True Principles of Spiritual Warfare Exodus Series #11

And he said, I believe this series is strategic for this time, outlining what the church must do to be in line with what God has in store. Then he goes on to say that the church is in the process of fulfilling God’s purpose and displaying his power, especially in America, one last time, where Christ might be visibly seen as preeminent.

That’s an extremely important line. Indeed, this series that we have been in, I think, is a part of the reason for the battle that we’ve been facing. I don’t think you can begin to talk about issues like deliverance for the people of God without seeing an intensification of the battle, and that does not concern me.

I expect that. I think it’s right on target. And here, in the historic section of this Exodus passage, during this historical moment of confrontation, it will lead to the entire family of God, the entire nation of Israel, leaving Egypt. Of course, this drama has been portrayed in many movies and retold in numerous scripts.

But for these ten messages, we’ve focused on a specific theme: that you have to go out before you can enter in. It’s a very clear picture, an absolutely clear biblical principle. Covenant people, those who belong to God, still stand in need of true deliverance before they can fully inherit.

Even though we’re the elect of God, born again of the Spirit, and possess the full promise, purpose, destiny, and inheritance, we believers are often bound by some kind of earthly Pharaoh. He uses the taskmasters of this world to bind us to material things, to wound us, crush our spirits, and ultimately extinguish any hope of future blessings or usefulness for God.

Biblically, Egypt symbolizes the believer’s bondage. From Abraham onward, the people of God in the Old Testament found themselves in Egypt when they were fleeing from something that God was completing or doing. We are the sons and daughters of God. You might remember those words from several weeks ago in the message when God said, “Let my son go that he may serve me. Let my daughter go.” I urge you to personalize those words: “Let Rick go. Let Mary go. Let Bonnie go. Let my people go. So that they may serve me.”

I’m sure this message today will be the most controversial one I’ll ever preach. I’m sure some of you wonder why I’d open a can of worms like this. We’re teaching, of course, from a passage in Exodus 7 through 11. You must understand the context of this passage, not just for believers’ sake and Israel’s sake, but for your own sake.

I’ll be as direct and simple as I can be, but you must understand that God wants his people free from every influence of Pharaoh, free from everything that Satan is doing in their lives. Satan is a real individual, not a red-costumed, pitchfork-bearing caricature. He’s a genuine adversary against all spiritual progress, an accuser of believers, and the ultimate enemy of any covenant purpose.

He works through earthly rulers, as he did in Exodus, using Pharaoh to oppose the people of God. He also operates through material influences and bondages in our personhood. These are perhaps the most difficult for us to understand—how the enemy works within our personalities. He uses these bondages to hinder our fruitfulness and destroy our future.

In the New Testament, God warns us many times, probably a dozen or more, not to let anyone take our reward, to guard our reward. Your usefulness, my dear friend, is the crucial matter for both God and Satan. Satan strives to keep you from being useful. Ruth Paxton wrote a wonderful book—a layman’s testimony on the Book of Ephesians. She said Satan tries to accomplish three things: first, to despoil the believers of their wealth, taking them away from their reward; second, to decoy the believers from their walk, leading them astray from the path of the Christian life; and lastly, to disarm the believer in their warfare.

Take away the battle plans. Remove his weapons. And leave him exposed. This morning, of course, you need to know this. Satan understands his limitations. Satan cannot change God’s mind about you. He cannot cause you to backslide. Satan can’t send you to hell. Hell isn’t even open for business. When hell opens up for business at the end of this age, Satan is put in hell as a victim.

Don’t buy into this worldly idea that Satan is the landlord of hell. He’s not the landlord of hell. He will be a victim of hell. And God will send him into that place. Satan knows his parameters are limited. He’s not omniscient. He doesn’t know all things. He’s not omnipotent. He doesn’t have all power. And he’s not omnipresent.

He’s not everywhere at the same time like God is. That’s why I’m confused when some of you believers tell me that Satan has been tempting you this week. You must really be somebody important. He doesn’t spend much, he doesn’t spend much time with me. He spends a lot of time with Bill Clinton, I think, and other people like that.

But he, and I don’t mean that politically speaking, I mean that—I think he spends his time with people in leadership. He’s a limited being; he can’t be everywhere at the same time. But what is his great goal for your life? He wants to get you into an Egypt in your life. Now let me say that, and Egypt, so you get the idea.

He wants to get you into something for you, like what Egypt was for Israel. And he wants to find you there and keep you entrapped and keep you from entering the inheritance. And of course, when you hear the desire of God’s heart to free you, and when the word comes for deliverance and freedom, then the battle with Satan will get more intense.

In other words, once the word of deliverance comes to you, then the harder Satan struggles with you. And of course, many of us just stay where we are. Satan wins without firing a shot. We simply capitulate. We surrender. Now listen to these words because I think they’re very important. We’re saved, but we’re servile.

We’re born again, but we’re lifeless. We’re married to Christ, but we’re barren. We’re enabled by the Holy Spirit, but we’re fruitless. Look at those again. We’re servile, we’re lifeless, we’re barren, we’re fruitless, even though we are born again, and we’re saved, and we’re married to Christ, and we are enabled by the Holy Spirit.

In last week’s message, we saw that when God confronted the enemy, when he confronted Satan, the Israelites themselves came into crisis and chagrin, discomfort. Things always get better or get worse before they get better. And this entire Exodus series is really a study on the topic of spiritual warfare.

And when Moses brings the word of the Lord to Pharaoh, as is recorded in Exodus 5, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.” When that word is brought to Pharaoh, it becomes crisis time. And Pharaoh Maneptha, or at least the Pharaoh that I presume was there—there’s lots of controversy about who it was—pulls himself up to full stature and he spits out to Moses, “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

And I told you modern scholarship in the Hebrew suggests that this was a colloquial thing. And that Pharaoh was actually saying, “I don’t care a whit about Jehovah.” This letter from this young man brings that exact thing out. How the world is saying that in our face today. “We don’t care a whit about your morals. We don’t care a whit about what your values are.” And once anyone begins to take a stand, the world is in our face.

