We are in a war in the heavenly realms. What does the Bible say about staying delivered once God has seen you through a stronghold?

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"When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, "I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation." -- Matthew 12: 43-45 (NLT)

 

We all know that the Bible explains that we are in a spiritual war. It is a war waged in the heavenlies and we are often woefully ignorant or unprepared for the battle. That is due largely because of our own disinterest combined with poor teaching on the matter from the pulpit. This is one of the sad side effects of the "bless me" theology infecting our churches -- it avoids teaching the more difficult but vital portions of theology. The portions we desperately need in order to win the war we are in -- like it or not.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. -- Ephesians 6: 12 (NLT)

These are the enemies we face every day. Evil rulers and authorities of a world we cannot see, mighty powers within the dark world we live in, and evil spirits in the heavenly places. Scripture bears out that there is an enemy to our souls who commands this legion of enemies and his name is Satan. Whether you refer to his minions as spirits, demons, or fallen angels, it matters not. The Ephesians verse makes it clear that this is who we wage war with every single day. Not understanding it, ignoring it, or dismissing it does not change anything except to make the job that much easier for the enemy. Once we have established that there is a war, it is time to see where the battlefield lies:

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. -- 2Corinthians 10: 3-5 (NIV)

Once again the Bible outlines the nature of this war as not being of this world -- not being what we are used to. The battle is fought within our minds and our thought life according to these verses. The weapons we have are divine, meaning they are from God, and have the power to demolish strongholds. A stronghold is a line of thinking that is set up in our minds that is contrary to the Word of God. It doesn't start that way. It usually will start with the enemy trying to get us to consider something. It is usually an argument that disagrees with something God has said -- it is a pretension however. It is a lie. Remember who our adversary is beloved:

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. -- John 8: 44 (NIV)

Satan is the father of lies. Lying is his native language and he not bilingual! But he is crafty and subtle. He seeks a foothold in our thinking and once he has that he seeks to expand it into a stronghold. His tactics have not changed since the Garden of Eden because we are so predictable in this flesh:

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" -- Genesis 3: 1 (NLT)

Now the enemy knew full well that was NOT what God had said but remember, he is a liar and his goal here at the start was not to deceive as much as to engage in a conversation. The real deception could wait until after his prey was engaged in a conversation. Let me be clear -- we have no business to discuss with the enemy! There is a reason why he is called the enemy! Once he has that foothold he seeks to expand it by broadening the pretension:

"You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." -- Genesis 3: 4-5 (NLT)

God specifically said that they would die and the devil calls Him a liar. We read this sometimes and we think that is so obvious, how could Eve fall for it, but we do the same thing every day. Every time someone commits adultery they believed a lie of the enemy that goes against something God has said. Every time we see Christians struggling with anxiety, depression, drugs or alcohol, or any other number of issues they have bought into a line of thinking that is contrary to what God has already said to us in His Word. Remember, the devil and his minions are good at what they do because they have been doing it since human history began. That is why the Corinthian verses emphatically state that we must take captive these rogue thoughts and make them obedient to Christ -- we must match them up with the Word of God and decide who we are going to believe! For every lie the enemy wants whispered in our ears there is a promise in the Bible that assures us he is a liar and it is always our choice who to believe. If we engage however in a conversation with the enemy and start to consider what he has to say, we can end up like Eve:

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. -- Genesis 3: 6 (NLT)

The woman was fooled? No. The woman was tricked? No. The woman was convinced. The enemy played to her flesh and her flesh answered. He does the same thing to us today. Why change tactics when we stay so predictable?

Having set the backdrop for the war we find ourselves in, let's turn to the key verses today and discuss a favorite topic amongst evangelical circles -- deliverance. We always seem to be talking about revival and deliverance. There are separate prayer meetings strictly for deliverance. There are entire ministries set up as deliverance ministries. What are some of the typical things we need deliverance from these days? Certainly abusive patterns -- alcohol, illegal drugs, prescription drugs, spousal. These are all stronghold patterns of thinking where the enemy has taken up residence in the mind of the believer and changed some of how they think. Instead of Jesus being sufficient they need a pill, or a hit, or a drink. Instead of believing they are fearfully and wonderfully made they stay in an abusive situation because of some worldly definition of love that does not match God's definition found in Corinthians. Realize that the underlying causes of the stronghold are demonic attack just as the earlier Scripture explained. That is the war we are in. The enemy and his minions whisper in our ears until we believe we cannot get by without the drink or the pill. People can also need deliverance from what the world refers to as mental illness issues. Where the world will provide the box of depression or anxiety to stuff someone into, as Christians we must understand that it is demonic in nature. It is the enemy and his spirits that whisper into our ears about how we don't feel right, or get us to overly focus on everything negative and avoid giving any credit to anything positive. These are just several examples of things we find ourselves in need of deliverance from; even as Christians.

