Can a Christian be demonized? This is a big question and I'm receiving this question from all around the world. So I wanna take a look at the biblical answer to this very important question. And the fact of the matter is that you can find whatever answer you want to find. That's how the internet works with our own preconceived idea as we can come to the question hoping to be told a certain answer. And because of that, we can conclude anything that we want to conclude. If you wanna find information that tells you that Christians can be demonized, you're gonna find it. If you wanna find information that tells you that Christians cannot be demonized, you'll find that information too. But the big question is, what does the Bible teach? You see, we approach these questions not from the place of experience, not from the place of opinion. We all, as believers, must begin here. The word of God is the final authority. And once you've established what the word of God actually teaches, then everything must be formed around the word of God. That's where we must begin. We must be totally convinced that the Bible is the word of God.  I think it's important that you hear it so that you know that you and I are on the same team. There are many who are watching this right now who understand that Christians cannot be demonized, they cannot be possessed. And I know that by saying that, I may have upset some viewers. And there are some who are watching who are totally convinced that Christians can be demonized. And even those who will say, well, what does it matter? Why are we arguing about these sort of things? Well, that's what I wanna talk to you about. Number one, I'm not arguing with anyone. I don't speak against anyone or anything. I speak for the truth. And it's important that we, as believers, maintain our unity and our love as we begin to discuss these important topics. So I want you to know right up at the top, we are on the same team. We all believe in deliverance, at least those who are watching this. We believe in deliverance. We believe in exorcism, which is casting out demons. We believe in spiritual warfare. In fact, if you look at my channel, I primarily teach on the Holy Spirit, prayer and spiritual warfare. I teach and I practice and I encourage others to practice deliverance, exorcism and spiritual warfare. These are important topics. And in fact, I've been teaching on exorcism and deliverance and spiritual warfare and I've been practicing the same for over 20 years. That's not a brag. I'm not saying that so you can say, look at how authoritative I am. I'm simply sharing that with you so you know that we are on the same team. I'm not some cessation is coming at this saying deliverance isn't for today. I'm for deliverance ministry. I love deliverance ministry. It is the Holy Spirit's ministry. It didn't stop with Jesus. It continues with you and I today. So please understand that I'm sharing this with you as your brother in Christ. I'm not sharing this with you as someone who opposes this ministry. I'm sharing this with someone, I'm sharing this as someone who practices this, who loves this ministry and who encourages others to practice the same. So let's be rid of this us against them mentality. In fact, it's been suggested that when someone teaches that Christians can't be demonized, that for some reason that should be interpreted that they're against the deliverance ministry of Jesus. It's actually just the opposite. I'm teaching this precisely because I'm for the deliverance ministry and I wanna see it go further. So if you believe that Christians can be demonized, you believe that Christians can be possessed, maybe you're one of those who say well, I know someone who was demonized or I myself was demonized or maybe you'll say, I practiced deliverance ministry for several years and all I've ever done was cast demons out of Christians. Okay, I wanna show you what the scripture says and I think that as you hear this out and as you listen with an open heart and an open mind and with a commitment to bowing to the word of God first rather than opinions and traditions and experiences, I think that you'll come out on the other side of this understanding how we should describe those experiences that we've had. But in all of this, I want you to know this. I love you. We're on the same team. No one is against anyone. In fact, the reason I'm addressing this now is precisely because so many have asked me questions. Now, I want to leave no room for rumors or for division because some might take this and say, well, see, he's fighting against so-and-so or he hates this ministry or that ministry and I don't even have a ministry in mind as I talk about this. It's just that this is such an important topic that God is highlighting right now. And as these questions come in, I have to do my part in serving the body of Christ what I know to be the truth, especially as many people wanna know this. So you know that I've always stayed out of controversy and drama and I'll continue to do that here. Please understand, this is not an attack on anyone or anything. This is simply me sharing with the Bible teaches on a very important question. Now, years ago, I actually taught that Christians can be demonized. You have to understand that I'm not coming at this from as somebody who says, well, you know, I've never had experience in that or I've never done that or I don't understand it and therefore I reject it. No, for the first portion of my ministry, that's how I practice this. In fact, I taught that passionately. Every argument that you will hear that says that Christians can have demons, I used to use. Every scripture that you will hear used in favor of this idea of Christians being demonized, I used to use those scriptures in that exact same way. Now, I'm gonna admit before you hear and I'm embarrassed to admit this but I was very prideful in my approach and in fact I was very defensive on this. So whenever someone would say to me, Christians can't have demons or can't be demonized, I would say things like, well, maybe you have a demon, maybe you need deliverance or I would say things very condescending like, well, you just need to go deeper or you just need to study more. And the truth of the matter is there are people who study a lot and know a lot on both sides of this conversation. So this is important that you understand that I'm coming at this as someone who used to teach this passionately. In fact, it was my pursuit of proving my point that actually caused me to reverse my position on this because I did a deep dive into the scripture. I did a deep dive into the scriptures that I used to say that Christians can be demon possessed. And as I began to uncover all these different things, you know, Judas and Get The Behind Me, Satan and Ananias and Sapphira and the idea of, well, there's a body, soul and a spirit. We're gonna get into all of this. Demons don't possess the body or the spirit, but oh, they hide in the soul. Guys, I used all of this. And so because I went to try to prove that point, I began to see, wait a minute, I have this all wrong. And this raised questions, of course, in my mind. Well, then who do we cast demons out of? I'm gonna share that. Well, what's the point of deliverance ministry if we could just get people saved? I'm gonna share why deliverance ministry is still important. So we're gonna cover this from every major angle, maybe not every small angle, but every major angle we will cover this from. So again, every point you've ever heard on this idea of Christians being demonized, I used to use, and I'm not proud of this, but I'm just gonna admit it to you. The Holy Spirit had to correct me, had to help me. I used to say some vicious things.  And I had this idea in my mind that the people who believe this, we were tough in the spirit and everyone else was just a coward. And it was just something that the Holy Spirit really had to correct in me. So again, I'm sharing this from a place of vulnerability. I'm not sharing this opinion because I haven't studied, it's actually the opposite. It's because I've studied it with the instruction of the Holy Spirit that I've come to this conclusion that Christians cannot be demonized. And as I'm talking, I know there's gonna be lots of different questions that are coming up, which is why I encourage you to watch this from beginning to end because you'll find that every major angle has been covered, which leads me to my final qualifier before we get into the meat of this subject, which is why am I addressing this in such a specific way? Why is this so important? Well, because the closer you get to the word, the wider a message can go. When you begin to double down on the word, you actually give the message a better chance of spreading. I want to see the Holy Spirit's deliverance ministry spread far and wide. I wanna see it spread further than ever before. Why? Because the world needs it today. The world genuinely needs deliverance. And not just deliverance, but more specifically, many people in the world need exorcism. Demons are at work, spiritual powers of darkness are at work. That's a fact of the matter and things are getting darker in our world. So now more than ever we need this. But if we don't build on a solid foundation, if we don't correct this one side issue, and I'm gonna show you why it's a major issue, even though it's a side issue, it's not necessary. When I say side issue, I mean, it's not a salvation issue, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't need to be corrected. When we correct this, we will see not only the deliverance ministry being embraced on a larger scale because people now recognize that it's a more biblical movement. But what's gonna happen is it's gonna have the power because it's aligned with the word to do what it was intended to do. And we're gonna get more into this in just a moment, but first let me read this portion of scripture to you, very important. This is Matthew chapter seven, verses 24 through 27. Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with the mighty crash. So real briefly, let's just recap what I was saying here and then we're gonna get into the definition of demon possession. I'm addressing this because I'm getting messages of people wanting answers to this very important topic. This is not being created with anyone in mind, any ministry in mind. There are thousands and thousands of deliverance ministries all around the world and you can pick any one of them and say, well, are you speaking against this one, this one, this one, no. This is bigger than that. This is just addressing the doctrine itself. So I'm going to stay out of the drama and arguing and so forth. I'm just presenting a lesson in the light of truth in response to the questions that many of you have had. So I've done this for 20 years. I've never been involved in toxic drama or debates and arguing and so forth. And I'm not going to start that now. So I want to make sure that you understand that I don't want this to be used by others to twist it and say, oh, he's attacking this or that. No, that's never my intention. I would not use the Holy Spirit sacred platform for that sort of thing. And also if you believe that Christians can be demonized, I made this for you because I love you because you're my brother in Christ, because you're my sister in Christ. And I want you to know I'm not a cessationist. In fact, people label me as hyper charismatic. Why? Because if you come to my services, demons will manifest. You will see people have demons cast out of them. I could give you thousands of testimonies of people who had demons come out of them, people who had drug addictions broken, people who had mind battles broken, mental illness is broken. This is what the Holy Spirit does. It's his ministry. So I'm all for it. But on this one point, I think there needs to be some clarification. Now, this idea that Christians can be demonized, at its very core is based in legalism.  And I used that precisely because I couldn't explain myself in the light of the scripture. And so you have to understand that that word religious is not just a term that we use for people that we disagree with. That term religious, to be a Pharisee, to be legalistic, to be religious, that means to think that it depends upon your own power rather than God's. That's really at the heart of what it means to be religious, to place the burdens on people for their own freedom, to place the burdens on people for their own salvation. So this idea that Christians can be demonized is actually quite religious. It is an idea of the religious establishment, the traditions of man. So it's actually the opposite. It's actually itself the religious idea. Now, let's start here the definition of demon possession. I want you to screenshot this and share it, okay? Put this up on the screen for me gentlemen right here. This is the definition of what it means to be demonized. Now, there's a lot of confusion I should say around this particular topic. And it's precisely because we try to force meaning upon the scripture that isn't there. You're gonna hear a lot of complicated uses of this word. You're gonna hear a lot of synonyms. You're gonna hear a lot of different semantics. But bottom line, here is the definition of demonized. This is not my opinion. This is not my spin. This is not my own philosophy. This is, according to the Greek, the definition of demonized. I want you to take a moment now to look at these definitions. If you're wondering what those references are, these are Greek references. Be possessed by a hostile spirit. To be demon possessed. Be demon possessed. To be possessed by a demon or evil spirit. To be possessed by a demon. To be possessed by a demon. You could take that slide down now gentlemen. I think you see the point. The definition of demonized is to be possessed by an evil spirit. When you hear phrases like, Christians can't be possessed, but they can be demonized. Well, that's like saying, Christians can't be possessed, but they can be possessed. Why? Because those words are one and the same. Now there are a lot of common points of confusion on this definition, particularly, and this only comes when you have a preconceived idea. Remember I talked about coming to the scripture with our ideas that we try to force upon it. The better way to approach scripture is instead of coming with your preconceived ideas and trying to fit them into the scripture, trying to force them upon the scripture, as I did in the past, the better way to approach it is to first come with a clean slate and say, okay, Holy Spirit, you show me through your word. Not through my feelings, not through what I've been told, not through what I thought I've experienced your word. And this takes a lot of humility and it's quite challenging. I'll be honest with you. That's not always easy to do. But what begins to happen is when we come to the scripture with a preconceived idea, we end up confused and then we try to blame the truth for the confusion when it was in fact the preconceived idea, the idea that we already had that caused the confusion in the first place. So you'll hear common points of confusion like the word possessed isn't even in the Bible. Well, that's actually not true. And this is a common misconception that's floating out there that leads to a lot of confusion on this subject. So if you hear that the word possessed isn't in the Bible, understand that's a misconception. Now, I'm not saying that people are lying. I wasn't lying, I genuinely believed that. So again, nevermind with this us against them mentality. I believe all believers want to get this right. So when it comes to this particular word, that is the definition to be possessed by a demon. So this idea that the word possessed isn't in the Bible is not true.  