Why Demons Tremble!

I retyped the brochure that was put in my hands several months ago.  This is a game changer.  DO IT!

WHY DEMONS TREMBLE
By Ralph Mahoney

"...Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail (be an adequate defense) against it. (Matthew 16:18)

What does it mean that the gates of hell will not prevail against Christ's church? I use to erroneously imagine the conflict between the church and Satan as a game of cat and mouse. Satan was the cat and the church was the mouse. Satan was big and powerful - the church small and weak, always on the defensive. But that's not what the verse the gates of hell means. Far from it. The picture instead is of a victorious church laying siege to hell and breaking down its gates to release its prisoners.

Likewise, when Peter warned us to be sober and vigilant because our adversary the devil walks about AS a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, he did not intend to cause us undue concern. The key word is AS. Satan only goes about AS a lion. He is not a lion. Jesus is the lion of the tribe of Judah. Satan is only an imitator and imposter - roaring AS a lion, to try to frighten and intimidate. His warfare against us is purely psychological. He is, in truth, rendered powerless by Christ's victory over him at Calvary, and he cannot do us any real harm.

For years, whenever I encountered a demonized person, I would get scared. After all, it's often a noisy affair with people frothing at the mouth and screaming. Not the sort of thing to make you feel at ease. But it's really only the devil's psychological warfare. All the noise is intended to distract you from the fact that there is no real danger.

The devil knows he's powerless. That's why he screams so loudly. But all we have to do is resist him, having submitted ourselves to God, and he will flee from us. (James 4:7)
What does this mean in terms of witchdoctors, voodoo priests, enchanters, and other devilish practitioners? Numbers 23:23 says, "Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, surely there is no divination against Israel." I don't care what kind of JuJu or curse the witchdoctor is going to put on you, it won't work. It may work against unbelievers, but if you are a child of God through faith in Christ, you are blessed and protected. Numbers 23:23 applies to you. the Bible says, "Behold, My people shall rise up as a great lion..." We who are followers of Christ take on the nature of Him who is the lion of the tribe of Judah. We rise up like a lion and resist the devil. When we do this, the Bible says (James 2:19) "...the devils...tremble." Other people may get sick or suffer misfortune or even die as the result of a curse, but not you. As one of God's children you rise up like a lion and roar back at devils if they try to bother you.

That's why it disturbs me to see Gods's people tremble when a demon manifests itself. Christians should never tremble - it is the devils who tremble.

I use to be afraid until I learned the truth. But since then, I have never been frightened or intimidated in the face of demons. When I hear people ask for prayer because the devil is after them, I want to say, "Wait a minute! The devil shouldn't be after you - you should be after the devil."

Well, you say, that's all very nice. The church should be triumphant, always on the offensive. But, in fact, it is not. How, exactly, are we to make all this happen? It seems a big order.

It is a big order, but it's possible. A few years ago I encountered a demonized child in a church in California. The demons made such a scene, I thought half the congregation was going to jump up and run out. They weren't convinced that their spiritual weapons were effective against Satan.

The first step, then, is to become convinced. On one occasion I stood every morning for two weeks and confessed to God, "The weapons of my warfare are nighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." I was absorbing the truth of 2 Corinthians 10:3.

My weapons are not mighty in themselves but rather through God. To illustrate: If I get close to a microphone and whisper, my voice travels through the amplifier and comes out very loud. Similarly, my weapons - feeble and weak in themselves - pass through God and become mighty enough to tear down strongholds. Through God they are amplified made strong and become mighty to tear down demonic strongholds.

Often, I think, we plead with God needlessly to save the souls of our lost loved ones. After all, God has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation and the word of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). God wants us, the members of His body, to reconcile men to Him. I don't mean that we operate independently of God, but that when we move in the Spirit, we learn to make proper use of the weapons of our warfare.

I had some friends who had been praying for eight years on behalf of an unsaved loved one. They were skeptical about this idea, but together we tried it. Instead of praying that God would convert her, we said in faith, "IN THE NAME OF JESUS, WE TAKE AUTHORITY OVER EVERY HIGH THING IN THAT MIND WHICH EXALTS ITSELF AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. WE BRING IT DOWN. WE BRING HER MIND INTO CAPTIVITY TO OBEY CHRIST. WE DO THIS ON THE AUTHORITY OF GOD'S WORD." (2 Corinthians 10). Within three weeks the woman for whom we thus fought the fight of faith, found her way back to God and was gloriously delivered.

On another occasion I meet a woman whose sister was an alcoholic and dope addict. She had been praying for her sister for three and a half years. Prior to that time her sister had known God, but as the result of an auto accident, she became addicted to pain killers and alcohol. Now her husband was getting ready to divorce her. They had three small children.

As this woman poured out all this information to me, she wept. It was evident that she loved her sister very much and wanted desperately for her to be released. So I said, "Stop praying for her! BEGIN INSTEAD TO WAGE WARFARE ON HER BEHALF. Use the weapons God gives you - the ministry and word of reconciliation. The devil has no authority to stop it.

"Each day," I continued, "move in against the powers of darkness that have attached themselves to your sister's mind. Drive them back with Christ's authority a day at a time. It may take several days, but keep at it, using your weapons." And then I added one further point, "Once you have captured this ground in your sister's mind from the enemy, then occupy it by a declaration of faith...telling the enemy he must not come back. Jesus told us to occupy until He comes (Luke 19:13). This will prevent re-entry by enemy forces."

Together that night, the woman and I began to take authority against the influence of Satan over her sister's mind. In Jesus' name we cast down her thoughts, the thoughts which the enemy had built up in her mind as his strongholds.
I met that woman only three weeks later. Her face was aglow. She came up to me, "Do you know what's happened to my sister?"

"I can guess," I replied.

"After I started doing spiritual warfare for her, she began to change. Within two weeks she had come to Christ in full repentance and found deliverance from drugs and alcohol. She is reunited with her husband and with the church and she has been filled with the Holy Spirit!"
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God gives certain things to us to do. H e never fails to do His part. It's we who have to be careful to remember our part. We must look at the cross and see Satan's defeat. Then we must move out on that basis to do battle as the LORD directs. Our task is not to stand about and pray for God to save those we are concerned about. He has already shed His blood to save them. Now He has given to us the word and ministry of reconciliation so we can use our weapons to save the lost. No ministry excels that of intercessory prayer.