Session 6 The Truth Encounter I. Understanding the Truth Encounter 1. Up to this point in our deliverance module, our focus has been on providing revelation knowledge about demonization and how it hinders the bride from arising. a) As we begin this session, once again we remind ourselves that our primary objective is to address deliverance from the perspective of preparing a pure bride for Jesus without spot or wrinkle and blameless in every way (Eph. 5:27). With this being our goal, deliverance from the spirit of Jezebel and her subsidiaries has been highlighted as an essential area of deliverance since as we stated in earlier sessions, the spirit of Jezebel is a primary tool in the hands of the enemy to seduce and oppose the bride from coming forth in fullness. b) Therefore, once again in this session as we discuss going free from all aspects of demonization we will include an emphasis on going free from the spirit of Jezebel and the tentacles with which she entwines those whom she attacks. c) Thus far in our study, we have shared a lot about demonization, the ways demons influence people, some specifics about the queen of heaven and the spirit of Jezebel, and some common entry points for both the spirit of Jezebel and demonic spirits in general. d) In this session, our emphasis will shift somewhat to preparing to go free from the spirit of Jezebel, and from all areas of demonization. The approach we will take will be to address ways we can close the doors through which the enemy has entered by applying the truth of God s word to the specific areas by which we are demonized. e) As a ministry, we have labeled this step in the process of going free as the truth encounter. 2. In ministering deliverance, we regularly use the phrase that the truth encounter must precede the power encounter. a) Over our years of learning and ministering in deliverance, we have coined a phrase that we use a lot the truth encounter must precede the power encounter. What do we mean by this phrase? b) Let s begin with the power encounter. We will devote the next session in its entirety to the power encounter, so we will only touch on it here. It is written of Jesus, When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word (Matt 8:16). Jesus moved in great power as He walked the earth performing many signs and wonders. Among His many miraculous works was the exercise of great authority to cast out demons easily and fully by simply voicing a word. As Jesus Page 1 of 14
ministered throughout Israel, demons were subjected to His authority and easily came out as He commanded. c) His victorious work culminated in the cross with His death, burial, and resurrection. In His doing so, He defeated the devil and disarmed every demon spirit such that the devil and his hordes of demons are all subject to Christ. He is the name above every name both in heaven and on the earth. d) After His resurrection, Jesus commissioned His church to carry on His ministry. Like the gospel of Mark states, "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons (Mark 16:17). He called His church to continue His deliverance ministry and He gave us powerful tools to use His blood, His name, and His Word. Utilizing these tools out of a relationship in union with Christ, we too have authority over demons and the anointing to cast them out. e) The use of the power and authority of Christ to cast out demons is what we refer to as the power encounter. Drawing from the full authority of Jesus and utilizing the power and authority of His blood, name, and word, we are called and empowered to cast out demons commanding them to leave an individual. Let me add a personal note at this point. I long for the day that an army of God s people will carry such authority that we too will be able to speak one word and demons will flee. I long for the day that the holiness of God will permeate His people in such a way that there will be no wrestling match with demons and the demons will just flee from His presence. Even though this is my desire, as I write this module, I confess that I still must often wrestle with demons to evict them from the lives of believers. f) Therefore, the approach we use incorporates the power encounter which relies upon the authority of Jesus to cast out demons. In addition, our approach employs an added dimension which we call the truth encounter. 3. The truth encounter calls on those seeking deliverance to close the doors which have been legally granted to the enemy through the application of God s truth. a) In our approach to deliverance, before employing the power of Jesus to cast out demons, we call for truth to fill a person s inner man as it relates to the specific area of demonization, and to do this as a prerequisite to the power encounter normally associated with deliverance ministries. Jesus said, and you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32, ESV). As important as the power encounter is, it is the truth that sets people free. b) This brief statement by the Lord packs a valuable message. First, truth sets you free. But not just truth we know as general information. Instead truth that is encountered sets one free. The Greek word translated know in the above passage does not mean the knowing of a fact or mental assent to a fact. It carries the meaning of experiential knowledge. Some of the shades of meaning of the Greek word translated know in this verse include concepts like Page 2 of 14
