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demon possession

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dautyz:
Hi everyone,

There is a lady that I met whose 12 yr old son is schizophrenic.  she shared with me all the weird things that he does to himself and his family.  He takes 4 types of medication which do not help.  She has determined that he is demon possessed.  She had spoken to a pastor who prayed for her and who is going to visit her son to determine if he can be delivered or not.
 
I know that many of the illnesses/diseases that Jesus healed of where of demon origin.  Today this disease is considered in medical terms a mental illness.

My questioin is what does the bible say about it, and is casting out demons really practiced in this age.

Yours,
Dautyz

Kat:

Hi Dautyz,

Here is an email from Ray on this subject.

http://www.forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,1910.0.html ---

Hi Ray,
    >
    > Really quick question. Can a Christian "or anyone" become possessed by
    > demons? Do the rites of exorcism work? What might be the purpose of
    > exorcism? I believe I have felt the influence of demons in my life at
    > certain times. I think every person does whether they are aware of it
    > or not.
    >
    > What is your interpretation of the truth here?
    >
    > Thanks!
    > Chris


    Dear Chris:

    There have been probably 5 to 10 thousand volumes written on demons and exorcism. It is not likely that I can explain this subject in five to ten sentences.

    There is "possession" and there is "obsession."  Many people are obsessed with demons and evil spirits rather than being actually possessed and totally out of control mentally.

    Catholic exorcism is more superstition than Scriptural.  Protestant ministers try to shout and SCREAM them out of people.  I had only a few personal experiences with people who were demonized.  With one elderly woman we prayed and one by one Jesus casted out a half dozen or so demons--each with his own name, I might add.

    The truth is that we "wrestle against such spiritual wickedness in high places" (Eph. 6:12).  It is part of our Christian walk of faith.

    The world is filled with "spirits of antichrist."  Many Christians worship these spirits.  I cast out dozens and dozens of these spirits of antichrist on our bible-truth.com site, and many pastors, theologians, and Christians hate and despise me for doing it. They love these evil spirits. But always remember, that if you have the Spirit of God in you, then:

    "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (I John 4:3-4).

    God be with you,

    Ray

Arthyron:
Yeah, it is still really a "concern" and is still performed.  According to the Vatican (not that I put stock in their methodology), the demand for and the number of exorcisms performed every year has steadily been increasing for a while now, which I don't doubt.

With the "Renaissance Era" style thinking, which focused on a materialist view (i.e. excluding the supernatural), it was in the best interests for our adversaries to stay out of the spotlight.  You can't just have a bunch of demon possessed people running around as things once were, as that would totally blow their cover. 

But now, since it's beginning to become an age of mysticism and superstition, of vague "spirituality," they can afford to be a bit more forthcoming, so I wouldn't be surprised if their manifestations are growing more and more common.  Now "Ghosts" and "Psychic Presences" and "Mediums" are all the rage (just look at the success of tv shows like "Ghost Hunters").  Times such as these are quite favorable for them.  Those that are convinced that the supernatural isn't real don't require much demonic influence to be led astray, and those that do believe in the supernatural are more and more common, and more likely to dabble/experiment with the paranormal.  Today's society is a veritable playground for them.  They can masquerade as the departed spirits of dead humans and cause trouble, they can mess with the people who meddle with Ouija boards and seiances and any number of other open doors into people's lives, and all the while hide their true identities and true purposes from everyone but the few faithful who know what they are and how to deal with them.

The case of schizophrenia of your friend's child is something I've contemplated too.  Sometimes I wonder if some mental disorders aren't really necessarily mental disorders, but possibly some people just being more sensitive or cognizant to what goes on "behind the scenes" in the spiritual realm.  I'm reminded of the passage in 2 Kings 6 when Elisha and his servant were in a city surrounded by enemy troops, and Elisha prayed that his servant's eyes be opened so that he could see the hundreds of chariots of fire surrounding the enemy forces, so that he would stop despairing.  Perhaps some people are born with their eyes more open for whatever purpose the Lord has for this.  Perhaps the voices they hear or things they see that are inaudible or invisible to most of us are sometimes not just figments of their imagination or the product of chemical imbalances,  perhaps they're really experiencing these things. 

