“They WILL cast out DEMONS!”

Learning to HEAL the SOUL - Session 6

The LAST and the FIRST

Question: What was the LAST thing Jesus said to His disciples before ascending into heaven?

Answer: The FIVE SUPERNATURAL SIGNS that would follow HIS BELIEVERS as they carried out The Great Commission! (According to Luke’s Gospel)

Mark 16:17–20 17 And these SIGNS will follow those who believe: In My name (In MY AUTHORITY) they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God (Jesus assumed His rightful place of ALL AUTHORITY (Mat.28:18, Titus 2:15). 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen. (NKJV)

Question: What was the FIRST SUPERNATURAL SIGN Jesus said would follow HIS BELIEVERS?

Answer: In My name (In MY AUTHORITY) they will cast out demons! Another word for this activity is DELIVERANCE, in which people are SET FREE from the powers of darkness.

The New Testament has many examples of deliverance taking place.

Deliverance is NOT about having the RIGHT METHOD, but the RIGHT AUTHORITY!

Luke 9:1–2 1 Then He (Jesus) called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Acts 19:11–16 11 Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. (NKJV)

“Sceva” means “left-handed.” The right hand, not the left, symbolizes having right or true authority. The Jewish high priest operated in an authority they supposed came from God (The Father), but without knowing the Son (Jn.14:6).

UNBELIEF was the problem, NOT that they ate lunch!

Matthew 17:14–21 14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

21 However, this kind (NOT a demon, but this kind of FAITHLESS and PERVERSE UNBELIEF) does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

The demon wasn’t the problem—demons are NEVER that strong—PEOPLE WERE THE PROBLEM! Jesus described His own disciples as “FAITHLESS and PERVERSE”—that is how serious He was—because of their unmovable UNBELIEF!

No wrestling, Jesus healed WITH A TOUCH and cast out the spirits WITH A WORD!

Matthew 8:14–15 14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. 16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, (NKJV)

Lessons from a Demon Possessed Man

Luke 8:26–39 26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes (means “reward at the end”), which is opposite Galilee (means “circle” or ring, symbol of covenant, marriage, family). 27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.

30 Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons (a roman legion is 4,000 to 6,000 soldiers) had entered him. 31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. 32 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. 33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.

34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.

37 Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.

“Gadarenes,” the country where the demoniac lived means: “reward at the end.” I’m saddened by the number of Christians who are willing to live miserable lives being tormented by the devil, while believing that the more they suffer now, thinking that their supernatural strength to endure hardship and pain comes from God, the greater their reward will be in heaven. The demoniac is the extreme embodiment of that twisted lie. What a stunning picture it is that these demons who had been tolerated for many years living inside this man and within this community. But, when the demons thought they might avoid the abyss (their reward at the end) by inhabiting some dirty filthy pigs as long as they wanted, suddenly they had another “think” coming! Apparently even pigs have a much lower tolerance for the devil than some humans.

It is so clear to me that the Gadarenes is a picture of the world with people living in darkness and deception. And like me, before I knew the Lord, they possess the knowledge of good and evil, with a keen sense of self-righteousness, and an intuitive knowing that there will be a reckoning at the end of life. Consequently, it becomes imperative to see ourselves as a "good person." Then, no matter what we have to go through and endure in this life, those trials and tests take on much needed purpose and value, when we believe there is a reward due us at the end (typically a conceptualization of how we imagine heaven). And any thoughts of punishment or divine retribution are overridden by thinking, “That’s only for others who were not "good," NOT for me!” I still remember how shocked I felt that day when a friend told me emphatically that he was going to hell, and he knew I was too. I was utterly speechless.

When Jesus showed up in the Gadarenes, no one knew or even cared who he was. But when he healed the demoniac, news spread like wildfire. Then, rather than rejoicing that God had come to not only free the man bound for years by demons, but to save and set free everyone in the Gadarenes, they became irritated and fearful that their way of life, in which they had grown accustomed to putting up with and accommodating the devil, would have to change. It's amazing how much torment and misery the world is willing to endure, rather than overcoming the lies and fears of the devil by embracing the Truth (His name is Jesus) and being willing to change. The only power they knew to “help” the demoniac with his “spiritual problem” was to use more physical bondage and chains. They wanted to change the demoniac, but only if they didn’t have to change themselves. Sometimes we can try to do something RIGHT, when our motives are WRONG.

We don’t know the exact motives of those who bound and guarded the demoniac, but it was most likely fear and maybe, if they were successful in providing protection for this man, as well as the entire community, at the end, when it was no longer needed, that in itself would be their reward. Whatever their actual motives, I think it’s safe to assume it was not LOVE.

I was preparing for a healing conference some years ago when the Lord said to me, “You can search for healing in many ways and in many places and not find it, until you discover IT’S LOVE THAT HEALS!”

Perhaps the greatest lesson from the miracle in the Gadarenes, which means “reward at the end,” is that we don’t have to make people wait for their reward---not for their miracle; not for their healing; not for their deliverance! When we show up with Jesus and minister in His authority and in His love, immediately, healing occurs with a touch and deliverance occurs with a word. Remember His promise: “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me (Rev.22:12a, KJV).”

Hearts Revealed!

I want to conclude our time of discovering deeper meanings in this miraculous deliverance by focusing on the heart of the One who performed it, and the heart of the one who received it. Let’s read further in Luke 8:

38 Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. (NKJV)

I believe the heart of Jesus is strikingly revealed here, especially in contrast to His cruel rejection by the people of the Gadarenes. The heart of the man, who was miraculously delivered, was so touched, he wanted to stay with Jesus permanently and join Him in His travels. I can’t imagine any minister not being flattered and seeing this as an opportunity to add proof and credibility to His ministry. But Jesus is from Galilee, not from the Gadarenes. His heart is set, and His thinking is from a resting place of marriage, covenant, and family, not working toward success and reward. Therefore, He healed the man, not to use him, but to send him back to heal and restore his family.

Final Conclusion

As disciples of Christ, we are called and commissioned to go forth in love and set the captives free. Our ministry is dedicated to training and equipping His disciples to do the work of the ministry in love and do it safely and efficiently. According to Jesus, inner-healing and deliverance are and remain an important and necessary part of His ministry, therefore it is an extreme honor and blessing for us to follow Him in it.