Most of the Bible translations that you have in your home that you have downloaded on your Bible app, look at those translations. What's the word there? Demon possessed or possessed with demons. Well, why do you think they use that word? It's precisely because that's what it means. Next, you'll hear phrases like this. The word demonized is just referring to demonic influence and therefore Christians can be demonized. Well, I agree that Christians can be attacked by demonic powers. So how do demons attack believers? Through deception, temptation, accusation, and torment. Those are the primary ways that the enemy attacks the believer. But all of those attacks take place from the outside. When it comes to the word demonization, we're not just talking about an attack here. We're always talking about habitation. So even scholars who believe that Christians can be demonized will admit that this word always entails indwelling. So anytime you hear the word demonized or possessed, they're one and the same. And this is describing having a demon living in you or having a demon attached to your being. So anytime a demon is inhabiting someone, attached to someone, whether that be body, soul, or spirit, we'll talk about that in just a moment. That's always going to be what the Bible describes as demonization. And then we'll hear play on words. Right now I'm covering common points of confusion around this phrase. You'll hear play on words like this. Well, Christians can't be possessed, but they can be demonized. Again, that's like saying Christians can't be possessed, but they can be possessed. You'll hear phrases like Christians can't be possessed, but they can be oppressed. Now here I think there's a little bit more flexibility because sometimes when people use the word oppressed, they're describing deception, torment, accusation, those attacks that I mentioned from the outside. And if that's what you mean when you say oppressed, that someone's being attacked or influenced from the outside, then okay, we can get on board with that definition. Let's use the word oppressed. But if by oppressed you mean the demon dwells in them or is attached to them or owns them or controls them, well, now you're just using a different word to describe the same reality, which is demonization. We can also see the play on words. Christians can't be possessed, but they can possess demons. But again, it depends what you mean by possessed demons. If by the phrase possessed demons, you simply mean that a Christian has a demon in them or attached to them, then again, you're describing the biblical reality known as demonization, which is always possession by way of habitation. So demonization is always possession by way of habitation. You'll hear other phrases. Christians can have demons or Christians can be under the power of demons or Christians can be vexed with a demon. So let's simplify. If you mean demonic habitation or demonic attachment to one's being, whether in soul, body, or spirit, you are describing the biblical concept of demonization. If a person manifests and has a demon take over their body or speak for them, they're demonized. It doesn't matter if you give it a different name if it's the same reality. Also, I used to use phrases like a Christian can have whatever they want, but here's the question I have for you. A Christian may be able to have whatever they want, but can a demon ever have what belongs to God? These are questions we have to ask ourselves. So in terms of the definition of possession, it's quite simple. Demonization is possession by way of habitation. I've also heard common analogies. The analogies differ, but like for example, it's like having a rat in your house. The rat doesn't own the house, but it's in the house. But this analogy assumes that there's nothing preventing that rat from entering the house in the first place, and thus the analogy fails. So again, the source of our truth isn't analogies. It's not experiences. It's not opinions or philosophies or the traditions of man or ideas that come from religious establishments. Rather, we must get our ideas from the truth of the word. Now one might say, well, who cares about the definition as long as people are getting set free? I'm gonna cover that in a moment, but let me cover one more point of confusion here. This idea that demons can't own anything. I don't understand exactly where this comes from because as I just showed you, well, let's just look at it again. Can we bring up that slide one more time, gentlemen? So can demons own anything? Well, look at what the definition is here. The Holy Spirit inspired every word in the scripture. Thank you for showing that. The Holy Spirit inspired every word in the scripture. You guys, we have to stop going with head knowledge. We have to just stop using our doctrine and theology because that's where we become bound. We get stuck there. I know because that's where I was. You have to understand that we don't approach this from the philosophy of man or with head knowledge. We approach this by revelation of the Holy Spirit and revelation of the Holy Spirit always produces true power. Now, how do you get the revelation of the Spirit? Primarily through the word. So the Holy Spirit used that word knowing full well what the definition is. So that's why we should use the words that the Holy Spirit uses. So some might say, well, what does it matter? Why do we even care? Why are we arguing about this? First of all, again, no one's arguing with anyone. I'm answering the question and I'm trying to deal with misconceptions around this so that you can be properly equipped in this area. But this word demonization, again, does imply ownership. So can demons own anything? We'll just look at the word for demonization. Now we understand that in a much larger sense, God owns it all, but we're talking about control that comes through habitation. That's what we mean when we say possession. So again, who cares about the definition as long as people are getting set free? But this isn't just a matter of semantics. Keep in mind, I practice exorcism and I practice deliverance. But if I ever cast a demon out of someone like they're manifesting, screaming, the demon's talking to me, I make sure to lead that person to the Lord. Why? So that demon cannot re-enter. They may, that demon may return to attack, but it cannot return to inhabit again that person. And it's important that we do that otherwise we're just tickling ears. We're letting people roam around thinking one thing when in fact it's another and that's deception. So there's a few problems with this idea. It's more than just semantics. It's more than just wordplay. Number one, it keeps us from fulfilling the ministry of deliverance because we leave unbelievers in their bondage. Now I understand that according to Matthew 12, Jesus said that when an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it goes through the desert seeking rest but finding none and it says I will return. I understand that concern and we don't wanna cast demons out of unbelievers because we're afraid that the demon might return and that person has a problem that's now seven times worse. And I will be addressing this specifically so continue to watch. But for now I'll simply say that if we don't practice exorcism on the unbeliever, we leave a massive part of deliverance ministry left undone and we leave them in their bondage and it's very difficult for them to receive the gospel message at that point. Number two, another problem with this doctrine is that it encourages Christians to address deception as if it's possession, thus creating perpetual bondage. Now I'm gonna say something that may sound a little harsh but I'm saying it in love. The only people who I know that live under the symptoms of demonic possession are the ones who believe that they're possessed. You see, the enemy likes to exaggerate his power over us. Now I'm not saying that the enemy can't attack us and we should be aware of the attacks of the enemy but there's a fine line between awareness or vigilance and paranoia. And so what happens is Christians begin to repeat their problems again and again and again because they're dealing with flesh issues like it's possession or they're dealing with strongholds, deception, thoughts of the mind that are contrary to the word of God. They're dealing with that like it's possession and so because they never get to the issue at its root they have to go in for session after session after deliverance after deliverance and it's basically a lifestyle of bondage, deliverance, bondage, deliverance, bondage, deliverance but God didn't call us to go from deliverance to deliverance but from glory to glory. That's not the Christian life. We don't see that reflected in the New Testament and this is actually good news though it may sound rather harsh. You were not created to do that. You weren't created to live in perpetual depression and anxiety and fear and all of those tormenting attacks. You were created by God to live in perfect liberty and that can be yours but the problem is if we're stuck on this doctrine Christians address their deception and strongholds and attacks as if it's possession and therefore that's to apply the wrong cure to the wrong sickness and of course and I use that as an analogy, not a literal sickness and of course that creates a perpetual bondage. Another issue with this is that it exaggerates the enemy's power over the Holy Spirit's power. This is to say that we believe that we need more than just the Holy Spirit's power to live free from demonic influence. Next we see a problem that this belief keeps Christians stuck in bondage in another way. You see the belief itself that Christians can be demonized is itself a bondage. It's a religious legalistic bondage and this is why by the way, and I'm gonna point this out I think it's important I bring this to your attention but I want you to hear this from my heart and not from a place where you're interpreting it maybe. When I believed that Christians can be demonized when I used to teach that and I would teach it I would debate it, I would say I could prove it in scripture right really puffed up. When I believed that Christians could be demonized which means possessed and I discussed this idea with Christians who believed opposite of me I noticed that they were very gracious they were very kind they would work with me they tried to talk but they would never cut me off and say I want nothing to do with you or you have a demon in you or label me as someone who's attacking the ministry of Jesus but the very moment I finally came to the truth and switched sides on that I noticed that whenever I would try to discuss it with people who believed that Christians could be demonized it was vitriol, it was attack, it was personal insult it was this very puffed up egocentric way of addressing the question and I took note of that and I wondered and this is not necessarily this generalization doesn't apply to everyone of course there are always exceptions to generalizations but I noticed for the most part generally speaking that when I believed that Christians could be demonized and I discussed it with Christians who didn't they believed opposite of me there was a great kindness to the conversation now I noticed now that I believe that Christians cannot be demonized I noticed there's a real harshness to the conversation and I tried to account for that I said where does that come from because all of these are well meaning Christians who love the Lord and wanna serve him and wanna get this right and I found that it actually comes from fear it comes from fear that defensiveness that anger that filling of personal insult like I'm being personally attacked because someone believes differently than me that comes from the place of fear which is the sign that the doctrine is rooted in actual legalism and that legalism is itself its own bondage think about this if you believe that then you can never really know if you're actually free you can never really know for certain if you're actually doing everything you know to do to be free if you believe that Christians can be demonized and you believe that demons can hide with no signs or symptoms oh my goodness that kind of belief is ripe for fear and paranoia and legalism and what I call religious OCD this constant checking, checking, checking, checking and it's very difficult to live in the peace of God it takes you down this rabbit trail or this rabbit hole of one thing after another and it's a very difficult bondage I know because I went through that myself so there's a lot of problems with this and especially because it agitates the mental issues of Christians who struggle in their mental health I mean as someone who dealt with anxiety and panic attacks in a slight form of OCD I could tell you that these ideas were very tormenting to me and I found that when someone would try to help me with it I was very defensive because I was afraid that they were trying to deceive me or I was afraid that they were my enemy I was afraid that they were trying to attack something that I held so near and precious to me not realizing that you can embrace deliverance exorcism, spiritual warfare, demonology all of those important subjects you can embrace all of that while also correcting this small thing and I say small thing because it's a small shift but that small shift makes a massive difference in the course where you're headed so again on this point of the definition of demon possession I wanted to cover some of those common points of confusion including the idea that it's just semantics and hopefully you can see where some of the problems arise now let's look at how demons do affect us because the moment I begin to say this and we're gonna get into why Christians cannot be demonized I'm gonna show you scripture on that and I'm gonna go over the various different scriptures that many believe prove that Christians can be demonized we're gonna go over some of the main ones most of the main ones I should say but first I wanna show you how demons can affect us because upon hearing this I don't want someone to get the impression that I'm saying that you could just live however you want go do what you wanna do be who you wanna be live however you wanna live and nothing will ever happen to you that's not what I'm saying at all in fact I had someone message me today saying Brother David can you talk more about open doors if Christians can't be demonized what is an open door? I'll briefly mention that it's not in my notes but an open door is basically vulnerability to deception and attack when you live in a way that's compromised or sinful you make yourself more susceptible to deception to temptation to accusation and to torment and in doing that you could actually form a stronghold a belief set in your mind that contradicts the word of God and those beliefs produce behaviors and feelings those behaviors and feelings produce actions those actions over time become habits those habits are cycles and those cycles are what we refer to as spiritual bondage so an open door is vulnerability you can't just live however you want no one is saying that I'm definitely not saying that if you live in sin the attacks of the enemy against you though they may be from the outside will be far more effective against you than if you live in holiness so let's just clarify that for the record and again that wasn't in my notes but I didn't quite know where to place it so hopefully it made sense to put it there now Ephesians chapter six I'm gonna read verses 10 through 17 I wanna talk about how demons affect us because I don't want anyone to walk