Sometimes I have to wonder.  When my friend took psychology, she watched a video of a young boy said to be schizophrenic (he was about 5 years old), and he had to constantly be monitored and restrained, because the first chance he got he'd take up whatever weapon he could find and try to kill people.  He also said that the devil comes to him and tells him to hurt his family.  He doesn't respond to medication and they can't find any chemical imbalances or other biological problems.  I'm sorry...but there's definitely something spiritual going on there.

If you haven't read it, I'd recommend Malachi Martin's "Hostage to the Devil."  Mr. Martin is a former Jesuit teacher who taught at the Vatican for a number of years.  He went around and interviewed several official Catholic exorcists and the people they exorcized and compiled a lot of information and wrote detailed (and in places somewhat graphic, so be forewarned) accounts of their possessions and subsequent exorcisms.  Ray mentioned this book when he talked about exorcisms at one of the conferences.  He was also right to point out that the Catholic Rite of Exorcism is largely superstition and mummery, as Scripture gives a clear indication and directions for dealing with our spiritual adversaries, and the Catholic Rites take a lot of needless and dangerous steps.  But the book is interesting in that it has 5 very different cases of possession, and details how the demonic forces got a foothold in the lives of the individuals and sorta how they operate.

One should always take such accounts with a grain of salt, but for anyone who intends to be involved with active ministry, I think it's good information to consider.  One never knows when the Lord will call them to confront the demonic.

jackson:
In what scripture does it give "clear indications and directions for dealing with our spiritual adversaries"?  Must of missed it.

Jackson

Arthyron:
They're in the midst of stories usually, but when you put all these together, you can see a pretty good indication of how we are and are not to approach them if it's the Lord's will that we must interact with them:

Mark9:14-32 -- Christ says that certain ones can only come out through prayer (and some manuscripts also add fasting)

Acts 19:13-16; -- Some Jews who weren't followers of Christ tried to invoke Christ's name and the demon didn't recognize their authority, as one must be under the new covenant of Christ to invoke cast them out in Christ's name.

Matthew 10:5-10 -- The authority to cast them out is given to the disciples.

Luke 10:1-24 -- Notice in verse 17, that the demons submit to them on the condition that it it's "in Christ's name."

Mark 9:38-41 -- A man is casting out demons in Christ's name and the Disciples try to stop him because he's not "one of them," but Christ rebukes them and says that someone who is able to cast out demons in His name cannot turn around and blaspheme or denegrate Him.

Matthew 7:21-23 -- This passage speaks of those who despite the miracles they perform and the good they do, are not approved by God and are told to depart from the Lord.  But it still rings true with all the other passages regarding the "process" of expelling demons.

So what we can see from Scripture is that they only unanimously submit to someone who is a true servant of Christ within whom the Holy Spirit resides.  There are other caveats, the most important being that we can NEVER cast them out under our own power and should NEVER try to.  On our own we are nothing, we have no power.  We must always cast them out in the name of Christ.  Only God has the power to remove these spirits from a person, never man.  So we must rely on Christ to work through us to accomplish this deed.

Another point of note is that Christ often silenced them before He cast them out (in one instance, the demon started to say who Christ was, and apparently Christ didn't want people to hear the demoniac proclaiming He was the Messiah).  I've heard all kinds of stories where self-proclaimed exorcists and "Deliverance" ministers have tried to hold a conversation with demons through a demoniac.  What a dangerous and needless waste of time!  Some people feel it is necessary to find out the demon's name before you cast it out (Ray's experience with the demonic involved this), but in Scripture this only occurred once (in the case where the demons were Legion, and Christ cast them out of the man and into the herd of pigs). 

So basically, all the superstitious and mystic rites that are commonly associated with exorcism are needless, non-Scriptural, and in many cases dangerous.  We must always invoke Christ and our covenant with Him as our authority and means for casting them out (as we have no authority on our own).  And sometimes it seems some only come out through intense prayer (and as some manuscripts say fasting as well).  And it seems silencing them and binding them through the same means is a good idea as demoniacs in Scripture were often very strong and very fierce (one of them beat up seven full grown men and left them naked and bleeding).

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