by Jim Croft
People who have been subjected to long-standing demonic affliction are under incredible emotional pressure. Those with heinous compulsions have constant worries of discovery. People with spirits of rejection are haunted by fears of saying or doing something objectionable. Those who have demonically induced habits such as nail biting are embarrassed when they are detected in the behavior by onlookers. Christians of sensitive conscience continually battle to suppress demonic thoughts and inclinations. We have all heard expressions like this: “I’m so frustrated I could scream.” Those pent-up screams are resident in the bodies and minds of many people.
When demons are expelled, emotional steam is released from pressure-cooked lives. The lid is lifted from suppressed emotions, and sensations of relief flood through bodies. The natural physiological responses are diverse. The held-back screams escape. Inhibitions are set aside, sometimes involuntarily, as people shake, swoon, moan and weep openly. Uncontrollable laughter is a common physiological response to the release of tension that is far from humorous. I once saw an eight-year-old girl laugh and shake for over an hour. She was being liberated from the terrors that had accumulated within her during the years that she had watched her father dying of cancer.
Is not the Body of Christ an appropriate setting for people to find freedom from demonic bondages? And if so, is it not appropriate for people with pressurized lives to experience release through God-given physiological reactions? Concern about manifestations is chaff we need to brush aside.
The Need to Shout Them Out
The next chaff spillover comes from the healing revivals of the Latter Rain Movement, a move of the Holy Spirit in the late forties and early fifties. This is the practice of screaming thunderously at demons. Maybe in the early days the drama of this practice was impressive and many people received deliverance. Demons are not deaf, however. They will exit just as effectively by the confident authority expressed in a normal tone of voice.
Evil spirits are not stupid either. They can discern when someone is yelling at them to boost his or her own confidence. Our approach to deliverance needs to be a striking departure from the stereotypes of tent evangelists. The ministry will be far more appealing and effective if deliverance ministers will forego screaming at invisible entities.
The Fear of Witchcraft Curses
A widespread chaff-ridden concept is the fear that occult practitioners might pronounce curses on active Christians, thus causing many to fear drawing attention to themselves by casting out demons. I do not doubt that such pronouncements are made by witches and the like, but I am not the least bit concerned about it. A thorough study of the story of Balaam, told in Numbers 22, has convinced me of the Christian’s immunity from such attempts at cursing originating in witchcraft.
Balaam had a reputation for effective curses and blessings. Consequently, Balak, the king of the Moabites, hired Balaam to curse Israel to prevent them from overrunning his nation. Balak led Balaam to three different sites from which he directed Balaam to curse the Israelites. No matter how much Balak urged Balaam to curse them, however, he could not do so. Instead, Balaam spoke a great blessing over the nation of Israel.
When Balaam looked out over the twelve tribes of Israel camped in formation according to their numbers, do you realize what he saw? He saw what appeared to be a huge cross, with the Tabernacle of Moses in the middle of the cross section. The tribes with the greater numbers of people camped in a straight line running from east to west. The tribes with fewer numbers were lined from north to south.
The tents were covered with black badger skins, so their formation looked exactly like a huge, black cross. What Balaam looked upon, therefore, was a black cross with the flames and smoke from the burning sacrifices central in it. It was a prophetic depiction foreshadowing Jesus’ sacrificial death. Here is the message: Curses stop at the cross and all who look to it for salvation will be blessed.
This is the summation of what Balaam reported to Balak: “I cannot curse those whom God has not cursed. Neither sorcery nor divination will work against Israel. I have received a commandment to bless and I cannot reverse it.”
Perhaps the most startling statement by Balaam was that God had not seen any wickedness in Israel that might have opened the way for his curses to succeed. It also demonstrates the Lord’s capacity to forgive and to forget past sins (see Numbers 22:6; 23:8, 19–23).
Prior to this incident involving Balak and Balaam, thousands of Jews had died in the wilderness due to rebellion. The entire house of Korah the Levite had been swallowed by the earth. Two hundred and fifty of their sympathizers had been consumed by lightning. Fourteen thousand and seven hundred people had died in a plague for complaining about the death of Korah’s household. In addition, for the sin of disrespecting Moses’ leadership, untold numbers were bitten by serpents and many died. (See Numbers 16:29–35, 49; 21:5–6.) By any definition, that could be considered wickedness in Israel.
Yet God chose to forgive and to forget all these incidents. His will for Israel under the Old Covenant was blessing. How much more is it God’s will for the Body of Christ to prosper and to be in health under the better New Covenant? Christians have no need to worry about getting blindsided by curses from the devil’s servants.
The Need for Ongoing Generational Repentance
I have counseled many Christians about their deliverance needs, and have noted how many have wrongfully come to believe that they need to renounce their familial histories again and again if they hope to experience deliverance. Thus, at the onset of deliverance ministry, they begin to cite their family sins that could have led to demonic attacks on them. This is another instance of chaff.
“My grandfather was an Indian medicine man.”
“My dad was a member of the Masonic Lodge.”