come to know, recognize, understand, and become acquainted with. Thus, know does not refer to the knowledge of a fact in our mind, but rather to a truth that has been experienced and dealt with in our inner being. c) For example, we can know from reading the Bible that we are not to have a controlling or manipulative spirit but still regularly experience these traits. We can know that we they are wrong, but do nothing to go free from these traits. In other words, we know the fact of the scriptures, but we have not struggled with the gap between what we know to be true and the experience of our life. The knowing of truth Jesus is referring to in this passage that is, the knowing that sets free--is the knowledge that comes from responding to the issue. It is knowing of truth that motivates a person to address the issues that will set free. d) Embracing the truth of God s word in this manner is what will begin the process of setting one free and is the type of truth encounter to which we refer in this session. 4. The truth encounter closes the doors that have been opened in our lives by which the enemy has been granted legal right to demonize an individual. a) Let s do a little review to help explain what is meant by the above statement. Remember Session 4 discussed many areas of demonization caused by the spirit of Jezebel. In that session, we addressed Jezebel and how that spirit leads people into witchcraft, sexual sin, control, manipulation, spiritual pride, criticism, judgment, independence, emasculation and a wide variety of areas of demonization. Session 5 then addressed eleven common entry points that lead to demonization such as described in Session 4. As we stated in Session 5, the entry points give demons legal permission to demonize a person in ways such as discussed in Session 4. Entry points include issues like habitual sin, unforgiveness, and generational sin among several others. b) The purpose of the truth encounter is to close the doors opened to the enemy through the entry points. To illustrate, let s once again go to Ephesians 4:26-27. It reads, BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. We spoke in the last session about how sin gives the devil a place to occupy; however, the passage also adds another dimension to the discussion. It tells us to quickly deal with the anger so as to keep the door closed to the enemy so that he is not allowed to occupy a place in our lives. c) As you can see from the Ephesians passage, the way we are advised to deal with the open door is to not let the sun go down on your anger. In other words, to do the opposite of what would lead to an open door to the enemy. d) When a person is demonized, the enemy has already been given legal permission to occupy a place in their inner man; however, the principle is still the same. Dealing with the truth of an issue closes the door to the enemy s legal right to be there. Obviously, the best approach is to never give the devil a place within us. But if we have already done so, then the next best solution is to close the door to the enemy by addressing the issue that permitted the enemy to occupy in the first place. Page 3 of 14
e) The door is closed by addressing the truth of the issue in an experiential way so as to close the door to the enemy. 5. The truth encounter and the power encounter work together for effective and long lasting freedom. a) Our experience has been that for effective deliverance, we need both the truth encounter and the power encounter. From our observations, some ministries focus entirely on the truth encounter ignoring the power encounter. Whereas others focus almost entirely on the power encounter. We have found that both are necessary. b) I will use this illustration to explain the need to use both the truth encounter and the power encounter. Suppose you are a landlord who owns a house that you have rented to another person. The person has signed a contract with you to pay a certain amount in rent. Time goes by and they do not pay the agreed to rent. Eventually you grow impatient with the renter and ask them to leave. You are clearly within your rights because of the legal agreement you have with them. Some renters would agree with you and leave on their own initiative; however, others would not. After patiently trying to get the resister to leave, you would eventually have to use your authority as a landlord and ask the court to evict them. This is the way the truth and power encounters work together. Once a person has dealt with the entry point that allowed the demon to enter so that there