Bible answers to man's questions on demons

30 Pages·1980·0.2 MB·English

by  Kenneth E Hagin

Bible Answers to
Man's Questions on Demons
Volume 4 of the Satan, Demons, and Demon Possession Series
By Kenneth E. Hagin
Contents
Foreword
Bible Answers to Man's Questions on Demons

The Satan, Demons, and Demon Possession Series:
Volume 1 — The Origin and Operation of Demons
Volume 2 — Demons and How To Deal With Them
Volume 3 —Ministering to the Oppressed
Volume 4 — Bible Answers to Man's Questions on Demons
Foreword
This is the fourth book in our series on the subject of demonology. In these days,
knowledge will increase concerning dealing with demons. Even now we can see
the beginning of a new move in this area.
Our first book, The Origin and Operation of Demons, deals with the creation and
fall of Satan and his angels, and shows how they operate in the earth today.
Second in our series is Demons and How To Deal With Them. This book shows
how demons indwell man's spirit, and explains how to deal with evil spirits.
The third book, Ministering to the Oppressed, deals in depth with the operation
of the gift of discerning of spirits, and with ministry to those suffering from
various forms of demonic oppression.
This fourth book, Bible Answers to Man's Questions on Demons, contains some
of the most-asked questions on Satan and evil spirits. Answers are given in light
of the Word of God.
This book is an overview, highlighting key topics concerning demons. Answers
are given to questions such as,
"Can a Christian have a demon?" and "Does the presence of sickness and disease
always indicate demonic activity?"
These are intended to help equip students of God's Word in the fight against
powers and principalities arrayed against them.
Thank God, when we learn our authority, and when we learn what the Word of
God teaches concerning dealing with demons, we do have victory over the devil
in any situation.
Tulsa, Oklahoma
July 1983