“My mother was a witch, and she told me I was born with psychic abilities.”
In most instances, a previous minister has already led the individual in the proper renunciations. Whenever I learn that is the case, my approach is to ask a number of questions to correct their thinking.
“Have you previously been through deliverance?”
“Yes.”
“Did you specifically repent of and renounce the historical sins that you have mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“Have you since engaged in any of the activities that you have renounced?”
“No, I would never do so!”
“When you were born again, how many times did you say the sinner’s prayer of repentance?”
“Once.”
“So, God forgave you for all of your past sins with a single prayer of repentance?”
“Yes.”
“After salvation when you commit a sin, how many times do you have to ask forgiveness for that sin in order to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus?”
“Just once.”
“Then why would the ancestral sins that you have already renounced and for which you have no responsibility have any bearing on you now?”
“I don’t know.”
The fact is that repenting of and renouncing the same generational sins over and over again is unnecessary. Furthermore, your children’s children won’t ever have to renounce those sins of your ancestors that you have confessed. Any possible generational curses stopped with your one-time renunciation.
The biblical truth is that you are a new creation in Christ. You no longer have any generational sins to pass down to your descendants. Your Father is God and your elder Brother is Jesus. Through redemption, your adopted family tree no longer consists of sinners. It is composed of the redeemed of the Lord of heaven and of earth. As a new creation in Christ, your DNA contains no curses to pass down.
If you have renounced the connection with family sins, you have made enough renunciations. Any current demonic issues you might have are not from generational curses.
Rejecting Signs and Wonders
I call anointing quenchers those folks who feel it is their calling to throw cold w
ater on whatever new and interesting trends the Lord is sending to rekindle passion for Him and His ways. Their buckets invariably overflow with statements like, “Well, you know, the devil does that, too.” Unfortunately, some Bible teachers are among the chief anointing quenchers.
Christians predisposed to negative mindsets are deeply influenced by this teaching. As a result, they also develop the tendency to label any type of spiritual phenomena they do not understand as an act of Satan. They become authorities on satanic deception, on what is “of God” and what is “not of God.” They renounce as New Age almost anything that seems new. That habit of making quick judgments is risky business. It may cause a person to verge on blaspheming the Holy Spirit if the work they are criticizing is a genuine move of God.
The Lord reserves the right to perform unique and unusual feats. The Bible is filled with these incidents. The Bible also contains concepts that the Body of Christ has not yet explored. As we approach the Second Coming of Christ, we can expect increasing Scripture-based revelation. The Body of Christ needs this revelation to equip us for the challenges of the end times. I contend that even with all the teachings we have heard and understood in the Word of God, it likely contains more that we have not yet heard and understood.
Somehow the critics of unusual phenomena think that if something is given by God it will line up with human logic. That can be a significant deception. God often chooses to speak symbolically. Ezekiel’s vision of a wheel in the middle of a wheel defies reasoning. The scenes John reported in the book of Revelation have yet to be fully explained. After the resurrection, Jesus walked through a wall to meet with His disciples. Why would Jesus do such a thing rather than entering conventionally or knocking on the door? There is no logical reason other than the fact that He seems to enjoy doing marvelous stuff. Jesus would have been no less the risen Savior had He come through the door.
Christians who fret about New Age contamination would likely have found the ministry of the apostle Paul disconcerting had they witnessed it. Take his acquaintance with the deeds and writings of prophets and poets who worshiped heathen deities. He called upon that knowledge when he encountered the Athenian philosophers on Areopagus, or Mars Hill. It was his way of identifying with his audience.
Hundreds of years prior to the advent of Christ, a devastating plague hit Athens. In an attempt to quench it, the civil authorities sent for the heathen poet and prophet, Epimenides of Knossos, Crete. He gave them curious instructions. A herd of sheep was to be subjected to a fast for three days. Afterward, the sheep were to be turned loose to graze on the grassy slopes of Mars Hill. Epimenides told the elders that some of those sheep would refuse to eat. Altars to the Unknown God were to be erected on the spots on which those sheep had stood, and they were then to sacrifice on those altars all the sheep that had not eaten. The very next day following the sacrifice, the plague miraculously ended.
Acts 17:22–23 relates how Paul began his sermon by making reference to their altar “To the Unknown God.” He knew the supernatural history of how the altar had come into being centuries before his arrival on the scene. Divine foresight had granted a miracle to prepare the way for Paul’s sermon.
Later in his message, Paul quoted a poem by Epimenides. Paul’s quote is found in the first half of Acts 17:28: “For in Him we live and move and have our being.” In the second half of the verse, Paul quoted Aratus: “For we are also His offspring.” Aratus was a Greek poet who died in 240 b.c. The poem was Phaenomena. It spoke of how all mankind are the offspring of Zeus, the chief deity of the Greeks. Paul later quoted one of Epimenides’ prophecies in Titus 1:12 and endorsed it as true.
Certainly, the Lord expects us to be vigilant about discerning deceptive doctrines. That does not give us, however, a mandate to dismiss every new concept we hear. We must remember that the devil hates the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He is delighted to have us labeling God’s acts as his own.
