Text: Luke 11:33-36
Summary: Sadly, there are those in the Church who are worse today than they were when they first came to faith in Christ. How did that happen? It’s because they took on a religious mindset and became vulnerable to demonic attacks. Jesus has given us His power and authority to cast out every unclean spirit from our lives. After you cast out every unclean spirit, ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit so that you can recognize Jesus as the only source of light in this world.
Luke 11
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
This is not our main text but I’d like to read from 2 Timothy 3:1.
2 Timothy 3
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
Father, we are in difficult days. This has been a difficult year. We ask for more of your Holy Spirit so that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Lord Jesus, we ask that you would reveal yourself in this moment as the only light in this world. Teach us, Lord, the spiritual battle, and the necessity of the Holy Spirit. Thank you. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen
There’s a phrase that caught my attention in this 2 Timothy passage. One phrase is having the appearance of godliness but denying its power. And the other one is going from bad to worse. I think that was from another translation. But the idea here is that of course in salvation history, things are going to go from bad to worse and we fully accept this. We understand that this is how things will unfold. We are in the final days of human history.
And I don’t know why at the beginning of 2020, I just felt in my spirit, this is going to be a difficult year. And it certainly has become a very difficult year. From COVID to fires, to lockdown to businesses being shut down permanently, to economic problems and bad air quality, and now the election season is upon us. And I don’t think it’s going to get much better. I think the next decade is going to be a rough one. We understand that things are going to go from bad to worse in a historical, current events sense. But did you know even in a believer’s life, it can go from bad to worse? It shouldn’t, but it can. Let’s turn to our main text, Luke 11:14.
Luke 11
14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.
I want to stop there first. Many people in the church do not believe in demons. Many people in God’s Church do not believe in evil personified. They believe Satan is some abstract force in the universe but they don’t believe he’s an actual being who comes at us and accuses us day and night. And demons are the stuff of Hollywood. It’s the movies. It’s not real. But here, the demon manifests. It is a mute demon causing muteness.
And I think that’s interesting, that some of the physical things that we struggle with and that we diagnose, we say, okay, this is something that there’s a drug and I’ll prescribe it to you. And we don’t even perceive a possibility that this physical manifestation is caused by an unclean spirit. In the case of this one, when it’s a mute spirit causing muteness, it’s a little more obvious what spirit we could be dealing with. But in many cases, the demonic spirit is just wreaking havoc in the background and we don’t even know what its name is. And so part of our discovery is learning what the name of this thing is that’s bothering us.
Luke 11
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven. 17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil. 23 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Return of an Unclean Spirit 24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
That last phrase again reminds me of 2 Timothy 3, that in human society, in world history, things are going to go from bad to worse. And did you know even in a believer’s life, maybe it’s not happening to anybody here, but in a believer’s life, it can happen that things go from bad to worse? Because here He’s talking about a believer in Luke 11:24-26. An unclean spirit was cast out of this person. This is a believer. This is someone who came to faith in the Lord Jesus, how else could an unclean spirit leave?
But the problem is this person did not fill up with the right Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and did not get introduced to Jesus more than that initial moment. And for the rest of that person’s life, he did not get filled with the Holy Spirit. He did not continue to pursue a relationship with Jesus, and instead just simply put his house in order and swept it clean. And so he took a religious approach to a very personal Christian journey.
This person had an unclean spirit. His house was empty and put in order. But then, seven other spirits, eight in total, came in and these seven other spirits are more evil than the original unclean spirit. So the state of this person went from bad to worse. We’re talking about a believer here, a believer who was not taught properly what Christian life is. It is not a religion. It is not just putting your life in order and dealing with your issues. Attending small groups, dealing with your addictions and sharing it, and just struggling with the same things. It’s going from bad to worse.
