No doubt Steve you have the better portion.
Why it isn’t futile?
Because it is a scripture that shows that a demon or demons possessed an animal that have no spirit. This nullity’s the argument that a Christian cannot have a demon because "the Holy Spirit doesn’t inhabit a man’s Spirit with a demon"
What is the Purpose?
The purpose of the post is to show that the Church has thrown the baby out with the bathwater. That Satan in recent years has hoodwinked the church into believing "he doesn’t exist”! The purpose of the post is to show that we now have persecuted Christians in the church who need help and are not receiving it. Staff.
There are only two ways to come into familiar or occult knowledge. The first is to act wickedly and determine to acquire it. This will cost you your life and in the end without Christ your eternal soul. The second is to preach the gospel of Christ effectually in a public place. I have been grounded in both of these ways.
The former was from the age of 7 when I first consciously looked into these things, having been driven there by the wicked one through parental abuse in the first instance and then as I yielded myself by virtue of demonic possession. Deliverance came by way of coming to Christ whilst in prison in 1984 aged 24 years. The 14 years in between these two dates was spent exercising familiar knowledge without any realisation that I was in fact exercising the power of my own soul to a wicked end, as well as developing a certain intention to serve the wicked one; just as the wicked one blasphemously desired for my life. In coming to the knowledge of God and Christ I was able to throw the whole bag of rubbish concerning my former interest straight into the bin in the corner of my cell. Just prior to being saved I couldn’t have told you what a demon was let alone understand that I was profoundly possessed and was being driven as a result. I knew I was driven, and had done for several years before my conversion. But I could not have understood how it was that I was driven or by what. I knew that I was able to control people with ease, but I did not realise that my controlling influence was in the first instance my own soul power. These are intellect (rational mind), emotions, (seat of emotions in the mind) and will (volition or the seat of choosing, in the mind). As a child I childishly exercised this soul power over animals, people and even objects in a childish way. It was “fun”. I even exercised a degree of influence over those who were harming me. But fear of them laid waste to childish thoughts and gave way to witchcraft and a desire to murder them.
The greatest deception which the wicked one pulls off in generality is getting those who have developed an interest in the “super natural” by whatever means, to believe that it is either innocent and neutral or else that it is something given by spirits. In rarer instances it an imputation that these abilities are in fact given by Satan. Though it is not the Satan of Scriptures it is a Satan of Satan’s own making. It is a presentation of Lucifer, that former cherub who set himself to be like God and was destroyed. It is a “before he was destroyed” understanding. This kind of knowledge is available and clearly seen and understood in Scriptures. Yet to the mind of the unbeliever it seems like a coming into something of great worth and value. It leads the one so deceived into believing they have become a better person. They do not even realise it is the knowledge of Satan because the wicked one hides behind an image of his former beauty and does not even reveal so much as a morsel of who he really is. Then there are a few (very few) who are become so wicked themselves that they have pressed themselves into a state of mind that they become demonic in nature with full intentional wickedness. Of this latter number I would not even so much as speak. They are hidden and they need to remain hidden. God understands them and this is sufficient. In the Scriptures only three men are named in this way. Judas Iscariot, The Beast of Revelations and the false prophet of Revelations. Even when we speak of “many anti-Christ’s” we are speaking of men who are in reality hidden. They must remain hidden yet in the apostolic church they became known, not because they were discerned, but because “they went out”; “in the face of the Apostles teachings they could not remain. So by going out they became known. Again when we speak of the spirit of anti-Christ we are speaking of the working of Satan in men. The measure of it is that these men deny that Christ has come in the flesh. In finality that man who gives himself over to wickedness by claiming to be Christ, thereby denies that Christ has come in the flesh. His declaration is primarily to Israel according to the flesh, yet he is believed by many, including the apostate church.
Yes it is true that to speak of demonic activity is in no way edifying. It is in fact a great sadness to speak about creatures which are destroyed and whose end is destruction. Yet because of the times in which we live it is necessary. In fact it is more necessary now than at any time in church history. As those who have believed we take comfort from the knowledge of Christ Who has brought us into His kingdom by means of a life relationship through forgiveness of sins. If we stumble we can once again seek His face and we will be forgiven those things as well. It is not that our first repenting and calling on His name was lacking in some way, it is rather that we have an enemy who is labouring in the full knowledge of God and revelation of Scriptures to deceive if possible even the elect of God. Sin makes ground for him to oppress us if by some means he can discourage us from serving Christ effectually. Given that Satan is already defeated and is rendered powerless with regard to sin and death, one would have to ask why he is able to continue in a hidden deception, yet in something which is clearly revealed to us through Scriptures. The answer lies in his mind which is in truth a mind of true madness. Whilst the demons which were caste out of the poor man in the garden cried out in fear when they saw The Son of Man, Satan blasphemously moved to tempt The Son of Man, and even sought to have Him “fall down and worship him”. This very same creature when he first awoke to become a covering cherub looked our Lord right in the eyes and knew Him from the first. He was thus created to dwell upon the mountain of God in the stones of fire and worship.
The second way to come into knowledge of demonic activity is preach the gospel of Christ in a public place. There you will see just what it means to speak about demonic activity. I have been threatened with death, cursed, rebuked and other things. In all of these instances I have not seen a man, but an unclean spirit seeking to prevent me by fear of man, from preaching the gospel effectually. I have rebuked the spirit of Mormonism as it has passed by me, as well the spirit of Islam and the working of Satan himself. In all of this I did not see men. I saw and understood that these men were all deceived and incapable of doing other than they were doing.
In speaking like this I realise that I am in danger of drawing attention to myself. Yet this is the precise thing which is needful to understand demonic activity. It is not a set of simple or otherwise doctrines. It is and can only be truly understood in the light of Christ working in the lives of men in our own experience of men. I have listened to Hindu’s begging to be delivered from demonic activity in their lives. They were so terrified that they had written the name of the demon on their arms in a tattoo in the hope of appeasing the spirit which was tormenting them. Yet I have seen the same as these incapable of receiving Christ, because though they understood that they were being tormented by demons; through fear, they were still yielding to the demon and its influence by seeking to appease it. Such as these cannot be delivered because their condition once the demon returned would be more terrible than before. To say to them I cannot deliver you, even though they had sought you or a friend out for this very purpose was heart breaking. If they had been able to see Christ as their deliverer then they would indeed have been delivered.
Such are we who have seen Christ by faith and are delivered. Let us not once again be drawn into disobedience and through sin, be led astray into a life of self-interest and satisfaction. Neither let knowledge itself satisfy us, but good works and the fruit of the Spirit through which our conscience will approve us before God so that in drawing near to The Father and The Son, we might also comprehend His drawing near to us, that we might know Him, even as we are known by Him. There is more Joy and satisfaction from once instance of truly knowing The Father than all the knowledge in the universe. It was for this purpose that Christ died for us. That we might know The Father. I don’t despise knowledge especially the simplicity of Scriptures, but I do comprehend that knowledge without obedience is vanity. Knowledge will not save us if it is not met with obedience through faith. I agree that many saints are suffering because of demons. But the remedy is not invocations it is obedience. The demons will soon move on if they realise that very soon you will be presenting yourself before The Father in heaven in a good conscience.