This was a phenomenal confrontation. Here’s this old Hebrew Moses, leaning on his shepherd’s rod, entering this palace that he remembers from his boyhood. And old men are still standing around in this hall who remember him from the time he was there. And this old Hebrew now faces this younger, relatively new Pharaoh, Maneptha.

Maneptha was probably a jealous underling in the days when Moses himself had been the favorite of the former, now dead, Pharaoh. Maneptha, and by the way, that name Maneptha means beloved of the god Ta. The god Ta among the Egyptians was that human-like Egyptian god whom they claimed to be the creator of the universe.

And it’s very interesting because this pharaoh, Maneptha, is shown in a lifelike effigy among the tombs of the kings in Thebes. He possesses what one writer called a weak and cruel face with the receding forehead of his race, a nose like a beak, and a sharp chin under it. Under the epigee at Thebes, Maneptha is shown with his hands stretched in worship, and under it are the words “He adores the sun.”

Not the S O N, but the S U N. He worshipped, or he adores, the solar horizons. It’s no wonder that the ninth plague of God was the darkening of the light. Maneptha is shown in history as a mean and cowardly prince. His dreams forbade him from sharing the perils of his armed forces. A prophecy induced him to seek exile until his own firstborn was of an age to recover his dominions for him.

In short, what you see in Exodus is an accurate picture and record of what history shows us of this pharaoh. Now what follows then from Exodus 7 through 11 is the demanding, unrelenting course of spiritual warfare that is required to produce deliverance for the covenant people of God. Now I want to read those words again:

“The unrelenting demands of spiritual warfare that’s required for the covenant people of God.” What you must know is that the specific purpose of this warfare from Exodus 7 through 11 was not only judgment and persuasion on Egypt, but it had the specific task of breaking the Egypt that was within the heart and lives of the people of God.

And this breaking of Egypt from the Israelites began with their leadership. You remember the truth from last week’s teaching in Exodus 5: the officers of the people were the first affected to feel the conflict of this spiritual warfare. But don’t leap ahead too fast. Don’t go to Canaan as wonderful as that sounds, with milk and honey.

God can always give us Canaan easier than he can prepare us for Canaan. He can give us Canaan easier than he can get us out of Egypt. And he can get us out of Egypt easier than he can get Egypt out of us.

Now that’s the level of understanding that comes as we study this passage. This process is explicative and imperative. Something has to happen first in us. There has to be a separation in our spirit from Egypt. And that separation in our spirit from Egypt is more specific than crossing the Red Sea or the Jordan River later on and combined.

I know this would terrify you if you thought I was going to preach on all five of these chapters this morning. I would like you to turn to them. I just want you to see several things, beginning with the sixth chapter and verse 28. God sends Moses to speak to Pharaoh. Moses complains that he has uncircumcised lips.

In chapter 7, God says, “I’ve made you as a god and I’ve given Aaron to you.” Then you begin seeing the confrontation. The first is the rod that turns into a snake. The magicians of Egypt duplicate that. Then he strikes the water and it becomes blood. They duplicate that, but I’m sure they had to do it in a phony way because the water’s already blood. So what did they turn into blood?

Probably just a vessel of water of some sort that they had. To that degree, they duplicate this miracle. In chapter 7, verse 15, you will see God says, “Get to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes to the water.” I’ve been doing some new research on this passage. This is one of the passages I’ve always wondered about.

The new scholarship says that this means he went up to the river to do his bodily functions in the morning. Because they worshipped him as Pharaoh, as God, he couldn’t do his functions in front of everybody else. So he went to the river to take care of that in the morning. That’s what scholars say.

I think it’s interesting to imagine Pharaoh standing by the riverbank doing his thing. You know, I think that’s just a picture we all need to have in our minds somehow this morning. And I’m sure that will lose some of you for the rest of the day. Chapter 8 is the second plague: The Plague of Frogs. Again, the magicians tried to duplicate this. In verse 7, there’s an addition because when Pharaoh asks that the frogs be lifted, Moses becomes very specific and says, “You tell me when.” I want you to know this is God, so you give me the time. They’ll lift not just at a general time, but at a specific time.

One way that you know that it’s God. And of course, in verse 9, He hardens His heart. Then, in verse 15, which I’m talking about in chapter 8 now, it says, “When Pharaoh saw there was a relief.” Now, the actual Hebrew is, “When he got his breath back, he hardened his heart.” That’s the way it is with you.

God deals with you. God brings sickness. God allows something. He puts His thumb in your life. He begins dealing with you, and then He eases off for a while, and you get your breath back, and you’re as rebellious as you were before.

You know, I’m glad I’m not God because I’d know not to take the pressure off some of you. I’d keep it on, brother. I understand. Some of us—I’ll put myself there—the plague of lice, and of course, the magicians couldn’t repeat this. In fact, in verse 19, the magicians say about that plague, “This is God,” and there’s a separating process going on. Then the fourth plague, in chapter 8, verses 20 to 32, is the flies, which were probably beetles. And this time Pharaoh…

Ensen says, “You can go sacrifice, but you’ve got to stay in the land.” In verse 25, Moses says in 26, “We won’t do that. To sacrifice in this land full of your abominations would not be right.” Then the fifth plague in chapter 9, verses 1 through 7, is the disease on the livestock. And then the sixth plague, beginning in verse 8 of chapter 9, is the boils.