is no longer any legal right for the demon to be there and you as the one in authority over your life ask the demon to leave, it must leave, and some do exit just by you dealing with the truth of the issues you face. Even though some leave, others do not and they must be evicted through the use of the power encounter whereby you cast them out by the power of the blood and the authority of the name of Jesus and the Word of God. c) Therefore, we have come to accept a process in deliverance that draws upon truth in the inner man and the power of Jesus. d) In the remainder of this session we will address four essential truth encounters that will prepare one for a successful power encounter. II. Desire to Go Free 1. The first truth encounter is a passionate desire to go free. a) To go completely free from demonization, one must passionately desire freedom. As you glance through the gospels, you quickly notice that in most cases those who were demonized were brought to Jesus. At times the person demonized wanted to go free. In other cases, others brought the demonized to Jesus. Rarely, do we observe Jesus pursuing deliverance on behalf of someone without anyone initiating the request for deliverance. Thus, in the vast majority of the examples in the gospels, the demonized person desired deliverance. It is the same with us today. If deliverance is to be effective, there must be a deep desire a hunger--on the part of the person to be delivered. Page 4 of 14
b) I will use two examples to illustrate the difference desire makes in going free. A few years ago, we ministered deliverance on a young man who asked for deliverance. He had spoken to some people who knew that we did deliverance and based on some struggles he was having, they had suggested he come for ministry. When he came to us, he did not fully understand that his need and what we suggested was actually the casting out of demons. I am not sure he even believed he had demons. Because of his skeptical attitude although he knew my wife and I pretty well, he did not receive much deliverance. He later came back in faith and did receive significant freedom. c) In contrast, there was a lady who came to us for deliverance. Her daughter went to our church at the time and recommended it to her. For some reason, my wife and I did not have the time to do the ministry for a while. This lady was desperate. She called us repeatedly asking questions about how to prepare, about fasting for it, and requesting a multitude of details. When we finally were able to do the deliverance, it was one of the most powerful times of ministry we have ever had. She REALLY wanted it and God answered her desire with a very powerful deliverance. d) In the early days of our ministering in deliverance, we would almost beg people to let us cast demons out of them. To some degree because we enjoyed ministering deliverance and to some degree because we knew how powerful it was to help people go free from bondage. However, after many such examples of those who wanted deliverance and those who did not, we learned that desire is crucial to going free. Therefore, for effective deliverance it is critical that you desire to go free from all areas of demonization. 2. The desire for freedom must lead one to deeply embrace all facets of the truth encounter. a) There is a principle that applies to all areas of the Christian life. The deeper the death to self and sin, the greater the resurrection. b) This same principle applies to deliverance too. The truth encounter is in essence a death to self and sin that comes through repentance, forgiveness, and renouncing things in your life that are not of God. Thus, the deeper a person goes in dealing with entry points in one of these ways, the greater the deliverance. We have seen this principle play out time after time. People who take the truth encounter very seriously usually experience great freedom whereas people who just go through the motions of the truth encounter normally do not. 3. It is crucial that the truth encounter include a deep desire to go free from every snare of the spirit of Jezebel. a) Jesus message to the church at Thyatira includes these frightening words, But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of Page 5 of 14
her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds (Rev. 2:20-23). b) Note the consequences for those who tolerate the woman [spirit of] Jezebel. Thrown on a bed of sickness, great tribulation, children die of pestilence, given consequences according to their deeds. With great emphasis, Jesus called on the church at Thyatira and on us today not to tolerate the woman Jezebel. He knows our mind and heart and if we are ensnared by her and her demonic hoards. c) Over our years of ministry, we have seen these specific consequences of ignoring the spirit of Jezebel occur in family after family. We have seen Jezebel lead people into incurable chronic illness. We have seen marriages destroyed and children go deeply into the ways of the world. Our experience has been that Jesus warnings are just as true today as they were 2,000 years ago. d) We have also seen repeatedly that for virtually everyone we have ever taken through deliverance that this truth was essential. Going free from the spirit of Jezebel was crucial to their going completely free. Time after time people who have been through deliverance before with limited results have been directed to us for deliverance. As we ministered deliverance starting with the strongman which is regularly the spirit of Jezebel, we have seen them experience more freedom than ever before. e) I can t emphasize this point enough. Not tolerating Jezebel in our lives beginning with going free from demonization from this wretched spirit is extremely important. Therefore, our desire to go free from every tentacle of demonization must include an adamant desire to go free from the ruling spirit called Jezebel and every subsidiary spirit Jezebel might have led to affect you. f) Thus, in all of our desiring to go free, make sure you express to the Lord in no uncertain terms your unwavering desire to go free from the spirit of Jezebel and every other spirit under her command. 4. The scriptures reveal several important reasons to go free that should lead to a deep desire to do so. a) As we have stated before, Revelation 18:4 reads, I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues. There are several important temporal and eternal reasons to have a radical desire to come out of all agreement with the queen of heaven and the spirit of Jezebel. It would take far too much space to expand upon each point so we will merely list nine reasons to have a deep desire to go free from the spirit of Jezebel and the wide net she lays for her prey. b) The reasons include: Increased intimacy with Jesus Bridal purity and preparation Page 6 of 14
Authority before the golden altar in intercession Ability to hear God and minister prophetically without mixture Healing of divisions in marriages Healing of families Freedom from physical infirmity and chronic illness Unnecessary suffering Prepared for eternity and eternal intimacy, authority, and glory 5. Don t let any hindrance of the enemy keep you from earnestly desiring freedom at any cost. a) The devil is a liar and the father of lies. In fact, his nature is to lie (Jn. 8:44). Especially as it relates to deliverance, the enemy will lie to you so that you do not go free. He has many tools; however, he often will lead a person into unbelief to have them believe that they don t have a demon or don t need deliverance. b) In other instances, he will prompt people to allow pride to keep their issues hidden. The devil will use shame making one think that they are the only one ever to have the issue they struggle with and leading them to be embarrassed so that they want to hide their need for deliverance. c) He will lie in all sorts of ways to keep a person from desiring deliverance. We have seen this happen time after time in people to keep them from going free. In contrast, the Holy Spirit who is our Helper is referred to as the spirit of truth by the apostle John (Jn. 14:16-17). d) If we desire truth and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us, He will guide us into all truth (Jn. 16:13). Therefore, do not let the enemy deceive you or shame you into not going free. With a strong desire to go free, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into truth, in fact, into the truth encounter. III. Repentance of Sin 1. Several entry points require repentance to close the door to the enemy. a) As you look at areas of demonization, you quickly observe that many of the issues identified are connected to sin in your life either areas in which you are currently sinning or areas in which you have sinned in the past when you were involved in those practices. When sin is involved or when it has been involved in the past, the appropriate truth encounter is repentance from the sin. If the entry point is sin, repentance is what will close the door to the enemy and position you for effective deliverance. b) Let s make sure we have an understanding of repentance. The scriptures use two words as it relates to responding to sin confession and repentance. Although both are important, repentance and confession are not the same. The apostle John wrote, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn. 1:9). The word confess means "to speak the same thing", "to Page 7 of 14
