THE HOW OF DELIVERANCE

Admit to self, to God, and to those near and dear, who have suffered with the perversities of the demon possessed, and to some one who has power in prayer, what you suspect as the trouble.

Somewhere the demons were given a point, known or unknown, of entrance, as Paul says: "Neither give place to the devil lest Satan should get an advantage over us." 2nd Cor. 2:11. After admitting they have gotten in, address them firmly in Jesus' name, deny them place, and order them out. As one says, "Say they shall have place no longer; that you deny all place you gave them, known or unknown -- prenatally or postnatally. Say it over frequently as the struggle for deliverance may be long and terrible, according to the degree of possession. Say that you refuse all place in your body, mind, soul and spirit to demons, in the name of the Lord Jesus. That you give all place or ground now occupied by demons to the Lord Jesus in faith that He accepts it."

Prayer and faith in the power of Jesus' name will completely deliver. Of the many cases of exorcising, or casting out, or deliverance recorded in "Demon Possession," the most the workers ever did was to kneel down in Jesus' name and implore Him to relieve the suffering victim in the belief that the power of His name and Word would avail as 2,000 years ago. Sometimes they were immediately successful; or at other times experienced great difficulty. Sometimes fasting, prayer, and persistent faith are essential to deliverance. But nothing is so potent in deliverance as the truth." ^[5]

The subject ordinarily is gruesome, repulsive, distasteful, obnoxious, disagreeable, objectionable, but we would sound a note of joy: Jesus, sovereign and omnipotent, loves so well that He will not suffer such an outrage on His children, without bringing them light and providential help and truth. And "if God be for us who can be against us?"

Ordinarily the hold of demons, when once secured, is so tenacious that the individual may not break through to liberty alone, without the co-operation, in prayer, of Sympathetic friends. When the victim gets to the place of recognition of his malady, confesses it to himself, God, and perhaps some close spiritual friend, the battle for deliverance is more than half won. Confess to God definitely somewhere, you may not now know where, ground or advantage was given demons to enter, and you have discovered them and mean, by Jesus' help, to be free, though the battle be long, fierce, and terrible. And it will be terrible in proportion to the greater or lesser usefulness of the victim to the kingdom of God in getting deliverance to others. Generals are desired by the enemy, for when captured the planners or executors of strategy are cut off.

Christ recognized unbelief to be the greatest hindrance to casting out demons. To the baffled disciples who questioned, "Why could not we cast him out?" He replied, "Because of your unbelief." And then He told them that some cases are of such long standing, and so deeply imbedded that fasting and prayer are essential. After discernment or recognition of the trouble and confession of it to God there should be recognition of and faith in the power of Jesus' name to deliver. Great resistance of demon pressure, forcing the unnecessary confessions, is needed here. All sins need not go to the publicity committee or be blazed abroad. Where sin is against God only, it need only be confessed to him; where against some one, it should be confessed to that one; when of a public character, public confession. Temptation to sin which is inhibited or restrained before its culmination in the act, as the look or thought of lust, need only be confessed to God. Those, however, of extremely conscientious type, may in general terms make confession of sin, failure, and unworthiness, as the soul is led of God. Confessions which are not God inspired, but demon inspired, work more harm than good. There should be clear leading from the Spirit to confess. Our sins are to be confessed to God only, our faults to one another. By confessing sins to men as a merit to forgiveness grievous demon power is secured over the soul. Martin Luther prostrated himself before cardinal De Vio and then repudiated it as an act of abominable idolatry. We should use great care in submitting to the will of men, none of whom can at all redeem his brother. The only hand full of righteousness is the hand of the Lord who alone has found a ransom.  

5 Satan's estimate of the power of the truth is illustrated by a letter from a sister about this volume. For many days he fairly hissed, "Don't read that book."