I just want to ask you a very sobering question. Before you met Jesus until now, are you better, or are you worse? Before you met Jesus, you were in darkness, there were unclean spirits in you. Maybe one, maybe multiple. From that point until now, are you in a better state, or are you in a worse state? If you’re in a worse state, I want to tell you that your approach to Christianity has been wrong. And you need to relearn what it means to be a Christian.
Christians are not religious people who have their doctrine in order and who attend things. Who through their willpower are trying to overcome issues, addictions, problems, and their inner character flaws. And working at these and just failing, again and again, getting frustrated, but just sweeping it under the rug of religion. That’s not how the Christian life was supposed to be.
Spiritual battle comes on many fronts. And the first one is so obvious. It is demonic activity. One possibility of why you are struggling with the same issue over and over is that you’re just blind to it. So you’re not dealing with it, that’s one possibility. You don’t see it, but I think in many cases we know what our issues are. We know we’re judgmental, we know that we struggle with lust, we know that we’re overcome with condemnation and guilt, and we repent of these things. We bring these to the Lord but it doesn’t change.
Is it because our prayers are wrong? No, that’s not the issue. It’s not about getting our prayers right. It’s not a religious mindset. So what is happening here? When you have correctly identified the issue, you’ve diagnosed your problem, and you’re praying about these things, but nothing is happening and actually, things are getting worse, when that is happening, I want to suggest to you, you’re dealing with an unclean spirit.
When there’s an issue and you’ve been struggling with it for years and decades and you’re repenting about it, you’re bringing to the Lord, but nothing changes, I want to suggest it is because you’re dealing with an unclean spirit, and your approach has to be different. When you’re dealing with an unclean spirit, you need to have the authority of Jesus Christ, the power of Jesus Christ and you need to name the spirit and cast it out of your life. That is how you deal with it. It’s not because you haven’t repented about it, you tried that for decades, it’s not working. You have to receive power and authority from on high, the authority of Jesus, the power that Jesus gives, the empowerment of His Spirit, and you need to cast that spirit and kick him out of your life.
Luke 10 talks about the sending of the 72, and they returned rejoicing that the demons were subject to them in the name of Jesus Christ. And Jesus, remember we covered this, He says don’t rejoice in your successful ministry, but rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven. But Jesus gives an interesting verse in Luke 10:19.
Luke 10
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
Did you know that this authority has to be given to you by Jesus Christ? And if you ask for it, as it says in Matthew 28 when Jesus was about to ascend into heaven, He says, all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. He’s giving His authority to the disciples and based on the authority of Jesus Christ and the power that Jesus gives, now we can do things that Jesus Himself did, namely casting out demons in Jesus’s Name.
So what do we do when we recognize demonic activity? You have to know that Jesus has authority and power, and you have to ask for it. You have to ask for it. You can’t just do it. You can’t just go to a counselor and expect that a counselor can do it. No, that counselor has no authority and power, unless they are a believer and they asked before the session for power and authority for you to deal with these persistent sins that you are acutely aware of. You just can’t free yourself from these shackles. It’s a clue that you’re dealing with an unclean spirit.
If you’re dealing with lust, it’s a spirit of lust, because you repented of your lust a million times but it’s not going away, you need to pray against the spirit of lust. If you feel condemned and you’re under a weight of guilt and condemnation, and you’re aware of it. You’ve asked for prayers, you pray a million times about it, but it’s not going away, you need to receive power and authority and kick that spirit out of your life.
If you’re depressed and there’s a cloud over you, like a wet blanket that’s laying upon you, you can’t deal with it through human means. You need power and authority from on high, and you should kick it out of your life. Because He says it right here. He tells us this is how you deal with it. So we need to recognize that Jesus has power and authority. Ask Him for it. Second, you need to ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit, and recognize that Jesus is the only source of light in this world.
This whole chapter, Luke 11, is dealing with light and darkness. Unclean spirits versus a true clean Holy Spirit. We’re dealing with falsehood or false religion and the truth, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Luke 11 draws clear polarizations with a line in the sand. And Jesus is saying, whose side are you on? Are you on Team Jesus, or are you still on the devil’s side in darkness? The spiritual battle comes in the form of demonic activity. It also comes in the form of organized religion.