away from this thinking well I can live however I want or I don't have to worry about the attacks of the enemy in fact the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter five verse eight, excuse me, I'll read that in a moment we're gonna go with Ephesians six first I'm not saying that we shouldn't be aware I'm not saying that we should be apathetic towards spiritual warfare we should know the enemy we should be prepared to engage in battle and so in so doing we actually fulfill scriptures so no one is saying to just dismiss the enemy as not a threat the enemy is a threat even though we cannot be possessed or demonized Ephesians six 10 through 17 says this a final word, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil four, we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in heavenly places that the scripture makes it clear we're engaged in a spiritual warfare now watch this therefore put on every piece of God's armor so that you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil so here this is a command now you put on God's armor so we bear at least some responsibility in our spiritual preparedness now the scripture goes on to say then after the battle you will still be standing firm verse 14, stand your ground putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness for shoes put on the piece that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared in addition to all these hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil verse 17, put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the spirit which is the word of God so notice here that the scripture says that we are to put on God's armor so that we'll be able to stand against all the strategies of the devil that's verse 11 notice here that the Bible doesn't say that when we put on God's armor we'll only be able to stand against some of the strategies of the devil now this isn't to say that Ephesians chapter six verses 10 through 17 covers everything that we need to know about the enemy and the kingdom of hell and spiritual warfare and intercessory prayer no there's a lot more to be learned in the scripture but the Bible here is telling us that fundamentally speaking if you put on God's armor whatever the strategy of the enemy is whatever the other aspects the scripture might reveal concerning the attacks of the enemy you'll be able to stand against them through the armor of God so what is the armor of God well let's look at it by the way that word strategy in the Greek it means deceit, cunning, arch, trickery so these are his strategies his methods that he uses against us his deceptions really so the Bible says put on we bear that responsibility there's the belt of truth so here we see truth as an element well what is truth for us we're combating the lies you're gonna see right now that spiritual warfare for the believer is the fight to believe God's truth over the enemy's lies so the belt of truth the breastplate of righteousness now the reference here would be talking about Roman or Israeli armor which means that it covered the whole body and the breastplate was held in place by the belt at least for Roman or Israeli armor so here we see in scripture that the righteousness we have in our lives is held to us in place by truth Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free if you are still bound there's a truth that you've not yet fully embraced if you are still bound somewhere deep down there's a lie that you believe and the key to getting free is uncovering that root what is that lie that you believe you may not believe it intellectually but somewhere deep down inside you believe that lie and that's ultimately what produces the bondage in your life so if you're having trouble overcoming sin for example let's say there's a habitual sin that you just can't seem to fight off well you're gonna be able to fight that off by being convinced of the truth now I know it may not feel like that and I have other teachings on strongholds you could check out on the channel but for now I'll simply say that righteousness is held in place by truth so there we see again the element of truth being used in the armor the shoes of peace represent our readiness to spread the gospel what is the gospel, the truth so even our other weapon the shoes of peace is truth we don't conquer in the manner of worldly conquerors we conquer through the spreading of the gospel through the truth what is the shield of faith the shield of faith is faith faith in what? it's my faith in what God has said those fiery darts of the enemy being described in scripture here those are the lies of the enemy and deception just like fire spreads if it's not quenched and so when you hold up the shield of faith against the fiery darts of the enemy you stop those lies how do I stop those lies? I choose to believe in God's truth so if the enemy launches a fiery dart against me that says God has abandoned you I hold up the shield of faith or my belief in the fact that God will never leave me nor forsake me and dart is quenched okay so that's how that works so that's the shield of faith then there's the helmet of salvation now one of the methods that you can use to understanding one verse is to look at another verse always interpret the unclear with the clear and in 1 Thessalonians chapter five verse eight thankfully we have another reference to the helmet but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation so that hope is what? in the truth of the gospel in the truth of who Christ is so we can see here and then the sword of the spirit of course is the word of God so you can actually see this constant demon Ephesians chapter six that we are equipped primarily with truth to fight against the strategies of the enemy 1 Peter chapter five verse eight says stay alert, watch out for your great enemy the devil he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour now it's at this point that I think it's important to point out the difference and this is gonna clear up a lot of confusion for many who are watching this right now there is a difference between demonic attack and demonic possession there is a difference between exorcism and deliverance you might say brother David where does it say that in the scripture? Well, you won't find what I just said word for word in the scripture but the principle, the truth is found in the scripture as you begin to study the word you'll notice that sometimes the scripture uses that word demonized or it describes demonization and other times the scripture describes deception or torment or other forms of attacks of the enemy when you begin to understand the difference between these it clears up a lot of issues because I guarantee you that the moment you say Christians can't be possessed people will say, well, Christians need deliverance what they're actually hearing you say when you say that Christians can't be possessed is that Christians can't be bound or Christians can't be attacked and so it's this talking past one another that often leads to confusion so when someone stands up like me or I should speak for myself when I stand up and say Christians cannot be demonized I am not saying that Christians can't be attacked I am not saying that Christians can't be accused or deceived or tempted or even tormented I believe that therefore Christians need deliverance but never exorcism why? Because Christians can be attacked but never possessed now you might be asking now well, what's the difference between exorcism and deliverance? It's a great question. Deliverance is the overall general term to be delivered simply means to be set free so deliverance speaks of freedom you can be delivered from deception you can be delivered from torment you can be delivered from temptation in fact that's in the Lord's prayer you can be delivered from accusation you can be delivered from many things you can be set free from many things but exorcism is a very specific kind of deliverance to have a demon exorcised out of you that is to experience deliverance from possession specifically so do Christians need deliverance? Yes and if anyone ever tells you that I don't believe that Christians need deliverance they didn't hear me properly and in fact you probably can look in the comment section and you'll see a lot of these comments coming in maybe they didn't watch the teaching and they'll say well, you know David I disagree I think Christians need deliverance or I disagree I was delivered from a demon once or I disagree I was delivered from torment or I disagree I was delivered from that well we believe that Christians need deliverance but if you're talking about a demon inhabiting someone or attaching to their being to where that demon exorcises control over them speaking for them, screaming for them throwing their body on the floor that's possession so an attack is from the outside possession is from the inside you say well how can a demon attack me from the outside get I feel affected in my emotions in my mind well people can attack you from the outside and affect you mentally and emotionally you get in an argument with someone you love and they say insulting things they didn't possess you in order to do that they spoke words that you heard that you felt inwardly but actually the attacker was on the outside so you can be attacked from the outside and still receive that attack in a way that you're affected on the inside but this is not the equivalent of a demon entering your being or attaching itself to your being to where now it can speak for you talk for you move for you thrash around the floor for you screen for you and that the only solution now is exorcism no demons attack from the outside so attacks are from the outside possession is habitation or attachment to your being however you wanna describe it having a demon possessing a demon whatever you wanna use to describe that term if you're describing habitation or attachment you're describing possession the answer for possession is exorcism the answer for attack is deliverance Christians need deliverance because they can be attacked Christians never need exorcism because they cannot be possessed or in the Greek demonized so don't hear what I'm not saying we need deliverance from temptation, deception accusation and torment so tell me in the comments do Christians need deliverance say yes they do if you hear what I'm saying do they ever need exorcism no they do not okay now this begs the question well can you show that in scripture and this really is what I wanna delve into now this question can they be demonized from the biblical perspective so far we've laid some groundwork I've shown you my motive here which is to answer the questions of those who are asking and to bring clarity on a very important subject I'm coming at this as someone who loves deliverance practices deliverance come to my meetings you'll see demons coming out of people I believe in exorcism and deliverance I've been practicing exorcism and deliverance for over 20 years I don't say that to brag I say that so you know we're on the same team so that's who it's coming from and that's why I'm sharing it because that doctrine leaves people in bondage it's religion and then we looked at the definition of possession never mind all the confusion that's out there simply put demonized means to be possessed by a way of habitation or attachment simple simple okay and you can use different phrases for that but if you mean a demon inhabiting someone or attaching to someone in that way you're describing demonization which is full on possession and then we looked at how demons can actually affect us because I by no means want you to think that I'm saying that Christians can't be affected think about the fact that deception can actually even lead to addiction it's a whole different lesson for a whole different time but addiction ultimately is partially demonic partially physical the physical part is one thing the demonic part is another but it's all based on deception and not necessarily always does that equate to full on possession at least definitely not in the case of the believer but again that's a bit of a tangent hopefully I didn't cause too many questions there to arise when I mentioned addiction now but I will address it possibly at a future point or maybe in the comment section if someone asks a succinct question so can Christians be demonized? Where in the Bible does it say that Christians can't be demonized? Now first of all this question where does it say that Christians can't be demonized? What this is actually doing it's called shifting the burden of proof and this right here is to shy away from the responsibility that one has to demonstrate through the scripture that Christians can be demonized so the burden of proof is actually on those who are making the claim that Christians can be demonized and in fact there have been many attempts made to demonstrate that Christians can be demonized with scripture all of those attempts of course are revealed to be found wanting as you study the scripture but it's good that we understand that the burden of proof is not on the one who says that Christians can't be demonized the burden of proof is on the one who says Christians can be demonized nevertheless I'll show you that in scripture anyway but I just wanna point that out cause it's important that you see that and this way they never have to answer the question that's I know that because that's what I used to say and again I'm talking about my former self and I wanna say this again just to be 100% clear this is not in response to anyone this is not against anyone in particular there are thousands of deliverance ministries I get messaged all the time are you speaking against this person this person this person I'm thinking half these people they're asking about I've never even heard of no I'm not talking about anyone I'm talking about the doctrine and I'm sharing from my former understanding of when I used to teach this doctrine so as a minister I stay away from toxic drama and that sort of thing so unity, unity, unity that's more important to me than anything but still we have to address this question because so many need to know next we see that there's a lot the Bible doesn't mention so there's a lot the Bible doesn't talk about but this doesn't make a strong case for anything and so just because you know the Bible doesn't say that the Easter Bunny isn't real so are we gonna go for it now and say well the Bible doesn't say where in the Bible does it say that the Easter Bunny isn't real the Bible doesn't specifically in principle it does when it talks about know where the God's before me but in principle the Bible doesn't talk about Islam specifically in the way that we understand Islam today the Bible doesn't say that Joseph Smith didn't find the tablets of gold so just because the Bible doesn't say it doesn't mean that therefore we should embrace that doctrine in fact we have to look at what the Bible does say so again this question where in the Bible does it say that Christians can't be demonized number one that's shifting the burden of proof number two that's not a very strong case to build anything on what does the Bible not say and number three and this is the main point here the idea that Christians can be demonized contradicts everything we understand about the new creation it contradicts everything we understand about the nature of salvation it contradicts everything we understand about the power of the Holy Spirit and the wholeness that comes to someone who is redeemed so let's look at the believer's identity and nature now we're gonna get into the meat of this now that we've established some groundwork Ephesians chapter one verse 14 the spirit is the guarantee the first