The key verses start with the person being delivered as the evil spirit leaves them, stops harassing them, and moves on. For whatever the reason, the person was delivered. We all probably know someone like this or have gone through it ourselves. We are finally able to stand on God's Word and beat that addiction, leave that abusive relationship, or overcome our negative feelings. But being delivered and staying delivered are two different things entirely. We may also know or have experienced setbacks, relapses, or reoccurrences of what we thought we had been able to beat. What we thought God had delivered us from. Smoking is the easiest for many to relate to. How many of us know someone who quits all the time, but inevitably always goes back to it? That is because of the truths found in the key verses:

Then it says, "I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. -- Matthew 12: 44 (NLT)

There are two important points for us to consider in this one verse. First of all, the demon/spirit decides to come back at some point which indicates that we need to realize that the enemy does not just give up. I think there is a false impression out there that people think once delivered always delivered. While it is true that Scripture indicates that Satan and his minions are generally disorganized and disagreeable with each other, that does not mean that they do not eventually regroup and remember what has worked in the past. For example, if that ex-smoker always gives in when there are stresses at the job, you can bet that there will be stresses on the job or the enemy will whisper in their ear about things that should not be stressful -- and convince him that they are. If that ex-smoker always caves in when they find themselves in a bar, you can bet the enemy will whisper to them about needing to unwind after work at happy hour. Anything to push the buttons that they know will work. The anxious person's day almost invariably starts with waking up and saying to themselves that they don't feel good or they don't feel right. You can bet the strategy of the spirits are to reinforce that first thing in the morning thought pattern so it sets to tone for the rest of the day.

The other important point for us to consider is we should note the condition the evil sprit finds the "former home" in - empty, swept and in order. Swept and in order sounds to me like the way most bachelors might clean their apartments (guilty as charged!). It has the appearance of being clean but deep down it is not. Things are in order and everything is where it might belong, but there is not a lot of substance behind the appearance. It is only clean on the surface, if you will. Deep down the same faulty thought pattern is lurking and waiting to be released again. But besides swept and in order the interesting thing to note is that it is empty. What should be active on the inside of every believer in God? The Holy Spirit! Now, I am referring to things metaphorically as obviously if someone is saved the Holy Spirit of God is on the inside of them. But how active is the Holy Spirit in their life? How prominent is the Holy Spirit in their thought life? How filled are they with the Holy Spirit? If we were to be honest with ourselves we would admit that there are areas we sometimes leave the Spirit of God out of because we know we are in disobedience. Those are the areas we need Him the most! This is really where the rubber meets the road when it comes to deliverance and staying delivered -- what are we filling ourselves with?

You see the person in the key verses tidied up after they were delivered but they did nothing precautionary to make sure they stayed delivered. They put things in order but they still were empty on the inside. When Jesus was first starting His ministry He was baptized in the Jordan and then went off to face the devil in the wilderness for forty days. But here is the transition verse between these two things:

Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit , returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness -- Luke 4: 1 (NLT)

Oh beloved, I hope you caught that! Before Jesus Himself went into His wilderness to do battle with the enemy, He made sure He was filled with the Holy Spirit! When we are filled with the Holy Spirit then we are led by Him as well! When we are filled and led by the Holy Spirit it doesn't matter how many demons come back a knocking on our door -- there will not be any room for them and their influence! It doesn't matter when the enemy starts to whisper to us we tell him that we are led by the Spirit of the Living God and there is no allowance for listening to lies. There is not even a conversation to be had! Hallelujah!

Let me close with this. There is a great story in the Old Testament involving Nehemiah. He was a cupbearer to the king in the land that Judah was held captive in for 70 years but he found favor with the king and was allowed to go rebuild the mighty walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah represents you and I in the great work that God has called us to once we have been saved. There is a world that desperately needs to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we are the instruments God has chosen to accomplish this. The enemy, having lost the battle for our eternal souls now seeks to make our work for the King of Kings impotent. That is why he spends so much time trying to get inside our thinking and set up strongholds. The more time we spend fighting demons within ourselves, the less time we spend spreading the Gospel. Well, in the story of Nehemiah there were enemies to the work he was trying to complete named Sanballat and Geshem. They are representative of the minions of Satan who are constantly coming against the work of God in our lives and in this world. Now, watch this exchange:

So Sanballat and Geshem sent a message asking me to meet them at one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But I realized they were plotting to harm me, so I replied by sending this message to them: "I am engaged in a great work, so I can't come. Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?" Four times they sent the same message, and each time I gave the same reply.   -- Nehemiah 6: 2-4 (NLT)

The enemy will want to meet with us also on the plain of Ono (oh no!). Just like he sought Eve to meet him there and she was willing to have the conversation. But we need to always react in the Spirit of God that is inside of us and within Nehemiah's answer are three essential truths for staying delivered. First of all, we must realize that any attempt by the enemy to talk to us is a plot from him to harm us. Period -- end of story. He seeks to kill and destroy us, not make friends or call a truce. Secondly, we need to respect better the work that God has called us to. Why should I even have a conversation with a natural born liar that wants to kill me when I have this great work that God has called me to? Lastly, it doesn't matter how many times the enemy comes back with the same message. It doesn't matter how many times he tries to push those old buttons that used to work on us so well. It doesn't matter if he goes and finds seven other spirits to come with him -- our answer must not change -- ever! We need to fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit, realize the plotting liar that the enemy is, respect better the work God has given us, and never change our answer to the devil.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- June 18, 2012

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.