Verse 11 tells us that at this point, not only the magicians couldn’t do anything after plague 2, but now the magicians flee themselves. In the seventh plague, chapter 9, God does something very important. In fact, in verse 15, at this time, He says, “I will send my plagues to your heart and upon your servants.” I want you to notice that verse.

“That you may know there’s none other like me in the whole earth. If I had stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would have been cut off from the earth. But indeed, for this purpose, I have raised you up, that I may show my power, and my name will be declared in all the earth.”

“And yet you exalt yourself.” And then, of course, in verse 20 of chapter 9, is the passage that tells us that the Egyptians who believed God had their lives spared. And then the locusts in chapter 10, verses 1 through 20, and then in chapter 10, verses 21 through 29, is the plague of darkness. Again, Pharaoh hardens his heart.

But in verses 24 through 26, he says, “You can go, but you can’t take your livestock.” I like Moses at this point. He says, “Not only will we take our livestock, but you’re gonna give us livestock to sacrifice to God.” That’s my kind of preacher. And finally, in chapter 11, the Lord said to Moses, “I’ll bring one more plague upon you, and Pharaoh will not only let you go, he’ll drive you out.”

And, of course, this was the plague of the death of the firstborn. And He says, “Speak in the hearing of the people, let every man ask his neighbor, every woman ask her neighbor for articles of gold and silver.” And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and so forth and so on.

And, of course, you have the description next of that awful last plague, which is really not a plague. It’s another separate dealing of God, the tenth dealing of God, which has to do with the firstborn son. Now keep your Bibles open, please. Very important.

You remember from last week, there’s a simple hermeneutic. This is not allegory that we’re talking about this morning. This is not some preacher’s idea. God gives us the hermeneutic, especially in 1 Corinthians 10:11, which is actually about this same time, about Israel coming out and about the Red Sea and so forth.

In that passage, Paul says, “These things which happen to them are examples unto us upon whom the end of the world has come for our admonition.” Now, admonition is a very important word. It means teaching or imparting understanding, but actually Biblically, admonition means the earnestness of a warning.

It’s an exhortation that has a corrective sense. Now that’s what admonition is, and I want to ask you a question. You don’t like the way I’m handling this? From 1 Corinthians 10, I want to ask you a question. What then is the corrective warning given to us out of Exodus 7:11? What is the correction?

What is the passionate warning of the Holy Spirit? What is the admonition that’s given to us in this passage? This is of urgent consideration to true believers.

And as I’ve already said, I repeat to you that this passage (7 through 11) is the scripture’s clearest teaching, not only on the cause of spiritual warfare but also on the course of spiritual warfare. And that pertains to every believer, whether you like it or not. I want to draw special attention to that second word.

The Course. I received another letter from a lovely young married lady in this church, whom I deeply respect. She talked about being troubled because she felt like she had experienced deliverance, and then there was a relapse. She attended the message last Sunday, and she said, “Now I understand God’s leading me out of Egypt. He’s led me out of Egypt, but I’m in the wilderness.” That’s right. The progression is Egypt, wilderness, and then Canaan. You can remain in the wilderness for as long as you choose, whether that’s 40 years or 18 months – take your pick. I know what some of you have chosen because I’ve been with you for 25 years, and it wasn’t 18 months.

Spiritual warfare is our territory, and we need to comprehend this. I want to provide two introductory points this morning. First, the mention of spiritual warfare terrifies most believers. You talk about spiritual warfare, and they become uncomfortable, even antsy. Jack Hayford, in a message from years ago (I can’t recall all the points), addressed this fear. He mentioned that Christians dread fanaticism and extremism. While there have indeed been fanatics and extremists concerning spiritual warfare, has any worthwhile subject been exempt from fanaticism?

Secondly, he pointed out that Christians fear they’ll lose their joy and praise. But what is praise? It’s warfare. Moreover, the reason he mentioned is so amusing that I’m almost reluctant to bring it up, yet it’s perhaps the most crucial of all. Christians are afraid of spiritual warfare because they believe engaging in it will stir up the enemy. Isn’t that amusing? In other words, let the old man lie; just tiptoe around him. How pitiful. The enemy is as infuriated with you, as antagonistic towards you as a believer in Christ, as he could ever be – he’s not neutral. Satan couldn’t desire your destruction more than he does right now. And if you remain neutral, you’re simply making his job easier. It doesn’t alter his objective in the slightest! How absurd to think that we shouldn’t engage in warfare because then we’ll truly have the devil against us.

That point, and I’d like to say something more, but I won’t. That point, that notion, that by leaving the devil alone, he’ll leave us alone. Do you believe that? Do you believe that if you leave him alone, he’ll leave you alone? Well, I don’t know what you’ve been reading, but it’s not the Bible.

Of course not. And that leads us to a crucial realization – that there’s an evil empire under Satan’s dominion that enslaves and destroys countless individuals. We can’t stand here and say, “Let the empire of Satan exist; let’s leave him be.” We must make a verdict that declares we’ll do everything in our power to resist the devil and stand against him.

So that’s the first point: people worry about spiritual warfare because they’re afraid of disturbing the devil. Secondly, and this is where you should brace yourself, spiritual warfare is the believer’s domain. This is true both offensively – meaning we’re not only attacking Satan – and defensively, because Christians themselves are frequently victims of Satan’s bondage.

I know this rings an alarm bell for some of you. I remember a few years ago when we engaged in theological debates about whether Christians can be demon-possessed. The Assemblies of God even issued a position paper on it – they’ve written position papers on nearly everything imaginable. Most of which, I hope, will soon be forgotten. Believe me, these discussions are nonsensical. They completely miss the mark. Satan relishes that kind of theological argument that has no bearing on real-life experiences. As usual, most of us would rather argue over doctrine than engage in life experiences.

