Casting Out Demons

Do you know what if feels like to be totally powerless to stop sin in your life? I understand that we have free will. But have you ever been so trapped, so held, by sin that you could not find your free will, or had absolutely no ability to access it?  I know that feeling. Maybe worse, is when you see it happening to someone you love. What do you do when you can't fix it, they can't fix it, and not even time with Christians can free them from bondage?

There is an answer. There is power so incredibly that it has not limits. You and I must learn to expend energy in reaching for that power, instead of just trying to summon it within ourselves. To demonstrate how this works, we will look at a real demon possession story in Mark 9. Jesus was the answer. Jesus is the answer.

The Perfect Prayer Plan

- Why do we sometimes find ourselves caught in addiction with no way out?

- Is it possible that you are not strong enough to make things right on your own?

- How does the power of Jesus change our lives and where do we find that power?

- Why does everyone know about prayer, but so few actually benefit from it?

- Where is fasting needed in your life and what will it free you to do?

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to the Excel Still More podcast. I am your host, Chris Emerson. I'm here to encourage you in your walk with God. Thank you for joining in. Today's podcast is sponsored by Cunningham Financial Group. John Cunningham is a friend of mine and a brother in Christ, and he can help you with financial decisions and future planning. He's been a big help to me and my family, and I commend him to you. You can reach him at 205-913-1720. I am so thankful you're here, so let's get started. You may be asked in this first 10 minutes to go to a pretty dark place, maybe in your own life, or perhaps even more painfully in the lives of people that you love. You may have to revisit some very sobering truths about the powerlessness of your fight at times with the devil. And while that may make you uncomfortable for a little while, I promise you that there is a way out, a beautiful, powerful solution. And it just may be that all of the effort in the world you or someone you care about has been making to do better has been misplaced energy. And by turning it intentionally in a different direction, starting today, you can gain access to power beyond description. And what was impossible for you before becomes inevitable with God. So I need to begin by asking you a question. Have you ever been possessed by an evil spirit? Now I may have already given away some of the direction today which can affect your answer, but most of us just asked out of the blue would say no. Because when we think of being possessed by an evil spirit, we think of the first century, where demons took up residence in someone, completely overpowering that person's will, and could only be cast out by the direct and supernatural power of God. And I actually do want to share with you one of those stories from Mark chapter 9 today. But if you are suspicious about my question, you have a right to be, because I am asking something slightly different. Do you know what it feels like to be overcome, to be rendered completely powerless against an unclean spirit of the devil living in you? I'm asking more along the lines of what Paul wrote in Romans 7, when he said, I find the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. He says, What I'm doing I do not understand. He said, I'm doing things that I don't want to do, and I am not the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Now, to be clear, I know that Paul had free will, and you have free will to make the right choices, and that is very different than first century demon possession. At least it should be. But have there ever been times when you just weren't so sure? Not that such things overwhelm you all the time and everywhere that you go, but much like the demonic spirits of the first century, when they would take over, the person could not stop them. Do you know what that's like? When you do have free will, but you also have no power to exercise it. Let me give you a series of examples. What about the spirit of jealousy? Have you ever seen that? When someone is dominated by that spirit, it changes the way they see others, the way they behave and speak and think, and they do things that they know that they shouldn't do, but jealousy has consumed them and they don't know how to stop it. What about a spirit of anger? People who usually are kind find themselves behaving with extreme wrath even and often against the people that they supposedly love more than anyone else in the world. They know they shouldn't be yelling or fighting or fleeing, but in that moment, they demonstrate no ability to stop what is happening. And there are many other spirits that can overwhelm us. Like the impact of grief on a person. Have you seen the power of grief cause them to shut down? To fade away from people slowly and irrevocably, though they know they shouldn't, and while they wish they were different in their inability to handle what has happened, they become the very person that they don't want to be. There are plenty of other unclean spirits with this overcoming power, like a spirit of lust, manifested in things like pornography addiction. A man can give you ten reasons why he should not think that way and look at those things. He can listen to sermons and preach sermons, and yet there he is again in front of his computer, doing the very thing that he hates, and hating himself for the inability, the personal weakness to stop. I haven't even mentioned