How many understand that ministry is at the core of what the church does? Everyone of us is called to minister in the Kingdom of God. Not everyone of us is a pastor or an evangelist, or a prophet or a teacher, but everyone of us has a ministry.
Psalm 18:1-3, "I will love you O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust. My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies".
Father, we thank you today, that you do set us free from our enemies, that you have given us this great ministry of reconciliation in the world. God, you have called us to be your hands extended. Holy Spirit, as this message is given this morning may you give me a fresh anointing to convey your understanding in this room. God, may we decrease and may you increase, in Jesus name. Amen
I want you to turn with me to Luke chapter 8:26-36, looking at the idea of demystifying deliverance. How many believe that one of the greatest ministries of the believer is to help set people free? That's why Jesus came. I love to read the word and what's interesting to me is that sometimes when we get caught up in the idea of people being set free, the reason why it seems like darkness surrounds those times is because there is such a heaviness that comes with being bound up that is all consuming. Have you ever noticed that on days like today when the sun is shining and life is good and then there are times when we're hidden in our own dark world and we're going through things, it's Jesus who walks in on the scene and it's no big deal for him. It is just another day, he walks in, he speaks to the problem and people are set free and made well from that moment on. How many understand the power of our God this morning?
Luke chapter 8 is a familiar portion of scripture as we look at verse 26, we see one of the most familiar parts of someone being set free from demonic posession. It says, "Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes which is opposite Galilee and when he stepped out on the land there met him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time and he wore no clothes nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him and with a loud voice said, "What have I got to do with you Jesus, Son of the most high God? I beg you, do not torment me". For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for it had often seized him and he was kept under guard bound with chains and shackles and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" and he said, "Legion", because many demons had entered him. They begged him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss. A herd of swine was feeding out on the mountain so they begged him that he would permit them to enter them and he permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned". If you look at the book of Mark, it says that there were 2000 pigs. "When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it to the city and in the country, then they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and they found the man from where the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind. And they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon posessed was healed".
There's so much in that portion of scripture that we could study about people being set free. Why did Jesus let demons go into the pigs, why did he let them die? All those things, but we're not even going to touch that this morning. What I want to talk about is demystifying deliverance. Deliverance is one of the most misunderstood areas of ministry and it's also one of the most powerful areas of ministry. Many times we think about deliverance solely in the area of demon posession. People ask me if I think that people can be demon posessed? Yes, I've seen it, I've watched people get delivered, I've helped people be delivered from that. Do I believe that demons are jumping out from every corner? No, but they are real and they are active in our society. The thing that I notice here is that Jesus has absolute power over them and you will notice that never once did Jesus wince in fear when he got off the boat, he wasn't afraid of that man who jumped out unclothed and not in his right mind, definately crazy.
Jesus wasn't moved by it and neither should we.
There are alot of people that can be bound up by many different things. What we do know as Christians is that God releases and heals and sets people in their right mind. I don't know about you but I have found that there are many people not in their right mind today. The truth is this, especially in this day and age, when sin is rampant and when society's norms are way different than the word of God, deliverance is going to be the norm of the church because many people need to be set free. I'm not saying that they're all demon posessed but I am saying that many people are not free, they're bound up in sin and in habits and they are just wanting to be able to live a life in their right mind and with understanding.
One of the titles that Jesus carries is that of deliverer. Those who need deliverance are those who are not free, It's that simple. Deliverance is about freedom. It is for those who need to be released from bondage, those who are struggling with life, those who are not in their right mind and those who are not in right relationship with God.
There are four main areas of deliverance that Jesus came to set men free from. Why do I say this this morning, why do I believe that this is important for the church? 1) Because people need to be set free and many of us in this room may be needing that in one area of life. 2) Jesus has called us to fulfill the great commission and part of that is helping people be set free in every area. How many believe that the body of Christ needs to be eqipped to do the work of ministry? That's my job, that's what a Pastor is supposed to do, equip the saints for the work of ministry and that is what this morning is about.
The first area that people need to be set free from is sin which is one of the main reasons that Jesus came. John 8:34-36 is one of the most familiar portions of scripture, Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin and a slave does not abide in the house forever but a son abides forever. Therefore If the son makes you free you shall be free indeed". How many believe that when Jesus does something, it is done, it is finished and you can be free. The second area is he comes to set us free from sickness. Many people are bound up in sicknesses that are traumatizing. Jesus said in his word, "By his stripes we are healed".
The third thing that Jesus came to set us free from was from Satan. This would include fear, depression, oppression, compulsions, torment, and even demon posession. How many understand that Satan has no power over the Son of God? Not one bit and as Christians we need to understand that, we need to live in it. The fourth place that Jesus came to set us free from is ourselves. How many have ever needed to be set free from yourself? The truth is that sometimes we're so much in bondage to our own self we need to get out of our own way and the only way that happens is to cast self out and put Jesus on the throne. That would include things like addictions, sexual sins, drugs, alcohol, smoking, things that we do that bring us into bondage. How many understand that sometimes we are our own worst enemy?
