It is obvious from the tone of the person experiencing this demonic manifestation that he is not playing games.  Yet, observe the sublime cluelessness of those who answered.   What is even sadder is what was considered the “best answer”:

 “[Y]ou need lots of prayers, find a good pastor, have him come and pray in your house. good luck, and god [sic] bless.” 

This man asked for a flashlight, but what he got was a candle with a spent wick.  I am willing to bet that this supposed expert considers himself a Christian.  Yet his answer provided no real solution to this man’s problem.  This man indeed needs prayer, but that is not all he needs.  He needs deliverance.  He needs salvation. He needs Jesus.  Jesus. That is what is missing from this response.

I’m sure the gentleman meant well, but you don’t need a pastor to find Jesus.  I found Jesus without a pastor—many do.  You may call a pastor to your house to cast out an evil spirit only to find out that he cannot.  But you can, if you know Jesus.

If you or your house are being menaced by an evil spirit, you must understand that if you are not first a Christian, you are powerless to do anything about it.   Only the mighty name of Jesus can get rid of evil spirits.  Remember that when the seventy disciples, whom Jesus sent forth to witness, returned unto Him, they told Him:

 “Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name” (Luke 10:18).

All demons are subject to the name of Jesus.  That name has power.  But it is not magic.   In order for you to use the name of Jesus with authority, you must believe in Him to Whom that name belongs.  That means you need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  You need to be saved.

Some have heard of the power of the name of Jesus to cast out evil spirits and have tried to invoke that name without really knowing Him.  The results were not at all what they had intended. 

Remember the seven sons of Sceva?  Recall that these seven men took it upon themselves to attempt to cast out a demon from a possessed man.  The Bible tells it thus:

“Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth.

“And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

“And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?

“And the man in whom the evil spirit was leapt on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:13-16). 

You see, these men did not really know Jesus.  They had no personal relationship with Him.  That is why they referred to Him as “Jesus, whom Paul preacheth.”  And because they didn’t know Jesus, the demon didn’t know them. 

Now we know that the demon knew these men.  The devil knows each and every one of us from the day of our birth until the day we shuffle off this mortal coil.  What the demon meant was he didn’t recognize their authority to command him to leave the man—because they didn’t know Jesus. 

You see if you know Jesus, then the devil knows you and recognizes your authority in the name of Jesus.  If you are walking in the Spirit, the demons know you too, because we are in a war, and a soldier always knows his enemy.  But if you are not walking in the Spirit, you are a soldier without a weapon.  You’re a civilian—an impotent civilian—and may end up collateral damage, like the sons of Sceva. 

Just saying the name of Jesus without knowing Him is like the couple that crashed the Presidential ball.  You may look the part, you may dress the part, you may know all the words, but unless you have an invite, you are persona non grata.  And you will find yourself on the pavement. 

There are plenty of pastors and evangelists who claim to be able to cast out demons, heal the sick, even raise the dead to life, but at the end of the day, most of these charlatans are in the devil’s back pocket.  Satan will allow an unbeliever or an apostate minister to “cast out” a demon if it will gain him a convert or divert someone seeking the true Light to a false prophet with a counterfeit gospel.  In reality, since it was Satan who afflicted the person with the demon in the first place, he can cause the demon to leave the person.  But the person will just end up with something else—maybe something even worse.  

Why?  Because Isaiah Chapter 14 says that Satan does not open the house of his prisoners.  In other words, once he has you, he will not set you free—unless he is commanded to do so by the Lord Jesus.  So, while it may appear the demon has left the person (and it may have), rest assured the person is still in bondage.  Perhaps Satan only exchanged one demon for another, or commanded the demon to behave differently, or perhaps the person was possessed by many spirits, and Satan only commanded one to leave (recall the Gadarene demoniac, who was possessed by over 2000 spirits).  This is why many who have been “healed” or supposedly had a demon cast out of them manifest other problems: some much worse than the original. 

Only the mighty name of Jesus permanently casts out demons.  And then only if the person invoking that name really knows Jesus, not just knows of Him.  And rest assured the power is in the name of Jesus, not in you.  Do not presume to go against the powers of darkness in your own strength.  I have a personal testimony of what can happen when one attempts to wage spiritual warfare in one’s own strength. 