installment the pledge of foretaste of our inheritance until the redemption of God's own purchased possession his believers to the praise of his glory one more time gentlemen bring up this slide what does it mean to be demonized or possessed they're one in the same okay so with that in mind bring it back to me now demonization is possession by way of habitation that's what the original language says that's the word the Holy Spirit used that's the Bible compare that with what we just read in Ephesians 114 that we are God's own possession so it begs the question can a demon possess you while God possesses you well of course not and that's not just an argument from emotion that's to understand the nature of what it means to be redeemed God takes you from the powers of darkness let's read another scripture first Peter chapter two verse nine but you are not like that for you are a chosen people you are royal priests a holy nation God's very own possession as a result you can show others the goodness of God for he called you out of darkness into his wonderful light first Corinthians chapter three verse 23 so write these down Ephesians 114 first Peter two nine first Corinthians chapter three verse 23 and you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God now I'll tell you what I would have said at this point but that's not what demonization means it doesn't mean possession or demons can't own anything well look at the language look at the Greek what does the Bible actually say if I'm saying the word doesn't mean possession and the Bible says it means possession what are we gonna believe you have to believe the Bible and again the big hurdle for me was that I had heard differently for so long and so adamantly and repeated in so many different spheres of influence that I had trouble embracing what the scripture gave me that's a problem and that shows kind of how we've wrapped our identities around some of the things that we believe first John four four but you belong to God my dear children you have already won a victory over those people watch this now this is very very clear because the spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world well what spirit is in the world that's demonic power that's the kingdom of darkness and very clearly in first John four four the Bible makes the distinction and very plainly lays out for us the fact that one spirit is in you and the other is not one spirit is in you another spirit is in the world but what spirit is in you the Holy spirit what spirit is in the world those are demonic powers so first John four four makes the delineation quite clear and it says one is in you and the other is not 2 Corinthians chapter five verses 17 and 18 therefore if any man be in Christ he's a new creature old things are passed away behold all things become new and by the way at this point I would be asking well how do you explain sin how do you explain sickness we're gonna address that therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new and all things are of God who had reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and had given to us the ministry of reconciliation now watch this here in 2 Corinthians chapter five Paul the apostle when he talks about the old things that have passed away he's talking about the spiritual world to which we once belonged the old nature in the spirit realm everything having to do with your old life and now he says it all becomes new well where in the Bible does it say that we get delivered once we're saved big question Bible has the answer the Bible makes it clear in Colossians chapter one verses 12 and 13 giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light who hath this is past tense who hath delivered us from the powers of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son you guys powers of darkness literally means domain of darkness it's specifically talking about the devil and his demons let me read this again and understand that powers of darkness is talking about the devil and his demons or Satan's kingdom so let's read it like that again giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints of light that's your identity you are a being of light a reflection of the glory of God this is why I say this idea that Christians can be demonized is rooted in legalism because you still think you're working for your new identity when God's already given it to you I'm not saying there are no consequences for when we sin or compromise there are we become more susceptible to deception and attacks and so forth but here the scripture makes it clear that our identity in Christ is ultimately at the base of who we are that's the root of who we are that the innermost being we are inheritance of the saints of light who hath delivered us from Satan's kingdom who hath delivered us from the domain of darkness who hath delivered us from the devil and his demons the Bible clearly says that when you're born again you're delivered from demons right there and it's as plain as day especially if you understand what this kingdom of darkness is or the power of darkness is now this begs the question why not just get people saved then where then is the place for deliverance ministry specifically deliverance from possession which is exorcism where then is the place for exorcism well again deliverance is more than just exorcism so let's answer this question in a broad sense first when you understand that the believer is delivered from demons and the devil and the powers of darkness when they are born again naturally you begin to ask well what's the point of deliverance ministry well first of all if you ask that question hear me now I'm saying this because I love you if you ask that question then that shows that you don't understand the full scope of deliverance because you're so focused on just exorcism you think that's all deliverance ministry is you've forgotten that Christians need deliverance too not from possession but from accusation temptation deception and torment so Christians still need deliverance so where's the place of deliverance ministry well there's a lot of things that people still need to be delivered from other than possession and demonic habitation number two deliverance by exorcism can lead to salvation think about the demoniac and a legion of demons in him he comes because he sees freedom before him desperate to be free he approaches the Lord falls at his feet and the Lord casts those devils out of him with a word okay so the demons come out and now what does this man do he begs to follow Jesus think of Mary Magdalene she was delivered from demons before she followed Jesus now I understand that in the resurrection narrative the Bible refers to her as the one who had demons but that's referring to her past not referring to her present during the crucifixion during the resurrection narrative I should say so some will say well Mary had demons after she followed Jesus no she had demons before she followed Jesus and when her demons are being referenced in the resurrection narrative it's actually revealing what had happened to her previously and it actually just referred to her past so that it could distinguish her from the other Mary so Mary was delivered from possession demonic possession before she came to Christ and now she wants to follow him and the many that Jesus delivered in his ministry while here on earth how many of those do you think were born again how many people do you think were born again before Jesus died on the cross yet he's driving demons out of them and they followed him afterwards so exorcism can lead to salvation I'll touch on this a little bit more a little bit later but exorcism can lead to salvation so we mustn't be completely dismissive with it so it's not as though just because Christians are delivered when they're saved that there's no place ever for exorcism because some people if they're writhing on the floor and screaming how are they going to hear the gospel they don't even want to be near a church they don't want to be near preachers they don't want to be around others so get that demon out and then minister the gospel I found this to be a very effective way to minister to people and then they live their Christian life afterwards and they're free so that question why not just get people saved what's the point of deliverance that forgets these two points number one that deliverance is more than just exorcism and number two that exorcism can actually lead to salvation now it's at this point that some might be wondering well wait a minute demons may not be able to attach themselves to the body of the believer because that's the habitation of the Holy Spirit and definitely not the spirit which I'll show you the verse for that in a moment you're joined to the Lord you're one spirit with Him this leads to that common misconception they hide in the soul how many times have you heard this they hide in the soul and this is what people are talking about for the most part when they say that you need to go deeper or you don't quite understand or you didn't study they heard about this body soul spirit they got that whole map right and they see where demons can enter you like actual habitation through what they call open doors and that's what they're referring to when they say you have to go deeper but we have to stop complicating this issue and then referring to that complication as depth we have to stop complicating this issue and then referring to that complication as depth true depth is simplicity true spirituality is simplicity and I know this because this would have been the next thing I would have brought up you know I would tell people you have to go deeper you have to study more you don't quite understand what you don't get it yet and that's very not only is that very condescending it's very manipulative and it removes the responsibility from the individual to actually study the matter for themselves and see if maybe they didn't get it correctly I know that because that's where I was so let's take a look can demons possess the body well that's all they ever possess which we'll cover in a moment but look at what the Bible says can demons possess the body of a believer 1 Corinthians chapter six verses 19 and 20 don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God you do not belong to yourself for God bought you with a high price so you must honor God with your body so if the Holy Spirit dwells in your body demons cannot dwell in your body now again this begs the question of sin and sickness we're gonna get to that in just a moment can demons dwell in the spirit well 1 Corinthians chapter six verse 17 says but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit so it seems that demons are running out of places to hide and by the way this doctrine this religious idea that demons can hide in your soul was created in retreat knowing that demons can't possess the body or the spirit of a believer so it was only brought up in the first place because the scripture caused us to run out of places to hide the demons and the Bible makes it very clear when you begin to adhere to the boundaries that the scripture sets for you it draws you to forced conclusions you can't it's inescapable these conclusions when you compare them with scripture so first of all nowhere in the Bible does it talk about this soul possession and by the way the idea of soul possession ignores the nature of demon possession demons possess bodies the scripture tells us in Mark chapter five verse 12 send us into those pigs the spirits begged let us enter them why do they need pigs they need a physical host where they can dwell the scripture tells us in Matthew chapter 12 verse 43 when an evil spirit leaves a person it goes into the desert seeking rest but finding none obviously demons become very drained and tired once they begin to lose their host so they need a host to sense strength and to have vitality and the moment they come out of a physical body well now they begin to lose that strength so demons are by nature parasites you can look more in this study by looking up my teaching the origins of demons this is where I talk about the fact that demons are disembodied spirits from the Nephilim and this is why they crave physical bodies because they lost their bodies in the flood I know that sounds possibly wild to many of you but check out that teaching the origins of demons it's right here on the channel so by nature demons are parasites what do they possess they possess bodies they can't possess the spirit that belongs to God they can't possess the body of the believer because the Holy Spirit dwells in them and that's all they would possess so this idea of soul possession not only is it nowhere in Scripture but it disregards the nature of possession itself it has to ignore this idea that demons look for host bodies and by the way and I think this was kind of the final note for me when it came to this idea of soul possession is that we all teach that the soul is the realm of the will people of God not even the Lord himself will take control of our free will what makes you think he'd give that over to a demon by the way the demoniac Mark 5 too when Jesus climbed out of the boat a man possessed with an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him do you think it was the will of those demons to approach the Lord do you think that those demons wield their victim toward his freedom they want it to stay in his body they want it to remain as parasites they needed the strength of his physical being why would they approach Jesus on their own accord they didn't it was the man who saw his opportunity for freedom and willed himself to the Lord so I think it's conclusive here that demons cannot possess the soul and in fact God would not allow them to possess the soul demons possess bodies that is the nature of demon possession so this idea of soul possession though it comes from a good place is just not good doctrine and please stop referring to it people of God I say this in all humility we have to stop calling that depth we have to stop calling these kinds of conclusions going deeper because it's just not it's complicating the issue it causes confusion it's nowhere in scripture it contradicts what we understand about demon possession it contradicts what we understand about the nature of the will of man and how God won't even violate that why would he let a demon so we can be rid of this idea of soul possession and now we come closer to the truth demons cannot possess the body of the believer because the Holy Spirit dwells there demons cannot possess the spirit of a believer because the spirit is one with him demons cannot dwell in the soul again this is not depth this is not deeper study this is just repeating what we've heard in the face of retreating against what the Bible teaches demons possess bodies and God would not give the will over to a demonic being so what about sickness and sin? where do we see the place of sickness and sin? well first of all you have to understand that the Bible makes a distinction between demons sin and sickness if we say Christians can't have demons how do we explain sickness and sin? sin ultimately is self and you are delivered there's that word again remember deliverance ministry is more than just exorcism it includes exorcism but you don't have to just stick to just exorcism deliverance includes much more we can be delivered from self progressively through the process of sanctification when you are saved that's justification that's your standing before God that is the legal right that you have justification frees you from the penalty of sin sanctification now is a process and it frees you from the power of sin one day we will enter glorification where