Unity in the Spirit #3 - Hindrances to Casting out Demons

It was the first night of the camp. The teens and leaders had spent a good deal of time worshiping and the presence of God could actually be physically felt... at least by me.

Nature was calling, so, I went outside where I saw a man look at me and fall down with convulsions flopping uncontrollably. My first thought was of the story in Matthew 17 of a lad having the same issue. So, I did what I had seen Jesus do for the lad in Matthew 17. I commanded the demon to come out.

Wow! Was that ever the wrong thing to do (large amount of sarcasm here). A friend of the man having convulsions immediately came up to me and began yelling in my face HOW DARE YOU ASSUME this man has a demon when all he has is epilepsy. The man's friend was so loud and angry I thought for sure he was about to cause that fist he waved behind his head to come pounding down on my head any moment.

Needless to say, that night I got a good healthy dose of what was described in Acts 19:13-16.

I did not realize it that night, but, later I've learned that casting out demons is hindered greatly by explaining demons and God's miracles away with phrases like:

• God's signs and wonders are not real.
• God's signs and wonders can be logically explained by science and therefore the dead disciples have only exaggerated the stories in the Bible.

In Bible times, the word "epilepsy" was not used to describe demonic control of a person. Today, with the growing approval of science, new words are brought into use within society. Out go the old fashioned notions and the words used to describe such notions along with the older generations that take their knowledge to the grave. In come the new trendy ideas of the younger generations that think they know better. What you are left with is the slow removal of truth that demonic influence exists. It has been replaced with the notion that medical science is more accurate and somehow better simply because it is science.

Casting out demons is also hindered greatly by the lack of prayer and fasting just as Jesus stated,

And He *said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. ["But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."] Matthew 17:20-21 (NASB)

How can anyone expect to recognize the work of demons when all they are interested in is what human scholars call science? Just a thought. If anything, unity in the Holy Spirit is literally the only way demons will flea from humans as illustrated very aptly by Acts 19:11-17.

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul [unity with God], so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" [demons recognize unity with the HOLY SPIRIT] And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. Acts 19:11-17 (NASB)

The apostle Paul spent about 14 years studying and praying the word of God before Paul began his ministry. Jesus is also known for praying a great deal. Daniel and many others in the Bible are known for their prayer lives. They are also known for having seen God in much the same way Peter, James and John did in Matthew 17.

I, too, have had many such visions of Jesus, the Father, and even of the Holy Spirit and angels. I've seen the white light of God coming out of the eyes, mouths and hands of people who pray. I've been to heaven and back and I've heard the worship that goes on up in heaven around God's throne. I have also seen demons superimposed upon a congregation of church goers who have danced before the idol of Santa Clause on the eve they claimed in song was holy. Yet, not even Jesus could do anything about it as long as their hosts don't think they've done anything wrong, Matthew 13:53-58. 

Copyright (c) 2015 by Diane Pebley All rights reserved, no use granted without the express written permission of the author, Diane Pebley