The whole issue of deliverance is Lordship. That's what this is about. Deliverance is about Jesus not just saving us from sin and being our Savior but Jesus also being our Lord. The issue is this, Jesus not only needs to be the savior of our life but the Lord of our life. Lordship is this, who is in charge and who do we serve? That's why Jesus came, to be Lord and Savior. Lordship is about ownership and ownership is about posession and posession is about control. Whoever or whatever dominates us controls us and whatever controls us is Lord. When you're addicted to drugs, Jesus isn't Lord of your life, the drugs are. If you're addicted to sexual sins and you can't stop, that is Lord of your life and not Jesus. The issue is, who is in control? I want to tell you, for American culture, this really is the issue because everybody is telling us that we need to be in control but Jesus is to be in control. When Jesus is Lord of our life we become a part of his kingdom. Luke 11:20 says, "But If I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you". What that means is that the authority and the rule of his kingdom begins to take place over that demon.
I want to ask you, who has rulership of your life today? Who is the Lord of you? God, you, or the devil or some thing? Who's in control? I want us to understand this, deliverance is that simple and when God rules things are good. People especially in charismatic circles really mess up this whole deliverance thing. We make it so complicated and mystical and try to make it something that it's not. Deliverance is simply about who has control. There is no such thing as a special deliverance ministry. People say they have a deliverance ministry and there is no such thing. Deliverance is the ministry of all believers. There is not just one person who is to be gifted in deliverance. Jesus is the deliverer and we're to be his hands extended.
Mark 16:15-18 says, "And he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel. He who believes and is baptized will be saved but he who does not believe will be condemned and these signs will follow those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover."
We're to preach the gospel and baptize in water. We're to lay hands on the sick and see people set free. We're to cast out demons. The Bible tells us that anointing that God gives us is the burden removing, yoke destroying power of God. How many believe that power and anointing is to be in the life of every believer? It doesn't matter if you're Assemblies of God, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran or Catholic. If Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior then this ministry of salvation and deliverance is to follow everyone who believes.
The ministry of deliverance is first of all preaching and proclaiming liberty to the captives. What does that mean? It means that when you begin to talk to someone who is bound up, you give them the good news that they can be free. It freaks people out. "Well, Pastor, I haven't been able to kick this smoking thing for years. I've been so bound up, I have emphysema and I just can't stop it". "Yes you can, that's the good news. Jesus wants to set you free". When I've met people who have been demon posessed and I know that they're not in their right mind and are all messed up, you speak to them and not to the demon. So many people want to know the demons name. How many understand that demons lie anyway and they're never going to tell you the truth? When Jesus was walking by and he asked the demons name, remember these demons used to be in heaven with Jesus. Jesus would walk through talking to the angels so what he was doing was talking to a fallen angel. He knows who they are, he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He was reminding the devil who he was and and who Jesus was. He wasn't wondering who he was. Jesus knew who he was. Listen, I don't want to have a conversation with a demon, I'm not interested in it. How many know I'm tired of being lied to anyway? I don't want to talk to a liar and expect him to tell me the truth because they're not going to do it.
The second thing is this, the ministry is first of all proclaiming the good news and the second thing is doing the deliverance, setting people free. Alot of Christians will tell people they can be set free but they don't do the ministry of it. You pray and you set them free. You release them from it in the name of Jesus. What has brought such mystery to deliverance is that those doing the ministry have been fascinated by the spirit world and they treat it different than this world. If a man walked in here and was being confrontational and I saw him messing with someone in this room, how many of you know that I would walk up to that man and would treat him face to face like he is real and make him stop. The reason why people have made deliverance so mystical is that they can't see what they're dealing with. But the spirit world is just as real as this world and we deal with demons the same as you would deal with another person. If you come in here and you're doing things you're not supposed to do, I have the authority to remove you from this place. If you won't do it then I'll call a police officer and they will remove you by putting you in handcuffs and taking you away. If a demon or someone bound up by some other thing, when it comes in we deal with that because we have the authority to set them free in the name of Jesus.