we're like Christ reflections of him not him please don't hear what I'm not saying there definitely one day we will enter the place of glorification and we will be free forever from the presence of sin I look forward to that I know you do too but justification is our legal standing actually let me go back just for a second because I want to address this this is also not in my notes but I think this may be a question someone has in terms of the soul being inhabited I know that the next point maybe that might have been brought up and I want to make sure I'm addressing everything so that all of the main points we're never gonna get into all the minutia in one teaching but at least the main points because here's someone might be wondering well what about open doors well if you rewind this video just a bit you'll see where I talked about open doors but I think it's worth repeating open door is simply vulnerability you can do think and say things that make you more vulnerable to demonic attack which is deception, temptation, accusation and torment the devil does not have to inhabit you to attack you with those tactics so when you sin when you compromise you can't just live however you want when you sin and when you compromise it makes you more vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy but never again to the habitation of a demonic being or a demonic being inhabiting you I should say so open doors yes they exist but in the case of the believer open doors will lead to greater amounts of torment deception, accusation, temptation but the demon can't re-enter your being whether that be body, soul or spirit so yes open doors are still a reality but they don't do necessarily what we all think that they do stick with scripture it's much simpler this way okay so sickness and sin well sin itself as sin as I said is self sin is self and sanctification is the process by which we overcome the flesh this is also important to know that whenever Paul the apostle talks about the flesh you have to look at the context sometimes when Paul talks about the flesh he's talking about his physical body other times when he's talking about the flesh he's talking about the sin nature like that scripture that says no good thing dwells in my flesh he's talking about the sin nature which doesn't occupy spatial territory in the material world to where it would equate to habitation or demonic attachment he's talking there about that old mindset that will that can be bent toward wrongdoing but again no good thing dwells in my flesh he's not even talking about demons specifically he's talking about the will that's turned against the things of God by our own choice and desires so sin is self okay so that's a distinction from a demonic being this is why I say we have to stop blaming everything on demons and this is partly why though I don't necessarily believe everyone that I'm describing everyone when I say this but this is partly why many want to hang on to this idea that Christians can be demonized and this is not everyone please don't hear what I'm not saying many want to hang on to this idea that Christians can be demonized precisely because in their minds now the responsibility is no longer on them they don't want to implement the spiritual disciplines that are necessary to overcome what God has given them the power to overcome some of us don't need deliverance we need discipline some of us don't have a demon problem we have a self problem the issue is you can't cast you out of you so this is where the process of sanctification comes in yielding to the Holy Spirit he's the one who sanctifies you yield to the Holy Spirit you submit to God daily you resist the cravings of the flesh and he begins to do a work in you that's progressive so this is sin not a demon sin is not itself a demonic being the same is true of sickness a sickness isn't the same as a demon and the Bible draws a clear distinction think about how Paul the apostle told Timothy drink a little wine for the stomach's sake since you are sick so often well there we see that Christians can be sick think of a path for deities Paul the apostles a friend in ministry he was so sick he nearly died so the Bible records many instances of believers being sick but it never records an instance of a believer being demonized again, attacked yes, deceived yes tempted yes, tormented yes like in the case of Paul the apostle he was buffeted by a messenger of Satan but these are attacks from the outside so the Bible talks about sickness being in the life of the believer but it does not say that demonic possession is something that the believer the born again believer experiences so sickness isn't the same as a demon when you have a cold or a virus you don't say a spirit entered you that's a virus or a dysfunction in the body and so we have to stop making those things one and the same the Bible says in James 5 15 and the prayer shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he has committed any sins they shall be forgiven him so here we see the prayer of faith being offered for who the believer in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verses seven and nine we see that A, the Holy Spirit gives the spiritual gifts for the benefit of fellow believers and B that one of those gifts is the gift of healing a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other so the context of 1 Corinthians 12 the spiritual gifts indicates to us that these gifts that were being given are so that we can help one another these are for use from believer to believer and then the Bible goes on to describe the same spirit gives great faith to another and to someone else the one spirit gives the gift of healing so here we see very clearly that the Bible instructs us on how to pray for fellow believers who are sick and instructs us that we should use our gifts of healing to minister to fellow believers but nowhere in all of the epistles in all of the writings of Paul and all of the writings of the New Testament are we ever given instructions that even come close to casting demons out of fellow believers now this is very important we're not just building a case off of the absence of a truth here because remember we talked about building cases on that but rather we're looking at the fact that that's absent plus the fact that everything described about the nature of the new believer indicates that we are redeemed and freed from the powers of the enemy specifically the devil and his demons though we are still being sanctified from sin so again we see that there's a ministry to sick believers nowhere in scripture do we see that there's a ministry to those who are demon possessed because Christians cannot be demonized so there is no gift of exorcism now here I have to be careful because I don't want this clip to be taken out and used out of context I believe we should be practicing exorcism I believe Christians need deliverance Christians need deliverance from demonic attacks unbelievers need deliverance from demonic possession that's the difference between deliverance just generally speaking and a very specific kind of deliverance known as exorcism some might say that the gift of miracles could be counted among exorcism but Matthew chapter seven verse 22 says on judgment day many will say to me Lord Lord we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name here we see that Jesus draws the distinction between a miracle ministry and a deliverance ministry so yes exorcism is something we should practice on the unbeliever more on that later in the lesson because I can already hear it but if you cast demons out of unbelievers those demons will come back seven times worse I promise we'll get there and I'm even gonna be addressing why sometimes we see Christians manifesting we're gonna cover all of those major angles but here I wanna focus on the fact that the Bible makes a distinction between miracle ministry and exorcism ministry casting out demons exorcism performing a miracles which is the suspension of the laws of nature in favor of whatever God wants to do for that moment to produce faith in those who are hearing a message versus driving a demon out so the Bible makes that distinction so no the gift of deliverance or exorcism wouldn't necessarily be found in first Corinthians 12 not even under the term miracles because the Bible makes that distinction so all I'm saying here is that exorcism is never ordered for Christians it's never the cure for Christians ailments it's never the cure for Christians problem it is for unbelievers by contrast sickness is so in the Bible we see instructions about sickness pray for each other sickness use the gift of healing for each other sickness use medicine for your sickness instructions for believers on their sicknesses you'll never see instructions for believers on their demonization which is different than attack and influence so in terms of if you say Christians can't have demons how to explain sickness and sin simply put the Bible makes distinctions between all three of these and all three of these are addressed in different ways and therefore it's not the same thing now let's go into some common attempts to justify the religious idea of Christian demonization if this is helping you to understand some things just right in the comment section right now amen and we're gonna cover now some of the common attempts the scriptures that many misapply that they think indicate that Christians can be demonized let's start with some of the more popular ones I won't be able to cover all of them I'll cover many of them and probably some of the more popular ones but let's do this very methodically here we're gonna go through the scripture so after you hear this you have to be willing to commit to what the Bible teaches so as we look at these take them out of your how shall I say this I wanna word this properly take them out of your toolkit if you will so we're gonna look at Judas for example after we go through this throw that out and I'm gonna show you that Judas is not an example of Christians being demonized let's look at this first so Judas here's the here's the truth Judas was demon possessed like the Bible uses blatant language there's no getting around this John chapter 13 verse 27 when Judas had eaten the bread Satan entered him but was he a believer and here I'm going to present to you one of the more important fundamental ideas around what I'm presenting to you tonight we have to understand that the Bible makes it clear that you cannot be a born again believer and fully demon possessed that is to be demonized it can't happen now upon hearing that many will say are you saying I'm not a Christian how dare you challenge our faith like that or you may hear a sad story about people who went to their pastor and they want it to be set free from a demon they wanted an exorcism and they double checked are you a Christian and that person was offended by that idea well we have to stick to what the scripture says for example if I told you you know what I just want to go on sinning and I don't care if I grieve the Holy Spirit I have no fruits of repentance in my life but you can't challenge my salvation maybe I'm still saved but you would say well no I'm not challenging your salvation I'm just looking at what the scripture says faith without works is dead and I'm comparing it to your life and sing no fruit if somebody says I don't believe that Jesus is God but I'm still a Christian you would say no there's no such thing as a Christian who doesn't believe that Jesus is God because in order to be a Christian you have to believe that Jesus is God you're not challenging their salvation you're just looking at the scripture and saying it's one or the other and so when I talk to believers around the world about this when I tell them that you cannot be both a Christian a true Christian and demon possessed they get offended they become bothered and I'm not trying to offend anyone again we're on the same team I love you but we got to correct this idea that Christians can be demonized because it damages a lot of people it causes a lot of confusion conflict contention it's just something that absolutely needs to be done away with but I've noticed that when people hear that when they're confronted with that reality it produces a defensiveness understandably by the way because I understand where you're coming from because that's how I was and so this idea of like are you saying I'm not a true Christian how dare you challenge my faith who are you to question me how arrogant of you, right? But we're just showing what the scripture says the scripture clearly teaches that you cannot be demonized and a born again believer I'm not here to tickle ears I love you too much to do that I'm not here to placate to itching ears I'm not here to tell you what you want to hear I'm here to preach the truth because I love you too much to tell you a lie and if nobody else would tell you I will Christians cannot be demonized you are either truly a Christian or you were truly possessed but you have to decide what that was and here's the good news more often than not it's that they weren't truly possessed and I'm gonna show you that in a moment again we're gonna get into why sometimes Christians seem to manifest but let's understand this saying demon possessed Christian is like saying square circle or married bachelor it's a contradiction in terms and so nobody is questioning anyone's salvation only you and the Lord know this only you and the Lord truly know this but what I am saying is that the Bible teaches that you can't be both you can decide which one you really were either you can say hey maybe I wasn't really demon possessed let's look at some other explanations for maybe what happened to me or you can say maybe I wasn't truly saved but you decide that and those parameters aren't being put there by me they're put there by the scripture very clearly teaches that Christians cannot be demonized as I just showed you in the first portion and now we're gonna take a look at this first attempt at justifying this idea that Christians can be demonized so we've established Judas was possessed yes that's John 1327 there's no debate about that but the question is was he a believer and this raises the next point someone will say well he was a disciple of the Lord I used to say this he was a disciple of the Lord he did miracles he performed ministry he was right there next to the Lord well Matthew 7 21-23 not everyone who calls out to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven only those who actually do the will of my father in heaven will enter on judgment day many will say to me Lord Lord we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and perform many miracles in your name but I will reply I never knew you get away from me you who break God's laws so here we see that it's possible to call Jesus Lord it's even possible to move in power and yet have the Lord tell you I never knew you in fact several of Jesus' disciples abandoned him John chapter 6 verse 66 says at this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him now whether you believe that Judas lost his salvation or that he was never saved in the first place what we can conclude is that he wasn't a born-again believer at the time that Satan entered him so Judas was not a born-again believer at the time of his possession and let me stress this again whether you believe he lost his salvation or whether you believe that he was never born again to begin with at the time of his possession he was not a born-again believer and so the bible tells us in 1 John 2 19 these people left our churches but they never really belonged with us otherwise they would have stayed when they left it proved that