Dr
David Livingstone, Scottish Missionary 1813-1873.
People
talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can
that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great
debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which
brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing
good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away
with the word in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no
sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now
and then with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life,
may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink; but let
this only be for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice.
Speech to students at
Cambridge University (4 December 1857)
I
think David Livingstone’s perspective is good, he had a hard time in Africa and
he did not waiver in his faith. There
are many things that come against believers in Christ. Sometimes they are demonic in nature. Christians can have demons, I know that this
can be a controversial subject but we have to think this through without being
emotional. Have you ever known of a
Christian to lie, cheat, steal, physically hurt someone, emotionally abuse
someone or over use alcohol? Sure you
have, there are plenty of people like that in our very churches. One of the problems we have is trying to help
these people get free yet it seems like they continue to make the same mistakes
over and over. If we are not ministering
to the root of the problem we are not setting people free. How we do that, is what we need to look at,
but first we need to look at a few more verses on our power.
Rom
15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye
may abound in hope, through the power [dunamis] of the Holy Ghost.KJV
Rom
15:19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power [dunamis] of the Spirit of
God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully
preached the gospel of Christ.KJV
1
Cor 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power [dunamis]:5 That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power [dunamis] of
God.KJV
1
Cor 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power [dunamis].KJV
We
can have joy and peace if we recognize that the power we have gives us
hope. Signs and wonders follow those
that believe and preach. If we know the
kingdom of God is in power, then it would seem logical to walk in that power,
as Jesus told us that the power was coming on the day of Pentecost. Once we have the infilling of the Holy Ghost
we have power. Yet having power does not
guarantee a smooth life. In fact it seems to bring more trouble to the
disciple.
2
Cor 1:8-10 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which
came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above
strength[dunamis], insomuch that we despaired even of life:9 But we had the
sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in
God which raiseth the dead:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth
deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; KJV
2
Cor 4:5-12 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.6 For God, who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.7 But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power[dunamis] may be
of God, and not of us.8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we
are perplexed, but not in despair;9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down,
but not destroyed;10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.11 For we
which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also
of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.12 So then death worketh in
us, but life in you.KJV
2
Cor 12:7-12 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of
the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of
Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.8 For this thing I
besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.9 And he said unto me,
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength [dunamis] is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the
power [dunamis]of Christ may rest upon me.10 Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for
Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.11 I am become a fool in
glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for
in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.12 Truly
the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and
wonders, and mighty deeds[dunamis].KJV
What
is this thorn in the flesh, Paul says it’s a messenger of satan. What is a messenger of satan? It is an evil
spirit. Paul went to God, trying to get
it to depart but God was willing to allow it to stay, isn’t that reminiscent of
Job? God says His grace is sufficient,
meaning God’s grace will see him through.
With dunamis inside Paul, he could withstand the messenger of
satan. This is the life of an overcomer. If there is nothing to overcome, what reward
would there be to the church, as Revelation describes? Overcomers are facing
hard things every day, this is why the overcomer is saved from the coming
wrath, because they live it today. Not
to get too far off the subject, we should look at one verse that uses the
preposition ek, meaning out of.
NT:1537
ek (ek) or ex (ex); a primary preposition denoting origin (the point whence
action or motion proceeds), from, out (of place, time, or cause; literal or
figurative; direct or remote): KJV - after, among, are, at, betwixt (-yond), by (the means of),
exceedingly, (+abundantly above), for (-th), from (among, forth, up), grudgingly,
heartily, heavenly, hereby,
very highly, in, ...ly, (because, by reason) of, off (from), on, out
among (from, of), over, since,
thenceforth, through, unto, vehemently, with (-out). Often used in
composition, with the same general import; often of completion.(Biblesoft's New
Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew
Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International
Bible Translators, Inc.)
