Sunday Message - How to cast out demons 2
<Matthew
WHY CAN DEMONS ONLY BE CAST OUT BY [RELYING ON THE NAME OF
JESUS CHRIST]?
·
Our
daily lives are a battle. The battle will become easy when we can identify Satan’s
attack
·
When
we are able to counter attack Satan, we will receive external blessings as well
as get to meet people and things that are beneficial for us
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The
problem is, a lot of Christians do not pay attention on how their spirits are
being attacked
·
We
must be careful whenever our hearts get troubled and burdened. When that
happens, we must identify how Satan is attacking us
·
In
order to resist the devil, we must first know where he is
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Our
problems may seem to have departed, but that’s only temporary and more problems
will come. Our logical mind let us know that we are the children of the most
glorious God. However, guilt, evil thoughts, thoughts of being a failure,
setbacks always fill our spirits
·
Though
we are God’s children, these thoughts will not go away. Even we know what sins
are, we just cannot cast them away
·
Some
people know Satan as such: as long as I feel comfortable, blissful and
peaceful, I am already living in heaven. This might not be true. Satan can also
give us peace, while causing us to walk our own ways. He works in us stealthily
·
Satan
is a spirit and a thought. Thus, we cannot cast him away with our logic. His
work is to separate our spirits from God. He does so in
ways (Confucius / ethics, philosophy, our good feelings etc)
·
Sometimes,
we begin to fear God in our hearts and do not want to go to Him. That’s the
most dangerous thought
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No
matter how weak we are, if we are willing to go to God, His mercy will come
upon us
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Sometimes,
Satan will cause our spirit not wanting to pray or read the Bible. Satan will
give us a comfortable life but not wanting to get close to God. When that
happens, we must be careful
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Sometimes,
we may grumble why we are so poor. When we entertain such thought, ten thoughts
that make us feel even poorer will come upon us. When that happens, all our
thoughts will become very negative
·
Some
people always think that they are extremely pitiful and nobody loves them.
Those who continue to think like that will go into despair and even end their
own lives
·
We
can only resist the devil after we have identified him. The Bible says, “Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you”
·
Some
people think that after becoming Christians, things of the devil have nothing
to do with them. And only those who are superstitious will worship the devil
·
A
lot of Christians think that things of the devils are only those that are
related to demon possession. They think that only those families who have been
worshipping idols deeply will meet such things. Such thoughts are incorrect
·
The
devil is a spirit. He is a liar. He is darkness. His power is actually lost
when he reveals himself outwardly. His greatest power is to deceive, bind people
in the darkness and make people not able to get close to God. He can disguise
himself as an angel of light
·
People
can actually recognize the devil’s work in reality. He works though those who
govern and the authorities. He controls everyone
·
A
lot of spousal relationships are broken because of his doing. A lot of people
become bankrupts because they do not know how to use their money
·
Sometimes,
a thought will come to our mind, making us think that everyone does the same
thing / spousal relationship must be developed in such a manner. All these are
the worldly method and people start to fall because of these
·
We
must expose him. We can only cast out demons after knowing who he really is
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We
can only cast out demons in the name of Jesus Christ. The heavenly kingdom will
come upon us when we cast out demons by the Holy Spirit
·
Although
it is very tough at the initial state and during the process of casing out
demons (i.e. there will be more temptations and struggles), one day we will
realize that his doing is gone. Things that we treasured a lot in the past
seems to be nothing one day
·
When
we first fight him, the battle seems tough, but one day, we will discover that
he is gone
·
We
don’t cast out demons tremulously. We must cast out demons in Jesus Christ’s
name. This is not a spell. The demons cannot be cast away by our feelings
·
There
is a sequential and systematic content in the name of Jesus Christ. We need to
use our hearts, minds and judgment that arise from this content to cast the
demons away
1. First
must distinguish the schemes and works of the devil and his control over the
human world <Mt
1) Understand
the works of the devil, then we can resist and exterminate
- The Lord says, [Resist the devil] <James 4:7>, [you can
take your stand against the devil's schemes] <Ep
6:11>, [you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one] <Ep 6:16>, [do not give the devil a foothold] <Ep 4:27>, therefore saints should understand [who the
devil is], [what the schemes and flaming arrows of the devil are]; the Lord
also says, the devil is [the great dragon, ancient serpent, Satan, who leads
the whole world astray, and accuses the saints day and night before God] <Re
12:9-10>, [ruler of the kingdom of the air], [the spirit who is now at work
in those who are disobedient] <Ep 2:2>, [the
prince of this world] <Jn 14:30>, [the father
of lies] <Jn 8:44>, [the one who blinded minds]
<2 Cor 4:4>, [masquerades as an angel of light]
<2Cor 11:14>, [prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to
devour] <1 Pe 5:8>, therefore must first
understand all his works, then we can resist him, overcome him and completely
destroy all his schemes...