You may be familiar with my testimony regarding my struggles with the powers of darkness as outlined in Chronology of Joy, and that I am often attacked with electro-magnetic weapons by the Light Workers who follow the Prince of Darkness.   

Well, one night I was attacked so fiercely I was unable to sleep.  At about one o’clock in the morning, after almost three hours of trying to go to sleep, I donned my clothing and went out on the sidewalk to preach the Gospel to my neighbors, as all of them are involved in persecuting me.  One of the neighbors came out and cursed me for about ten minutes, before going back in the house.  About twenty minutes later, he came back out and tried a more subtle approach.  With a broad smile, He walked up to me and offered me a Roman Catholic “saint” card. 

Understand that the Bible says behind every idol is a demon (1 Corinthians 10:19-20).  Roman Catholics, as you may know, worship and venerate dead “saints,” which qualifies them as idols.  The “saint” on this card then, was actually a demon.  My neighbor was trying to curse me. 

I rejected the card, telling the neighbor that this card was not Christian.  At that he hunched down in the most peculiar manner and began to hiss and curse me.  For the first time in the three years I have known him, I looked into the eyes of the demon that possesses this man.  I was not afraid, but I tell you, I was stone-cold sober.  This was the first time this has ever happened to me.  Though I have dealt on many occasions with people who were possessed, and have even cast out a demon from a possessed person, until this night, I had never looked directly into the eyes of one.  

At this, I commanded the demon to be silent, as the man was hissing and cursing me in the most infernal manner imaginable.  Now this is where it got interesting.  If the man had not been possessed, he would have said anything except what he did say; he might have even laughed.  But at my command he yelled, “NO!” as he backed up towards his house.  I immediately realized my error: I  had forgotten to command the demon in the name of Jesus.  He realized this because he began to retreat to his own house.  He didn’t want to wait around to be cast out.

Though I was greatly disappointed at myself for this grievous error, I later realized that God allowed it as a teaching point.  Since He had already shown me the power in Jesus’ name, He took this opportunity to show me the complete absence of power when we fail to call on Him.  We must never presume to engage in spiritual warfare in our own strength.  It is the mighty name of Jesus that gives us power over the devils.   We must never forget that. 

The name of Jesus has power.  At His name all infernal spirits must submit.  But only those who know and obey Him have the privilege of using that name.  

If you are a born-again Christian, who “keeps it under the blood”; in other words, you are walking in the will of God and striving to be obedient to his Word, know that you have the ability to wage spiritual warfare in the name of Jesus: that includes casting out spirits from the possessed.  If you have family members who are oppressed of the devil with illnesses such as epilepsy, depression, or bipolar disorder, you can cast out the demons that are causing those problems in the authority of Jesus Christ.  But you have to know Him.  

It is not enough, however, to just know Him.  We must also obey Him.  We must make sure that we are glorifying the Lord Jesus in our lives.  We must sanctify ourselves and eschew sin; and when we do sin, we need to confess that sin immediately, before we forget.  

Unconfessed sin is the number one reason besides unholy living and disobedience that weakens a Christian and makes him unfit for spiritual warfare.  Unconfessed sin includes generational sin.  We must, therefore, avoid sin and confess those sins that we do commit.  

If you are not a Christian, but are being vexed by an evil spirit or there is a spirit tormenting your house, there is a spiritual reason for this.  Know that you will be powerless to cleanse your house of this infernal presence if you are not saved.  This is not to scare you or try to coerce you to become a Christian.  This is simply the plain truth.  

A demonic presence is an indication of great spiritual impurity or sin in a person’s life.  It may even be a curse.  You must first be delivered of your sins by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Then you will have power over the demons in the house.  It may even be that once you are saved, the demon will leave.  But the first step is salvation.  Click here to learn how you can be saved.

After repenting and praying for salvation, read our article on Generational Curses.  It may help you to understand what is going on in your life and what you need to do to fix it.

We have the power to confront the powers of darkness in the name of Jesus, but we must first know Him.  If we know Him, then the demons know us and are subject to us in the name of Jesus.

“We are of God, little children, and have overcome them (the forces of darkness).  Because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:3).

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man