Luke 11
53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.
We are in an age where Satan is no longer in the shadows. He is right out in the open. And one of the ways he’s trapping the disciples of Jesus Christ is that he’s provoking us. He’s provoking us to say things that we should not say. He’s asking for your opinion on an issue that’s a hot issue, and he wants to catch you. Jesus must have many times been provoked to say something and he remained silent.
And I want to suggest to you that in the days that we’re living in, be very slow to speak, be very slow to give your opinion on a political issue, be very slow. Satan wants to catch you, the same way that these scribes and Pharisees did with organized religion. They want to catch the true disciples of Jesus Christ. They want to persecute you, they want to slander you, they want to ridicule you, they want to hate on you, they want to call you a bigot, a racist. Whatever Satan’s strategy is, he wants to catch you in your own words, and it’s through your own words that you will be ensnared by the trap of the enemy.
And so the wisdom from God in the days that we’re in, and it is difficult times that we’re in, we need to be slow to speak. Organized religion wants you to speak and those who are the spokespeople of organized religion, they always have a line. They always have a press statement, they always have something that their denomination or their church is glad to stand behind because they are the gatekeepers of organized religion. CNN and all the news media, they know who to go to. They know who to tap for a quote, but the true disciple of Jesus Christ, we know the trap of the enemy.
We’re not going to be deceived. We’re not going to be provoked into saying something we should not say. Did you know even in Jude, where Archangel Michael and the devil were in a dispute, Archangel Michael is contending with the devil about the body of Moses, and we know who is right. We know who is on the side of truth. We know who is the liar and who’s telling the truth. Of course, Michael is telling the truth.
But the Archangel teaches us what to do when you’re in a dispute with someone who is lying, with someone whose only goal is to test you. When someone is trying to trap you in your words, when they’re trying to provoke you to say something that you shouldn’t say, the angel says, the Lord rebuke you. That’s all you need to do. You don’t even need to say that out loud. You just need to say it in your spirit. When somebody is trying to catch you in your words, in your spirit, you just pray for that person. You say, the Lord rebuke you, and you walk away. That’s what we need to do in 2020 and in the years beyond.
Spiritual attack is coming from demonic activity. It’s coming from organized religion, and it’s coming from worldly people asking for a sign.
Luke 11
15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,” 16 while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.
Some people are just not interested in salvation. They’re not interested in the person of Jesus, they just want to test Him. They want to test Him by asking for a sign, and Jesus sees right through it. Jesus talks about it further in Luke 11:29.
Luke 11
29 When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.
Jesus is saying to them that they are an evil generation who asks for a sign. They are worldly people who think Jesus is a magician. Jesus is a circus show to them. Just give us a sign. They’re not interested in salvation. Their hearts are hard as stone, and they’re trying to test Jesus and provoke Him. They are trying to get Him to do magic tricks for them and for their entertainment. They’re not interested in anything spiritual.
Jesus is saying to them, you already had Jonah. Jonah was a sign and all of Nineveh repented not because Jonah was such a great preacher. In fact, he was a horrible preacher, a terrible prophet, probably one of the worst in Scripture. And yet, God had mercy on him and spared him and allowed the fish to vomit him out. And because Jonah showed up with perhaps shriveled, pale skin, there was something so evident to the people of Nineveh as they watched him preach, they knew something miraculous had happened, that God had delivered him. And because of that, Jonah preached and the whole city repented, including the king of Nineveh.
And Jesus is saying, that sign was already given, I am the new sign. There will be no more signs. I am greater than Jonah. Do not look to a sign. Do not look to men. Do not compare me to other signs that have been done before. Jesus is saying, I am it. I am it. You think Solomon was so impressive because, in his day, he had so much wisdom that the queen of the South came from the ends of the earth and had an audience with Solomon, and said, give me your wisdom. I want to learn from you.