Here are the edits I’ve made to your text for grammar and punctuation, along with the changes I’ve made for clarity:

We know stuff in our heads, but we don’t know how to apply it to our life. Now remember, at least a dozen times in this Exodus passage, Israel is called “my people,” “my son,” the nation for me to possess. All of these phrases, and yet they are enslaved and in bondage. They’re in oppression under Pharaoh. And that’s the very context of our study.

Nothing I will ever say is more important than what I have to say for you in the next few moments. When I taught for 14 years at an accredited Christian college near here, one of the textbooks that I frequently used, especially in expository preaching, was written by a wonderful godly man, Merrill Unger.

Merrill Unger was the head of the Old Testament department for many years at Dallas Theological Seminary. He’s a great scholar. In 1952, Merrill Unger wrote a book on the subject of demonology, and it became the most accepted book among Christians in America on this subject. He said, and I quote (this is a direct quote from his 1952 book):

“As to demon possession, only unbelievers are exposed.”

Now, that’s where a lot of us would like to stop – very simple. However, ten years later, he re-edited this book, and in the revised edition, he included this statement:

“That statement, and he’s referring to the statement made about unbelievers, about believers being unaffected, he said that statement was inferred since scripture does not clearly settle the question. It was based on the assumption that an evil spirit could not indwell a redeemed body together with the Holy Spirit.”

But then he continues. Since the first publication of my book in 1952, I have received hundreds of letters from missionaries all over the world who question the theory that true believers cannot become demon-possessed. They have witnessed these experiences in themselves. In a later chapter, Merle Unger (now this isn’t a Pentecostal, raving, upside-down charismatic; this is the head of Dallas Theological Seminary, Department of the Old Testament) wrote these words:

“Christians can and ought to enjoy complete deliverance from the power of Satan and demons as a result of Christ’s perfect work of redemption.”

However, what believers can and ought to enjoy, and what they actually do enjoy, are two different things. I want to stop here. Do you get the point? Sure, this is where every Christian should be – in total freedom from the influence of Satan through the redemptive work of Christ. That’s entirely possible. But what Christians ought to enjoy and what they do enjoy are two different things.

When Christians fail to recognize what they have in Christ and when they refuse to appropriate the resulting privilege, they invite defeat and become held captive to a pitiful degree. Now, here’s the description of many Christians whom I have personal acquaintance with. They are Christians born again, yet they are held captive to a pitiful degree.

Then he concludes in a much later portion of the same book with a startling statement:

“If the Christian does not stand against Satan in victorious conflict, then he will be afflicted and oppressed by Satan in ignominious defeat.”

In this present day of apostasy, with the revival of occult arts under the guise of religion, few Christians are conducting victorious warfare. Now, just stop for a moment. Fourteen million Americans consult astrology pages in local newspapers every day. I won’t ask how many of you look at astrology columns. Of course, you might just do it for fun, and you wouldn’t think that it would influence a business decision, would you?

Did you know that it’s almost impossible today to watch a movie, even good ones, without violence and four-letter words? It’s nearly impossible to find something from Hollywood that doesn’t have New Age philosophy directly embodied in its content. Here are his words again – I think they are very important to us:

“In this day of apostasy, few Christians are conducting victorious warfare. Many are succumbing to the enemy through sin, carnal appetites, and complicity with occult-oriented religionism.”

And the result? Now here it is: “Psychic depression is rampant, not only among the unsaved but widespread among not merely professing but born-again believers.”

Kurt Koch, another great Baptist authority, has written five or so books on the occult, including one called “Christian Counseling and the Occult,” and he says this: Christians teach that when you become a Christian, all your problems are solved.

He said, “I can turn to literally thousands of Christians who’ve come to me in counseling sessions. They’ve carried their occult subjection over with them into their Christian lives.” And then he gives us an understanding of this phrase. He said it’s true that with a deep conversion, a person would be delivered from such oppressions of the devil.

But that does not often take place. How many deep conversions are there today? See, when I became a Christian, we used to have what we called the mourner’s bench. People repented. They were led to renounce sin. Today we just say, “Believe in Jesus. God loves you. Jesus died for you.” And what Kurt Koch is saying is that because our conversion process is so limited, people carry into their new Christian life.

Bondage is out of the occult and the past. He said this can be (and he talks about an illustration at this point), in fact, two illustrations (I’m not going to take time to refer to them), but people physically ill had to deal with ancestors’ sins of sorcery, which had been carried into the Christian life.

I frequently (I’m just going to pause on this; you can take that off, but I’m going to pause on this point and say this), there are many Christians who are dealing today, and we’ll get to the explanation of this in a moment; they’re dealing today with bondages that come through the genealogies of their past.

And they’ve inherited everything else. You’ve inherited your brain power, your weight, your looks, your basic color.

You’ve also inherited spiritual things. And oftentimes, as we get to this later, we will say, oftentimes things that are happening compulsively in our lives come from this source.

Raymond Edmond, the former president of Wheaton College (I’m not even quoting any Pentecostals in this message), here’s a man, perhaps the most effective evangelical scholar in his day, a member of the Christian Missionary Alliance Church, one of the founding fathers of the National Association of Evangelicals, and he wrote (this was published by the CMA Church in the Alliance Witness Magazine):

Listen. The unguarded Christian. There he is. Do you know anybody like that? Unguarded Christians. The unguarded Christian may have demon possession in the soul, which would affect mental processes and emotions in the body, as is the case of the woman who had a spirit of infirmity for 18 years and was bowed together and could in no way lift herself up.

To say that a Christian cannot be demonized in any area of his life is a happy but inaccurate generalization.

But you know the story of the woman, don’t you, who was bowed? Jesus confronted her. What did Jesus say about her? He said, “This daughter of Israel, do you have any question about what he was saying?”

