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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Pastor, do you believe Christians can be demon-possessed? Now, if by possessed, you mean, can Christians be owned by demons?
Absolutely not. We are owned by God. The responsibility we have is not exorcising demons from other people or ourselves.
It's by exercising the spiritual power God has given us. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, Hollywood movies often display demon possession in a very predictable manner. You know, the worried family calls in a priest in a desperate attempt to cast out a demon. Well, today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explores if Christians can be possessed by demons and if exorcisms are ever necessary. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Did you realize that Pathway to Victory publishes a magazine?
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To receive your first copy of Pathway magazine, just follow the simple instructions at ptv.org. Well, we're in the middle of a practical teaching series called What Every Christian Should Know. With the advent of the internet, false doctrines have multiplied at lightning speed. And this teaching series is crafted to help you remain grounded in theological truth rather than getting swept away by the winds of popular ideas. For your benefit, I also wrote a book called What Every Christian Should Know, in which I provide teaching on important doctrines such as the Holy Spirit, angels and demons, and the end times. The subtitle of my book is Ten Core Beliefs for Standing Strong in a Shifting World. Ten chapters about ten essential doctrines that will keep your feet on a solid foundation. And a hardbound copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Now, let's get started with our next study in this teaching series.
Our primary Bible text is found in Hebrews chapter one. I titled today's message, What Every Christian Should Know About Angels and Demons. Demons are real.
Well, if they are real, what is their agenda? Well, with unbelievers, demons attempt to lead unbelievers astray by either creating a whole false religious system or changing the true gospel just enough to send people to hell. Secondly, demons attempt to harm believers. Well, how is that, Pastor, that demons can work in our lives?
Well, first of all, they can work through nature. Ephesians 2 says Satan is the prince of the power of the air. I don't understand that, but I do understand that God has given Satan certain authority in this world. Secondly, demons can work through physical illness. Now, not all illness is a result of Satan and his demons, but some of it is. Thirdly, demons can work through mental illness. Now, I want to be very careful here.
This is very important. Not all mental illness is from Satan. Sometimes those things are the result of a physical problem that can be corrected by medicine, but there's also a spiritual element that we can't not address.
The spiritual world can affect the natural world, including our thoughts and emotions. We can't discount the world of demons and satanic attack in mental illness, and that leads to another way that demons work, and that is through suicide. You see that in Mark Chapter 9. There was a boy who was afflicted. He kept throwing himself into the fire. He started trying to drown himself.
He was trying to take his own wife, and the Bible says it was because of demonic influence. Any time you begin thinking, my life is hopeless. Nobody cares about me. I'd be better off dead than alive.
I'd become a burden to my family. Those thoughts do not come from God. It comes from the evil one.
John 8.44 says that Satan is a liar, and he is a murderer. It is Satan and his forces who are trying to take your life prematurely, and let me just encourage you. If you have thoughts of suicide or you know somebody close to you who is thinking about suicide, run. Don't walk to a Christian psychiatrist, to a counselor, to your doctor who can help you discern what needs to be done. You know, one of the most prominent pastors in America told me that he was at the depths of depression, that he was contemplating taking his own life, and he went to one of our doctors, our godly deacons, Paul Madeley, right out there.
And he told Dr. Madeley what he was going through, and Dr. Madeley sent him to a Christian psychiatrist who was able to work out the problem medicinally and through the right of drugs and treatment, and that saved his life and saved his ministry. And again, I'm not a doctor. Most of you aren't doctors. We need to not just say it's either or. Treat both.
Go to a godly doctor who can help you sort out what needs to be done, but know this. It is never God's will for you to take your life. Fifth, demons can work through people. Demons can work their will and our life through other people.
If you've ever been to the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, like I have, like many of you have been, you walk through those displays, you look at these horrific pictures, and you say, how could one human being ever do such a thing to another human being? It's not natural. That's right. It's not natural. It is supernatural. It is of the devil. And many times, demons work through other people to accomplish their will and our life, but it doesn't have to be something as extreme as the Holocaust. Demons can use other people in more subtle ways. Perhaps you're going through a particularly difficult, challenging time in your marriage, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a direct message appears on your social media feed from a high school or college flame you haven't heard from in years. Why did that message come right then?
Or maybe you're discouraged and you receive a particularly discouraging email from somebody who decides to unload on you, or they post a negative social media post. Those things are not accidents. God can use, or pardon me, Satan uses other people to accomplish his purpose in our life, which raises an interesting question. Professor, do you believe Christians then can be demon-possessed? Have you ever wondered about that?
Have you ever heard that question? Is it possible for Christians to be demon-possessed? Now, we know that non-Christians are demon-possessed. They are possessed by Satan, to be more accurate. If you mean by possessed, you mean owned, the Bible teaches that when we are born into this world, we are born prisoners of Satan. We are a part, naturally, of the kingdom of darkness. It is only when we're saved, Colossians 1-13 says, that God rescues us from the kingdom of darkness and places us in the kingdom of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. But when we become a child of God, remember Ephesians 1-13, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of God. God marks us as his own possession when we become a Christian. We can't be owned by Satan because we are owned by God.
