It's important to recognise the seriousness of this subject and to ensure we are not distracted from its content by outside interference.
In
the OT and NT, and in modern life, we find certain activities release the
"curse" on people, families, areas, and nations.
The primary one has always been the worship
of false gods. This violates the
10 Commandments.
Notice, however, that GOD didn't curse them, demons did. God warned them. The final result of the curse in this area of disobedience and rebellion, after repeated warnings, was captivity.
Religious spirits are found today in such activities as Freemasonry, New Age, Occult, and fringe religious cults (eg. Scientology, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witness, Christian Science, Christadelphians). Religious spirits also rule over the alternative religions that have sprung up around the world and hold their devotees captive through false teachings (eg. Islam, Bhuddism, Judaism, Hinduism, etc).
Most of these alternatives have strong religious study and learning elements, but not Bible study. A common reaction in people who come near to God through Jesus Christ, from such backgrounds, is that their minds often go blank at the opening of the Bible. We will look at why this happens.
There is an unceasing war! Everyone is involved, whether they like it or not. But it is winnable for us!
It's very important to differentiate between the powers and the people they control / influence. This is not a personal issue. People who come to Christ from non-christian families must remember this.
The
early Church baptised converts including the following declaration, "I
renounce Satan and all his ways". They
consciously cut off any allegiance their former practices may have given the
enemy. Sadly, the
Religious deceiving spirits will encourage spirituality of all kinds, but will fight the opening, reading, studying, teaching, and discussion of the plain meaning of God's Word, the Bible. They will try to move people away from using it as a basis for discerning / judging things, to the more vague "this is how I feel about it" approach. Spirituality without defined form and content always leads to a lack of respect for God's Word.
Satan blinds people's minds to truth because truth is liberating [2 Cor 4:4-6]. Personality isn't! Even Jesus refused to use personality to attract followers and liberate them. We must recognise the importance of being taught by others. This is why the NT says so much about the benefit of being "in the sheepfold". There is spiritual safety in relationships with godly leaders and fellowship.
We are primarily dealing with battles committed Christians will face if they come from such a religious spirit background. We have the right to freedom, but that freedom isn't automatic (anymore than perfect health automatically follows salvation). This right is deliberately claimed, believed for, acted upon, and secured.
Freemasonry curses include sicknesses in the general areas of respiratory (especially asthma), allergies, food type disorders, skin problems (like eczema). Mental instability is also common (especially depression). These "flies" operate under the "Lord of the Flies" principle - they have a "right" to be present under their prevailing "Baal" controlling spirit (Freemasonry).
Flies include sicknesses, lack of control of base appetites in areas such as addictions, sexual immorality, drugs, gluttony, alcoholism, etc; fractured relationships, compulsive spending, habits, etc. Other flies cover areas of lying, fear, depression, suicidal thoughts.
This is all sin! It involves our sinful fallen nature being "anointed" by demonic power. People become driven, rather than self-controlled.
These
powers have already met their
So
there IS a place of victory,
then safety for every believer
[
There is no magic here. The job of ministry is to energise the will of every believer to determine (through "seeing"), act, and remain active for Christ. This process begins with recognition of truth - its place and authority over our lives.
Then we can present ourselves to God for protection and redevelopment as a Word-based Christian, open to the voice / guidance of the Holy Spirit, and no other religious spirit / system of belief.
Religious spirits also have ungodly influence in Christian (as in born-again) groups with heavy authority structures and which contain additional elitist and/or deviant add-on teachings that give the group its "distinctive" over and against other orthodox Christian groups. Francis MacNutt's testimony below powerfully illustrates this kind of religious bondage.
This
process is empowered by repentance.
Unrepentant son gives hereditary spirits a right of continual access.
Than can call up their assistants too.
We are challenged to "rid ourselves" of godless behaviour
that would give the enemy room to secure a hold on us
[
Some have asked, "what about my children?" I personally believe now (I didn’t always) that it's important to specifically involve any children in the renouncing process (their involvement will depend on their level of comprehension, but we should always pray the same kind of prayer over them).
Prayer of renouncing the hereditary religious bondage, then any specific practice we have participated in ourselves;
Prayer of presenting oneself before the Lord, offering oneself to God;
Prayer of submission to Christ, especially to the authority and understanding of His Word, and also to godly proven leadership.
I suggest then a prayer of this nature, "Lord, I open my mind and spirit to the Scriptures, and to the anointing that is true and not false, that brings blessing and not the curse".
The job of ministry is essentially that found in 2 Tim 2:23-26 - to assist individuals to find freedom through their own revelation of true truth!
by
Francis MacNutt - A former Roman
Catholic priest, Francis MacNutt is president of Christian Healing Ministries
Inc.,
Recently I had a fascinating experience
that taught me something new about how evil spirits relate
to some Christian groups who excessively control their members. I've known for some time that people who belong to
non-Christian cults may need deliverance. I
didn't realize, however, that some Christian groups can also unknowingly bind up
their members in a kind of demonic oppression.
I've known of Christian groups that have seemed to go too far in
demanding submission. But I thought this was simply from a well-meaning
desire on their part to guide and protect their community members-combined
with their followers' excessive need for security through an
exaggerated submission. (Do not misunderstand
me. I believe in the need for
authority and obedience. The
question is, how much is excessive?)
Then I had this encounter with a religious demon.
I had been speaking to several
hundred people over a weekend in a large Episcopal church.
After the last service, a young woman
in the music group came over and asked me for prayer.
She felt she was bound up, and that the binding was demonic. She had
given her life to the Lord, was baptized in the Spirit and had received
much healing. But something was
still wrong.
She felt oppressed and tied up. In
that setting I had little time to talk with her and even less time to minister
to her. For five minutes I commanded
"any spirit not of Jesus"
to leave her. After I prayed, her
knees buckled and she "rested" .in the spirit.
Moments later, she got up and said she felt free.
I didn't realize the implications of what had happened until
I received a letter from her last week: "From 1974 until 1984 I
was in a cult-type church. This
group practiced shepherding in the strictest way.
I questioned some things, was considered unsubmissive and was subjected to a discipline that held me
captive until your prayer released me.
"What they did was this: The pastors
and elders would summon me for counselling.
Once I was there they would tell me what was wrong with
my spirit. Then they would do some
psychic thing that pinned down my mind and forced it to take all their stuff.
After they had their say,
they would bless me and seal their counsel to my
spirit by laying on of hands. I was not
allowed to have any say and was ordered not to talk about it.
They imprisoned my spirit. Each
time they increased the bondage.
"After I left this group an Episcopal
priest prayed for me and I received an inner healing.
But I couldn't get past this restraint.
I knew something was there, but we couldn't
get at it. What your prayer
accomplished was this: The Lord went back and loosed my bound-up spirit,
ordering the guards to leave. It
felt so strange to be free, really free for the first time in years!
What made the difference was that you kept praying and binding and
casting out until it was very clear that a release had been accomplished.
"This release has touched everything
in my life. Everything!
My music has improved. My
appetite is less depraved (I was 40 kilos overweight). Self-esteem
has come back! I
am free to worship. It's like when
I first came to know Jesus and was baptized in the Spirit!"
Clearly, this woman was angry, and
I realize that if I talked to the elders of her community I would get a
different version of what happened. But
that would not negate the fact, however, that an evil spirit did take
control while she was under their authority.
My conclusion: some who come out of excessively authoritarian groups - even Christian groups - may need deliverance. Paul writes of this in Galatians 5: 1: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery."