Although many Christians say that a person can not be possessed by a demon, I have found much evidence to the contrary. A person can be demon possessed, and the Bible tells us so too, which we will study further on. It greatly puzzles me that so many Christians seemingly deny the existence of either demons or demon possession. Even ministers who carry a ministry of deliverance deny at times that a person can be demon possessed. Instead they claim that a person can be demon harassed. I always ask myself then this, what is it then what you are driving out whilst delivering a person? If a demon is not in that person, you cannot take it out. But what comes then out of a person if not a demon during their deliverance?
Before we dig into this topic a bit further, let me first tell you what demon possession is. A demon possession is a spiritual possession of beings other than the Holy Spirit. These spiritual beings alter the person’s behavior. They influence that person in many ways. This behavior varies up to the degree of the possession. There are people who are strongly demon possessed and thus can not function properly, whilest there are people who are possessed but still can function fairly normal. A good example of a strong demon possessed person is given to us in the Bible in Mark 5:1-9
“And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.”
From above mentioned Scripture we learn that a person can have many many demons residing inside of him. Although this is very rare, nevertheless the Bible and thus God considers it so very important for us to realize, that it is mentioned there.This Gadarene man had no control over himself anymore. It was therefore that he had been chained. Even though he had been chained his strength was such, that he broke loose over and over again. People feared him greatly for his uncontrolled strength, and rightly so. A highly demonized person has an unproportionate amount of strength. This strength is usually manifested whilest delivering him or her. Often enough one needs four or five sets of strong hands to keep such a person from hurting himself. You need to know that this strength is not his or her own. This unusual strength comes from the demons, they are the ones that have this kind of strength. Another common aspect of a highly demonized person is the loss of control over the self and therefore the loss of rational behavior. They often react very irrational, thriving into furious and fearful rages for no apparent reasons. Demons can control you and they will try to do so.
We can thus say that the demons are the one’s that are in control of such a person. However, this kind of possession is still relatively rare. I say still is relatively rare, for the increase of the occult in our society and the practice of this by young people, will only increase the amount of possessed people in due time. It is only a question of time before we have to deal with highly and severe demons possessed people! The propagation of Wicca for example and other forms of witchcraft by the media are making the occult look like something that is very good and obtainable. They aim especially at youngsters who are looking for power and acceptance, and are therefore an easy target for the demons associated to this kind of practices. These youngsters will often enough many demonic doorway into their lives, that if they seek no help from the Lord at all, they will walk through life completely demon possessed. A good example of what I mean are the Rock musicians. Many of them openly embrace the occult or even Satan. Their lyrics openly deny Jesus Christ, often insulting him whilst they make fun of Christianity. While on stage you hear and often see the demons that influences and work through these people. Take a good look for example at heavy metal bands. You can easily see the demonic being in charge. But it is not only heavy metal bands who are strongly influenced or possessed by evil. People like Jimmy Hendrix for example, knew they were demon possessed!
Of course not every Christian is possessed, this must be said too. Demons will always try to influence you, especially if you have given your heart to Jesus. This does not mean that they will naturally enter your body and possess it. In order to possess your body you must give them a legal doorway. This means that you give them a legal entry into your life. A good example is the occult which I have mentioned earlier. If you dab into the occult, even though you think it will not harm you because you are a Christian or because your parents are Christians and they pray for you, you are very wrong. The occult is a sure way to open doorway for demons to enter you and possess you! You do well remembering that. The prayers of your parents will keep you from harm but they will not keep you from becoming possessed. You see, it is your responsibility to be free. If you dab into the occult you are inviting them in. You are going against God and God’s hands are therefore tied. He cannot protect you from becoming possessed.