This woman belonged to God, but for 18 years, she was bowed with a spirit of infirmity, and that’s what made Jesus angry. He came against the spirit of infirmity that had bound that covenant person. I like these words by Edmund. To say a Christian cannot be demonized is a happy generalization, but it’s inaccurate.

Let me quote from Chuck Swindoll; you know, if he says it, it’s always right. Charles Swindoll, perhaps the most published author in evangelical circles today, pastored the Evangelical Free Church in Fulton for a generation. Now, by the way, he has recently been made the president of Dallas Theological Seminary.

Seems like I’m picking on Dallas this morning, but you know, they’re the most conservative, so it’s good that I am picking on them. He wrote a little booklet called “Can a Christian Be Demonized?” and his answer was, and I quote, “For a number of years, I questioned this. I’m now convinced it occurs. I’ve personally worked with troubled, anguished Christians for many years.

On a few occasions, I have assisted in the painful process of relieving them of demons. The believer has the Holy Spirit residing within him. Therefore, the alien, wicked spirit cannot claim ownership of the Christian. They are still children of God, but while present within the body, perhaps in the region of the soul, this evil force can work havoc within their life, bringing the most extreme thoughts imaginable to their conscious awareness.”

That’s a quote by Swindoll. Now, some of you would rather fight than switch. I know this. I know you. And I understand how much of Egypt was in Israel. It was years of hardship and oppression on leaders, discomfort and chagrin in the wilderness before Israel’s heart could have Egypt taken from it. Another great teacher, by the way, this man was a missionary for 21 years with Overseas Crusade, and then a teacher at Biola College in La Mirada, California, and eventually at the Talbot Baptist Theological Seminary.

He said, and I quote, “I have found people can come to Christ in a genuine salvation experience and still have problems in the demonic realm. Problems which have come from pre-Christian days. Since the issue has never been brought up, the problem lies dormant within them. But as people try to grow in the Lord, they start experiencing difficulty.

We call these personality changes. These forces take over within them. They don’t know what’s going on, so they go to their pastor, and he goes through his usual counseling procedure. And then, if it’s an exaggerated problem, he recommends a psychologist, hopefully a Christian psychologist. Before this is taken away, I realize this is a bad transparency, and many of you in the back cannot read it.

This was something I put together at the last minute. But I wanted you to see it because here he’s talking about a very important issue – problems that lie dormant or hidden. Do you notice the connection? He says that after spiritual progress is made, then come personality changes. So exactly what I said to you.

As you begin moving towards deliverance and moving toward what God has for you, suddenly, out of nowhere, comes this attack. Let me quote again from Edward Murphy. Total possession is rare, even among non-Christians. In the case of the believer, total possession is impossible. A good word to describe a Christian’s experience is oppression.

The believer cannot be demon-possessed, but they can be oppressed or obsessed. I use the word “demonized” to indicate that a person has demons functioning in their life. Dennis and Rita Bennett, great Episcopal teachers who have been to our church several times, just before his death, Dennis wrote to a Christian organization. I have a personal copy of that letter.

He said, “Avoid the term ‘demon-possessed.’ It should never be used,” he says. A Christian can be so harassed, obsessed, and oppressed that to all intents and purposes, their soul is under bondage to the enemy. So much so that their spirit is utterly held down and unable to function.

The term “demon-possessed” should be replaced with phrases like “under spiritual attack” or “spiritual bondage.” Instead of speaking of demons, use “enemy spirits.” Do everything possible to avoid frightening people who are being ministered to. Don’t be weird, don’t try to converse with spirits. You know, I’ve had experiences of spirits trying to converse with me on more than one occasion.

And I’ve always said, “Shut up. I’m not interested in carrying on a conversation with you.” You know, how weird for Christians to try to encourage a demon to speak to them. What does a demon have to say, you want to know? In fact, most of them will start reading your list – your laundry. I’ve had demons read my laundry, and I’ve just said, “Be quiet.”

Jesus knows my life. You don’t have to tell him anything about me, and I certainly don’t want to hear anything about me. So just be quiet in the name of Jesus.

Interestingly, they listen; most congregational people don’t listen, but they listen. Don’t try to give, and I love this, I want you to hear this from this dear man in the presence of Jesus right now. There’s something, don’t get the impression there’s something especially impressive about deliverance.

Come to me because I’m going to bring deliverance to you. It’s the name of Jesus that causes demons to leave, not the power of your ministry. And I love this last line: “The tiniest child who knows the Lord can cast out demons, just as he or she can administer healing or speak in tongues.” Hey friends, I’m not encouraging a casting out demons ministry where we’ll have to have towels at the front of the altar and…

throw up buckets and all that kind of stuff that’s gone on in the past. Nor am I suggesting for one moment that every personality problem is demon possession or demon oppression, but I need you to hear this accurately. If you don’t understand this truth, you don’t understand the context of Exodus 7 through 11.

This is where it comes. This is the understanding. And I know some of you are saying, “I don’t understand, Pastor, why you even want to talk about this.” Well, simply, both personally and collectively as a church, if we’re to understand Exodus, we have to understand that deliverance always precedes inheritance.

And that there are things – habits, bonds, relationships, securities – which must be broken if a believer is to enter into liberty, joy, fruitfulness, and the prosperity that God intends for them. There is no hope until that happens. Now, hear me. To talk about Canaan, inheritance, and possession without understanding the truth of going out, deliverance, and exodus, is a cruel hoax perpetrated upon believers.

I know people in this church, as long as I’ve known them, they’ve talked about what their ministry’s going to be, what they’re going to do, what God has for them. And yet they demonstrate constantly in their life the out-of-control, compulsive nature of the need for deliverance. I want to tell you something.

If your mouth is used in abuse against your spouse or children, lady, that’s not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not abuse a fellow Christian, a spouse, or a child through your mouth. And if that abuse is compulsively coming out of your mouth, there’s something going on in your life. Just wake up!