1
Thess 1:10 And to wait for his Son from [ek, out of] heaven, whom he raised
from [ek out of] the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from [out of] the
wrath to come.KJV
We
are not going to go through “the wrath”; he takes us out of the wrath to come
just as he was taken out of heaven, and then out from among the dead. This is why we have to have something to overcome
now, otherwise what would we be overcoming?
This also is why there is power in preaching, so that the Kingdom of God
is shown in power to the non believing people.
With all that in mind, the thing we want to focus on is the dunamis in
the church, and casting out demons among Christians. Paul tells us how this power works in the
church.
1
Cor 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit
of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord,
but by the Holy Ghost.
That
should put everyone’s mind at ease, no one is cursing when they speak by the
Spirit, instead this is one way we can say Jesus is Lord. It is also the way we know if someone is
truly ministering by the Holy Spirit and not a wolf in sheep’s’ clothing, using
trickery to deceive the body of Christ.
1
Cor 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.5 And there
are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.6 And there are
diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
Paul
points out that there are differences of gifts, or differences of offices, or
differences of the way these things work but it is all working through the Holy
Spirit. God is in it all.
1
Cor 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit
withal.
The
demonstrating of the Spirit or the exhibition of the Spirit is given to
everyone for profit. This is why we want to utilize what God has given to us
because it is profitable; there is something good that comes from manifesting
the gifts of the Spirit. Here is a list, maybe not all inclusive, but certainly
useful for everyone who may be in need. Now as we have seen in past studies,
the Greek is a very specific language and we lack the detailed translation in
English so that we get confused over what we read. We have two words in the Greek
here in the text for another. Let’s look.
Another NT:243 allos
(al'-los); a primary word; "else," i.e. different (in many
applications): KJV - more, one (another), (an-, some an-) other (-s,
-wise).(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with
Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc.
and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
NT:243
allos, allee allo another, other a.
absolutely: Matt 27:42 b. as an adjective: Matt 2:12 c. with the article: ho allos the other (of two), Matt 5:39 (from
Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2006 by
Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Allos
=Another of the same kind (denoting mumerical distinction). The second of two
where there may be more. (EW Bullinger’s Companion Bible; Zondervan Bible
Pulishers, fourth printing; All rights reserved; appendex 124, pg.160)
Another
NT:2087 heteros (het'-er-os); of uncertain affinity; (an-, the) other or
different: KJV - altered, else, next (day), one, (an-) other, some,
strange.(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with
Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc.
and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
NT:2087
heteros, hetera, heteron, the other; another, other 1. to number, as opposed to some former
person or thing a. without the article,
other: joined to a noun Matt 12:45 and Luke 11:26 b.
with the article, the other (of two): Matt 11:16 2. to quality; another i. e.
one not of the same nature, form, class, kind; different Rom 7:23; 1 Cor
14:21 (from Thayer's Greek Lexicon,
Electronic Database. Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights
reserved.)
Heteros=
Another of a different kind ) usually denoting generic distinction). The
“other” of two where there are only two.
(EW Bullinger’s Companion Bible; Zondervan Bible Pulishers, fourth
printing; All rights reserved;appendex 124, pg.160)
One
word for another, allos, means second of several, while the other word, heteros,
means different than the first. Allos is the same of several such as several
eggs in a carton, when someone asks for “another”
egg you would hand them an egg from the carton not a slab of ham. Heteros is different, such as in a family
that consists of a Father and a Mother, both are parents but they are
different, one is male one is female. Let’s put that together here.
1
Cor 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another [allos, another of the same
kind] the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9
To another [heteros, another of a
different kind] faith by the same Spirit; to another [allos, another of the same kind]the gifts of healing
by the same Spirit;
10
To another [allos, another of the
same kind] the working of miracles [dunamis]; to another [allos, another of the same kind] prophecy; to another [allos, another of the same
kind] discerning of spirits; to another
[heteros, another of a different kind] divers kinds of tongues; to another [allos, another of the same
kind]the interpretation of tongues:
To
read this with the proper detail it would read: For to one person is given by the Holy Spirit the word of wisdom, another manifestation is the word of knowledge
given by the same Holy Spirit. To
another person is given faith by the
Holy Spirit and another manifestation
is gifts of healing given by the Holy Spirit. Another manifestation is working of miracles and another manifestation is prophecy and another manifestation is discerning of spirits.
