Expert: Dr Eddy Cheong - 2/26/2010

Question
First I will say that I am a born again Christian and have an active role in my church and with helping people come to Christ. The problem I am having is that a few friends of My husbands and I (a family we know) Are labeled religious fanatics and really over the top when it comes to Spiritual warfare and demonic forces. Over this past year this family has said on a number of occassions that our small children (ages 5 and 23months old) are spiritually afflicted by the enemy and in one case had said our daughter (who is 23 months old) is being choked by a demon because she has a medical condidtion that sometimes makes her hold her breath too long when she cries. She has been diagnosed with this condition and its NOT life threatnening and only happens in 5% of children who's relfex to breath is just altered. So my question to you is...Why can I find NOTHING scriptually to back up what they are talking about? Can my family be posessed by demonic forces and can my baby have a demon choking her? I have believe this to be false and would like you help on understanding why these "so called friends and fellow christians" would even consider believeing this if there is NO scripture backing it up? Also another thing they CONSTANTLY talk about and try to always accuse our family of is generational curses. They told me my son (5years old) has ADHD because of generational curses. When They have already sat down with us quite sometime ago to pray over our family line and our kids through what has might been past down. I feel very confused and led astray from these people who really seem to be off from what I am understanding from scripture. This accusations of all these things has been going on for a while. It was only when they brought up about a demon choking my daughter I started to question the authenticity of what they are even preaching about. Please help me. These people are close in our lives and in our church and we are also having issue with the pastor on this because he is "riding the fence" as you can say. What are your feelings about oppression of a child, and generational curses and demon possesion of a born again christian? My husband and I need answers so bad...but are lacking the knowlege of scripture and support.

Answer
To answer your question briefly, I would like to mention that not all sicknesses are the result of demon oppression. However, christians can and do come under demon oppression (if their walk with God is not right). This is different from demon possession. And this is also different from "testing of one's faith" as in the case of Job. I have an article which deals with this and I have appended it below....
CAN DEMON ACTIVITY BE PRESENT IN A CHRISTIAN?
Take a look at the following verses...

Mark 1:23-26
23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,
24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-- the Holy One of God!"
25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!"
26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. (NIV)

Notice from the above verses, that Jesus cast out a demon from a man, (presumably a jew) in a synagogue. A Jew is an Old Testament believer. A Christian is a New Testament Believer. If there can be demonic activity in a Jewish Believer, why can't there be a fairly similar kind of activity (although short of actual possession) in a Christian Believer?
Notice also in verse 25, that the Lord commanded the demon to be quiet. In other words, He did not accept the testimony of the man "possessed" by the evil spirit (even though it may be true). In like manner, we must also not readily accept the testimony of any christian with evidence of demonic activity.

Coming back to the question of christians having demonic activity, wasn't it the Lord himself who said that one of his disciples had evidence of such activity?

John 6:70-71
70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a DEVIL"
71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.) (NIV) Emphasis Mine.

Judas Iscariot was one of the twelve chosen apostles (personally chosen by our Lord). If the seventy-two disciples in Luke Chapter 10 verse 17 had their names written in heaven, it would be logical to assume that Judas Iscariot also had his name written in heaven (at least initially.)

Luke 10:17
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." (NIV)

Luke 10:20
20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (NIV)

Judas Iscariot, like the other eleven disciples, was commissoned to preach the good news to the unsaved. It would be inconceivable for an "unsaved" man to preach the gospel to other unsaved men......

Luke 9:1-2
1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,
2 and he sent them out to PREACH THE KINGDOM OF GOD and to heal the sick. (NIV) Emphasis Mine

Later on you will find that Judas fell from grace BUT [this was] a result of his own wrong-doing....

John 12:4-6
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,
5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages."
6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. (NIV)

Matt 26:14-16
14 Then one of the Twelve-- the one called Judas Iscariot-- went to the chief priests
15 and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.
16 From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. (NIV)

The Bible says that the Love of Money is a root of all kinds of evil and causes SOME TO WANDER FROM THE FAITH. Judas was one of them.

1 Tim 6:10
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (NIV)

Judas willingly allowed himself to be the subject of demonic activity and in so doing breached the hedge of God's protective covering....

Eccl 10:8
8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him. (KJV)

Satan himself personally entered Judas Iscariot towards the end. Temporary demonic activity if allowed to continue can result in a permanent state of affliction!

John 13:27
27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. "What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him, (NIV)

Howling, eerie and hysterical laughter, barking like dogs and roaring like lions are evidence of demonic activity in believers. These are temporary phenomena because the demonic activities occur in their physical bodies and in their souls for a period only. Demons do not tamper with your free wills. Even Legion, who probably had thousands of demons, had the free will to desire deliverance and salvation from our Lord (Mark 5:1-15).

"...within the professing christian church at least as many people need deliverance from evil spirits as need healing from sickness and that's about eighty per cent." Transcribed from Derek Prince's audio entitled `How Jesus dealt with demons'.

The word "possessed" [by demons] is probably not so appropriate when applied to christians. The Greek word actually means "to be demonised", that is to be in some way or another under the influence or attack or control of the enemy (Adapted from Derek Prince's audio entitled "Nature of Demons").

Here are some examples from Apostle Paul's teachings...

2 Cor 11:3-4
3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was DECEIVED by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you RECEIVE A DIFFERENT SPIRIT FROM THE ONE YOU RECEIVED, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (NIV) Emphasis Mine

Eph 4:27
27 and do not give the devil a foothold. (NIV)

Notice from the 2 Cor 11 verse 4 that a christian can receive a diffrent spirit [a spirit other than the Holy Spirit]. Verse 3 says that DECEPTION opens the door for the wrong spirit to "afflict" the believer. Ephesians Chapter 4 verse 27 speaks of the devil gaining a foothold in the believer. When a wrong spirit `takes hold' of a believer he begins to want to control more and more areas of his life.

Gal 3:1
1 You foolish Galatians! Who has BEWITCHED you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. (NIV) Emphasis Mine

Notice that the Galatians who were christians were "BEWITCHED".
Nelson's Bible Dictionary defines [to] "bewitch" as follows:

BEWITCH
To hypnotize, charm, charm or cast an evil spell.....
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

To be "bewitched" therefore is to be under the influence or power of an evil spirit.

BE WARY, CHRISTIANS CAN BE DECEIVED AND CAN DEFINITELY BE DEMONISED. THE LAUGHTER SPIRIT IS ONLY ONE OF THE SPIRITS THAT BEWITCHES A CHRISTIAN.

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