Read
<Matthew
·
V35 The Lord still works in the same manner
today
·
v36 The shepherd refers to God.
The shepherd has never departed but Man cannot see Him. Thus, Man is often
harassed and helpless. Man looks for God because they do not have peace but
fear
·
v38 Why must workers be sent
out? Because there are too few workers. Though there are lots of Christians,
few really understand the spiritual mysteries correctly. We must start praying.
God is waiting for our prayers. God’s works start as soon as a person knows how
to pray
·
Some
Pastors and Preachers became who they are because of this scripture. We should
be Pastors and Preachers only after personally experiencing a tormented life
and know what people really need; not simply because we see people are very
pitiful and want to help them
·
v1 We need not envy the Apostles because
we have the same power
Read
<Matthew
·
v22 We are often possessed by a
mute evil spirit too. Thus, we always not able to see words that bless others
or words that brings people to liberty or life
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v25 The devil’s work is to enter our thoughts
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v26 Satan will not cast out
Satan. The world will not cast out the World. They combine forces and work
together. We cannot cast away demons without relying on Jesus’ name
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v29 We must bind the complete power of Satan
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v30 There are two types of
people in this world. If it’s not for Christ, it will be anti-Christ. If we
aren’t in Jesus Christ, we will be in deception. If our beliefs didn’t make us
love God more and more, we will love the world more and more. There isn’t
in-between
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v31 These people are sons of Satan
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v34-37 What’s the focus of
the demons’ work? It is focusing on the church’s teachings; focus upon those
who hold the Bible, yet cannot bring about God’s will
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v39 The signs of Jonah is the miracle of
Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection
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v41 Want to condemn the sins of those who
though in the church but don’t know God
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v42 The one who is greater than Solomon is
Jesus Christ
Read
<Luke
·
v20 This sentence is very
important. The demons have to obey us but his tail is still there. Traces of
his works will still remain
·
As
we see the heavenly kingdom and God with us daily, the demons power will be
reduced. Therefore, before we depart from our flesh, we have to cast him away
daily. It isn’t about we being problem-free after resolving a problem
·
We
must identity the complete doing of Satan. In fact, his doing is clearly
visible
·
The
Bible keeps emphasizing that we need to identify the works of demons; we must
extinguish his flaming arrows. Satan’s lies are intense
2) Saints
who enjoy the blessings of Immanuel, can see through all the works of the devil
<Mt
- All those who met God and enjoyed the grace of Immanuel, will
often see two kinds of kingdoms...(1) the kingdom controlled by God, all things
in the universe, the beloved dignified lives of everyone who received grace;
(2) can also see the actual state of how the anti-Christ, the devil, opposes
Christ, controls the world of unbelievers, and disturbs saints and the church;
all those who met God, and enjoyed the grace of Immanuel, are all able to see
through how the devil blinds the spirits of [those who have yet to restore
Immanuel]/ all those who often battle with the devil and are victorious, can
see how the devil deceives, tempts, accuses the spirits of men/ all those who
often rely on the Holy Spirit, preach the gospel of Christ, and help others
cast out demons, can discern the mysteries of [when the evil spirits will lose
their power and free man, and when the evil spirits will leave the spirits of
man], etc...
·
Spiritual
people can see that God reigns completely. God never loses. He continues to
help the seven churches
·
Spiritual
people can also see that all the people of this world are under the bondage of
the ruler of the air. They can also see
the enticement from Satan
·
When
we observe our family members, we are able to see if they are having the face
of the angels, or the face of the devil. We can only cast the devil away, after
we can identified him
·
E.g.