And guess what? God is very stingy when it comes to his possessions. He doesn't share them with anyone. And God's not about to share you with Satan. So if by possessed, you mean can Christians be owned by demons? Absolutely not.
It's impossible. We are owned by God. But here's the interesting thing. The phrase demon possessed doesn't appear anywhere in the Bible.
Did you know that? It's not anywhere in the Bible. Now, it's translated that way in the Bible. In Luke 8, the man, the Gerasenes, was said, possessed by many demons. But the Greek word doesn't mean possessed, it means to be influenced by. Literally, he was demonized.
Demonized. To be influenced by demons. So if the question is, can Christians be influenced by demons?
You bet they can. Absolutely, Christians can be influenced by demons. Let me give you two examples in the scripture. One is in Matthew 16. Jesus was outlining God's plan for him to his apostles. He said, the son of man must go to Jerusalem, be crucified, and be raised up on the third day. And Peter interrupted him, remembered, said, no, Lord. May it never be.
You don't have to go to the cross at all. You're the son of God. And how did Jesus respond?
Fast and furiously. Matthew 16, 23. Jesus turned to Peter and said, get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to me. For you are not setting your mind on God's interest, but on man's.
That's pretty harsh, isn't it? Get thee behind me, Satan. Wait a minute, Satan? Peter was an apostle. He would be a leader of the apostles later on. Was he saying Peter was satanically possessed? No, but he was being influenced by Satan. He was being a mouthpiece for Satan in trying to put his own interest above the interest of God's. We see the same thing in Acts 4 and 5. Remember Ananias and Sapphira? They held back a portion of what they promised to give to the church, and Peter said to Ananias in verse 3 of chapter 5, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?
Satan filled your heart? Ananias and his wife were believers. They had received the baptism with the Spirit in Acts chapter 2. They had been immersed with the Spirit, but in that moment of weakness, they were not being controlled by the Spirit of God. They were being controlled by Satan.
And that's why Paul says in Ephesians 5 18, do not get drunk with wine, for that's dissipation. Instead, be filled with, literally be controlled by the Spirit. If you're a Christian, no, you cannot be owned by Satan, but you can be influenced by him. Now get this, any part of your life that's not being controlled by the Spirit of God is open to being controlled by Satan.
There's no such thing as a spiritual vacuum. Any part of your life you've not surrendered to God and his will is up for grabs and can be demonically influenced. So, now that we know something about demons, what they want to do, how they work their will in our lives, how can we have spiritual victory over demons? Let me give two suggestions straight out of the Bible. Number one, be alert to Satan's attack. Be alert to Satan's attack. The great Bible expositor, D. Martin Lloyd Jones said, anyone who is not aware of a fight and a conflict in a spiritual sense is in a drugged and hazardous condition.
There are a lot of Christians like that. They walk around in a spiritual stupor, not aware that they are in Satan's cross hairs, that he has a plan to destroy everything important to them, their faith, their family, their future. And people who are not alert to Satan's and his demon's attacks become spiritual roadkill. That's why 1 Peter 5 says, be of sober spirit, be on the alert for your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Be alert to Satan's attacks.
Secondly, be aware of God's provision. You don't have to feel paranoid about Satan and his demons. Be aware of the provision God has made for you to have victory over Satan.
Now, you know, we Christians, we like easy fixes to complex problems. We would love to think there's just one prayer we could pray that would remove Satan's power over our life forever. Or we think there's one little ritual we could go through that would break demon's stranglehold on our life. That's why a lot of people are attracted to a practice that we call exorcism, casting demons out of people.
Is that a legitimate practice for today? Wouldn't it be nice if you could, you know, just put a wreath of garlic around you and have a priest or pastor wave a crucifix and speak a few Latin phrases and somehow that would remove Satan's impact on your life forever? A lot of people are being deluded by this false practice that is no longer relevant today.
Are there cases of demonic influence that are so severe they demand something extreme like exorcism? Let me real quickly show you three things the Bible says about exorcism. I had a deacon friend of mine asking me about it just after the first service. He hadn't come to the service yet asking me about that. He said, I read the New Testament, seems like every other page. You see something about exorcism and casting out demons. Is that something we should be doing today?
Three things I would say. Number one, the gift of exorcism is attached to specific individuals in the Bible. It's not a blanket gift. It's specified to certain individuals. First of all, Jesus had the ability to exorcise demons. We saw that in Luke 8. But even Jesus himself said it was limited in its effectiveness.
He did it to show his authority over the demonic world. Matthew 10 verses 1 to 4 says the apostles were given the gift of exorcism to demonstrate the validity of their message. But there's no other passage that indicates Christians as a whole are supposed to engage in exorcism or have the ability to do that. Now, people say, wait a minute, pastor, you're forgetting about a verse.