the category of chemical addiction and substance abuse. Do you think those people want to fall back into those same traps and slowly waste their entire lives away while the people who love them are forced to watch? Listen, I know that none of that is the same as an evil spirit, a demon overtaking someone and running them into the fire. But many times it is genuinely hard to tell the difference. I'm asking, do you know what that feels like? Now you might be saying, Chris, I'll be honest, I don't think that I do. I know what sin is like and I make poor choices, but never in a way that I simply had no ability to stop it. I've always had some sense of control and I've just behaved foolishly, to which I would say I totally believe you, and I'm thankful that that's the way it's been in your life. But I do have a follow-up question for you. Do you have any kids? And no, I'm not talking about the demon possession of the terrible twos. I mean, do you have any teenagers or twenty somethings or thirty somethings who are caught? Caught in sin that they simply have zero power to overcome. They've demonstrated it over and over, and you have tried everything, and you would give anything to break them free from where they are. And yet over and over again, nothing you can do or they have done has made the difference. Hope, which has already been tarnished by shame, is slowly replaced with giving up. If you know what any of that is like, I should say that something good that people often do is go to church. They say, hey, I or my son or spouse or parent, we need to get with God's people. We need Christian counseling. We need to sit down with the preacher or the elders or start some regular Bible studies. We need support to get through this, which is just a really great idea. And a lot of times that can help you turn the corner. You regain this sense of I can do when others help me. But again, one more time, do you know what it's like when not even that works? The cycle repeats so quickly that not only have you given up on anyone's ability to help here on earth, but you even begin to doubt if Jesus can set you free. If you know what any of that is like, then I need to share a story with you from Mark chapter 9. There was a boy who was possessed by an actual demon that would throw him in the fire and torment him and his family, and the boy could not stop it. The father could not fix it. They had gone to be with disciples and solicit their help, and the disciples could not cast the demon out, until finally they were blessed with the actual presence of Jesus. And here is how that interaction went. They brought the boy to Jesus. When he saw him, immediately the Spirit threw the boy into a convulsion, and falling to the ground he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked the Father, How long has this been happening to him? And he said, From childhood, it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. Now before I give you Jesus' response to that, I should say that Christ was already perturbed in this scene. He had already said, O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring that boy to me. And this is the first major thing I need you to see today. Jesus was not upset that the boy could not overpower the demon. Jesus was not upset at the powerlessness of anyone involved. What angered Christ was that they did not believe in his power. In fact, you can hear it in the Father's voice when he says, If you can do anything, take pity on us. Jesus said to him, If you can? All things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, I do believe. Help my unbelief. You can see Jesus looking at him saying, Did you just say if you can? I'm the master of the universe. I have absolute power. I am perfectly connected with the Father in heaven. I'm not asking you to do this, but you have to believe that I can do this. The Father picked up on that immediately and said, I do believe, but help me in whatever might be incomplete in my trust of you. So Jesus casts out the demon in the boy, and it's a great story. And afterwards the disciples asked, Why weren't we able to do it? Do you remember what Jesus said? Because this answer applies directly to you today, or into the life of someone you love who is desperate for help. In Mark's account, Jesus said, These kind do not come out without prayer. Now you might be listening thinking, that's it? You're just going to tell us to pray? We already pray and it's not doing anything. Well, let me remind you that prayer without the expectation of the power of Jesus, prayer that somehow is supposed to make you stronger instead of connecting you to his strength will never work. When Jesus called them to prayer, what he was asking them to do was to use the energy they were expending to try to do something and channel that energy towards connecting with God. Draw close to God and have his might living through you instead of trying to do it on your own. Jesus was the perfect example of this. Jesus did two amazing things when he lived in the flesh. One, he never sinned, and two, he had this incredible ability to heal and cast out demons. Both of those things were possible because Jesus was always connected to his Father. Save maybe the time on the cross when he was forsaken for us. There was never a point when the power of heaven was not flowing through him. And how did Jesus get that power? You might say, well, he was Jesus. It was obvious and inherent, but that wasn't it. Listen carefully, the Bible teaches that Jesus started his day with prayer. Jesus ended his day with prayer. Jesus prayed before every meal, every different type of meal. Jesus would