Month: May 2024

Stop talking about the devil! I’ve heard that for most of my ministry. I will stop talking about the devil when I’m dead or when the Lord comes. Why am I so adamant about this? For most of my ministry, I’ve been told that I give glory to the devil by talking about him too much. My response has been, “I have to talk about the devil a lot because most preachers say so little about Satan.” I have to make up the theological deficit of information about the devil and his demons because Satan is such a neglected topic in most churches. But my thinking is much deeper than that. Here are some reasons I refuse to be quiet about exposing the devil and demons.

First, the Bible isn’t silent on this subject. In the nearly fifty books I’ve written I often refer to Scripture regarding the devil so I’m not going to duplicate that in this short blog. But consider this. No one talked more about the devil then Jesus. The instances in God’s word are too many to cite but consider these passages:
MATTHEW 16:33 – “Get behind me Satan!”
LUKE 10:18 – “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
JOHN 8:44 – “You are of your father the devil.” (Speaking of the Pharisees.)
JOHN 10:10 – “The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”
JOHN 8:44 – “He (Satan) was a murder from the beginning.”

Second, from Genesis to Revelation, the devil and his demons are the subject of Bible writers:
MOSES – Genesis 3:1-15 (“the serpent was more crafty than any of the beasts of the field”)
UNKNOWN WRITER/BOOK OF JOB – 1:6-12 (Satan came before the Lord to tempt Job)
THE APOSTLE PAUL – Romans 16:20 (“the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet); 1 Cor. 7:5 (“so that Satan will not tempt you”); 2 Cor. 11:3 (“Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning”); 2 Cor. 2:5-11 (“Satan might not outwit us”)’ 2 Cor 12:7 (“messenger of Satan”); Ephesians 6:11-16 (putting on the armor of God against the devil); 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 (“the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works”)
THE APOSTLE JAMES – James 4:7 (“resist the devil”)
LUKE IN ACTS – Acts 5:3 (“Satan has filled your heart”)
THE APOSTLE PETER – 1 Peter 5:6-9 (“the devil prowls about like a roaring lion”)
THE APOSTLE JOHN – 1 John 3:8 (“the devil has been sinning from the beginning”); Revelation 2:8-17 (the angel to the church of Smyrna about the “synagogue of Satan”); Revelation 12:7-9 (“Michael and his angels fought against the dragon [Satan]”); Revelation 20: 1-6 (“He [the angel Michael] seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil, or Satan, and threw him into the Abyss”).

Third, Satan and his demons are more active than ever. Revelation 12:12 is a precursor of our times:” Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” There is more, much more, in Scripture about the devil, including all the synoptic Gospel instances in which Jesus cast out demons. My message to pastors and seminaries is this: Don’t blame me for an over-emphasis on speaking about the victory of Christ over Satan. Up your own game. It’s my critics who are imbalanced when it comes to neglect of the subject of Satan. I will not stop talking about devil until the Lord takes me home or Satan is sent one last time to the pit!

What is a paradox of demons? Let me describe want I mean.

Many of you have come to understand that sincere Christian can be attacked by demons, and you have been criticized by other Christians for expressing this belief. I want to explain this matter in a way that will help you. Behind this denial that Christians can be demonized, is something I call the “paradox of demons.”

Why are many Christians hung up on the idea that some followers of Christ might have demons and need an exorcism? I recently came across a book that helps explain this dilemma. The book is entitled “Perplexing Paradoxes.” The author states that a paradox is something which sounds absurd to most people but has a valid argument. The author states, “One is confronted with a paradox when a statement based on valid reasoning, sounds unacceptable.”

The statement that Christians can have demons certainly meets this definition of a paradox. There are valid reasons why many devout Christians believe that those who are saved are sometimes specifically targeted by Satan. But if you voice that opinion in the average evangelical church, you’ll be met with immediate opposition. You will be branded extreme or unbiblical, not because what you believe is absurd. You’ll be opposed because your belief represents a paradox that American Christians have trouble grasping.

The author of the book I just referred to also states that most paradoxes elicit surprise and disbelief. If you’ve ever told your born-again Christian friends that you believe Christians can be demonized, you know what I’m talking about. They may stare at you with perplexity, or even anger.

For those of you who understand deliverance and realize that Christians can be, and often are, tormented by demons, let me break down how to understand this paradox.

1. The statement that Christians can have demons isn’t a wild-eyed assumption. It is founded on a clear understanding of Scripture and empirical observation. The reasoning of deliverance ministers is valid, yet it sounds unacceptable to most Christians. That is what creates the paradox — something is verifiable but sounds contradictory to accepted Christian teaching. A paradox.
2. The book I just cited also points out that a paradox creates a sense of surprise and disbelief. Anyone who does deliverance knows this observation well. Tell the average American churchgoer that Christians can have demons and they look at you like you’re crazy or a heretic. They are shocked that you would believe such a thing. They don’t understand the paradox of true spiritual warfare.

I just pointed out that a paradox exists when the idea expressed is valid, but the hearer can’t accept it. Consider these examples that validate how someone who is devoted to God can be demonized. The demon possessed man in the synagogue described in Mark chapter 1 was a godly Jew. Those who witnessed his demonic manifestation knew him as man of faith and a devout follower of God. Yet his demons violently reacted in the presence of Christ and spoke through him. The daughter of Abraham in Luke 13 was a devout Jewess but had been possessed by demons for 18 years. The demons physically afflicted her, even though Christ gave her a title of spiritual honor—daughter of Abraham. Both Mark 1 and Luke 13 represent valid premises for believing that those who have faith in God can also have demons. But, as mentioned earlier, drawing these conclusions seems unacceptable in most Christian circles. The contradiction between obvious fact and a contrarian belief is a paradox.

Far too many Christians today are caught in this paradox of demons. They think that by insisting no truly saved person can have a demon they are defending the faith. Instead they are paradoxically consigning victims of the devil to further torment by denying them the help of deliverance. The Bible is full of enigmas which are paradoxes. Remember Second Kings, Chapter two, when the prophet Elijah cursed the children who mocked his bald head? Immediately thereafter two bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the youngsters into pieces. Talk about a paradox! Don’t dismiss what you don’t understand. Millions of Christians worldwide who do deliverance are setting demonized Christians free in the name of Jesus. Before you condemn them, be careful. Your paradox will find you out.