Why Don't We See More Devils Cast Out in North America?

Well, first let me say I certainly believe the accounts of the New Testament are true that there are real demons that attack people and can even inhabit people. Uh these are emissaries of Satan. I believe they're fallen angels. They're evil spirits. Um so I believe those accounts are not merely symbolic but real. I also believe and know and have seen and experienced demonic activity in our day. I grew up in Korea where my parents were missionaries and I saw cases of demonic possession.

Uh I could give you stories of specific examples and I even remember one as a teenager I faced someone that I'm firmly convinced was demonically possessed. I rebuked him in the name of Jesus and he left. Uh as a pastor also starting a church in Austin, Texas, I didn't have many overt cases but I did have some. I know of one a Chinese lady that when we prayed for her uh she began contorting, falling on the floor, writhing and speaking and every evidence of classic demonic possession as you would see in the Bible and she broke through that and God filled her with the Holy Spirit.

She began speaking in tongues. Another example of a man that was very belligerent and hostile. His family got in the church, but he was opposed, met with me, very costic, belligerent. Uh I even was concerned about physical violence. He would we finally got him to come to church and he I remember the first few times he would come to the altar uh and he was probably 6'4, 300 pounds or more. And he would be there standing as if he was praying, repenting. All of a sudden, he would get very agitated, very angry, very belligerent. He would just storm off. Uh, but one night, the spirit of God moved on him in a dramatic way.

The whole service, people were just responding to God. And I wanted to finish by preaching a little bit, but I said, um, if you're still praying and you want to go to the prayer room, go ahead. I don't want to stop that, but I do want to address the people that, uh, are still here and need to listen to at least 5 minutes of preaching. Well, one of our ministers discerned this man was really, I guess, opening up to God. And so, he went back and said, "Do you want to go in the prayer room?" He said, "Yes." And what the minister told me later when that man went back in the prayer room, God instantly hit him.

He fel just immediately crumpled. the demonic forces left and he began speaking in tongues as God filled him with the Holy Ghost. So it seemed to be a very dramatic deliverance of oppression or possession. Now uh the key question why don't we see more of this? I think there are several factors. First of all we think about the power of demons but demons are rather limited. I think they only come by some kind of permission either express or implied. And if you remember the the man that Jesus there was among the tombs that Jesus delivered from a legion of demons. He was demonpossessed a legion.

So potentially thousands of demons. He would cut himself. He would break chains. He would scream and yell. He couldn't be confined. He lived among the tombs. He tore his clothes off. Yet, as a demon-possessed person, he came to Jesus. Don't you think the demons would have tried to stop him if they could, but they couldn't? So, we think of the power of demons, but they're essentially limited by the human will and of course by the power of God. But one unsaved person who was attracted to Jesus could move towards the Lord regardless of thousands of demons. And then, of course, Jesus delivered him. So, we underestimate the power of the human will.

Now, I don't think we have more power than the devil. I'm just saying perhaps we shouldn't give as much credence to demonic forces as we sometimes do. I do think people can be possessed and manipulated against their will. But at some point, they must have engaged in some practice more than just normal sin that opened the door so demons could have the permission or the power to enter. So I think the clearest case of that is idolatry, you know, sacrificing to idols or engaging in rituals because 1 Corinthians 10 talks about is it okay to eat food offered to idols? And Paul says, you know, really an idol is nothing.

So as far as the food, it's not going to hurt you. But he said we got to be careful because when people worship idols, they're worshiping demons. It's demons behind those idols. So I do think in countries where Christianity is a minority or almost non-existent or countries where there's a lot of open idolatry uh then there is a greater susceptibility to demonic open demonic possession. I also think as people get involved in very uh abusive child abuse and per perverted sexuality and extreme violence uh extreme drug use hallucinatory practices all that merged together can open the door to the demonic world. Of course, we're seeing more and more of that today.

And I do think in in in in our western society and I do think sometimes you read about somebody who's mutilated bodies and tortured people or or you read that somebody has molested children in horrible ways and you think how is that even possible? I think maybe there's demonic possession. the same with the Nazis and the Holocaust. And there's even accounts Hitler himself, he had an amazing magnetism, it seemed. But when when he would give his speech, people were mesmerized. They were attracted. And yet he seemed almost in a trance or almost beside himself, he would rant and rage. I think a lot of those Nazi leaders are demonically possessed.

So maybe we're just not recognizing them. Uh and maybe the church is not encountering them. So, you know, I we do have dramatic conversions, but how many Nazis have you ex-Nazis have you met in church? Or how many, you know, gross child abusers or mass murderers have you met in church? Now, we do have dramatic conversion accounts. But I guess what I'm saying is some of those severe cases we haven't actually dealt with in our churches. So, I think also there's a lesser awareness. So, I believe there's a combination of factors. And even though we're kind of a post-Christian country, we were founded on Christian values.

So it could be that we're still living off the coattails of past generations of Bible believers and prayer over the centuries and prayer of people for their families and their descendants. And even though someone today may not serve God at all, they might have had grandparents or greatgrandparents who prayed earnestly for their family. So I think perhaps uh the lesser prevalence or at least observation of demonic forces could be a variety of reasons. One, Christian foundation. Two, although people are sinners, they're not engaging in open idolatry or other heinous practices that give permission for devil demons to inhabit as opposed to attack. Number three, maybe less awareness.