It’s like elevating Jonah. It’s like elevating Solomon. But Jesus says, no more elevation of people. I am it. I am the last sign you will receive. And if you don’t repent at my preaching, which far surpasses Jonah’s, if you don’t repent because I have wisdom that infinitely surpasses Solomon, then there will be no more signs for you. These are just worldly people asking for a sign. And the clearest one is actually in v.27.
Luke 11
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you.”
See, this is the elevation of Jesus’s mother, Mary. And there is an entire world religion that elevates Mary. And Jesus says, blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. He is saying, do not exalt people. I’ve given you enough signs. You’ve seen enough miracles. I’ve sent you enough prophets, I am it. I am it. Listen to my words. Listen to my preaching. See what I will do when I die on a cross and resurrect from the dead. That is the last sign I will give to you and it is sufficient for those who are truly humble.
Going back to the section about the unclean spirit. I think more people in God’s church are dealing with what Jesus talked about here in Luke 11:24-26 than we realize. I’m not saying you didn’t have a genuine encounter at some point in your life. And because people start going from bad to worse, they start questioning it all. They say, did I ever meet Jesus? Should I get baptized again? And they get baptized again. And then again they go from bad to worse, and they wonder, did I meet Jesus? I should get baptized again.
And it’s just a vicious cycle and they don’t understand what’s happening on a spiritual level. It’s not that you didn’t have real encounters, maybe you had multiple encounters, but from that day forward, what did you do? Did you fill up with the Holy Spirit? Or did you leave your house empty and you just swept it clean and kept it orderly? Did you just live by rules and doctrines? That is a recipe for how to go from bad to worse.
So if you recognize that this is you, first you need to ask for the authority of Jesus Christ. The authority means it is delegated power to act on behalf of the authority. You’re praying as if Jesus was praying for you in the room because He’s there. You’re asking for power and authority. You can pray this for somebody else. You can pray this for yourself. Ask for power and authority.
Whatever sins that you’ve been struggling with, these could be unclean spirits. Name them and cast them out in the authority of Jesus Christ. Not only do you have His authority, but you also have His power. This is supernatural power. This is not a Bible study reading and hoping that something will happen after the Bible study ends. No, this is aggressively attacking the gates of Hades with the power of the Lord Jesus and releasing yourself from his grasp.
Luke 11
21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; 22 but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.
I struggled with this verse for the last couple of weeks. I just couldn’t understand it. Finally, I think the Lord has given me some understanding. On one level, before we met Jesus we were in a different kingdom. We just have to recognize we were a slave of sin, we were in the kingdom of darkness and Satan ruled over us. He was our master and we had no choice but to obey our master.
One way to interpret this is, Satan is the strong man, and the spoils were all of us before we met Jesus Christ. But Jesus is the stronger man, and Jesus came and He set captives free. He brought us out from the kingdom of darkness, brought us into the kingdom of light, and this is a transfer and an ushering in of a new kingdom, and now we’re a kingdom citizen. That’s one way to read it.
I think there’s more here though. Another way to read it in light of these verses about the unclean spirit, a house swept in order and more unclean spirits coming in, is that you can be a “strong man” in your own mind as a religious person who met Jesus. And you trust in your own armor, which is your religiosity, your doctrine, your small group, the church you’re affiliated with, your denomination.
And you think you’re so strong but Satan sees that you’re no longer filled with the Holy Spirit as you were at the moment of salvation, that you’re no longer seeking Jesus as your shield of faith and as a real person. You rely on your armor, which is something other than Jesus Christ, Satan sees it and he sends even more demonic spirits because they are stronger than you when you are left by yourself apart from Jesus Christ and apart from His Spirit.
So I think both are possible. Satan overcome by Jesus who is stronger, and we are captives set free. But also a religious person who trusts in his religiosity, and Satan who is stronger than us on our own comes in with seven other unclean spirits, and he captures us again and we go from bad to worse. I think both interpretations are valid. It’s both in two different directions.