I was watching this show where these people go into homes and try to contact these spirits. They go into these haunted houses trying to detect the spirits there. So one day out of curiosity I stopped to watch just because I wanted to see how stupid these people were. They're not saved, they just want to know if the spirit world is real. So they're trying to scientifically prove that it's real and they want to hear something. They were in Lizzie Borden's house and were taking the temperature of the room and was contacting a spirit that was there. Spirits will mess with you because you're stupid. You have to understand these are intelligent beings, evil or not, and when you're doing things that are goofy they're going to mess with you. So here they are in the house and certainly during this time the temperature drops, infrared waves are picking things up and they get a recording. This guy is saying something and he's talking to this thing and he says, "You moved this book and you did this and that the last time you were here, are you here now? All the demon did was say, "So", and you heard it. These people were treating it like it was some mystical thing and the demon was standing right there saying, "So". Some may say, "Pastor, this is goofy stuff, do you believe that happens"? Yes, I've seen it happen. I've been in places where things have moved and demons have messed with people. I've seen people set free. Do I believe that they're real? Yes. Here's the difference, we've become so fascinated, even in Christian circles with these spirits. If a murderer was in this room, would you toy with him? I don't think so. Jesus told the disciples, I have given you authority and power over the demons but don't get caught up in the hype of the evil spirits and don't even be caught up in the excitement of the deliverance. Deliverance is not the reverse of witchcraft. People in Christianity somehow get to this place where they think someone is on drugs so now it's the reverse of witchcraft. Witchcraft binds you up and conjures up spirits and somehow deliverance is the reverse of that. It is not. Deliverance is humbly establishing the authority of God in a place and setting people free. It is not messing with the spirits or conversing with the spirits, it is setting people free and telling them to go. It is telling drugs to go, it is telling alcohol to go, it is telling those things to be loosed and helping people to be set free.
Luke 10:19-20 says, "Behold, I give you the authority to trample over serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you but rather rejoice because your name is written in heaven".
So many people walk around saying, "I've got the power". But all you've really got is the anointing of the Holy Spirit and without that we are nothing. Christian, we need to operate in that power, we need to operate in that authority whether someone needs to be set free from a demon or alcohol or drugs or something they're dealing with. Any power we have comes from God. God said, "You need to rejoice Christian that you're a child of God". This prevents pride, cockiness and prevents going off on some of the wierdest doctrines you'll ever see in the church.
There are no demons called lust or adultery, poverty, greed, smoking, drunkenness or drug use. They are not called that. Demons are fallen angels with real names, real identities. These things are sins and temptations that men fall into. Listen to me, all sin is a choice. Demons are spirit beings like we are physical beings and they have names and personalities. Much of the mystery that surrounds deliverance comes because we mix up the difference between being delivered and learning to live free.
Deliverance is something that happens in a moment but living free is a daily event and it takes a lifetime. I have met many people who have served a significant time in prison and when they get out they have to get used to living in real life again and have a hard time adjusting. In the same way, when you meet veterans who have served in wartime and I have met them through all generations from WW II to Vietnam to the Persian Gulf, when they come home after they have been in battle, after they have been used to living in the battle zone, when they come out of the battle zone they are free but they have to readjust to living free again and it takes time.
Those who have been sick and in the hospital, who have been with a disease for a long time, when they are healed have to get used to living life again. They used to be bedridden, they couldn't walk or talk, they had everything brought to them because they were too sick to move but now that they've been healed they have to get used to going to work everyday and dealing with people, walking and doing things and it took some adjusting. God's responsibility is to release us from bondage. Our responsibility is to not repeat past things that led to our needing freedom.
Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage". Stand firm, don't get entangled, don't get caught up in it again. Listen, If you've been set free from smoking, don't go to the store and buy a pack of smokes. Freedom happens in an instant but living takes a lifetime.
Phillipians 2:12 says, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling". Now that we're free we must want to live free. How many know this helps us when we're ministering to other people? Sometimes we're upset because we did our part and others aren't doing their part. We see people who have been delivered but they go back and they struggle, they have to get used to living free. That's why Christians need to be accountable to one another, that's why we need to be there for each other. That's why when those people who have been brought out of certain situations go back to old patterns and habits. We need to remind them.
"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling". That word fear does not mean reverance, it actually means terror. Why? Because if I go back that's what I'll be. How many know it is important to have a reminder of what we used to be? One of the reasons why I am so thankful that I'm saved and one of the reasons that I walk in that freedom and one of the reasons that keeps me walking with Jesus is I know what I would be if I didn't stay with him. Not only am I grateful for what God has done, not only am I thankful for having him as my savior but I am also very careful to make sure that I don't go back and do those things that I did before I was saved because I know what I was before Christ and I don't want to go back to being that. Listen, that's not only a reverance for God, that is a fear of real things that could happen to me If do. How many know it's ok to have that? It's an important thing.
Now that we're free we need to want to live free. It doesn't matter what's happening with others lives or whats going on around us. We are to work out our own salvation, our own deliverance, our own healing with fear and trembling, that's up to us.