You wish to serve God in a certain area, and it’s like a missing tooth in a gear. You fast, you pray, you go through spiritual things, and then you hit the missing gear, and the whole life goes pffft. And after your most spiritual moments, you do the most carnal, unrealizable things.

And they are compulsive activities. Let me ask you a question. Have any of you, in this past week, said, “Why did I do that? Why did I say that? Why do I always respond in this situation in this way?” Anybody ever said that? No, of course you didn’t. You know what you’re doing all the time, don’t you?

Why is there compulsive movement in your life? Let me give you a case: anger and resentment.

I have found myself in some occasions with absolutely some provocation, but nowhere near the provocation to my response. And I find myself responding to a car, a driver on the freeway or something, and I’m saying, “Where did that even come from? It’s not even proportionate to the idiotic little thing that they did.” Covenant people have to be freed from Egypt. And it’s a hoax to talk about what you’re going to do in your life. It’s a hoax to talk about Canaan until you’re willing to get out of Egypt and to get Egypt out of you.

Wynne Worley was a Southern Baptist minister in Chicago in the early 70s. His life was transformed by God’s intervention on this matter. He has authored five books, including a remarkable work titled “Battling the Host of Hell.” Notably, he was a Southern Baptist man with a TV ministry. He stated that it is a perilous misconception to assume that Satan or demons maintain a hands-off policy concerning believers.

In reality, they actively influence and afflict believers whenever possible. They subject them to challenges, opposition, and attempts at temptation or deception to lead them astray. They diligently seek and exploit any opportunity to hinder believers. He elaborated further, asserting that nearly 100% of the deliverance ministry they’ve engaged in has been among born-again believers, many of whom are also baptized in the Spirit.

I recall a young woman in this church who experienced genuine deliverance during a solemn assembly. I am uncertain of her current stance on this issue. However, I vividly remember the breaking of the yoke in the prayer room, a yoke that seemed connected to feelings of bitterness, negativism, and a critical spirit.

Following that, on the Sunday after the event on Wednesday, she approached me after the service and exclaimed, “Rick, I could hardly stay in my seat. I had an urge to dance in the aisles.”

Of course, I would have joined you. Her dancing in the aisles would have certainly attracted attention in this church. However, that is the sequence: breaking, freeing, liberating, delivering, and then achieving victory, joy, and inheritance. Turning to Exodus 7:11, we encounter four fundamental issues, which will be the focus of my forthcoming message.

This isn’t the actual message, so don’t worry, I won’t be preaching it. The four points we need to examine in Exodus 4 are as follows: firstly, the actual plagues and their purposes; secondly, the phenomenon of pseudo prophets, which is addressed in the New Testament; thirdly, the insights gleaned from Pharaoh’s revelations about Satan’s purposes in this spiritual warfare; and finally, the principles of spiritual warfare that emerge from this passage.

I intend to teach these twelve principles next week, with the help of God. Yet, for now, I will pause to convey this to you: there is no hope for a self-satisfied individual. If you are content with your current state, you might make it to heaven, though I can’t guarantee it. You might even be part of the rapture when Jesus returns. However, you would remain enslaved, living as a believer just as you did as an unbeliever. You’d exhibit the same drivenness and the same uncontrolled personality traits, all because you resist deliverance.

The initial step, as emphasized in our prior studies, is the need for a heartfelt groaning and a cry for deliverance. I fervently wish for you to grasp this concept today. I’m so convicted by this material that two days ago, the Holy Spirit prompted me not to preach this message. Instead, I was instructed to stay on this topic, ensuring that the audience comprehends it, specifically the eleventh principle of spiritual warfare, which we will explore next week.

This eleventh principle declares that spiritual warfare is the catalyst for releasing the people of God to their inheritance. The spiritual warfare must take place for this release to occur. Recall Matthew 16. Surely you remember Peter’s profound confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Subsequently, when Jesus began discussing the concept of the cross in the same chapter, Peter took him aside and rebuked him, saying, “This must not happen to you, Lord.”

In response, Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me. You are not focused on the things of God, but on the things of men.” Can you envision the intensity in that moment? Peter, a believer, yielded to Satan’s influence, likely due to offense, and inadvertently became the voice of Satan. Can you visualize Jesus’ passionate rebuke as he confronted this situation?

For years, a realization has been growing within me.

Now, I’m sure it’s the only way I’ve been able to stay at this church for 25 years is that God changed me on one issue. I hope He’s changed me on more than one issue, but He changed me on this issue, and that is when I see people responding negatively, and, as in Peter’s case, I know they’re speaking words from hell.

But God has allowed me to see beyond the people and see the source of that thing. And I often feel like Jesus when He turned to the fig tree and said, “I rebuke you, roots and all!” And that’s what I want to do when I see good people. Now we’re, you know, this is a church filled with wonderful people—good people.

It’s been the thrill of my life to be able to live and work with you for 25 years, but I see some of the good people, some of the wonderful people in this church—some of the people I love, if it’s possible, most passionately. But I see them repeating compulsive forms of activity that I know are satanically directed.

I know by the timing of them, they’re satanically directed. It’s one way I know how the devil works because I know how he times things. And I watch responses in people, and I know the source is the enemy. It is spiritual warfare that brings us God’s intention for us to be free. Now, I know some of you haven’t heard anything beyond the fact that we began talking about demon oppression and involvement in believers’ lives.

But I have to say to you that years ago, when this whole thing was surfacing in its theological ramifications and everybody was debating it, I went on my knees before God. I never want to listen to a denomination; I never want to listen to another preacher for my answers. I want to know from God. And I went on my knees before God and said, “I know what I see, God, and I know what I’m hearing.”