they did not belong to us in fact Jesus referred to Judas as the son of perdition it says to do with damnation of the soul here John 12 6 not that he cared for the poor speaking of Judas he was a thief and since he was in charge of the disciples money he often stole some for himself so even while he's working with ministry he didn't care about the people he wasn't doing it because he loved the people or the Lord he was doing it for the money and then Jesus very clearly spells it out that Judas was not a true follower Jesus said I chose the 12 of you but one is a devil finally Jesus declared himself guys these are the words of Jesus here he declared that Judas wasn't clean he separates Judas from his other disciples well you can say well that's because he betrayed Jesus well so did Peter Peter betrayed Jesus but Jesus didn't call him unclean in the same way that he called Judas unclean John 13 10 and 11 say this Jesus replied a person who has bathed all over does not need to wash except for the feet to be entirely clean now let me just kind of break down this analogy that Jesus is giving us here he's talking about the fact that all of us needs some work done on us all of us pick up dirt as we move along in life right and so those who are born again we've been cleansed for the most part but as we exist in this world as we move sometimes the feet need some washing so Jesus is saying look everyone makes mistakes everyone needs some work and you disciples are clean and he says but not all of you in other words some of you are unclean in the sense that you just need a little bit of washing and others are just completely unclean for Jesus knew who would betray him that is what he meant when he said not all of you are clean so keep in mind that the other disciples were unclean Peter betrayed him too yet Jesus didn't describe him in this same way so the fact that Judas didn't care for the poor the fact that you can move in power the fact that you can call Jesus Lord and still not be saved the fact that Judas constantly stole from the ministry will never really caring for the Lord or the people the fact that Judas was called the son of perdition the fact that Jesus called him unclean Jesus called him a devil the fact that Jesus separated him from the other disciples it's conclusive that Judas was not a genuine born-again believer at the time of his possession whether you believe he backslid or whether you believe he was never saved to begin with in just a moment I'm going to talk about this other portion of scripture Get The Behind Me Satan I'm going to talk about Get The Behind Me Satan Ananias and Sapphira didn't Jesus tell us to pray for deliverance Philip in Acts 8 the demon possessed people in the synagogue we're going to work there's several more we're going to do as I told you at the beginning this is going to be extensive so let me take just a quick break well Steve just tells me how the comment section is doing well spirit family you have been alive and active throughout this whole stream I've been reading some of your comments some of your questions and your thoughts you guys have been incredible I want to read just a few here Faye writes blessing pastor David thank you so much for your touch for you touching on this subject as I see so many Generation Z kids I know asking about demon possession I also see another comment here from our friend Jason love the content and the topic pastor my teens needed this today so Gen Z we're coming for you this is a great message we're going to get back into it in just a few moments guys thank you Steve and I appreciate that and if you're watching and you're being blessed by this maybe your mind is being changed and that's the goal here is to help correct some of these and again doing it in love I want I wanted to come to you in humility and love again we're on the same team we all believe in deliverance we all believe in exorcism we all believe Christians need deliverance we all believe the world needs to be set free we all believe we're in spiritual warfare but this idea that Christians can be demonized you can do without that I promise you I do without that and I still practice exorcism I still see God set the captives free I still see Christians set free but this idea as I outlined just a little bit earlier has a lot of problems with it that can result in a lot of condemnation it's based in legalism it's anti-scripture we got to correct this why because we love the deliverance ministry and we want to see it go further than ever before and that's going to happen we have to make sure we're built on a solid foundation so let me know in the comment section how this is blessing you whether you're watching live or on the replay and also don't forget to leave a like and don't forget to subscribe to my channel for more content on the Holy Spirit Prayer and Spiritual Warfare let's now look at Peter didn't Jesus call Peter Satan well here's the context for quite some time the disciples believed that Jesus was coming to the earth to establish an earthly kingdom finally Jesus reveals his true intentions and we see that in Matthew chapter 16 verse 21 from then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders the leading priest and the teachers of religious law he would be killed but on the third day he would be raised from the dead now when Jesus spoke plainly about what would happen to him Peter got riled up first of all Peter loved Jesus and he didn't like what he was hearing what do you mean you're going to be handed over what do you mean you're going to be killed he was bothered by this so Peter speaks up Matthew 16 verse 22 Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things heaven forbid lord he said this will never happen to you now Jesus clearly explained why he called Peter satan was it because he was possessed was it because he had a demon in him well Jesus tells us why he gave him this rebuke Matthew 16 23 Jesus turned to Peter and said get away from me satan you are a dangerous trap to me you are seeing things merely from a human point of view not from gods simple why did Jesus call him satan because he was seeing things from a human point of view did he say get the behind me satan for you've been possessed by the devil for you've been filled with demons no in fact if you look at the original language here you won't even see a hint of the of the word demonized which is the scriptures term for possession you don't even see any hints of other demonic influence in fact there's no blatant language whatsoever describing possession just like in the case of Judas now in the case of Judas the scripture told us plainly satan entered him notice here by contrast the scripture does not use that language another thing to consider here is that Peter never underwent an exorcism get the behind me satan satan himself possessing you you're going to need some major exorcism if that's the case yet Peter never underwent an exorcism thus proving to us that he never had he was never literally inhabited by satan and by the way again if you look at the original language Jesus was merely calling Peter the adversary in other words what you're speaking is against the plan of God and therefore you're an adversary it really is that simple there's nothing in the original language there's nothing in the context there's nothing indicated in what happened later on to Peter that even comes close to convincing anyone that Peter had a demon inside of him or that satan literally entered him so no Peter is not an example of demon possession or Christians being demon possessed and again some might say well no demonized means influence Peter was influenced no no no let's not get the terms mixed up remember demonized means to be possessed and I showed that slide several times we don't have to show it again guys but that's what was that's what was what demonized means next let's look at Ananias and Sapphira Acts chapter 5 verses 1 through 4 but there was a certain man named Ananias now I'm going to point this out right up at the top notice here but there was a certain man named Ananias so this is a contrast between what's being described here in Acts chapter 5 and what was being described in Acts chapter 4 that's the language that's been used so there's a distinction being drawn right up at the top of the verse here with his wife Sapphira sold some property he brought part of the money to the apostles claiming it was the full amount with his wife's consent he kept the rest then Peter said Ananias why have you let Satan fill your heart you lied to the Holy Spirit and you kept some of the money for yourself the property was yours to sell or not sell as you wished and after selling it the money was also yours to give away how could you do a thing like this you weren't lying to us but to God now here it's important to remember that they were not punished and Ananias and Sapphira were not punished because they withheld money they were punished because they claimed to give the full amount of the money and withheld some now it doesn't tell us how much they withheld some say half could have been half some say a quarter some say maybe they just you know a tie I don't know but either way they lied about it now here's what I wrote from my book Holy Spirit the Bondage Breaker specifically on this text we don't know for sure whether Ananias and Sapphira were actually born again believers in previous chapters we know that many were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit but it's not known for certain whether Ananias and Sapphira were among those saved or if they just casually affiliated with the true believers think about the fact that many people go to church and hang around Christians who are not actually saved in Acts chapter four and this is key right here guys in Acts chapter four there's a record about the unity of the true believers and how they shared all things note the phrasing in the beginning of Acts 5 but there was a certain man named Ananias the phrasing seems to be drawing a contrast between Ananias and the true believers mentioned in the previous chapter Acts 4 describes true believers selflessly sharing all things Acts 5 describes a man and a woman who lied about what they were sharing this phrasing this contrast being drawn seems to indicate that Ananias and Sapphira were not truly counted among the true believers so read the text read four and five chapter four and five and look at that distinction being drawn the believers sharing all things in common but there was a man and it contrasts the two group of believers all sharing their true and faith but there was a man it's a distinction those words matter the inspired by the spirit that's what's being communicated that these are two different groups here now the fact that they gave money this seems to confuse some people that said then why did they give money and I've heard it even suggested by many that Ananias and Sapphira must have been true believers because they gave money to the church well leave it to us pastors to say such things but this is not actually proof that they were born again believers first of all I don't like that idea at all I despise the idea that you can buy your salvation I despise the idea that you're giving of your money to the church is somehow an indication of your salvation so I don't know where that comes from in fact I personally have known many believers some of our biggest donors in the past have been people who didn't even believe what we believe they just thought we were doing a good work and they gave a large portion of money to the church I've known of people who've given money for church repairs and church projects and mission projects and feeding projects to the church not even being true believers they claim atheism if they give money to the church because they see the good work that some of the local churches are doing so giving money is not an indication of salvation so let's just be clear on that you mean what's how does the phrase go you can give without loving but you can't love without giving yes true believers give but that doesn't mean that just because you give you're a true believer so even still with all that being said with the contrast that's being drawn in Acts chapter four and five with the fact that you can't buy your salvation with money with the fact that we didn't know whether or not Ananias and Sapphira were true believers let's just throw all that aside for a moment okay so that's some pretty strong evidence there but let's let's throw all that aside for a moment let's assume that they were in fact believers let's assume that they were born again spirit filled okay so let's look now at Acts chapter five versus five through nine as soon as Ananias heard these words he fell to the floor and died everyone who heard about it was terrified then some young young men got up wrapped him in a sheet and took him out and buried him about three hours later his wife came in not knowing what had happened Peter asked her was this the price you and your husband received for your land yes she replied that was the price after Peter said how could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the spirit of the Lord like this the young man who buried your husband are just outside the door and they will carry you out too boom she drops dead okay so it's important to know and I have to point this out because I know it is important to know the word filled here in Acts chapter five versus five through nine is the same word being used in Ephesians chapter five versus 18 and 19 and this is part of what causes some people to believe that Ananias and Sapphira were literally filled with the enemy watch this Ephesians 5 18 and 19 don't be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life instead be filled with the Holy Spirit singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves making music to the Lord in your hearts now I've actually studied this before and I presented this in some of my previous books that were specifically written about the Holy Spirit and the influence of the Holy Spirit but in Ephesians chapter five versus 18 and 19 the scripture is describing the ongoing influence of the Holy Spirit not the initial infilling so to some degree what's being described in Ephesians 5 18 and 19 is ongoing influence in much the same way we see that this is describing influence in the same way in Acts chapter five versus five through nine so as I mentioned in my teaching on the Holy Spirit one might not be aware of the fact that Ephesians is describing the ongoing influence of the Holy Spirit not the initial infilling however this word field doesn't necessarily mean that Satan filled them with himself I'll give you an analogy let's say I take a glass cup and I get a pitcher of water and I take that pitcher of water and I pour the water into the cup you could literally say David filled the glass and then I hand it to you you drink it you're refreshed but with what did I fill the glass just because Satan filled their hearts doesn't mean that he filled their hearts with himself in fact nowhere in the context do we see any indication of that nowhere in the context do we see even a hint at the word demonization nowhere in the context do we even see a hint of possession or even demons for that matter so Satan fills their heart with what deception with his influence and then they lied so just like David filled the glass with water Satan could have filled their hearts with evil influence without having to fill it himself which again is consistent with everything that we're saying so to try to really work hard and twist the scripture into saying this is an example of people who were definitely Christians who were definitely demon possessed I