assent, accord, agree with, declare, admit". i On the other hand, repent means to change one s mind or purpose always a suggesting a change for the better. ii c) My definition of repentance is to change one s mind in a way that leads to change in action away from sin toward God and His truth. Whereas confession agrees with God that the action was wrong, repentance leads to a different mindset and lifestyle. We can confess sin over and over but never change. Repentance leads to change in heart and actions. As it pertains to deliverance, repentance is necessary. 2. In the context of preparing ourselves as a bride for Jesus through deliverance, we must repent of tolerating Jezebel. a) Once again, we quote from Jesus message to the Church at Thyatira, But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols (Rev. 2:20). The sin of Thyatira was tolerating the spirit of Jezebel in their midst. Later in this message Jesus gives a promise to the one who overcomes Jezebel. In other words, the call is to repent so as to cease allowing her to run unabated in their midst. b) We must do likewise. We must begin our repentance with a time of thoroughly and completely repenting of how we have tolerated the spirit of Jezebel in our lives, our marriages, our families, and in our churches. Then we must repent of every one of her sins with which we participated in body, soul and spirit. c) To effectively close the door to Jezebel so as to be prepared as a bride, let us each one begin our repenting by repenting in a general sense for allowing Jezebel to move in our lives. Then we can move on to repenting of her specific intrusion into our lives. 3. To properly close the door to the enemy in preparation for deliverance, a person must not wink at the sin that led to the demonization but to radically turn from it. a) Like we stated in the previous section, a deep dealing with the issues will lead to deep deliverance. This certainly applies to repentance. The more deeply we repent of the sin that led to demonization, the greater the freedom from demonization that will transpire. Thus, when we speak of repentance, we are speaking of specific and thorough repentance. b) Deep and real repentance is what is required to close the door to the demonic so that deliverance can occur. In fact, it is important to make a point here. When a demon is cast out, it often will try to return (Lk. 11:24-26). If it finds the door open, it will re-enter with greater demonization than at first. Therefore, repentance is the critical approach, that is confessing the issue as sin and also turning from the sin. c) The question often arises, what if I have already repented of the sin, do I still need to do it? Technically, the answer is no; however, my normal answer is that the safest way to approach it is to repent again. This is what we encourage. Even if a person has previously Page 8 of 14
dealt with those entry points related to sin, we encourage them to do another thorough and systematic repentance. d) Although possibly not necessary, this tells the Lord and the demons that the person is serious about going free from the demons associated with the sin. IV. Forgiving Those Who Have Offended 1. Jesus told His followers to forgive or be turned over to the tormentor. a) Peter came to Jesus asking how often was he required to forgive. He asked if he should forgive up to seven times. But Jesus surprised him by saying that he should forgive up to seventy times seven. Jesus then shared a story. In it He said that if one does not forgive from the heart, he is turned over to the tormentor and that the perpetrator of the offense will be placed in prison (Mt. 18:21-35). b) There are three points to draw from this story as it relates to deliverance. First, unforgiveness is a legal entry point for the enemy that can turn a person over to the tormentor in other words legal entry to demonize. Second, the call is to forgive from the heart. In other words, to be released from the tormentor (demonic) one has to forgive, and to do it from the heart. Third, included in the act of forgiveness is the release of the offender from the consequences of the offender s actions. c) As we can see from this story, unforgiveness gives the enemy legal entry to demonize and in order to close the entry point, people must sincerely forgive from the heart and release the offender from the circumstances through which the victim has been offended. 2. Forgiveness is not a feeling but a choice to forgive the offense perpetrated against you. a) Forgiveness is not the same as forgetting. People who try to forget often find this to be impossible. Instead, forgiveness is a choice of our will. It requires us to choose to forgive. We might still remember what was done to us but forgiveness requires us to not hold the offender responsible for the offense or the consequences of it. This can be extremely difficult at times and doesn t seem fair. Even so, this is crucial to receive deliverance from certain areas of demonization. b) You might not feel like forgiving but you can do it. No matter what was done to you, you can do it because God forgave you of something even greater something that cost Him His life. People ask me a lot how to do it when they still feel bitter toward a person. My response is that even if you still feel rage, anger and bitterness, you can choose to forgive with your will. A lot of times when we choose to forgive, our emotions will eventually follow. 3. Some issues of demonization require forgiveness in order to go free. Page 9 of 14