I need an answer from you. And as has seldom happened in my life, God spoke a direct word into my ear. So much so that I wrote the words down these years ago, and I still have those words in my spirit. And that’s why I put them in quotes on this transparency. Because God spoke to me these words: “The issue is and has always been bonding, not possession.”

Now I need you to be freed with me for a moment here. And I need you to understand something. You need to understand three quick English words. This is just a simple study, but I can’t presume that you know this. One, bond. What is a bond? It’s anything that binds or confines or holds together. The dictionary says, as a second definition, it is a tie or an affection or a loyalty.

Keep that word in mind—a tie, an affection, a loyalty. Thirdly, it’s a legal instrument that binds the maker and his heirs to a specific action. Now that’s what a bond is. Bonding then, originally, only had one basic definition. The word “bonding” was only used in the building trades. It was the binding or connecting together of bricks and stones and parts of a structure by having them overlap so they would hold together.

Only recently has the word been used psychologically—things that bond us to a way of action, or in the case that we’re talking about this morning, to the enemy. Psychologically, it’s perhaps best understood by a wonderful book by Neil Anderson. I highly recommend it to all of you, called “Bondage Breakers.” And you will see in that book even thoroughly. Okay, bond, bonding. Now let’s look at the word “bondage.”

It is slavery, involuntary servitude. It’s captivity or imprisonment. It restrains a person’s liberty by compulsion. Very important words. I didn’t create these words. That’s what these words mean. When the Holy Spirit said to me, “Rick, the issue is not possession, it’s bonding.” Immediately, I understood that.

Because for years, I taught young people out of 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 15 through 18. I have taught this principle for many years. Now in 1 through 18, the Apostle Paul says to people, if you have an illicit sexual involvement with someone—in other words, someone you’re not married to—do you not know that when you join your body to that person, you’ve become one flesh with them?

Now, we use that language in holy marriage. But God says, every time that sexual relationship has occurred, there’s been a bonding, there has been a oneness, a tie, a connection, an influence.

A few years ago, I read literature; I have. I can’t give you the exact quote, but it was acceptable literature. The average homosexual—this was in the days before AIDS—was reportedly having up to 360 partners a year in sexual encounters. Now, having some insight into that world, I can say that this is shocking to those of us who consider sexual intercourse, as it’s often not the primary factor.

Sexual encounters don’t always involve the same kind of intimacy. On a promiscuous night, a man or woman might be involved with 30 or 20 people. This isn’t unusual, and those familiar with that world understand what I’m saying. Can you imagine the emotional baggage in someone’s spirit after having so many partners? The ties and loyalties that become bound to their spirit?

So, the key is bonding. Forget the term “possession” if it bothers you; don’t get caught up on that word. By the way, the phrase “demon possessed” isn’t found in scripture; it’s actually “demonized” in Greek. There is no direct equivalent to “demon possessed,” although that’s the translation we have in English.

Demons don’t possess anyone, not even unbelievers. They don’t take control of the person. There’s always a separation between the person and the activity. But through this bonding, imagine the tale of the Lilliputians and Gulliver. This story has been told countless times, and there’s even a new made-for-television film recently released.

The image is of a great giant—perhaps a normally sized man if the story were accurate—visiting a land of Lilliputians, tiny people. He lies on the beach as they drive stakes into the ground and attach wires, effectively binding this giant. It’s an analogy for the ties that attach to your personality and life, ties you’ve never renounced. These include things like pornography, uncontrolled anger (anger itself isn’t wrong, but uncontrolled anger is a platform for negativity), resentment, offense, occult involvement, and sexual promiscuity of any kind. All of these create ties to our spirit.

Let’s take one last example: the story of David. A great and passionate man of God who also sinned with great passion. After committing a terrible sin with Bathsheba, his loyal follower’s wife, he arranged for Uriah, her husband, to be killed when Uriah wouldn’t participate in a scheme.

On top of this, David kept his wrongdoing hidden. Let me draw a contemporary parallel. The Watergate scandal that ousted President Richard Nixon from the White House was small compared to what has happened in Arkansas. Watergate didn’t cost the United States much, but what transpired in Arkansas has amounted to 65 million dollars just to address one aspect of that scandal—Whitewater or whatever it’s called.

I’m not making a political point here; I want to illustrate the greater issue. Nixon didn’t lose the presidency because of his actions; he lost it due to his pride. Had he openly admitted his mistakes to the American people, apologizing for his involvement in the political scheme, and asking for forgiveness, the nation would have forgiven him readily. This is true for many of you in this room as well. Some would rather face death than admit their failings.

The same applied to David. When God exposed his sins, the greater sin wasn’t the adultery or murder—it was his attempt to conceal them.

And when Nathan the prophet comes before David, these are the words: Nathan says, “I have sinned against the Lord,” and Nathan says, “David, I have sinned against the Lord.” Then David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord,” and Nathan says to David, “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Do you notice that God put away the sin even before he confessed it?

But here’s the key verse, verse 14, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemy of the Lord to blaspheme. The child who was born to you shall surely die. The passage goes on to say, “and against your own house.” But I want you to focus on this word, because the word “occasion” here in Hebrew is literally the word that means a beachhead.

I can take that out of its context, or an advantage. Let me ensure you understand. God says, David, you’ve sinned, I’ve forgiven you. But that sin has given a beachhead to the enemy.

And because of that, blasphemy has come against God. This is the issue of bonding. You’ve given an area of your life in which Satan has a beachhead. You’ve given him permission. Again, referring to the word “bonding,” you’ve given him a tie, an influence, a loyalty.

As a result of that tie, that influence, that loyalty, he brings you from bonding into bondage.

You are compulsively acting out. It’s not just a personal choice, it’s not just a sin. You are acting out an influence because you’ve given the devil the right, you’ve given him the permission to act in your life.