mean at best it's it's a portion of scripture about a group of people who maybe were Christians but were definitely not demon possessed that's definitely not what's being described here so just to clarify one more time back on that point about fusions 5 18 and 19 it is in fact the same phrase be filled that we see in the book of Acts chapter 5 verses 5 to 9 or referenced in that context but in Ephesians 5 it's talking about the ongoing influence this was written to believers who were already filled initially with the Holy Spirit this is talking about that ongoing influence of the Holy Spirit and much in the same way this is talking about the influence of the enemy so another question we should be asking is why didn't Peter cast the demon out of them? I mean if this is an example of Christians being demonized then death not exorcism is the answer let's thank God that Ananias and Sapphira are most certainly not examples of Christians being demonized because then the answer for a demonized Christian would be that God drops them dead also think about the fact that they were held accountable for the decisions that they made well why would God do that if it was a demonic being that took over and made them do it it's not the case here so the scripture doesn't describe anything having to do with demon possession it doesn't use that language here's the conclusion the fact that Ananias and Sapphira aren't even confirmed as born again believers coupled with the fact that the original language doesn't describe ownership or possession and considered with the reality that the scripture was describing influence with the phrase fill your heart we can safely conclude that Ananias and Sapphira are certainly not examples of Christians being demon possessed so again we don't know for sure if they were even saved to begin with let's assume that they were we definitely know that the scripture is not describing demonization in the sense that they were inhabited by a demonic being in their beings in fact Satan filled their hearts but with what did he feel it influence as we see revealed when we contrast this with Ephesians 5 verses 18 and 19 okay next we see didn't Jesus tell us to pray for deliverance and this brings us back to our terminology and remember when you complicate the terms you end up with a lot of strange doctrines like for example when you come up with doctrines like oh demons inhabit the soul and they hide in there and they don't tell anyone and that's what happens to Christians when now you have to be committed to believing that pigs have souls because the demons entered them and these are the types of strange bizarre things that you're forced into when you commit to such an idea that Christians can be demonized it just gets worse and worse and worse until you finally say okay I got it there's a lot of confusion here there's far too many things that I'm assuming far too many things that I'm taking out of context at some point you have to say I just got to simplify this and go with what the scripture says but Jesus did tell us to pray for deliverance Matthew 6 13 and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil or deliver us from the evil one even some translations say for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen well in this context what is the evil one doing he's tempting us how can Christians be attacked accusation torment deception temptation this is perfectly consistent with what we're describing here but just because someone is tempted doesn't mean they're demonized Jesus was tempted no one would suggest that he was demonized so one does not have to be possessed in order to be tempted and again we have to remember that deliverance is a broader term deliverance isn't always specifically talking about exorcism and so here we can conclude that Jesus is talking about deliverance from the temptations that the evil one brings and not demonization what about those who listen to Philip in Acts chapter 8 well let's read the context here Acts chapter 8 verses 5 through 7 then Philip went down to the city of Sumeria and preached Christ unto them and the people with one accord healed unto those which Philip spake hearing and seeing the miracles which he did for unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them and many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed now the I don't want to call it the argument but the idea goes something like this the people were listening to Philip intently and that means that they received the gospel he was preaching yet they had demons cast out of them so if the people who received the gospel had demons cast out of them then there's a perfect example of Christians having demons in them well that's actually not what's happening here in Matthew chapter 16 verses 11 and 12 we see a portion of scripture that uses the same original language Matthew 16 11 and 12 this portion of scripture uses the same original language as Acts 8 5 through 7 why can't you understand that I'm not talking about bread so again I say beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees then at least they understood that he wasn't speaking about the yeast and bread but about the deceptive teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees so here we see in scripture that that term gave heed in Acts 5 8 5 through 7 the term gave heed in Acts 8 5 through 7 is the same word beware in Matthew 16 11 and 12 so this is just describing listening intently or watching closely but this isn't the same as saving faith also there's nothing in Acts chapter 8 that indicates that those who were saved were the ones receiving the exorcism in fact it's just the opposite Philip cast out the demons after preaching to them this is very important to note here I'm going to read this again I want you to watch this then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and this is an example of how we ought to minister exorcism to the unbeliever and preached Christ unto them so here's describing Philip preaching and the people with one accord gave heed unto those which Philip spake so the people are listening right hearing and seeing the miracles he did wait a minute 4 verse 7 unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them 4 why is that word important 4 7 verse 7 4 it's saying that the reason that the people were listening intently was precisely because he was driving out unclean spirits so some might look at this and say oh he preached and then cast out devils note this is not chronological order here this is saying that they took heed and listened to the gospel message they actually paid attention to what he was saying because he was using authority to drive out demons and this is precisely an alignment with what I've been telling you you minister to the loss you cast out the devils that's a sign to them that actually can lead them to salvation so acts 8 demonstrates just the opposite of what many people think it demonstrates the reason they paid attention to him was because he was casting out demons that coupled with the fact that we don't know that the people who received the gospel into saving faith were among those or definitely among those who were receiving exorcism shows us that this is not an example of Christians being demonized and I already addressed this but it's worth repeating this begs the question why do we need deliverance if we can just get people saved well the answer is right here they listened because he drove out the demons and so that's a perfect example of why exorcism can still be used by believers even though believers cannot themselves be demonized we use it on the unbeliever as an aid to minister freedom to the loss that they might also receive the gospel so even stretched to an unstable extreme acts 8 comes nowhere near indicating that Christians can be demonized and nobody reading and studying this text without that preconceived idea that Christians can be demonized nobody reading this text nobody studying this text would ever come to the conclusion that this is an argument for Christians being demonized and it is so far from that listen guys the scripture is not a pretzel it's not meant to be twisted for our preconceived notions finally not finally next we see we got several to go through here next we see the question what about the demon possessed people in the synagogue mark chapter 1 verse 39 so he traveled throughout the region of Galilee preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons well this one's quite easy to answer not everyone who goes to church as a Christian not everyone who was in the synagogue was a Christian what about the daughter of Abraham Luke 13 11 through 13 says this he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit so she had been bent double for 18 years and was unable to stand up straight now watch this when Jesus saw her he called her over and said dear woman you are healed of your sickness then he touched her and instantly she could stand straight how she praised God now the explanation here would go something like this the daughter of Abraham was demon possessed which demonstrates that God's children can be demon possessed but first of all looking at this text we don't even know if this is a case of we don't even know if this is a case of full on demon possession remember we've already made the distinction between sickness sin and demons they are not all the same and so demons can use sickness to attack your body demons can even use sickness to attack the body of the believer but this is not to say that they have to enter to do so just as one human can cause physical harm to another human without possessing them or owning them or taking over their body to where they're controlling their physical capacities so the enemy can use sickness as a weapon of choice demons can send sickness into the body but sickness in the body is not the same as a demon in the body it can be an attack so first of all we don't even know if this is an example of full on demon possession keep in mind here that Jesus didn't cast the demon out nor did she scream nor does the bible record that a demon left her he simply took care of the sickness that the demon attacked her with and finally the woman being a daughter of Abraham simply meant that she was of Jewish descent keep in mind this was before christ died on the cross and finished his work so this could not have been a born-again believer in the new testament sense so no the daughter of Abraham is not an example of christians being demonized remember demonized always means possession and possession by way of habitation or attachment didn't paul the apostle tell the galatians that they've been bewitched or placed under an evil spell now not only is this particular verse used to try to force the idea that christians can be demonized but this is also used to try to force the idea of christians being cursed galatians chapter 3 verse 1 says oh foolish galatians who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes jesus christ hath been evidently sent forth crucified among you here the word bewitched simply means to slander or to fascinate that is to deceive why was paul the apostle writing to them look at the context he's writing to the galatians because they were beginning to believe another gospel they were beginning to believe a works-based religious gospel and he was trying to bring them back to the fundamentals of faith so look at paul the apostle's solution here what does he tell them cast this out break the curse get on ancestry.com find out who your ancestors were and make sure that you get the names and exactly what they did write that down on a list and then speak those out loud no what does he say galatians 5 10 i am trusting the lord to keep you from believing false teachings god will judge that person whoever he is who has been confusing you what was the answer to this bewitching to know the truth so what was being bewitched it was being deceived this is perfectly consistent with everything i've been telling you how do demons attack christians temptation accusation torment and there it is deception so the fight to believe god's truth over the enemy's lies so even in the instructions to christians in an epistle telling them how to fight this the solution they're given is simply to believe the truth what about the word sozo doesn't the word sozo mean saved healed or delivered absolutely but it depends upon the context in which you find it sometimes it means healing sometimes it means save sometimes it means delivered you have you got to remember that many of these words like for example the greek word numah the greek word numah can mean spirit wind or breath but not every time it's used is it talking about the holy spirit sometimes it's just breath sometimes it's just wind in the new testament same thing for the term or the word ruach the hebrew word ruach for the old testament spirit wind or breath so those definitions come to play depending upon the context some of these words have multiple definition not the word demonized that has one definition but one definition with many synonyms all used to describe the same concept but one definition but this word numah as i just described the word ruach it can mean spirit wind or breath same thing with sozo it can mean saved healed or delivered and in some places can mean all of it and by the way remember that not all deliverance is exorcism so is deliverance for the believer 100 percent 100 thousand percent i still minister deliverance to believers but i'm not going to lie to them and tell them that they can have a demon inhabiting them if they have that we got to get them saved again we can't tickle ears we have to tell the truth and i know guys i know i'm going to i'm going to get into some hot water here look if you know me you know that i just stay out of controversy i don't get involved in drama but sometimes by simply speaking the truth there's controversy that arises look i've been preaching this since 2013 2014 no one batted an eye for all these years but now that this has become a topic that people are focused on suddenly the teachings are standing out and people think why are you all of a sudden teaching i'm not i look at look at my channel i've been teaching on all of this for years but now there's a highlight so i'm not bringing this to cause controversy i'm bringing this because it's the truth and i want to see people go free and i'm tired of the confusion that people find themselves in so yes deliverance is for believers but not the specific kind of deliverance which is exorcism so does sozo mean deliverance yes but again that can take on many forms depending upon the context isn't deliverance the children's bread mark chapter 7 verses 25 to 27 right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit there we see it very plainly used yes this is talking about demon possession for that specific instance for that family and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter since she was a gentile born in syrian finicia she jesus told her first i should feed the children my own family the jews it isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs and of course we see later that the woman persists she says yes but even the dogs can eat the crumbs from the table and jesus drives the demons out of her daughter now you have to understand that the larger context here is speaking of the fact that jesus came first for the jew and then the gentile all jesus is talking about all the scripture is talking about here is the order of his ministry influence first the jew then the gentile that's god's plan of salvation these are these are basic studies that you can do and all believers should do to understand god's plan of salvation came through the