Nevertheless demons will try to influence you. If they cannot possess you, they will harass you. They will entice you to sin, giving you all kinds of thoughts. The mind, you know, is one if not the primary point of attack by demons. If they can control your thoughts, they can control you. Be aware of that. One thing that also greatly concerns me is the increase of ministers that preach that it is impossible for Christians to have demons because they are filled with the Holy Spirit, and therefore cannot have any demons at al. This is simply not true! It is true that the Holy Spirit can not reside alongside with a demon in one body, but many so called Spirit filled Christians do in fact have demons. A good way to see under which influence they are operating is by looking at the fruits of the Spirit(Gal. 5:22). A person that is under the influence of the Holy Spirit will manifests its fruits in their lives. A person that barely speaks of Jesus and always speaks of money for example, is not inhabited by the Holy Spirit. Oh, he is inhabited alright, but by what he is inhabited, I leave it up to you to answer that enigma.
I am not saying that God will not operate in you if you are in need of deliverance. God will speak to you for sure, He wants you to be free. The Holy Spirit is capable to speak to you even though you are possessed or influenced by evil. Do not doubt that! But as to say that you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, while there are demons inside of you is not possible.You will most certainly understand what I mean when you have undergone deliverance. Once you have been delivered from them, you will feel a peace that only God can give you. It is my conviction that only then the Holy Spirit comes to live full time in your body. You temple is then clean and He can stay there. Let me give you an example of my own life. I used to dab into the occult. I come from a background where people go to fortunetellers and rely heavily upon magic to help you with your luck. Needless to say that I participated in this.
Because of my involvement with these people and in magic, I was demon possessed. Those demons were very strong. I did not know that I had them until I gave my heart to Christ. It was then that these started to manifest themselves in me. They controlled not only my thoughts but my actions as well. I knew that something evil was residing inside of me. I never had any peace, even though I tried to read my Bible and pray a lot. I asked and asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit but it was not after my deliverance that I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. I knew this and I felt this, because after my deliverance, my temple was clean and thus an inviting place for the Holy Spirit to reside in me. It was only then that my communication and my relationship with God intensified. I could read the Bible and understand it, I could hear God’s voice. This is what I mean that the Holy Spirit cannot reside in the same temple with the demons. I hope you now understand what I mean.
People who are possessed by demons can suffer immensely. Demons are known to be the the cause many diseases and other discomforts. Did you know that they can even cause you to be(come) deaf or blind? Do you not believe me? Well let me convince you with the Word of Truth, the Bible:
“Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw” (Matt. 12:22).
It is clear from above mentioned Scripture that after Jesus drove those demons out of that person, he could see and hear again. The Apostles gave further evidence of this truth:
“For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed” (Acts 8:7).
Let me ask you a question here. If a person cannot be possessed why then does the Bible explicitly mention people who are possessed? If they were only afflicted by demons from the outside as many Christian ministers teach, why then does the Bible not specifically tell us so? Why then use the word ‘possessed’? It makes you think!
Another lie that goes around within the Christian community is this. That the ability to drive out demons was only given to Jesus and His apostles in order to establish the Christian faith. What about Jesus words then?
“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Lk 10:19)
And if you are still ont convinced, maybe Jesus’ words will convince you then:
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover”(Mk 16:17-19)
Jesus gave us this command which is also known as the Great Commission. It is given to us all, no believer exempt. This means that we can still deliver demons out of possessed people. Satan is still out there and working his evil plan out for humanity. He is still influencing people. No more than ever, for we are living in end times, and he knows his time is running out. You must know that in these times apostasy is rampant. People are leaving the Church and not only the Church, they are openly embracing other religions and denying God. This opens the doors for demonic activity in one’s life. It should therefore not amaze you that more and more people are falling into demonic snares. However, a word of caution must be said here also. Not everybody and everything that is evil is naturally possessed. Many people are driven by fleshy desires, which can be instigated by demons, but not necessarily so. People who do know Jesus but do not follow His ways are usually people who go after their own flesh. This is their own doing and not of the demons. Of course demons will hook on people like these but it does not mean that they are possessed. I hope I have made myself a bit clear.
If you are under demonic possession or you are having demonic manifestations in your home and you need help, do not hesitate to contact us. We might help you!