GREETINGS beloved nation. Exodus 3:7-8, “And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.”
According to the word of God, we have discovered that deliverance was not initiated by men, it was initiated by God himself.
We see in the book of Exodus 3:8 that God himself says he has come down to deliver his people out of the hand of the Egyptians. Last time, we said Egypt speaks of the world system. He also says “and to bring them up out into a good and large land, a land flowing with milk and honey”.
We will notice that it has been the mind of God to see his people living in freedom from demonic oppression, sickness, lack and disease.
When we study in the scriptures, we will discover that certain spirits are assigned by the devil and his agencies to fight the life of a believer spiritually and physically. There are witchcraft activities that are sponsored by the kingdom of darkness to frustrate, block and limit a believer, so that the glory of God will not be seen in the life of a believer or a territory, a family, a business, or a church.
Last week, we spoke about three doors that need to be closed, so that these spirits will not find expression in the life of a believer. Remember that the enemy will only have an advantage over a believer if he has been given access through these three doors that we spoke about last week. We want to thank God for the victory that was accomplished at the cross. The Bible says if the son of man sets you free, you shall be free indeed. So, there is freedom in Christ Jesus.
Allow me to talk about three levels of deliverance that a man must go through for his total victory. When we are dealing with deliverance we discover that there is;
Stage 1:Casting out of demons/spirits
There is what we call the casting out, which is by the laying on of hands or by pronunciation etc. This is the first stage of dealing with these spirits. We will discover that the deliverance will not be complete by this one stage. Why? Because when these spirits are cast out they tend to come back to check. That’s why we see an endless casting of demons or spirits in people’s lives. Every week in church, it’s the same people and the same spirits. People end up asking themselves if Jesus cannot deliver a person because it looks like there is an endless casting out of spirits.
Matthew 12:43-45“When a defiling evil spirit is expelled from someone, it drifts along through the desert looking for an oasis, some unsuspecting soul it can bedevil. When it doesn’t find anyone, it says,
‘I’ll go back to my old haunt.’ On return, it finds the person spotlessly clean, but vacant. It then runs out and rounds up seven other spirits more evil than itself and they all move in, whooping it up. That person ends up far worse off than if he’d never gotten cleaned up in the first place.” (Message Bible)
A lot of people only know one stage of deliverance because they have seen spirits screaming, crying and coming out of a person. Let us not forget that these spirits have a certain demonic intelligence, they will be knowing that a delivered person will only be celebrating the first stage and neglecting to do the second and third stages, which we will talk about in detail next time. So, many times deliverance is a relief but not complete because the second and third levels have not been taught to the delivered person.
I have met some people saying certain spirits have been cast out in their lives, but after a month or so, the same spirits or the same behaviour manifests again. Why? Because the three levels have not been taught to the body of Christ, it looks like the devil is winning whilst he is under our feet. These spirits love empty spaces e.g. mind and places that are cold.
When we read in the scriptures, one of the signs that deliverance has been initiated well is by the speed of results that come to the delivered person. A spirit of poverty cannot be cast out of a believer and after some months or years, the person will still be the same. It’s a sign that your deliverance was not complete. Some people after their deliverance, few results manifest and the person has nothing to show for it. The scripture spoke about deliverance that when it is initiated there is a promise of a land that is good, large and full of milk and honey. In Obadiah 1:17, we see the sons of Jacob possessing their possessions. In the book of Mark 5, we see a man who had a legion of demons winning 10 cities after his deliverance.
So we cannot talk about deliverance without results showing in the life of the delivered person. The Bible says if the son of man sets you free, you shall be free indeed, underline the word ‘indeed’. That’s a tangible result.
Stage 2: Deliverance of the mind or mind transformation
Romans 12:2, Mark 5:15, Philippians 2:5
Stage 3: Discipline of conformity
This is where you need to ask God for grace to be disciplined.
If these stages are not done, your deliverance will not be complete. It is like getting an injection from the doctor and not taking the prescription of tablets that he has given you with the injection. We will discover that the doctor sometimes gives you an injection and pills.
When the injection is working, you can be deceived into thinking that it has brought healing without taking the whole course that the doctor has prescribed with that injection. It is like so with deliverance, going through the first stage and not going through the other two stages will not bring complete deliverance.
All three stages have to be done for a believer to be completely delivered.