It’s very interesting to me, and I again say to you, I understand that many folks here—tons of them—are going to remain unaffected. I also understand, because I know enough people in this congregation that when truth comes, you do something with it.

From the top to the bottom, the pastor involved, the elders involved, leadership involved—because they were all involved in this issue—the people of God need to suddenly perk up their ears, open their eyes, and start seeing the Egypt in their lives that has to be removed from their hearts before they can enter God’s promise.

If you don’t do it, then don’t talk about the promise. Give up all that talk about what you’re going to do someday and what’s going to happen someday, and the vision you have for this and the vision you have for that. Forget it!

You need to get out of Egypt. You will be led into the wilderness. God will perfect things in your life and prepare you, then He will lead you in; He will bring you in. There has to be a cry in your heart that says, “I’m sick of this bondage. I’m sick of this kind of action. I’m sick of the fact that Christ is not exalted in my interactions with other people. Christ is not exalted.”

I’ll never forget a young lady because she wasn’t in that prayer meeting on that Wednesday when God was dealing with the church. She joined the meeting on Wednesday. Her first words were unforgettable. She said, “I don’t understand this. I love this church. I love Rick,” she said, “But I always find myself being critical and speaking critically.”

She said, “It’s not what’s in my heart. It’s something that just seems to be coming out.” Well, my friend, do you need to be slapped on the side of your head?

Of course, it isn’t you. That’s the entire point. When we started working on that and traced the root right back, I’ll never forget Margo, who had a lot of experience in the occult before becoming a Christian. Margo and I were quite familiar with a spirit that had been present in this building. She came in without knowing what had taken place.

She walked in and said, “Rick, it’s gone. Do you remember that, Margo?” She didn’t know anything about what had happened. She said, “It’s gone.” I said, “Yeah. Yeah, I understand.” That’s what it can be in your life.

So, what are we talking about? We’re talking about a simple, willful choice. You approach an elder, a prayer team member, someone, and you agree.

Now, don’t go to them if you’re going to say, “Well, I have problems in my life and I’d like to, you know, I’d like to be free.” No. Repentance comes from the mouth. You confess what the issue is. I’ve given this permission. I’ve given this area in my life. I, I’ve given this influence, or if it’s an area you don’t understand, let them pray with you about wisdom.

Whether there’s a connection from the past, a bondage that’s being transferred even through family lines, and I know that happens, has happened in my family. I’ve had to deal with an issue that came all the way from my grandfathers through my father to me. And I understand that principle. But the point is, God wants you free!

That’s the good news. He wants you free! So it’s the power of the Holy Spirit that’s acting in your life, and nothing else. And when God’s people say, “I want that freedom, Pastor.” And you stand before someone, it’s a simple matter. In the name of Jesus, like Bennett says, a child can do it. In the name of Jesus, but I do believe it takes agreement with a brother or sister.

In the name of Jesus, I break this control, I break this bondage, and I ask for deliverance in Jesus’ name. Let’s pray. While our heads are bowed and eyes are closed, this is probably the longest time you’re ever going to be in church with me. I don’t think it’ll ever go any more extended than this, but I had to complete what God had in my heart for this morning.

And by the way, it’s the beginning. It’s only the start of what God wants to do in your lives. While you are there with your heads bowed, how many of you this morning feel the Holy Spirit is speaking—not Rick Howard, not because you’re in this church in this moment, but God’s speaking to you? And you say, there is an area I know, I identify in my life that I need to have true deliverance.

I don’t want this thing happening in my life. Would you just raise your hands anywhere in the building? God identifies that for you. Very specific. Amen. Do you know this morning that God wants you free? Do you believe that? Right where you are, can you say, I know God wants me free? I’m going to ask the prayer team members and elders who are here—

—of those who are helping us this morning to take positions. Three groups are going to be in the prayer chapel. A couple over here to my right, a couple here in the center. I want you to stand with me, please. Everyone’s standing, everyone’s standing, everyone’s standing, the whole congregation. Pastor Don’s going to lead us in singing this simple chorus, “Change my heart.”

Oh God, make it ever true. Change my heart, oh God, may it be like you. And I want you who raised your hand to find one of these. Again, some of you want to go to the prayer chapel, that’s fine. Some of you want to come before some of these. Just step out as we sing, will you? Pastor Don Lee, this is, we sing this together.

Change my heart, oh God, may it be like you.

I am the Father. May I be clay. Thou art the Father and I am the clay.

Sing it with us. Thou art the Father, I am the clay.

Change my heart, oh God, make it ever true. Change my heart, oh God, may it be like you.

Just before we sing again, I’m just going to pronounce a benediction, and you are free to go. I’m going to ask you to do two things. If you still want to be prayed for and you don’t have to wait for a moment and have someone agree with you, don’t let Satan rob you. To start deliverance is to quit letting the enemy, on the basis of your schedule, rob you of what God, the Holy Spirit, is saying. Just stand behind one of these teams out there in the prayer chapel.

Great. If you are leaving, I’m going to ask you to leave very quietly. Leave to the back, or even leave out here through these doors. It’s alright, either way you want to leave, but leave quietly, please. And let’s keep the sanctuary as a place for prayer. Now that’s not normally true. We invite you to speak to everybody, and certainly you don’t have to avoid speaking to them, but just motion them outside and carry on the conversation.

And I want to encourage you, follow through with what God is saying. Let’s sing it again, shall we, Don? And give people a chance. This will be the benediction as we sing it together.

Change my heart, oh God. Make it ever true. Change my heart, oh God. Make it ever true.

You are the king. Hold me and take me, this is what I pray.

Change my heart, oh God. Thank you, my heart.

God bless you.

“You’re dismissed to go or to stay in worship. Whatever you feel.”