Fishing Sometimes Means Casting

Although John the Baptist did not perform any miracles, his message of the Kingdom of Heaven (Kingdom of God), moved in the hearts of the people. Jesus tells us,  "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." (Matthew 11:12) There was a pressing to see the manifestation of the Kingdom of God. We also see, that after the forty days of temptation of our Lord in the desert, Matthew records, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) Both John and Jesus were the only ones of that time revealing the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul tells us, "For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power." (1 Corinthians 4:20) Although miracles, signs and wonders are the main manifestation of the kingdom of God, our focus will be on using the power or authority to deal with demons. 

The scriptures reveal Jesus and the early church believers releasing God's power and authority as they preached and presented the Kingdom. An example of this is found in the ministry of Jesus, "Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 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. 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!” 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. Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. 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. 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." (Luke 8:26-33) 

Take notice, "When he (the man who had demons) 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! (verse 28) and 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." (Verse 32) Because the demons in the man recognized Jesus, and started the confrontation, Jesus was able to simply used His authority to defuse the situation which freed the man. We find a similar situation in the ministry of the Apostle Paul, "Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour." (Acts 16:16-18)

Notice, that Paul and Silas went to prayer and the demon possessed girl approached them and followed them around for many days. At first glance, you would think that this possessed girl was promoting Paul and Silas's ministry. However, this was not the case. We see that Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour." As we see, the demon in the girl started the confrontation against Paul, the believer. Like we saw with Jesus, Paul simply used his authority, spoke to the spirit and cast it out. In both instances, Jesus with the Gadarene demoniac and Paul with the girl who had a spirit of divination, the demons manifested and began the confrontation. Jesus and Paul had the authority to put an end to it. Think about it this way. If the demonized man had seen Jesus and the demonized girl had seen Paul and did not manifest or confront them, there may not have been a confrontation and the possibility exists that neither of them would had been delivered from demons.

Next, we will look at a situation where a demon was silent, non-confrontational. "Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.” The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him." (Luke 13:10-17)

Of course we see a typical response of religious leaders with their doctrines of man. Here they ridicule Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. Jesus responds, "So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, think of it, for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?" We see that this woman had been bound by Satan, the source of all sickness and disease. However, the woman never asked Jesus to heal her, nor did the spirit of infirmity that held her say anything to Jesus or cause a commotion, yet Jesus saw her and released her from Satan’s grip. So, did Jesus over step His realm of authority? Absolutely not! She was in a house of God, a synagogue. Jesus had the authority and simply used it to free the woman. You better believe that if the gift of discerning of spirits is operating or a demon manifests in a church service of any kind, whether the church building, small group meeting in a house, or any place where two or more are gathered in Jesus’ name, the believe or believers have the authority and need to exercise it.

I am not trying to be critical or condescending in any way, but when was the last time, if ever, you received training in what to do if a demon manifests in a church gathering? What I am getting at, is, today, most believers, including church leaders would not know what to do if a demon manifested. Unfortunately, many church leaders and most believers have bought into modern psychiatry and all the intellectual reasoning, thereby labeling a person having a demon manifestation with some kind of phobia or mental breakdown. When reading the gospels, people would come to Jesus and say things like, "My son or daughter has a demon." I find this interesting because these people were not born again. They did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. They were not given the various gifts of the Holy Spirit and yet they recognized what the problem really was. I say this not for believers to be demon conscience but to be God inside minded, knowing their identity, position, and authority in Christ and as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.

So, sometimes when we are fishing for the souls of people, that is, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, we may need to cast out demons, but always remember, "For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power." (1 Corinthians 4:20) and also remember, if you are born again then "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) Grace and peace be with you...