I am of the opinion that many quick judgments of anointing quenchers can actually be inspired by a spirit of antichrist. The word Christ is defined as “the Anointed One.” The prefix anti means “against.” Jesus told His disciples that whoever rejected them was in effect rejecting Him. Those who oppose God’s servants and denounce their works as satanic are in opposition to Christ. Believers should never do that. Bible teachers should be particularly cautious to have the facts right before passing judgment.
The Bible speaks of wondrous signs. The reason they are wondrous is often because they have no exact natural or biblical precedents. The Old Testament was the only authoritative source of God’s Word before the New Testament was written. On the Day of Pentecost, when the 120 disciples were praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit, they suddenly had tongues of fire appear over their heads. The Old Testament does not have any references to that specific phenomenon. Yet it would have been tragic for the disciples to reject the infilling of the Holy Spirit because the Scriptures as they knew them had no mention of the appearance of flames of fire on the recipients’ heads. It is important for us to resist the overtures of a spirit of antichrist, which opposes or quenches the anointing. We must not reject signs, wonders and teachings with which God intends to bless us.
Being Naturally Supernatural about Deliverance
Even with ever-present chaff to be winnowed out, believers can gather a wonderful harvest of wheat in the field of deliverance and share it with others. It is our responsibility as Christians who understand deliverance to be circumspect about the manner and timing of how we share what we have learned. I instruct those who attend my seminars to present deliverance in a relaxed fashion without any sense of sensationalism or urgency. I call it the naturally supernatural approach. It is especially appropriate when dealing with the unconverted.
I enjoy interactions with people who have not yet found faith in Christ. When conversing with them, they often make mention of circumstances that hint of demonic issues. With some of the people I encounter, the focus of the conversation is the relational problems they have battled in life. With others, the conversation focuses on their interest in occult and New Age topics. I have found it beneficial to be a good listener. After these folks have expressed themselves, I ask if it would be all right with them for me to share my experiences with the topic we are discussing. In doing so, I make every effort to avoid sensationalism.
More often than not, I tell them about my personal deliverances from evil spirits. I do not mention demons per se, as the mention of the word might tend to get the conversation off track. I simply say there was something in my personality that drove me to do this or that. I tell them that I spoke to the issue as though it were a person and told it to leave my life. Then I speak of the subsequent freedom I experienced.
If they indicate further interest, I ask if they would like for me to pray with them to bring them the same relief I have found. If they answer in the affirmative, I ask if it would be all right for me to place my hand on their backs as I pray. At that point, I address any suspected spirits as things rather than demons. Afterward, I ask them how they are feeling. The usual response is that they feel better. I then ask if I might maintain contact with them. Once the trust factor is firmly established in whatever relationship develops from that point, at the appropriate time I explain further what happened to them.
I usually begin at that point with a comment about the existence of airborne germs and bacteria that are invisible to the naked eye. From there, I quote passages indicating that we face invisible foes in the atmosphere around us. I describe rationally what demons are and how they function. I add that we do not need to fear them as we have been immunized against them by God’s saving grace. I further explain how to deal with a spirit that somehow slips through our defenses. At the end of the conversation, I always present the plan of salvation.
With people who have dabbled in the occult, I always ask them what they are searching for. Inevitably, what they are seeking is something attainable through salvation and the legitimate gifts
of the Holy Spirit. I tell them about the gifts of the Spirit and the benefits I have experienced. I then ask them if any unusual problems have evolved in their lives during their occult searches. Many describe curses that are often attached to occult exploration. I then pray for them in the same way I described above, with the follow-up procedures that I previously outlined.
The citizens of our society are looking for life, not religiosity. Jesus did not die on the cross to institute a superstitious “step-on-a-crack-and-the-boogieman-is-going-to-get-you” religion. Our goal should always be to persuade people of the simplicity of life in Christ Jesus. I believe that comes as we attempt to be supernaturally natural in our attempts to winnow out chaff from the wheat in ministry.
In the next chapter, we will examine additional avenues of deliverance—freedom that can take place through the sacraments and other Christian practices. Holy Communion, water baptism, the laying on of hands and prayer cloths can all be effective tools for deliverance. When properly understood, those practices are transformed from traditional rituals into life-giving acts of faith.
Scripture ordains a number of practices for the Body of Christ, including the sacraments. These practices were never intended to be observed as empty rituals of a bygone era. When properly understood, biblical practices can be dynamic tools of deliverance. This chapter will discuss four particular practices: Holy Communion, water baptism, laying on of hands and the use of prayer cloths.
The Lord’s Supper
Christ is our Passover Lamb. A liturgical synonym for Holy Communion is the Paschal (Passover) Meal. The first Passover was observed by the Jews on the eve of their miraculously rapid departure from Egypt. Some authorities estimate that there were as many as three million participants in that exodus. The Bible tells us in Psalm 105:37 that there were no sick among them when they left. How and when they got healed holds an important lesson for all of us who are interested in healing and deliverance.