AND DEMONS

By GLENN MILLER

WORD:

Not exactly a “feel good” title this morning, is it?

Regardless of the title, I’d like to share with you a poignant revelation and what I found to be thought-provoking insight. It came across to me while Sharon and I were recently preparing to teach a 4-week course at church called “True Freedom”, based upon Pastor and best-selling author Robert Morris’ book, TRULY FREE: Breaking the Snares That

So Easily Entangle”. (Thomas Nelson, 2015). In the teaching notes, I tripped upon a quote from Dr. Jack Hayford, noted pastor, theologian, author and founder of Church on the Way in Van Nuys, CA. Pastor Jack wrote, “You cannot cast out the flesh and you can’t disciple a demon.” I pondered and meditated on those words for some time and I’d like to share with you how the Holy Spirit caused me to unpack this quote. Let’s first look at the first part, “You can’t cast out the flesh”. You and I and the rest of humanity since the Garden of Eden live in a fallen world; a world where sin and temptation abide. The term “flesh” here and in scripture refers to our carnal nature to sin in an attempt to produce our own happiness, comfort, esteem or provision. To live in the flesh is to live outside the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. Unfortunately, even the strongest Christians will find themselves at times going from one camp to the other and back again. But the redeemed and repenting Christian seeks to die to those desires and take upon themselves the robe of righteousness as we pick up our crosses and follow Jesus. We desire to cast out the flesh once and for all but we can’t. That’s what Pastor Jack means here. We can’t cast out the sinful nature of mankind BUT we can, through faith and through the power of the Holy Spirit, change our minds and TURN AWAY from our carnal desires (literally the definition of repentance) and live in His presence. The fleshly temptations do not go away; we cannot cast them out, never to be a temptation again. But through the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit walking with us, we are made stronger to resist the temptations of the flesh. The second part of the sentence is “You cannot disciple a demon”. In the New Testament, the Greek word MATHETES is used as a noun for the word disciple: student, learner, follower. A closely related word, MATHETEUO, is a verb used several times, such as when Jesus instructs his disciples to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19). Pastor Jack’s words here, framed up by this definition as a verb, implies that we cannot convert a demon into a saint. Jesus never converted demons, He removed them from people and rendered them useless against His followers. He still does that today. No matter how deep our faith is or how eloquent our prayers are, we cannot change the nature of the demon. But here comes the good news:

Although we can’t cast out the flesh and we can’t disciple a demon, we CAN, by flipping this sentence, disciple the flesh and cast out demons. By discipling the flesh, we teach and train our flesh to submit to the authority of Jesus and bind our hearts, wills, emotions, and mind to the mind of Christ. Like- wise, by casting out the demons in ourselves or in others, we cleanse our souls when we ask for and choose to be filled with the power and fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22). When we do that, we usher in the FREEDOM that Jesus wants us to have; people are set from demonic oppression. Believers, once set free, are now empowered to bring Jesus’ freedom to others. Jesus came so that all will be set free (Isaiah 61: 1-3). When we realize the meaning behind Pastor Jack’s quote, we stop trying to do things we weren’t meant to do in spiritual warfare and instead rely upon the power and perfect love of Jesus to set us free. And once free, come to the calling to help others realize this freedom.

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." - Nelson Mandela