jewish people the jew first then the gentile now in the context who are the children born again spirit filled believers no in the context it's the unredeemed nation of israel this is what's so interesting to me of all the portions of scripture that people could use to justify the idea of christians being demonized i find this the least convincing you can stretch this portion of scripture to an unstable extreme you can twist it and apply it and twist it and apply it and you can contort it you can force in ideas and philosophy you can use semantics and this portion of scripture is probably the most unconvincing portion of scripture for the idea of christians and demonization why because it's specifically talking about the unredeemed nation of israel and unredeemed gentiles so not even talking about redeemed in general it's specifically talking about the unredeemed specifically nation of israel that the lost sheep of israel the lost sheep of the house of israel that's who jesus came for first so some might say but this story is specifically about exorcism here's what i wrote for my book holy spirit the bondage breaker coming out in june of 2023 still one might insist but this is a story specifically about exorcism but we can't have it both ways either we are specific or we are general in our in our interpretation and application of this portion of scripture if we are being general with our interpretation then we must conclude that this is about more than just exorcism it's about jesus' broader ministry being available to first jew than gentile if we are being specific with our interpretation then we must conclude that the term children is a specific reference to the nation of israel not new testament believers in either case from both angles of interpretation whether specific or general interpretation it's clear that jesus is not saying that new testament believers can be demon possessed not even close it's not meant to be shaped and twisted to our desired outcome guys i understand this one this one's used a lot but it's not even close i would rather i would say a better portion if you want to believe that christians can be demonized a better one would be ananias and sapphira that one probably a little more convincing or even um you know peter jesus saying to peter get the behind me say but this one as i said i i don't even understand where that comes from because in the broader interpretation of this portion of scripture it's talking about jesus' ministry assignment to the unredeemed nation of israel and then unredeemed gentiles that's all that's being revealed here if you want to get ultra specific that's who it's talking about um even in the term child children so if you want to get specific and say well it's talking about exorcism well then you got to get specific with that term children what does it mean so this is nothing to do with exorcism this is nothing to do with demons inhabiting new testament believers new testament believers aren't even mentioned here john chapter six for fifty one says this i am the living bread that came down from heaven anyone who eats this bread will live forever and this bread which i will offer so the world may live is my flesh who is the bread who's the bread it's it's jesus so we're going to change our phrasing here yes deliverance is for believers if you're talking about deliverance from demonic attack but remember deliverance is more than just exorcism so let's change what we say here let's let's go bigger let's let's let's let's let's push a more powerful truth jesus is the children's bread if you believe that write that in the comment section right now whether you're watching live or replay jesus is the children's bread and that bread takes whatever the form is that we need it to take and for the true believer that bread would never take the form of exorcism since we cannot be possessed let's do one more i mean we can cover paul storm the parable of the sower the portion of scripture where the where the bible talks about handing the sinning individual over to satan i mean there's a lot we could cover but we're going to get into some more and just some more ideas like i'm going to talk about how we explain christian's manifesting then i want to talk about who exorcism is actually for and we're going to take care of that idea about not casting demons out of unbelievers because it could come back seven times worse we're going to look at that and we're going to expel the fear and the religious approach to that idea and i can say that because god set me free from religious thinking thank you jesus Ephesians 426 what about giving place to the devil with anger be angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath okay so here we see that you can be angry without sinning so it's not even a sin that's being described here watch this now Ephesians 427 neither give place to the devil now for some reason people think that this is talking about physical spatial reality remember demons attached to the physical body if this were true that every time you got angry that a demon could attach to you then we're talking now not just one-time deliverance we're talking about constantly needing to be set free from demon possession like all the time and then you could never know for sure any mistake you ever made any sin you ever committed you got to go in now and have an exorcism again we're not just talking about deliverance we're talking specifically about exorcism that's an issue because the bible doesn't describe that reality for believers the new testament believer is to walk in freedom and liberty and if we compromise we're susceptible to attack but not habitation not demonization so again you can't just live however you want so the word place here isn't describing a literal physical location in fact you study this portion of scripture out that word place means opportunity plain and simple don't give them an opportunity to have influence which is much different than possession and by the way again this produces legalism constant fear constant looking over your shoulder every little mistake every little thought this is why i say that the most tormented christians i know are the ones who believe that christians can be demonized why is it that only the christians who believe that they can be demonized are under the most severe forms of spiritual attack they might say well because the devil knows i'm a threat well i might say it's because you exaggerate the power of the enemy in your life and you give them that power you're deceived in giving him that power because you've put trust in his power over the trust in your power in the power of the holy spirit if you want to know the truth you have to line up with the word if you want to know the truth you have to bow to the word of god as the final authority so the scripture here is just describing opportunity that gives the enemy influence again influence being attacked nothing to do with a demon inhabiting you or attaching itself to you so to recap some of the things we've gone over here for attempts to justify the religious idea of christian demonization and it is religious legalism guys i used to be on the other side of it and i would say you're religious because you're not teaching this now i realize no no no i was the religious one and my goodness this is legalism to the max so we see judas no not an example of christians christians and demon possession and if you have other examples maybe you want me to cover put it in the comment section if i have some time i'll go through the comments and by the way guys as you go through the comments you're going to see people asking these questions what about this what about that what about this help me with the time stamps if someone asks a question in the comment section that i answered send them a time stamp directly in the video peter is he an example of christians and demon possession no not even close ananias and sapphira probably the best argument so far but it's based on somebody we don't know for sure if they were born again believers or not and we definitely know that it was not literal demon possession that was involved so no that doesn't count either didn't jesus tell us to pray for deliverance that's not an example of christians and demon possession what about those to whom philip preached that's not an example of christians and demon possession the demon possessed people in the synagogue the daughter of abraham who hath bewitched you galatians three the word sozo deliverance being the children's bread or the finician woman giving the place to the devil in anger none of these are examples of christians inhabiting a believer or attaching to their being to the point where it was able to control them by moving for them talking for them and to the point where they needed exorcism not an example not one nowhere in scripture so i showed you so far now this is the broader recap because we have to do this before we go deeper the definition of christ the definition of demonization one more time let's throw that slide up this is for those of you who may have skipped around or just tuned in the definition of demonization let's stop complicating it so when we say christians cannot be possessed but they can be demonized you are literally saying christians cannot be possessed but they can be possessed okay so demonization is possession that's number one you can say christians can be oppressed but if you mean habitation or possession through habitation you're describing possession if you say christians can't be possessed but they can't possess demons or they can have demons or they can be under the power of demons or be vexed with the demon if by that you mean that a demon inhabits them you are describing demonization let's stop complicating it let's make it very very very simple now number two thank you gentlemen i talked about how demons can affect this i am not saying that christians don't need deliverance i'm saying that christians cannot be demonized to where a demon inhabits them body solar spirit to where the demon is speaking for them taking control over them that is not a biblical reality and again i'm just going to tell you the truth this will upset religious mindsets this will upset tradition of thought this will this will upset religious establishment but you know what jesus was a little bit of an upset when he came on to the scene so it's okay to share these ideas and pastors if you're watching this you got to start teaching this too if this is what you believe you know you say you know this makes more sense i like this you got to start teaching this too not as a means of causing division look we're all brothers and sisters in christ but as the truth goes forward i believe in the church i believe in the body of christ i believe that christians who are filled with the holy spirit are going to say you know what i'm going to correct this because i was able to do it by the help of the holy spirit and his grace only i was stubborn i was arrogant i accused everyone who disagreed with me is needing deliverance so i you know i kind of had this tough guy meant tell you well they're you know they're sissies or they're not getting down and dirty with the demons and fighting them you know i had all these different ways of saying it but ultimately it was my ego i'm not saying that's the case for everyone i'm very hopeful for the church i think we can come together let's just correct this one thing as believers and again um you're still i still love you you don't believe this i still love you you're still a fellow believer in christ we're one in the same we all believe in deliverance sexism and so forth but but if you believe what i'm saying make sure you're sharing this make sure you're getting this out there because it's going to set a lot of people free i'm passionate about this because i want to see people set free from legalism and religion and that heavy weight that burns us and keeps us from seeing who we are in christ and there were other problems with this doctrine but we don't have time to recap all of those i talk about how demons affect us yes the christians need deliverance deliverance from what demonic attack what is demonic attack that's torment accusation deception and temptation i almost forgot that was one there surprising because i've said it so many times then i talked about the fact that the believers nature who they are in christ and the nature of salvation just clearly contradicts this idea that christians can be demonized we talked about body soul and spirit we talked about the fact that sickness and sin are not the same as demonic beings then we went over some of the common attempts that people used to justify the religious idea of christian demonization and it is a religious idea and now we're going to take a look at how to explain christians who manifest now here's where i really really really need you to hear what i'm actually saying because there's a lot of emotion wrapped up in this right i'll tell you this whenever i say christians can't be demon possessed the most common response i get is not scripture it's stories and people say how dare you question this they'll say things like my sister didn't even believe in demons and she was on the worship team and i saw her with my own eyes manifest or i had a demon myself and once it was cast out i was free and it changed my life and so it's important for you to know that i am not saying that you didn't have a real spiritual encounter if you believe you had a real spiritual encounter i agree with you so i'm not dismissing anyone i'm not calling anyone a liar some people do lie but that's not what i'm saying generally i'm not accusing everyone of lying i'm not even saying they're all a bunch of false converts many are false converts but that's not the case for everyone i'm going to give you five explanations for why we sometimes see christians seeming to manifest but keep in mind married bachelor square circle demon possessed christian the terms don't fit i'm not saying which one applies you have to decide that i'm not going to question anyone's salvation you have to decide what it is and i am not saying hear me now please i am not saying that you did not have a real encounter with god i am not saying that you didn't get delivered from something i'm simply saying that for the sake of clarity for the sake of truth for the sake of those who will be tormented by the lie that christians can be demonized for those reasons we must describe our experiences in biblical terms and from a biblical perspective scripture over stories truth over trends not what did i experience what does the bible say because some people's experience will say christians can never be demon possessed others will say christians can be demon possessed now we have two sets of experience what are we going to do that's where we need the scripture and so i want to give you five explanations that are perfectly consistent with the bible with the truth that we've been given here today that can explain why christians sometimes manifest now i'm not discounting testimonies i'm not discounting the experiences of anyone i'm simply asking people of god that we learn to describe what's actually happening and that we understand what happens that we understand what's occurring in their lives based on scripture so again and i don't care if you're getting annoyed at me repeating this you need to know this because i love you too much to leave you so offended that you can't receive the truth if you think you had an experience where you were delivered i believe you if you say i went through a struggle and i got deliverance and i got set free i believe you i'm not saying that i'm saying the way we describe it and understand what happened