often slip away during a busy day of saving people to go and be alone and pray to God. Jesus prayed for wisdom to help him make decisions. Yes, even Jesus did that. Jesus prayed for healing from God to help him when he hurt, like in the garden. And all along the way, in every circumstance, Jesus was praising the great name of God and giving thanks. Jesus did this with the people that he loved as an example to them. He did it for the people that he loved, and he even prayed beautiful prayers, calling on the saving power of God for the people who did not love him. By the way, there were ten things I just told you, and they make up the perfect prayer plan. Jesus' prayer plan was amazing, and it kept him with God at all times. And I believe you need it. No matter what you're facing, if the failings keep coming, it's because you're using too much energy trying to be something and do something instead of channeling your efforts to being close to someone who can do everything. I encourage you to check out the show notes for today's episode or contact me in some way, and I will make sure you get a copy of the perfect prayer plan. It's going to take work and sacrifice, and here's the list again. Pray in the morning, pray over your meals, slip away and pray once per day, and pray at night. The content: pray in thankfulness and gratitude, pray asking for wisdom in decision making, and pray for God to heal you where you hurt. Do those three things with the people that you love. Pray them for the people that you love and even for the people who don't love you. Listen, I don't know how old you are or what you've been through, but I'm 43 and I'm here to tell you that I can't do this. There are some spirits in the deeds of the flesh list that as long as I live in this flesh, I will not have the power to overcome them. I will continue to use tips and strategies and have accountability partners and be self-aware about the results of the things that I do. But I don't have the power. And he does. And there will never be a substitute. I don't care what the nature of the addiction is. Maybe it's something you've struggled with since childhood, maybe it's just a byproduct of your personality, or invoked without you thinking about it, as soon as you see your spouse. There is no substitute for what Jesus can do through you. The same Paul who sounded so desperate in Romans 7 said this in Philippians 4. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And here's the thing, you already know that. I mean, what was your life like before the glory of God was in it? The Bible says we were dead in our trespasses and our sins. We were children of wrath by nature as we lived in this flesh. The Bible didn't go on to say that somehow I found the power to change. The Bible says that God sent his son, that Jesus established his might over sin, and that he can do more than we can even ask or think in us. I want access to that, don't you? Access to him. Well look, do you know what happens when you pray? When you really pray, and not just once, but you give yourself to it. You're praying to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Now that is power. I need to add something else in this last couple of minutes. In Matthew's account of the same story, Jesus said, These kind do not come out but by prayer and fasting. Do you know what fasting is? It usually had to do with food, but mainly it meant that I will put aside things in my life, even things that I think I need, for time with a God whom I know that I need. I will give up sleep, I will give up food, I will give up Netflix, I will give up my cell phone, I will give up the radio, I will put lawful things aside because I need to connect to Christ. So many of us know that prayer is the answer and that God has all the power, but when you look at our day, just one given day, and all of the things that are necessary within it, and you look at how infrequently we are setting those things aside to talk to God, you can start to see a correlation between failing yet again every day and yet another day without emotional prayer and intentional fasting. So I want you to give the perfect prayer plan a go and make the time. I don't care what it costs, even your most basic needs come behind accessing the life-giving nature of the Creator. Because listen, the worst thing that can happen is you pray today like you never have before and you have the best day of your life. But you get busy with the really important things this week, and prayer becomes a non-factor again, and by Thursday you are in the depths of a new level of despair because even the hope you have right now is gone. Jesus described that when he talked about the man who had the demon removed from him. What a wonderful thing. But the demon came back soon after with seven others and found a huge void in the man, and they all took up residence there. But Jesus has a much better plan for you. Get connected to him and stay connected. And while sin will always be a fight for us in the flesh, there will be a might infinitely greater than your own, casting out the demons. Thank you so much for joining in today. If you enjoyed this program, consider sharing it with your family and your friends. And if you're just in search of deeper Bible study or you want to share the message of Jesus with the children in your life, remember to go to creation2revelation.com. This wonderful company, run by Christians, provides beautiful illustrations of scripture from beginning to end, putting the spotlight on Jesus. And remember this whatever you choose to do today in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, excel still more.