a) Issues like rejection, trauma, prenatal issues, or abuse often lead to demonization but are not the fault of the person demonized. They are the fault of something done to the person demonized. It is situations like these that it is crucial for freedom that a person forgive. b) In the attached questionnaire, there is a place to list the names and offenses of people who have offended you or hurt or abused you. Make a list of those people and be open to the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind others that you might not have thought of. Forgive them even if you have already tried to do so in the past. But even if you don t feel like it, closing the door to the enemy requires us to make that choice the choice to forgive from the heart. c) Then be prepared to go free from the torment of those things. V. Renouncing Things Not of God 1. One of Satan s diversionary tactics is to deceive people with false alternatives to true Christianity. a) Paul wrote the following to the Colossians, See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority (Col. 2:8-10, ESV). b) The New Century Version translates the phrase according to the elemental spirits of the world as which comes from the ruling spirits of this world (Col. 2:8, NCV). c) In this passage, Paul is saying that the devil through his network of ruling principalities will attempt to deceive and seduce individuals into false thinking, false religion, and false spiritual expressions in order to blind people to the truth of true Christianity in which Christ is the head. d) All false religions and occult movements and practices come from the ruling demonic spirits of the world. False religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are all demonically inspired. Overt witchcraft is likewise of the enemy. Occult movements such as Freemasonry would also fall into this same category. The attached questionnaire has a more complete list of cults and false religions. When a person embraces any religion or movement that leads away from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ, they can easily become demonized by spirits of witchcraft (2 Cor. 11:3-4). e) Whereas involvement in the Catholic Church is not considered by most to be a false religion, because of its veneration of Mary beyond her Biblical status, involvement with the Catholic Church should also be repented of and renounced. f) Therefore, with any false religious movement, an essential step toward freedom is to renounce your previous or current involvement with any satanically inspired occultic practices or false religion. Page 10 of 14
2. Another tactic of the enemy is to deceive an individual with lies about God and how God views them. a) Jesus spoke these words about the devil, [the devil] does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me (Jn. 8:44-45). b) The enemy lies to us all the time. For many believers, the lies of the enemy bombard our minds and emotions continually. The enemy will tell people that God is not good. The devil will lie telling that one is worthless, unworthy, and a failure. The enemy will lie in all sorts of ways to keep a person beaten down and unable to live fully for God. He will tell individuals that nothing good will ever come of their life. c) When accepted, these lies can lead to spirits such as rejection, shame, unworthiness, and lying and tormenting spirits. These lies must be renounced as lies from the enemy and not according to the nature of the true God. 3. A third work of the enemy that must be renounced is generational sin. a) The scriptures tell us that under the Old Testament covenants, God will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations (Ex. 34:7). b) We know that under the New Covenant, Jesus death, burial, and resurrection redeemed us from the curse of sin, death, and the law. Therefore, God does not put generational curses on His people. However, the enemy will attempt to use generational bloodlines to pass on demons from one generation to another. c) Neil Anderson shares this in his book, The Bondage Breaker, Page 11 of 14 The last step to freedom is to renounce the sins of your ancestors and any curses which may have been placed on you The fact that demonic strongholds can be passed on from one generation to the next is well-attested by those who counsel the afflicted. iii d) We concur with the above quote. Our experience in ministering deliverance is that in many cases the primary entry point has been generational sin. We have often seen this with the spirit of Jezebel. We have ministered to people who are obviously struggling with Jezebel or one of her subsidiary spirits, and could not determine any apparent opening from their own actions. Upon questioning the person, we have often discovered that a parent or grandparent participated in the sins with which they struggled and as a result the spirits were passed on to the person to which we were ministering. e) In such instances, there was a real need to renounce all generational sin as specifically as possible.