When my wife is angry; can her anger go away simply by
my asking her not to be angry? She may become even angrier
·
When
we guard our hearts and minds, restore the heavenly kingdom, the devil will be
driven out
·
It
doesn’t matter for those people who had restored the heavenly kingdom to lose
·
A
lot of people tried to oppose the flesh with impulsiveness. This is useless
·
Jesus
Christ rebuked Peter in <Matthew 16> to make Peter know
that he couldn’t do things by relying on his impulsive or loyalty
·
Ananias and Sapphira died after Peter
rebuked them <Acts 5>. They were not killed by
Peter but God wants to reveal His almightiness during then
3) All the schemes, works, control, and power of the devil, are
manifested through the state of [the spirits, families, regions, era of those
influenced by him]
·
Singaporeans
are always worrying. Man is heading towards failures when they continue to
worry
·
When
the spirits of worries come into our lives, we can’t stop worrying
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When
we look at a family, are we able to identify the works of Satan?
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There
are different evil spirits in different families. Some have impulsive spirits;
everyone will start quarreling the moment they talk. There are also spirits
that are like corpses; everyone will just keep quiet. Actually, these are also
selfish spirits
·
We
must be generous when we meet selfish spirits. We must prepare to give in when
there are impulsive spirits. Most people will think that it is alright to be
selfish
·
We
can also recognize the works of evil spirits in a religion and an era
·
Even
the weather will be changed in places where evil spirits gather. People who have
not opened their spiritual eyes will not be able to understand these things
·
We
must know the doing of Satan with God’s word
(1) God says, the devil is
the [ruler of the kingdom of the air] <Ep 2:2>,
[the prince of this world] <Jn 14:30>, [rulers,
authorities] <Ep 6:12>: Therefore, a spiritual man can see how the
devil Satan controls the kings, Presidents, rulers, authorities, glory of the
whole world/ when Jesus Christ was tempted, the devil showed Jesus Christ all
the kingdoms of the world and their splendor...<Mt 4:8>
·
He
is the ruler of the kingdom of the air. He is the rulers and authorities
·
There
is an image of serpent on the crown of the King Pharaoh of
·
All
countries cannot talk about religions openly. In other words, they cannot speak
out the truth. All the societies’ teaching, trends, cultures cause people to be
unable to know God. Thus, sometimes we can hear people saying, “without money,
everything is false”
·
Materialism was evolved from <Acts>.
The Apostles says, “we must
share all our possession”
·
It
does not mean that we must separate ourselves from the world after knowing
these facts. What we need to do is to able to distinguish all these things and
not be affected by the world or walk with the world
(2) God says, the devil [leads the whole world
astray] <Re 12:9>, he is the [spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms] <Ep
·
The
Chinese always cannot leave their idols. The Japanese often worship the spirits
of their wartime heroes. In fact, the spirits behind cause fears in
·
In
fact, those who worships idols are communicating with the evil spirits
·
In
·
Regardless
of how smart and educated people are, they will still believe in geometry and
fortune telling. The attractiveness of such things are really great
(3) God says, the devil is [him who holds the
power of death -- that is, the devil] <Heb 2:14>, [illnesses = messenger
of Satan] <2 Cor 12:7>: Therefore, a spiritual
man will see: Everyone fears death and illnesses/ everyday 250,000 souls leave
this world, the whole world is filled with the mourning cries of those who lose
their loved ones/ the medical science is more and more advance, but terminal
illnesses are increasing
·
By
looking at the objects that people worship, we can know how much fear they have
·
The
evil spirits control death. Therefore, everyone fears death, fears accidents,
fears pain, fears losing
·
When
a person reads that a serious accident has occurred at a certain location, he
will be afraid of going to that location
(4) God says, the devil is [powers of this dark
world] <Ep 6:12>, [the spirit who is now at
work in those who are disobedient] <Ep 2:2>,
[the tempter] <1 Cor 7:5>, [he who does what is
sinful is of the devil] <1 Jn 3:8>: Therefore,
a spiritual man can see: The sins of the whole world have reached the peak,
terrible times have already come <2 Tim 3:1>/ all those who do not know
God all seek after the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the
boasting of what he has and does] <1 Jn 2:16>,
daily pursue the pleasures of world civilization, continue to invent more
exciting entertainment programs or gadgets/ the devil's works are especially
more serious when man is bored or tired/ gambling, drug abuse, alcoholism,
sexual immorality, pornography, electronic games for adults and children, all
kinds of perverted and addiction phenomenon
·
Everyone
in this world desires to let loose themselves and look for excitement. This is
why they often want to visit pubs or look for exciting things to do
·
People
will not feel comfortable when they couldn’t do the things they have always been
doing (e.g. listening to certain songs, smoking, drinking, gossiping etc)
·
All
these come from the forces of darkness. He grabs the spirits of Man
·
After
a person has done it once, he cannot stop doing them over and over again. Sins
will only be increased, not decreased
·
Increasing
number of drugs are being classified as “Class A drugs” in
·
Drugs
addicts are no longer limited to people with no education. More and more
reputable people take on drugs. This is why the Singapore Government needs to take
a tighter control on drugs
·
Some
people cannot stop watching television programs. We can tell if a person is
bound by the forces of darkness by looking at the types of movies or music that
a person likes. Some people cannot fall asleep without hearing certain types of
music
·
This
doesn’t mean that we cannot watch television programs or listen to music.