Mark 16 verses 9 through 20, Jesus said to all of his followers, you're going to go out and cast out demons, you're going to speak in tongues, you're going to be able to grab hold of a snake and it won't harm you, and so forth. What about that passage of the Bible? If you look carefully in your Bible at those passages, that passage, it will be in brackets, or it will be in italics, or there'll be a note at the bottom of your Bible indicating that these verses are questionable, whether they belong in the Bible or not. They don't appear in the earliest manuscripts.
Don't let that shake you up. There are three passages in the New Testament we know of that are questionable passages, none of them affects any major doctrine of the church. You know, riding in the sand with a woman of adultery, the pool of Siloam, these are passages that we know are questionable. And here's the point, Dr. Ryrie, our late member said, the doubtful genuineness of these verses make it unwise to build a doctrine or base an experience on them.
Translation, before you go out and grab that snake, you better be sure those verses were really in the Bible, because they're very doubtful. But apart from these individuals, Jesus and the apostles, there are no blanket verses that say exorcism has been given to us as a power. Secondly, the gift of exorcism is rarely mentioned in Scripture after the Gospels and the Book of Acts.
You don't find it anywhere. The reason you don't find it after the Book of Acts is the Book of Acts records the Acts of the apostles. But after that, nowhere in the epistles do you find any reference to exorcism. It's not mentioned in 1 Corinthians, which is a manual on how the church should operate.
Paul never mentioned it to his protégé in the ministry, Timothy, when he talked about how to run the church at Ephesus. I mean, if exorcism were an important part of the church, don't you think there'd be some instruction somewhere about how to do it? Even when we get to Ephesians 6 on spiritual warfare, it talks about, put on the full armor of God. Nothing is said about exorcism. And thirdly, the gift of exorcism has limited effectiveness across time.
Even if some priest or pastor or group of Christian friends was able to exorcise demons from an individual, there's no guarantee that demon wouldn't return to that individual and bring several friends along with him. By the way, Jesus is the one who said that in Luke 11. He said, when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest and not finding any.
It says, I'll return from that person from which I came. And when it comes, it brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. So how do we rid ourselves of demonic influence if it's not through exorcism? Author Neil Anderson in his book, The Bondage Breakers, wisely observes the responsibility for living free in Christ has shifted from the specially endowed agent of authority to the individual believer.
Do you hear that? He's saying it's no longer somebody else's responsibility to take demons out of me. It is my responsibility to live in a way to break demonic influence over my life. Nowhere in the Bible are Christians commanded to bind the power of Satan.
Have you ever heard that before? I'm gonna bind the power of Satan. There's no reason to think you have the ability to do that. That's not the command. You've not been commanded to cast out demons. What we have been commanded to do is to live in a way to resist Satan and his demons. In other words, the responsibility we have is not exorcising demons from other people or ourselves.
It's by exercising the spiritual power God has already given to us. That is our responsibility. And that's why we need to be aware of God's provision. What is his provision? Look at 1 Peter 5, 9.
Peter said, be alert. The devil's like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. But notice what he says, but resist him. Verse 9. Firm in your faith knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
James said it even more succinctly. How do you break Satan's power in your life? Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. I've done a series in the past on the divine defense, the spiritual armor God has given us, and that's all relevant, but if I were going to boil it down into one suggestion to protect yourself against Satan and his demons, it would be what James says. Submit your life to God and resist the devil.
Those two are related. Any area of your life that has not been submitted to God is open to Satan's influence. The effective way to neutralize demonic forces, listen to this, is to diminish the staging area that demons have in your life, diminish the real estate that they have control over. Submit to God in your moral life, in your family life, in your work life, in your finances. The more you submit to God, the less of a foothold Satan has in your life. I was talking to one of our deacons this week, godly deacon, and he just shared this word of testimony. He said, you know, for so many years of my Christian life, I was trying to live according to my plan and my agenda, and it was like swimming upstream. Everything was so hard. But then I discovered the secret of submitting to God and his will.
And no, it hadn't eliminated my problems, but it sure has made life easier. And that's what James is saying. Submitting to God's will for your life, not giving the devil an opportunity, is the way, the only way to emerge victorious in this cosmic battle we're all engaged in. As Christians, our ears need to be tuned to hear the voice of God.
Too many opinions, including the temptations from Satan, are making noise today. This is one of the many issues I address in my bestselling book called What Every Christian Should Know. I spent countless hours preparing this book for you, crafting ways to explain these important topics in a way that everyone can understand. And I'd love to send you a copy.
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Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you back next time when Dr. Jeffress shares what every Christian should know about sin. That's Wednesday, here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. The Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska with Dr. Robert Jeffress set sail from Vancouver, British Columbia on June 15, 2024. Join me along with musical artists Rebecca St. James and Michael O'Brien and comedian Dennis Swanberg for a vacation you'll never forget.
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