VI. Putting the Truth Encounter into Perspective 1. As we conclude this session, an illustration will help us put the truth encounter into proper perspective. a) In Session 4, we listed nine specific areas that Jezebel manifests in an individual. They are: Sexual sin Partying, alcohol abuse, and drug use Witchcraft, the occult, and false worship Spiritual pride Control and manipulation Independence and isolation Criticism, judgment, accusation, and intimidation Emasculation of men and domination of women and children Rejection b) Then in Session 5, we identified eleven common entry points. They are: Rejection Sexual sin Involvement with the Catholic Church Involvement in witchcraft, the occult, or a false religion Generational sin Abuse committed against you Habitual sin of any sort Unforgiveness and bitterness directed from you toward another A traumatic event in your life A prenatal issue in your life An emotional or sexual soul tie with another a) Finally, in this session as we examined the truth encounter we explored four needed responses to the issues we are affected by (Session 4) and the entry points that gave them legal access to our inner being (Session 5). The four responses of the truth encounter are: 1) desire to go free, 2) repentance of sin, 3) forgiveness of offenses committed against you, and 4) renouncing of lies, generational sin, and false religions and the occult. b) As you begin to put all we have learned into practice, an illustration will help us understand how to put all of these things together to prepare for an effective deliverance. Let s use the issue of anger to illustrate. We find anger as an area of demonization under the heading of habitual sin. You check it off on your worksheet as something you want deliverance from. But you still haven t dealt with the truth encounter. Since anger is sin, the aspect of the truth encounter that you must deal with is repentance. To allow the truth encounter to position you for deliverance, you must deeply and thoroughly repent of the anger. In your Page 12 of 14
repentance, you should be specific asking the Lord for forgiveness by name of the people you have hurt by your anger. The deeper your repentance the better. This may be all you need to do; but, there may be more. You might even need to contact them to personally ask their forgiveness if they know you have been angry at them. What if the reason for the anger is that your father beat you as a child thinking that was the best way to raise a child. Or maybe your anger is from the death of your mother at childbirth. If something like this is involved, then there is a secondary entry point and that is rejection and maybe a third of unforgiveness and bitterness. In this case it would be very helpful to ask forgiveness for your anger, then to forgive your father for his mistreatment of you as a child or even your mother for dying at childbirth. Maybe anger was an issue your father and grandfather dealt with. Then in addition to the other things, you would need to renounce the generational sin of anger. c) In summary, for the most effective deliverance it is important to address every way the spirit might manifest in your life, do it through all of the possible entry points that apply and do it through responding to the appropriate truth encounter through desire, repentance, forgiveness, and/or renouncing. d) As we close this session let s share again the six-step process we use in deliverance. As it is time to get started dealing with your issues, we will repeat again here the process that we use and that we originally shared in the last session. e) The six steps are summarized as follows: i. Open your time in prayer praying protection over yourself and your family and asking the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth. ii. Looking through the list of entry points identified in this session, determine which entry points pertain to you either through issues you are currently dealing with or doors you have opened in the past. Even if you have been through deliverance for a specific entry point in the past, we encourage you to do it again as the Lord probably wants to do a deeper cleansing in your soul. iii. Use the questionnaire in Attachment A located in the back of the notes to indicate what specific issues you have been involved with now or in the past. For example, if you realize you have been rejected (the entry point), then there are a lot of issues that go hand in hand with rejection. Issues like control, manipulation, criticism, judgment, etc. this list will become the starting point for demons we should address in the power encounter. iv. Go deeper in discerning the issues through prayer for discernment of what God wants you to go free from. v. Once you have made a thorough list, next comes the truth encounter. We will explain it in the next session, but essentially the truth encounter is to counter the reason for entry into your life. For example, if the entry point is your sin, the truth encounter is to specifically, deeply, and thoroughly repent of that sin. If the Page 13 of 14
entry point is bitterness in your heart, then the truth encounter is to forgive and release the person who hurt you. If the entry point is involvement in some form of witchcraft, then the truth encounter is to renounce your involvement in that activity. vi. Finally, once you have done all of the above, you should go through the power encounter. The power encounter will be explained in Session 7, but in essence it is working with a deliverance team to evict the spirits following your removal of their legal grounds for entry into your life. You will find that some of the demons will leave as you deal with the truth issues, but normally not all of them. Some must be expelled by the power of the blood of Jesus and the authority of the name of Jesus and the Word of God. a) So, get started and go deep. By doing so, you will be prepared for the power encounter. i Confess, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers. ii Repent, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers iii Anderson, p. 205-6. Page 14 of 14