To another person is given the manifestation of divers kinds of tongues
and another manifestation is the
interpretation of tongues. Heteros refers to the person in the Church who is
the one using the gifts or manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Allos refers to
the manifestations the Holy Spirit gives. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit
are the eggs in the carton; they are all the same Spirit and power.
What
Paul is communicating in using these two greek words for another is that he is distinguishing between people (when heteros
is used it is refer to another person) in the Corinthian Church, and (when
allos is used it is) another gift of the spirit. There may be one person using
wisdom and knowledge, as led by the Spirit, while a different person may be led
to use faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, and discerning of spirits. And a different person may be led by the
Spirit to utilize several types of tongues and interpretation of tongues. This
does not mean you can only have one or two, or just some of the gifts of the
Spirit. In this case it seems to be an
example that you can use whatever you are directed to use. This infers that people have to have a
personal relationship with the Holy Ghost to know what he would have you do.
Notice that the word miracles is the Greek word for power, dunamis, miracle
working power that came on the day of Pentecost. One Spirit, the Holy Spirit or
Holy Ghost is the director in these gifts.
For context let’s look at this passage in The Message.
1
Cor 12:8-11 The variety is wonderful: wise counsel, clear understanding, 9
simple trust, healing the sick, 10 miraculous acts, proclamation,
distinguishing between spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues. 11 All
these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one
Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when. (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible
in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
The
Spirit decides who gets what, and when, for the time of need. Remember the demonstrating or manifesting of
the Spirit is for profit, someone gains from your obedience to the Holy Spirit.
1
Cor 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to
every man severally as he will.12 For as the body is one, and hath many
members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so
also is Christ.13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we
be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to
drink into one Spirit.14 For the body is not one member, but many.KJV
All
of these gifts work by the Holy Spirit and are divided to everyone in the
church as needed, as the individual ministering also may need at a particular
time. In other words those endued with
power from on high in the church all have the ability to minister and the Holy
Spirit will give each minister what he/she needs. A person ministering is not “taken over” by a
force and made to do things, the minister is the one who wills to minister and
does. This means that the minister must have a relationship with the Holy
Spirit, and must know the voice of the Holy Spirit. That does not mean a new Christian can’t use
the gifts of the Spirit, or that only people who are approved by men can
minister the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Anyone who wishes to be used by the Holy Spirit can be used to minister
to the body of Christ, it simply depends on the will of the one ministering.
The Holy Spirit is the one who directs the gifts; the person is the agent of
the Holy Spirit.
Now
we can look at the miracle working power we have in this section of
scripture. One of the gifts,
manifestations, or workings of the Holy Spirit is the discerning of
spirits. What does that mean? Through the Holy Spirit, we have the ability
to see spiritually in a situation, or within a person, to uncover what spirits
are at work. We do not “look” with the five senses at what the spiritual
manifestation is and then decide using logic what demon must be at work in the
situation, we’re letting the Holy Spirit reveal it to us. In casting out demons, Jesus sometimes asked
the name of the leader, but we may not need to, the Holy Spirit knows the names
of the demons that need to be extracted.
Within
the Church, people can have demons; the reason is that in some part of their
life they have not made Jesus Lord.
Usually there is an underlying reason, hurt or shame that holds someone
back. That means if there is someone who
self medicates with alcohol they have not dealt with the reason they drink,
which allows that demon to continue to reside there. If someone wants that demon to leave they can
tell that demon to leave them, which is the best way to get rid of that
demon. However if the person does not
really want that demon to leave, that demon won’t leave.