Once we're free the Bible says that we're not to give the devil any ground in our lives. Ephesians 4:27 says, "Nor give place to the devil". The NIV says, "Do not give the devil a foothold". I've preached this before and I want to say it again, if you give the enemy a foothold, he will make it a stronghold. The thing that I want you to understand, remember in our opening verse, here's what was interesting to me. The opening verse said this, "Jesus is our deliverer and our stronghold". A stronghold is something you depend upon and something you can't live without. We sang this song today, "Jesus, you're my everything, you're my breathing, you're my thinking, you're my everything, I can't live without you". How many of us have come to that place in Jesus Christ? That's a good stronghold to have, "I can't live without Jesus". But a stronghold that isn't Jesus, when you get up in the morning, if you don't do it, if you can't have it, if you can't be that, then its taken over and its taken authority in our life.
Luke 11:24-26 says, "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man he goes through dry places seeking rest and finding none he says, "I will return to my house from which I came"and when he comes he find it swept and put in order then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter and dwell there and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
This is a powerful warning. If you have been set free from the enemy, do not give the devil a foothold because he wants to come back in with great impact. It is important that once you've been delivered that you fill your life with Jesus because if you don't fill your life with Him, something will come into your life to try and fill it. What does that mean? If the lights are on and no one is home, you better put something in there and that something should be Jesus. One of the things that I remember reading in this is that the demons that he brought back were more wicked than the other one. How many of you have noticed when people have been set free from drugs or alcohol or whatever, I'm referring to these because they are the extreme examples, but they've been set free and they go back to it, then it usually becomes a whole lot worse than the first time. The Bible doesn't say that the devil comes back with things stronger than itself, it comes back with other demons more wicked than itself. There are some things that people do that are just wicked and then there are some things that people get involved in that are nasty. You always wind up going further than you ever thought you'd go, doing worse than you ever thought you would, becoming like people you swore you would never become like, more wicked than itself. That's an astounding thing. We must live for God and if the lights are on and no one is home, the problems will come back. I want you to hear me, a Christian cannot be demon posessed. Why? Because the spirit of God lives in a believer and if Jesus is there, wickedness and holiness don't dwell together. They just don't, it can't. That's why when Jesus is Lord of your life all those other things that weren't of God begin to leave. I want you to hear me today, If God is in control he will crowd out the enemy but if we allow the enemy in just a little bit he'll try to crowd out God in our life. It really isn't all that mystical, it's really just that simple. God's will is for you and I to live in His freedom. God's will is for mankind to live free. God's will is that we speak the good news so that we can be free from sin. God's will is that we know that they can be free from the devil. God's will is for people to know they can be free from addictions. God's will is that people know and be set free and in their right mind.
The Bible says that if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed. Christians, God desires that you and I are ministers of that freedom. You may never have the guts to join the S.W.A.T. team, you may never have wanted to be the marine that rushes in with guns blazing, but Christian, I want to tell you something, you are anointed by God and the power of the Holy Spirit to help deliver people bound up and going through things. How many of you have found people caught up in a lot of different stuff? It may not be drugs and alcohol, it may be things going on in marriages, or a lot of different things. I don't have time to name all of them, I probably don't know all of them. The thing that I love about being a Minister, not a Pastor, but a minister is that we have the great privilege to walk into people's lives and to help them be set free and to just watch the devil fall on his face and be driven out whether it is actual posession or whether it is oppression, depression, confusion, whatever it is, the Lord will bring freedom. Listen, that's good news.
The reason why you may not see that thing happening in your ministry is because you don't think you know, but when you know what God has called you to and you realize that you have been clothed with that mantle of ministry to go in and touch others lives you will be a change agent in this world that will rock this world. I don't care what happens in our nation politically or morally, the truth is we are called to be change agents. What they want to do doesn't depend on what I'm going to do.
A couple weeks ago they had bout 30 gays and lesbians that walked into a church in Michigan, a 5000 member church. Two lesbians walked up to the pulpit and began to kiss. A couple of them threw some banners over the edge of the balcony and they began to yell out that Jesus was a homosexual. The people in the church stayed still. When they came out, they prayed for them. If that ever happens here, I encourage you to lay hands on them. Don't you pound on them or beat them, don't do that. Start speaking in tongues and absolutely freak them out. Say "In the name of Jesus, you can be set free from this bondage". Start casting out devils. You won't have to get into a physical confrontation, you just start calling on the name of Jesus and I encourage you to be bold. Just put your hand up and say, "In the name of Jesus I set you free". We'll have revival in the church. "Well, maybe they don't want it". Maybe they don't want it but the devil has got to go. Their physical bodies may be here but the devil can't stay so you make him go then at least they'll be sitting here in their semi- right mind. Now we get to speak to them. We need to begin to live in that power and see people healed and set free. Instead of getting angry, that's what the devil does, we need to step out in the love and the ministry of Jesus. Love them, care for them, it will radically change the city. People will be set free, we'll call the news station in, and see lots of people sitting here in their right mind. How many believe it's time that we live in that kind of power? Some of you say, "I don't know what you do preacher". We serve a faithful God, the gospel is declaring it and doing it, it's a powerful thing.