Question: Can a Christian have a demon?
Answer: There is no such thing as a Christian's being demon possessed. To be
demon possessed means to be completely taken over — spirit, soul, and body —
by the devil.
This was the case with the madman at Gadara (Mark 5).
Of course, if a person backslides, he's over in the devil's territory. By yielding to
the devil, he could be taken over.
But there is no such thing as a Christian's being demon possessed, even though
he might not be walking in the best fellowship in the world. (Some people may
not be walking in the best fellowship, but they're walking in all the light they
have.)
A Christian, on the other hand, can be oppressed. All the demons I've dealt with
in Christians have either been in the body or the mind. You'll find that's where
their activity is.
A person could backslide and deliberately walk away from God, and the devil
could eventually take over his spirit. But a Christian walking with God can't be
taken over by the devil. In fact, the devil can't do anything in him without his
permission. The Bible says, "Neither give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:27).
Something we need to realize is that there are degrees of oppression and
possession. If you have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you can say, "I
have the Holy Spirit." But how much of you does the Holy Spirit have? You can
be halfway or fully yielded to Him. The same is true concerning oppression. You
can be halfway or fully yielded to the devil.
Question: Does the presence of sickness and disease always indicate demonic
activity?
Answer: The devil is behind all sickness and disease, but that doesn't mean there
is the literal presence of an evil spirit in a person. Scripture tells us Jesus "..
.went Bible Answers to Man's Questions on Demons about doing good, and
healing all that were oppressed of the devil. . . . " (Acts 10:38). He didn't just
single out certain ones and say that they were oppressed, because the Bible
teaches that all sickness is oppression of the enemy.
But sometimes there is the literal presence of a spirit there. In some cases a
demon that brought a certain sickness may remain in the body and enforce
sickness, so that demon has to be dealt with.
Question: Should you talk to demons when calling them out?Answer: When
Jesus appeared to me in a vision in 1952 to teach me about the devil, demons,
and demon possession, He told me this: "When you get into the presence of
those who are fully demon possessed, from this moment forward they will
recognize you like they did me when I'd go into the Temple. They'd cry out to
me, 'We know thee, who thou art.' But don't let them talk."
Did you ever notice that Jesus would tell them to be quiet? There's no Scripture
in the New Testament where He ever held a conversation with demons. He told
me,
"From this night forward, through either the word of knowledge or discerning of
spirits, you will know what kind of spirit a person has, and you can call him
out."
There are many kinds of spirits. There are deceiving spirits, lying spirits,
religious spirits, homosexual and lesbian spirits, deaf and dumb spirits, and
many more. And I '11 tell you the truth — some of those spirits smell. The
homosexual spirits smell the worst. I've walked into a room and have known
there was somebody there with a homosexual spirit; and I have known who it
was in. I also can tell when the spirit of death is on somebody. I can smell it
sometimes.
Jesus told me in the vision, "To cast demons out, you sometimes (but not always)
need to know what kind they Bible Answers to Man's Questions on Demons are.
First, tell a demon to come out, and if he doesn't, ask how many there are."
You remember when Jesus was casting demons out of the Gadarene demoniac
He asked, "What is thy name?"
The answer, "Legion," involved both name and number.
Question: Can a person be possessed by more than one demon?
Answer: No, only one evil spirit does the possessing.
When Jesus went to the country of the Gadarenes, the Bible tells us ". .
.immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. . . . "
(Mark 5:2).
Notice the Scriptures say "spirit" (singular). Now verse 15 tells us, "And they
come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion.
. . . " But you see, all those demons didn't possess that man. Only one of them
possessed him. He wasn't possessed with 2,000 devils, or a legion. The others
were in there, but only one of them possessed him.
Question: Can the devil see what we're doing?
Answer: I was once holding some meetings in South Texas, and a church in a
nearby town was between pastors.
The board asked if I would preach for them for about ten days after I finished my
meetings. I told them I would, and they assured me they would reserve a room
for me at a certain motel.
When I arrived at the motel, the main deacon of the church called me and said,
"Brother Hagin, I hate to bother you, but you know something about dealing
with this kind of thing. My son, who is 37 years of age, is on drugs and alcohol."
He explained that the young man would go wild and wouldn't stay home, but
he'd come back once in a while.
Mostly he just wandered around. He didn't have any home, Bible Answers to
Man's Questions on Demons and he never had been married. When he would
come back, his parents would try to help him, but he'd throw spells and break
furniture. He had returned that day and was having some kind of spell. He may
have been high on drugs.
This deacon said, "I don't know what to do. I hate to have my own son arrested."
I told him I would go to see him.
When I got to their house, the son was sitting on the couch. I never had met him.
He was in disarray, his hair was standing up on end, and he was holding his head
in his hands, moaning. He looked up and said, "I know who you are! I saw you
when you came into town this afternoon. I saw you when you came down such-
and-such street.
I saw you when you turned."
I said, "Yeah, I know you know me and you know I've got authority over you.
Now you shut up! Shut up in the Name of Jesus!"
The devil in him had watched me come to town. But, thank God, we have
authority over every demonic spirit in the Name of Jesus. We have nothing to
fear.
Question: When dealing with demons in a person's life, what is the next step
once the person has been delivered?
Answer: When a person is delivered from sin, from sickness, from the devil, or
from anything, he immediately needs to be pushed into the discipline of
confession, testimony, and service.
We can follow the example of Jesus. Mark 5 tells how Jesus went with His
disciples across the Sea of Galilee to the country of the Gadarenes and was
immediately met by a lunatic, a man completely possessed by a demon. We can
get some understanding of the awful power that had overcome that man by
looking at the destruction of the herd of swine after Jesus had delivered him.
The man had been completely delivered. His entire appearance had changed.
Before, he had been a wild maniac. Now he was sitting at the feet of Jesus,
clothed and in his right mind. He wanted to cling to Jesus, his Deliverer. And he
desired to go with Jesus and remain with Him. But the 19th verse of Mark 5
says, "Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy
friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had
compassion on thee."
You see, Jesus knew the man needed to be pushed out into the discipline of
confession, testimony, and service.
So immediately He sent him out to spread the news of his deliverance in his
hometown and to his people.
Jesus knew that every advance would give this man new assurance and strength.
And before long, the entire region of Decapolis was so stirred by this one man's
testimony that the way was prepared for the Lord Jesus, and a mighty work was
wrought.
Mark records in his Gospel what happened during Jesus' second visit to the
coasts of Decapolis: a great multitude came to hear Him, a deaf and dumb man
was healed, and a few fish and loaves of bread were multiplied to feed the 4,000
(Mark 7:31-8:9). Think about the power of that one man's testimony!
Sometimes we must trust young disciples with the boldest and most difficult
service. It's good for them. It will make them grow up in a hurry!
I'm not saying that they won't need help and encour-agement from more mature
Christians, but even baby Christians have authority in the Name of Jesus. God
wants people to grow up spiritually so they can stand on their own two feet. He
wants them to take their place in Christ, knowing the Name of Jesus belongs to
them as much as it does to the preacher or evangelist. They can put the devil to
flight!
Question: Do we have authority over others' wills?
Answer: Often we try to take the authority we have in our own lives and exercise
it in somebody else's life. But we don't have it. You see, you can run the devil off
from your own life, but you can't always run the devil off from somebody else's.
I can handle my own finances, but I can't always handle your finances unless
you turn them over to me.
Spiritual things are just as real as material or natural things. But when it comes
to spiritual things, it seems we think we can intrude into other people's lives
without their consent. Sometimes people will act like they're giving their
consent, but their heart is not in it. They won't even look you in the eye.
As long as a person's own mentality and will is at work and he can control
himself, he has a lot to do with his deliverance. You must teach people their
responsibility to agree with you.
If a person's mind is gone — if he's insane — that's a different thing. That's
where we have to depend on the Spirit of God to help us. We don't have
authority there.
That's another "household" — another person.
If we could exercise authority in that area, we could make every sinner in the
world get saved! See where we miss it? We take a truth that applies to us and we