a desire for Freedom there has to be a desire to overcome otherwise even though we have faith and we have power some people have chosen their sinful life some people have chosen that demonic influence so until somewhere in their heart they have a desire to change then we God is not going to force them against their own will but God will deliver them so when we Face problems in our own lives or in the lives of people we're trying to influence we should try to deserve there are cases of demonic possession that's not the typical case usually that could come about because of gross idolatry or maybe gross immorality uh unrestricted involvement in things that give our minds over to evil such as drug use and and so forth so that's a real possibility and if we discern that we need to pray in the name of Jesus and rebuke the devil but as is often said you can't you can cast The Devil out of someone but you can't cast the flesh out of some one so if someone is yielding to The Temptations that beset us the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life that can develop into addictions and the solution is not just casting out the devil certainly we can pray against any evil influence but we don't have to have some special technique to break an ancient curse or to cast out a demon we have to focus on repentance from sin faith in God spiritual disciplines that is a consistent spiritual life a prayer reading the Bible coming to church listening to preaching and teaching having fellowship with godly people following Godly leadership uh and and supporting the work of God with our time with our tithes and offerings sharing our testimony just learning how to live a life of Faith learning to resist temptation learning to develop Godly habits to replace sinful habits learning to replace evil influences such as worldly friends and worldly activities that will try to pull us into sin and we have to minimize those or replace those with Godly activities and wholesome activities and and so there's some practical things that we have to do which we consider to be the pursuit of Holiness so in most cases then uh simply casting out a demon or praying against a demonic influence while that can be helpful in some cases that's usually not the total answer because it has to go to the more fundamental issues of I've got to personally repent of my sins I must personally put my faith in Jesus Christ I must be filled with the spirit and then thereafter I must walk in the spirit that takes effort on my part to cleanse myself from Evil things to develop Godly habits and to develop spiritual disciplines and to live accordingly so while I certainly think it's always important to pray and to intercessory prayer has a strong role in Breaking the Yokes of bondage that the devil is placed in our lives that that can't be the total answer because the human will has to be involved and so I would say yes there's there are real evil spirits that would need to be cast out whenever they come whether they possess a person or whether influence a person we rebuke those spirits and we cast them out but having done that then we have to focus on the personal issues of Faith repentance receiving the spirit walking in the spirit pursuing spiritual different disciplines and so I don't necessarily think we have to have a Deliverance Ministry that's narrowly focused I think Deliverance should be part of the ministry of the whole church as we pray from Deliverance of all of these influences we pray for God to heal to deliver to transform us to deliver from addictions to tobacco alcohol drugs which may not it could have a demonic component but it's a physical component as well and the same way sinful Lifestyles uh adultery fornication habitual lying habitual stealing homosexual behavior all those could have demonic influences and so we pray against those demonic influences but they also have a strong component of the human will the human flesh and we have to address them on those levels as well in all things the solution is not just a narrowly defined Ministry or technique but it's trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ in his shed blood for us and applying that Victory to our lives