What the Bible says about....Casting out demons, battling Satan and spiritual warfare

These issues keep coming up in blogs, articles and it runs rampant in books (ie. Joyce Meyer).   In order to distinguish false teaching from true teaching you must have a some knowledge from the scriptures to weed out the false teaching.

Luke 4:1  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert,where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'" The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'" The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

First Satan tempts him with a physical need.  Jesus answers with scripture.

Then Satan tempts him with power.   Jesus answers with scripture.

Then Satan temps him with scripture and an opportunity to show off.   Jesus answers with scripture.

The third attempt is true (quoting Ps 91:11) but Jesus knew it wasn't the time to show off and that there was a different scripture that applied besides the one Satan quoted.

1.  You have to know scripture well enough to know how to apply the knowledge.   Wisdom only comes from God.  

John 1:1   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Eph 6:11  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

2.   We are to stand our ground and not slip back into old sin and into new sin.   To keep this from happening we are given instructions.   Seek Truth in the scriptures, live right, share the gospel, grow in faith, be assured of your salvation, and pray always for you and others.   

As for casting out demons if you notice when Jesus and his disciples cast out demons they did so in Jesus'  name.  You will also notice that most of the cases had a physical alliment associated with them (ie, violence and trashing, throwing self in fire, mute, deaf).   Most of them says, "since birth".   This is not to say that people who are handicap are demon possessed.    Sometimes God show us glory through the handicap people in our lives and through them we get a very good glimpse of a child like heart.    

Luke 11: 24 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."

3.  There is a warning here. Unless the Holy Spirit is put in the place of the demon then you just made things worse.    

Luke 11:17  Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.   

Matthew 28:18:  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

4.  These are your marching orders.  Make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey. This is the will of God.   This is how you are to battle Satan and demons.   

One last verse:

Matthew 7:21  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

What the Bible says about.....The end of the World

With all the predictions out there I find more and more people who are confused about what the Bible says about the "End of the World".    So lets look over some scripture.

Matthew 24:36 (Jesus is speaking here):  "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

1. This means it will be an average day with people going about there business.   No one knows the date of the end of  the earth.  

Matthew 13:24:   Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared."The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'"'An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' "'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"

Matthew 24:40:  Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left."Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

2.  Most people have never noticed this first set of scripture (Jesus talking both times).   Most people will think that Matthew 24 says that the Christians will go to heaven first.  But notice what Jesus says in the parable above.

Ephesians 4:30:  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.   

Revelation 7:3: "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."

1 John 5:6:  This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

3.  The Holy spirit is the seal the Bible talks about.   The Bible says so.   Unless you have the spirit of God you are not the "Wheat" above.    How do you get  the spirit / Seal?   If you look at  the verse above it said that Jesus came not by water alone but water and blood and spirit.    


Now look at Jesus life.  

Matthew 3:16:  As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

Now lets look at how that applies to our lives.

Acts 2:38:  Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Notice the similarities.   Baptism and Holy spirit?

1 Peter 3:18:  For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prisonwho disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. 

Blood of Jesus, Water of Baptism and Gift of Holy Spirit.   Blood, Water and Spirit.    


Hopefully if these verses have surprised you will take a closer look at what you believe and what you have been taught.   If not.....

James 1:22:  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirrorand, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.