However, we shouldn’t be in a situation that we can only feel comforted after
watching or listening
·
Pornography
is something that binds people the most
·
Pornography
problems are getting worse in the western countries as compared to the east.
However, this doesn’t mean that the people in the eastern countries have lesser
desires from pornography
·
Just
that the Easterners are more reserved. They are not that open. Thus, the Easterners
tend to hide the pornography-related stuff
·
The
Westerners are very open to pornography. Therefore, they will not receive too
much accusation. On the contrary, the more reserved a person is, the more
accusation he will get once he touches pornography-related stuff. All these come from the forces of darkness
·
If
a child gets in touch with electronic gaming devices or computers since young,
they will be living behind computers for life unless they can really die and
resurrect in Jesus Christ
(5) God says, the devil is
[the one who blinded minds] <2 Cor 4:4>,
[masquerades as an angel of light]
<2 Cor 11:14>, [anti-Christ] <1 Jn 4:3>, [accuses saints day and night] <Re 12:10>,
[prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour] <1Pe
5:8>: Therefore, a spiritual man will see: the state of attack faced by
Israel and the church/ the church loses the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, loses
the mystery of Immanuel and become religion (mystified, legalized, humanistic,
secularized)/ guilt, inferiority complex, fear, anxiety, poverty, illnesses/
condemnation, judgment, divisions
·
We
must know God’s complete sovereignty and His eternal plans. We must also know
the evil schemes of the demons. Therefore, the blessed ones will be more
blessed
·
Churches
are under attack everyday. Therefore, some people will feel unhappier being
with Believers
·
We
must really save this era. There is definitely hope in Jesus Christ. God wants
to use us
·
People
whom God wants to use more will receive more enticement. This is why some
Pastors are becoming more and more arrogant
(6) God says, the devil is [already defeated spirit] <Re 12:8>,
[already cursed, will be eternally destroyed] <Jude 6, 2 Pe
2:4>, [knows his time is short] <Re
·
If
we want to get rid of the strongholds in others, we must first break down the
strongholds in our own spirits
·
It
is most important for people who serve God to guard their own hearts and minds
2. Man's problems cannot be resolved by religions, moral teachings,
philosophy, humanism, the world's methods. These will cause man to enter into
more severe consequences instead <Mt
1) Religions have no power at all to free man from the devil, root
sin, bondage of the flesh/ Religions have no power at all to help man be born
again and restore all the glory of God...
2) The entire history and the current world of reality, have all
proven the harms of religions, moral teachings, philosophy
(1) Because religions involve communion with the demons, the more
serious the worship, the deeper the deception, the greater the accusation and
curses
(2) Because all moral teachings that do not know [God’s kindness], will cause man to commit more sins
(3) Because any philosophy which does not know God,
does not know the spiritual world, does not know man (self), will bring about
serious spiritual problems and mental illnesses
3) Christianity that does not lead people to
restore [Immanuel] (metamorphosed Christian belief) will bring about serious
consequences <Mt
4) Even blessed saints cannot use “religious,
humanistic and worldly” methods to solve the problems
they encounter
·
Religious
methods will result in 7 demons / evil spirits
·
Some
people hold the Bible on one hand, but only believe in philosophy, psychology,
or medical studies etc on the other hand
·
This
doesn’t mean that medical studies are wrong. However, all results start with
the heart
·
When
we are sick, do we ever wonder what plan God wants to reveal to us through our
illnesses? Or the first thing we do is to look for medicine immediately?
·
If
the Lord wants us to take medicine, we will take; If He wants us to renew
ourselves, we will do it
·
Do
we have peace in our hearts after listening to God’s word? We will only know
that God’s word is real after we have tasted it ourselves
·