It's happening and we're not seeing it. Uh, number four, maybe we're not encountering it in our churches to the same extent as it's actually happening in the world because we're we're only reaching a limited number of people. Uh, I do think we need to believe in the reality of this evil world. You know, modern liberal thinking is that, you know, nobody's really bad. They're they just had bad experiences, bad environment, you know, and they're not responsible. But I've read even secular people saying some things cannot be explained except there's real evil in the world. And I do think we need to pray against evil and we need to rebuke the devil.

And we need to be sensitive that when people do come from our churches, especially from pagan backgrounds or grossly distorted, heinous, evil, sinful backgrounds, we need to be aware of the possibility of a demonic spirit. We don't need to wrestle with them or attack them physically, but we need to pray steadfastly in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, I would also say this, you know, some people you see delivered, other people seemingly not. And again, I don't know everything about this, but I do believe that if a a person is demon-possessed, their will is bound. So they can't be set free by their own power and they're can be manipulated physically and they may commit sins that they feel a compulsion but deep in their heart if they are desiring deliverance I think when they they they can't deliver themselves but when somebody begins to pray in the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Ghost if that person truly has the desire I think the demons will be cast out but if that person wants their sin or their perversion version even though the church has faith and the church has power we have the holy spirit we pray in the name of Jesus if that will is not ready to submit I don't think they'll be delivered I think they can be subdued the symptoms go away the church can take control that person can leave but if their will was not in harmony with that that demon will not necessarily be eliminated so go back to the the man among the tombs in Gera.

So even as an unsaved person, he could come to Jesus. He couldn't deliver himself. He couldn't stop himself from tearing his clothes off and cutting himself and howling and being, you know, obsessed and being unruly. But at the right time in the presence of Jesus, he could actually come to Jesus despite the demon demonic forces. But he still needed deliverance from Jesus. So I do believe that as the church ministers effectively and reaches out into the world and reaches out beyond the four walls and ministers in various other settings, halfway houses and street services and Bible studies and bringing people to church, um we will encounter more demonic forces.

Uh and those people that if they have a desire for deliverance when we touch them or when we reach out to them, they can respond and then we can pray the prayer of faith. We can rebuke the evil spirit by the power of the name of Jesus. And they can and usually the demon leaves, they'll instantly receive the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues. But we may encounter some people that they don't truly want deliverance. And although we can control the situation, I don't think they will be delivered contrary to their own will. I remember in Korea, we had a young woman. And at that time, they had arranged marriages.

And and uh so if you wanted if you liked someone in church, you you had to talk to your parents or if they weren't in church, you talk to your pastor. And the two sets of parents or the two pastors would try to arrange the marriage. So you wouldn't actually really date. Of course, we tried to find out if they really liked each other and tried to make it work. Well, this young woman really fell in love with a young man and she tried to she tried to um pursue a relationship. He was so embarrassed he refused and it didn't work out. It blew up.

She got so angry that she burnt her Bible and she said, "I'm not going to be a Christian more. If I if I can't have this young man, I don't want to live for God." Well, she went crazy and we feel like she was demonically possessed at that time. There weren't many resources like hospitals for people that had mental issues. And so her family tried to keep her at home, but she was berserk. She would uncontrollable. And so they actually brought her to the church since she was a church member. And we put her in the basement room and periodically we would pray for her.

So she's like a crazy woman. She'd try to tear her clothes off. She would yell, scream, you try to give her food, she'd throw it. And then maybe later she'd eat some. But she was just totally uncontrolled. And I remember seeing her in this state as a teenager. And if a man approached, she tried to tear all her clothes off. It seemed to be a demonic spirit of lust. Well, my parents and the Bible says they prayed for her. And she came to our senses, sober, rational, talking to them, and they began reasoning with her. And they said, "Look, you know, the devil has possessed you.

you need to serve God and you you need to submit to God. You need to you know and and they talked and she was very sensible talk and she finally said no if I can't have that young man that I love I don't want God and then immediately she just went berserk again. At the end I think eventually they were able to get her into some state of calmness and bring her home but I don't know that there was ever a good outcome. It seemed to be a clear case that God gave her an opportunity of sanity and holding the demons at bay. But in the end, it was her will that was the determining factor.

So there are a lot of unusual experiences like that. You can't make doctrine on subjective experience. But I think you could say according to scripture, there is a reality of demonic oppression. Not everything is possession. I don't believe a a a spiritfilled believer who's actively serving Jesus can be possessed by a demon, but I think they can be attacked and oppressed. So, we need to recognize there's a real spiritual world and real spiritual evil and real demonic forces. But the good news is we don't have to have detailed techniques and schemes and professional expertise. But if we bind together in the name of Jesus Christ, we can uh demons will have to flee.

Uh and we can cast out demons and we can get control over demonic forces. Uh because greater is he who's in you, First John says, than he who is in the world.