First, you ask for authority and power from Jesus Christ. You ask for the filling of His Spirit for power. Next, you identify what spirits you’re dealing with. You have to name them. You have to identify them. And if you look at the sin that you’ve been struggling with, those are the names. If you’re struggling with a religious mindset, you think, that saves me, that protects me, that’s my armor, that is a spirit of religion and that one is a huge one. That one is like an open door to your soul, and many unclean spirits come in.
I think the most wicked people are religious people on the face of the earth. There are many wicked, secular pagans, atheists in this world, but I think the most wicked, because of this principle, are religious people. If you’re struggling with lust and you repented of it a million times, I want to suggest to you, you could be dealing with a spirit of lust. You need to deal with it spiritually, you need to cast it out in Jesus Name.
If you’re dealing with a spirit of performance or legalism or condemnation or perfectionism or depression, whatever thing that’s been weighing on you like a wet blanket for years or decades, there is no solution other than Jesus Christ. Pharmaceutical drugs will not cure you. A counselor will not help you. It is only the power of Jesus Christ. There are other things that perhaps counselors can help, some drugs might be helpful in rare circumstances, very small things. But when you’re dealing with things of your mind and your soul, your emotions, Jesus is your only answer. I’m convinced of that. Jesus is your only answer.
Even this person in the Bible, the child suffering from epilepsy. We think, okay this is just a physical thing, just give it a drug, just keep the seizures at bay. No, Jesus says clearly, anything that deals with your brain and neurological things that are acting out, I think there could be a great possibility you’re dealing with an unclean spirit. Maybe there are other triggers that open the door, but in the end, the state that you’re in is because of an unclean spirit I think many times.
So you ask for the power and authority of Jesus Christ. You identify the name of the spirit. You cast it out. And then from that day forward, you ask for the filling of the true Spirit. Your house has to be filled. Your house has to be filled. It cannot be empty. So many people are walking around as shells of a person, just empty shells. That’s why they’re just noncommittal, no conviction, just floating through life. I’m interested in this, tomorrow I’m going to switch, and switch parties. I think I’m this party next week, and there is just no conviction and they are blown by the wind like an empty self. There’s no anchor. A shell, a form of godliness, there’s no power behind it because that person is not filled with the true Spirit of God.
I’ve been talking about the true function of the Holy Spirit. Yes, there is ministry to be done, casting of spirits is part of it. Yes, it is walking the way Jesus walked, but there’s actually a step that comes prior. The filling of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit’s main ministry is a spotlight ministry. He does not point to Himself to gather glory for Himself. The Holy Spirit is so humble, that He wants to glorify the Son, Jesus Christ.
And so if you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, then your attention, your gaze is upon Jesus Christ. That is a sign of someone who is Spirit-filled. They can’t stop talking about Jesus. All their life is about Jesus. Jesus is the love of their life. It’s not doctrine. They’re not glorifying in knowing the Bible well. Their confidence is not in their doctrine, and their Bible knowledge, and how many years they’ve been a minister, they don’t take pride in this or confidence in this. Their confidence is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Jesus is the only light in this world. Holy Spirit will convict you of that truth that without Jesus Christ, you are in utter darkness. You could start with a moment of light, like Apostle Paul, with a flash of light. That is how our conversion was like, it was a flash of light, but if that’s the only thing you have, chances are you will end up like Luke 11:24-26, from bad to worse. Your Christian life is not just a flash of light. You are following the Light every single day. Your whole body is full of light. That’s the verse I want to end with.
Luke 11
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”
Jesus makes an obvious reference to light. You don’t put it in the basement or in a cellar. You don’t hide it under a basket. You don’t hide the light. The light is prominent, it lights up the room. It is the same with our eyes. It depends on what we look at. If you look at dark things, you will be dark. If you look at the news, which has so much darkness in it, and you consume it, you will be darkened.