If
we remember the Apostle Paul, he may have had some physical ailments, some
historical records indicate he was a short bald man who may have had an eye
sight issue, but what we saw in 2 Cor 12 was that an angel or messenger of
satan came to punch him with a fist so that he would not become haughty, that
is the somewhat literal interpretation of that verse. If satans evil messengers
came to punch Paul, could they still do that today? Sure, therefore in casting
out demons, there may be some demons that are allowed by God (as in Paul’s case
with the messenger of satan) so that the individual can be an overcomer,
utilizing God’s grace. This is why Paul
then says he glories in infirmities and persecutions, etc. He is happy to suffer so that he can rejoice
that he has the power to overcome. I
know I seem to be hitting this hard but it is because I believe we have seen a
lot of distortions in the church. If you
are not healed, then you need to learn to overcome, simple. You may never be healed, or you may even die,
but will you glory in your suffering?
With
the understanding in mind, that even if we are ministered to we may not be
healed or set free, let’s look at how we are to minister healing, which could
be either for sickness or casting out demons.
Mark
11:12-14 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:13
And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find
any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the
time of figs was not yet.14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat
fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.KJV
Mark
11:20-21 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up
from the roots.21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master,
behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.KJV
I
once had a self proclaimed psychic try to accuse Jesus because he cursed a fig
tree. I handed him my pocket New
Testament and asked him to find that for me, he spent about a half hour reading
my Bible but couldn’t find it. At that
time I had only been a Christian for about nine months or so but I knew how to
share this with him if he had ever found it, which he never did and he dropped
the conversation. Yes Jesus cursed the
fig tree, and the funny thing is it dried up from the roots up, not top down
like trees are supposed to. This was a
teaching moment for everyone including us.
Jesus knew the season for figs to be harvested was not then, but all he
found were leaves, no buds. If there are
buds of figs in the proper season, there will be figs to harvest at the right
time, but all that he found were leaves, no buds, which you can eat even though
they are not mature. My Grandparents all
had fig trees in Brooklyn. If there were
no buds, there would not be any figs, but guess what, Jesus spoke to the tree,
not to the Father about the tree, not to the farmer about the tree, he spoke to
the tree. Something to remember is to speak
to the problem. When the disciples were
surprised, Jesus went on to teach them.
Mark
11:22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
1.
Have conviction and reliance in God
Mark
11:23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain,
2.
Speak to the problem. Whosoever means any one. Jesus does not say only those
approved by men.
Be
thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;
3.
Tell the problem what to do and where to go, give good directions.
and
shall not doubt in his heart,
4.
Do not doubt what the Holy Spirit is leading you to say and do.
but
shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass;
5.
Believing is a noun and a verb, a verbal, a word that is a noun formed from a
verb . You have to actively believe, and
simply believe.
he
shall have whatsoever he saith.
6.
You shall have whatever you say, not think, or consider, but whatever you speak
out, as directed by the Holy Ghost.
Mark
11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
7.
Praying and commanding are two different things, now Jesus says when you pray,
believe.
Mark
11:25-26 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that
your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye
do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your
trespasses.KJV
8.
When you pray also forgive.
You
may wonder why I have taken the liberty to add the Holy Spirit into this
section. Firstly the Church had not been
established at this time, and the disciples could have the Holy Spirit on them
but the Holy Spirit was not directing the church yet, Jesus was preparing them
for it. Jesus was telling them what to
do at that time, and later he told them that the Holy Spirit would guide them,
starting on Pentecost. When ministering
to someone it is imperative to be led by the Holy Spirit, otherwise you might
end up like the seven sons of Sceva. You
are not infinite in your knowledge or understanding, the Holy Spirit is, so let
the Holy Spirit do the leading.
In
practical application, first make sure the person wants deliverance and confesses
Jesus as Lord. Then ask the Holy Spirit what is wrong, don’t ask the person,
don’t let the person go on and on about their ailments, just simply tell the
person you are ministering to that you don’t want to talk about it, you just
want to hear from God. We established a
few weeks ago that the Holy Spirit will tell you and show you what you need to
know. Therefore if you see a picture in
your mind, ask what it is. If you hear the
Holy Spirit say something you don’t understand ask what you are to say. I am visual and see pictures but they don’t
always make sense, so I have to ask what it is that I am seeing. When I first began ministering to people the
process was slower as I was learning to listen and obey, but as time went on I
heard and saw at the same time and knew what to do quicker. Interestingly if I am ministering with
someone else they usually see and hear at the same time, but what they see by
way of the Holy Spirit is usually different.
That is because the Holy Spirit knows how to communicate to each of us
so that we can understand. And yet both
ministers come to the same conclusion.
Then
speak to the problem, the demon, or the tumor, or to the spell of witchcraft,
whatever it is speak to it. If the Holy Spirit shows you a spirit of slumber
say “you spirit of slumber I command you to….” Remember give it good
directions, whether to leave and…, be bound and …, kneel before Jesus, whatever
the Holy Spirit says. Say it with
confidence, loud and bold, you are not asking you are telling, commanding,
there is no discussion here. There is no
such thing as taking no for an answer because there is no answer to be given, you
do the commanding, because you said so.
How many of us cringe at that from our childhood arguments with our
parents? Now that attitude is coming in handy, isn’t it? Stand up straight,
throw your shoulders back puff out your chest and be in charge, you are
receiving the revelation, not the demon, not the sickness, and not the one you
are ministering to. You are the one with the dunamis, which is why you are
there. You may consider not ministering
around unbelievers, or Christians who don’t believe as they probably will be
inspired by demons to interfere. Like
Jesus did when he raised the young girl from the dead, he put the unbelievers
out of the room. Mark 5:38-ff, Luke
8:50-ff. You can do the same.
Now
when you are praying, not commanding but praying, you are to believe as well
but this time you are asking the Father for something. Maybe you are praying over someone that they
find a job, or are comforted, or if you get no direct revelation for
ministering, you pray. Once I remember a
girl who wanted prayer, but no one could get any revelation on what to minster
to. Finally someone asked her what she
wanted to be ministered to for, and as she started to speak the revelation hit
everyone. She was a smoker who had been
ministered to before. She only had the use of the top third of her lungs as the
bottom two thirds were hard and damaged.
The problem was God did not give us the go ahead to minister and heal
her because she refused to quit smoking.
She wanted to keep smoking and be healed. God told us to tell her that we would pray
for her to have the strength to quit and then she would be healed. Whether she quit smoking or not I don’t know
but this was a good lesson for me that not everyone gets healed when they
ask. Also God had already told her
through the previous people ministering to her that she had to quit smoking and
she didn’t. This would be an example of someone having to make an effort on
their own and God would meet their need when they made the effort.
Remember
also to forgive. You forgive when you
pray, the people who need prayer should forgive also. Many times people are bound by demons or
sickness because they have unforgiveness.
Forgive, forgive, forgive. Paul
tells us that we are of the body of Christ and that there are diversities of
ministry but that there is a better way.
1
Cor 12:27-31 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.28 And
God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly
teachers, after that miracles[dunamis], then gifts of healings, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues.29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are
all teachers? are all workers of miracles[dunamis]?30 Have all the gifts of
healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?31 But covet earnestly the
best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.KJV
Even
though we have divine power to cast out demons, heal the sick, or raise the
dead, all of these things work better when we walk in love. The reason it is more excellent to walk in
love is that all the gifts of the Spirit will flow from love and
compassion. It is the energy behind what
Jesus did on the cross for us, it is the energy that motivates us to enjoy and
endure suffering; love is the better way. In the next blog we’ll discuss walking
in love and controlling your own mind; that’s how we keep demons out.
