Ask Your Preacher
Demon Posession
Monday, April 15, 2019Thank you so much for using God’s Word as a light to our paths; you have helped lots of people with the health of their souls!!! My question has to do with the ‘spirit of heaviness’ cited in Isaiah 61:3 “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified.”I have a friend that says depression is a demonic entity that attacks us; he then says the only way around it is praise to Jesus. Is there any truth to this doctrine?
Sincerely,
Friend Of Eeyore
Dear Friend Of Eeyore,
Isaiah 61 is dealing with the blessings and victory that exist in Christ’s church, and it has nothing to do with demon possession. Though it is true that focusing on our blessings and showing praise can help us when our spirits are heavy, demon possession is an entirely separate issue.
Evil spirits are real, but they were cast out and their powers greatly reduced by Christ and the apostles. Demon possession ended not long after the days of Christ. Jesus made it clear that one of His jobs was to bind the devil and take His strength away by casting out his demons (Matt 12:28-29). When Jesus’ disciples had come back from their evangelism trips and related to Him that they had cast out many demons, Jesus told them that they were defeating Satan by getting rid of Satan’s demonic minions (Lk 10:17-18). When Jesus and His disciples cast out demons, they did it permanently (Lk 8:30-33) and bound Satan by their acts. We no longer have to deal with such overt attacks by the devil because he has been bound by Christ’s sacrifice (Rev. 20:2). Demon possession no longer exists; the devil must use subtler methods to deceive us now. SB