If you consume Hollywood, if you consume anything that’s dark, it is a fact that not only your body but everything about you will become dark. This is another way to say from bad to worse. Christians who do not discern what my eyes look upon, do not understand this principle, that if your eyes are bad, your whole body is bad. If your eyes are darkened, how great is the darkness in you. Jesus is inviting the true believers of Jesus to look upon Him. Your eyes need to look upon Him. You need to fix your gaze upon Him, the author and perfecter of our faith. You need to look upon the light of the world.
This is the Christian journey. You’re filled with the Spirit, you look upon the Light. You’re filled with the Spirit, you look upon the Light, and you do this every single day. If you do this, Satan cannot come in, unclean spirits cannot come in, you will not go from bad to worse, you will go from good to better. That is the journey of the Christian. We’re going from good to better to best. We’re going to be looking and living just like Jesus. But the Holy Spirit fills us in order for our eyes to know who to look upon. It is the Lord Jesus. Let’s pray.
Father, I thank you for giving us this word. Lord, we want to cast out some unclean spirits. Jesus, I ask for the power and authority from on high. I pray that you fill me with the Holy Spirit. I pray that you give me discernment and give all of us discernment what spirits we’re dealing with.
I come in the power and authority of Jesus Christ, I bind and rebuke the spirit of religion. I cast you into the abyss. May the people here never fall victim to the spirit of religion again, never reducing Christianity to a bunch of rules, regulations, and doctrines. That is not the Christian journey.
I bind and rebuke the spirit of legalism and perfectionism. I cast you into the abyss. Lord, we’re not trying hard on human effort to reach a perfect standard. It is impossible, Lord. But if we put our faith in the Lord Jesus, we are perfect in your sight. We’re righteous in your sight, and you give us the power to live it out step by step. I bind and rebuke the spirit of lust that has tormented many people for many years. May this be the beginning of a day of freedom for many brothers and sisters. I pray that the Holy Spirit would come into our hearts, and we will live holy lives, and we will look upon holy things.
I bind and rebuke the spirit of depression. I cast you into the abyss. From this day forward, may we have the lightness and the peace of the Holy Spirit. I bind and rebuke the spirit of condemnation and guilt. There is no condemnation in the kingdom of God. Condemnation only comes from Satan, the accuser, the one who accuses brothers and sisters day and night. We bind and rebuke the spirit of condemnation and guilt. We cast you into the abyss never to torment our brothers and sisters again.
We pray that we would be washed clean by your blood, Lord Jesus. As we partake in your Lord’s Supper, cover us with your blood from head to toe and every cell in our body. Cleanse us with the blood of Jesus. We pray for a conscience that is cleansed. No longer seared or damaged but cleansed so that we have the ability through the prompting of the Holy Spirit with a good conscience to come to you whenever we sin. Not out of guilt, not feeling condemned, but freely approaching the throne of grace. We pray that even before we fall into sin, the healed conscience will warn us so that we don’t even go in that direction and we live holy and righteous lives. We turn from our wicked ways.
We pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit. Now that the unclean spirits are gone, we ask for the filling of the Holy Spirit so that we know who to look upon. It is not to Mary. It is not to Jonah. It is not to Solomon. It is only to Jesus. Only Jesus. No other sign will be given. No other prophet is necessary. No other pastor is necessary. Because we have Jesus Christ.
And we come to you Jesus, you are the Light of the world. In you, we see clearly that apart from you, we are in utter darkness. Help us to believe in these verses. We need you, Lord Jesus. We look upon you, not as a flash of light and years pass. We look upon you as the Light of the world today. We need you today, Lord Jesus. Thank you for giving us victory over demonic activity. Thank you for warning us of the attacks of organized religion and of all the attacks of worldly people who are trying to provoke us and catch us. Lord, help us to be discerning in these difficult days in which we live. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen
