Deliverance, A Walk Not An Event

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee. They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.” (Isaiah 41:10-13)

Demons are enemies who interfere, to a greater or lesser degree, with the right exercise of human faculties (mental, physical or soulish, including emotions, desire or feelings). In so doing they achieve at least three ends: They defy God’s will and purpose for man, they afflict their victims and satisfy themselves, and they particularly block or hinder the exercise of these faculties for the highest end for which they were made: fellow-ship with and service to the living God.

Yet for all their fierce determination, these are enemies who are vulnerable and can be completely routed! In the very place where their presence once seemed so dominant and cruel, they can be weakened and then driven out so that they are no more found in that place. That is the great, initial object of deliverance – complete expulsion of evil spirits and the restoration of an individual’s faculties to his own volitional use so that they may be rightly exercised.

I say initial object because deliverance is a whole walk in the Lord, not an isolated event. It is by the character of his daily walk that an individual is able to maintain has deliverance once it has been fully obtained. We are not set free so that we may enjoy ourselves, though it is certain that we will enjoy life far more after deliverance but that we may fully and freely worship, follow after and serve the Lord. Any lesser, purely self-interested motive is not the right basis for proceeding with the ministry of deliverance. This does not mean, of course, that a person must be disinterested or somehow detached from an intense longing to be free. The opposite is true. Deliverance must be earnestly desired and sought at all costs. There can be no standing on ideas of propriety, or on false religious concepts, “piousity” or any other hindering attitude if deliverance is to be effected.

Once it has been started, deliverance may not come all at once. Derek Prince points out that, “It is important to realize that deliverance is normally a process… It may be brief, or long and drawn out… intense and dramatic, or it may be quiet and scarcely perceptible. But whenever a person is delivered from a demon, there is some definite experience or reaction. Where there is no definite experience or reduction, it is questionable whether deliverance has really been effected…” 2 In some cases, there will be only an out breathing, but there should be definite relief experienced in the person when the demons leave. In other words – no difference, no deliverance!

In a sense, a person with a demon is similar to a spring of water which is choked and clogged with leaves and other debris. This cuts the flow to a mere trickle and discolors the water as well. When the spring is cleaned out and gobs of trash removed, several things happen. For a time the spring is cloudy, muddy, and disturbed. Soon, however, as the water flow increases in volume, the vacancy left by the trash is filled in and finally the spring overflows. This flushes out the remaining bits of foreign matter, which are carried away by the flow, and the bubbling spring which has been set free clarifies itself. After the cloudiness disappears, other bits and pieces of half buried leaves and twigs can be easily spotted and removed.

A clearing from demons operated in a similar fashion. An initial clean-out of spirits will break up Satan’s major hold on the life and it can be drastic and spectacular in effect. Yet it is not surprising or unusual for the individual to find other spirits, perhaps inactive or hindered in their work, still clinging on, burrowed in. They should be dealt with as they are discovered, and also expelled in Jesus’ name.

Another illustration may be helpful. Removing a demon can be likened to getting the “core” from a boil. Until the boil is “ripe” the complete “core” cannot be removed. In the case of demon exorcism, it is necessary for the tormented one to be totally committed to renunciation of the demons and all of their manifestations. Psalm 139:21-23 expresses the necessary heart attitude of those seeking freedom: “O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you? Shouldn’t I be grieved with them? Yes, I hate them, for your enemies are my enemies too. Search me, O God, and know my hart, test my thoughts” (Living Bible).

As Derek Prince often remarks, “God will deliver you from your enemies, never from your friends.” You must declare God’s enemies (the demons) to be your enemies and then you have a right to claim Joel 2:32. Until a person is desperate for deliverance, it will not come. No on who comes casually or out of idle curiosity need expect help from the Lord. Slaves who love their chains can never be free. But for those who groan under their bondage and are seeking with all their hearts for freedom, Jesus beaks every fetter!

In the case of major surgery in a hospital, often a patient has not one, but a series of operations, with time allowed between operations for recuperation. In like manner, believers with deep seated “nests” of demons may be cleaned up in stages and progressively freed of demons. I have witnessed many deliverances which were halted deliberately by the Lord, and the subject filled with peace and joy and blessing. Later on, perhaps days, weeks, or even months later, other spirits would manifest and be dealt with.

Why should this be? Perhaps it is a combination of things. It would be terribly hard on the individual physically to remove all of them at once. People who have demons cast out are physically exhausted by the experience. Also, there must be an ability to withstand the attempts of the demons to return to the clean house bringing seven worse spirits with them (Luke 11:25).

The loving hand of God measures out the amount of pressure which we are capable of bearing, with His help (I Peter 5:7). If He is careful to see that we are never overloaded and crushed by the enemy in the matter of temptation (I Corinthians 10:13), does it not follow logically that He would also operate on this same principle in the matter of demon expulsion? Jesus told His disciples, “I have yet many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). A hand of infinite patience and compassionate understanding measures our capabilities against our trials. May God give to us this same tenderhearted love and a compassion with those tormented ones to whom we minister.

In Exodus 23:29,30 God says plainly of the enemies of God’s people: “I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.” Although He is talking to Israel about their physical land and possessing it, the parallel is quite obvious in the matter of Christian becoming free of demonic “beasts” (I Corinthians 15:32).

By blinding many believers, including sincere and dedicated ones, to the reality of demonic operations, Satan has prevented their uniting to attack his strongholds to free the captives who have already been redeemed from sin through salvation of the soul. Too often the body and mind remain in bondage to the demonic.

The land was given to Israel, but she had to go up actively and aggressively against the “giants in the land” and possess her inheritance. She was not to do this on her own but by acting in concert with the mighty God. Believers are so charged with the responsibility for following Joshua (the Old Testament form of the name of Jesus) across the river by supernatural power and engaging the demonic foe. . . .All of the inhabitants (trespassers and interlopers) in the land were to be rooted out and destroyed utterly. Even so, every demonic enemy within is to be hunted down and expelled. Incomplete obedience in this matter led Israel to experience defeat and weakness.

So it will be with believers. Any demon left to dwell within will be the source of misery and defeat to his host. God speed the day when the walls of partition will break by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that believers may join against the common foe, not in an ecumenical super-church, but in Spirit and in truth.

The above is an excerpt from “Holding Your Deliverance, Booklet #9″ by Pastor Win Worley. Copyright © 1983 by Win Worley, Revised © 1992. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including storage and retrieval system, without securing permission in writing from the publisher, WRW Publications, PO BOX 9309, Highland, IN 46322.

If you’d like to obtain your own copy of not only this, but other materials authored by Win Worley, please contact WRW Publications at www.wrwpublications.com

Deliverance, A Walk Not An Event

Related

Comments are closed