Casting Out Demons the Way Jesus Did
Discernment is necessary to properly and completely deliver a person from demonic manifestation. In deliverance ministry, we must go further and deeper than a mere rebuking of demons, renunciation of sins, and repetitive prayers we speak out loud legalistically after a deliverance minister. I have witnessed countless people coming into my ministry for deliverance who did not receive the freedom they desired in previous ministries because they were forced to sit in a chair for eight hours repeating prayers of renunciation and repentance without any demons ever being cast out.
If we do not cast out the demon as Jesus did, the person’s problem will simply be masked for a little while. The demon will eventually manifest again because it was never actually cast out. An example: a person can give up smoking on his or her own; however, unless the spirits of nicotine, tar, smoking, tobacco, and addiction are cast out, the person will often revert and start smoking again. We need to go deep in deliverance ministry and get out all the demons associated with the trauma, emotional ailment, or physical affliction a person is suffering.In order to go deep and show you all the hidden things attached to a person’s condition, let’s study the Scriptures. In Mark 5 is the man with a legion of demons. I believe this is one of the best chapters in the Bible to explain all the spirits that can be in a person. Jesus’ ministry was one of deliverance. When we study the Gospels, we discover that Jesus did healing and deliverance hand in hand and that He often cast out demons. Deliverance was Jesus’ first ministry upon entering His calling. When we look at Mark 5, Jesus had just arrived at the other side of the sea after being in the storm where He rebuked the wind and spoke to the sea. He arrives at the other side, in the country of the Gadarenes.
Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit (Mark 5:1-2).
Immediately upon Jesus entering His ministry, He was faced with the demonic spirits. There are many churches and ministries who do not want to expose and confront the powers of darkness, yet this was the very ministry Jesus came to do. He was not afraid of the demonic and neither should we be afraid. He did not brush it under the table, say it was someone else’s responsibility, and He wasn’t afraid to offend others by releasing people from their captivity through expelling demons.Jesus was confronted by the demonic immediately. This man had an unclean spirit. This was one of his strongmen. The Bible lists the spirit name here, so it is evident it is an unclean spirit. However, all spirits are not that easily identifiable. In deliverance ministry, we have to make sure we go deep and not simply cast out what is evident. We must also spend time in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what is in a person that is not seen.
Unclean Spirit Defined
An unclean spirit is defined as anything that is contrary to God’s Word and something we are not supposed to do. An unclean spirit is not solely a sexual spirit, such as lust, perversion, rape, incest, masturbation, or homosexuality. Unclean spirits can be anything and everything that builds a stronghold in our lives.
Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains (Mark 5:3).This man who approached Jesus dwelled among the tombs; although tombs were burial grounds, the people who dwelled there could be compared to those living in a prison. The tombs were inhabited by the impoverished, insane, and criminals. When we analyze those three things, there was a lot taking place here that would not always be apparent. We could relate these tombs to our modern-day prisons and the events that take place by being locked up and with other people who sin.No one could bind this man because they didn’t know their authority and because of his strength. A demon, when operating in full power, can release supernatural strength through any person, even a child. If you are going to be moving forward in deliverance ministry, knowing your authority is imperative. The book of Ephesians is a great place to start learning about your authority. (I have a teaching video on my YouTube channel @Kathy DeGraw, and my ministry sells a great book entitled Destined for Dominion by A.L. Gill. I encourage you to check out all of these resources to discover your authority so you can bind, restrict, and cast out demons.)
Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him (Mark 5:4).
The man was bound, tied, and confined. He had been trying to pull the chains and shackles apart or off of himself or trying to get loose. He was probably very agitated and restless. Now transitioning from the natural to the spiritual, what do you see? This man was definitely tormented and traumatized, which are demonic spirit names. He was agitated, pulling apart the chains trying to get loose.
Tormented and Violent
When studied in detail, we discover that he had spirits of rage, anger, and violence because no one could tame him, and he is trying to get loose. Even agitation and restlessness can be demonic spirits. He probably had a victim, defeated mentality from being in this situation and the situation that got him there. When we look at this man therefore just in this one verse, he had demonic spirits of torment, trauma, agitation, restlessness, anger, violence, rage, and defeat. Therefore, when casting out spirits, we cannot be so quick to assume or overlook what is really planted deep or the root cause of all else that is manifesting.
And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones (Mark 5:5).
This man was in the tombs with other people. It says day and night he was crying out. It was constant torment for this man to be living there with other criminals. His mind was not right, he was either insane or had some mental disorder. Obviously, this would bring on a spirit of torment and confusion. He was constantly crying out in torment. That is not so different from a lot of people today. People are tormented. They may not be screaming out physically, but internally they are screaming and bound in their torment. That is why the church must start embracing the ministry of deliverance in order to help bring people to freedom and peace who are consistently being tormented by their past and the powers of darkness.
We are doing people a disservice when we sweep deliverance ministry under the rug instead of embracing the very ministry Jesus came to set us free from. People are on medications for bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, and other mental disorders. Even people not on medications for mind-altering conditions are tormented by their past abuse, mistakes, and accidents that have happened. We must start exposing the ministry of deliverance to the forefront to equip people for the Kingdom ministry that is necessary for the end-time harvest.He was in the tombs day and night. Because this man was up day and night, he had spirits of torment, insomnia, restlessness, and anxiousness. Therefore, now there were additional spirits to cast out. So, there was not just anger, violence, and other spirits that we considered at the beginning of the chapter, now there are additional issues as we hear more of the story. This parallels to present-day deliverance ministry. As we minister to a person and receive Holy Spirit discernment or natural insight from their situation, we will discover there are more demonic spirits to cast out.This man was also cutting himself with stones. I can imagine with everything that was going on and being tormented, this man just wanted to die. He, in his torment, cuts himself with stones. The physical pain by “cutters” in our world in their view is a way to mask the emotional pain they are experiencing. In their view, cutters and other hurting people in our society sometimes believe that suicide is an easier way out of their misery.This man was cutting, tormented, and could have been trying to end his life. Even if he wasn’t trying to end his life by thrashing around, cutting, and using all his strength trying to break free, I am sure the devil was trying to take him out and end his life. When we look at the demonic spirits he was manifesting, we would find and need to cast out torment, suicide, death, mutilation, cutting, and probably depression, because with all he was going through, I’m sure depression was manifesting.
When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me” (Mark 5:6-7).
I like how the Modern English Version states this verse. Instead of the demonic man worshipping Him, it says he kneeled before Him. I think this is a perfect example of how demonic spirits have to kneel before and bow at the name of Jesus. They ultimately are in submission to Him.
The Authority of Jesus
This man (spirit) knelt before the Son of God and cried out with a loud voice, with desperation, but he was also paranoid. This man begged not to be tormented. Here is a prime example that the demons knew who Jesus was from the authority that He walked in. And demons can also know who you are by the authority you will walk in; the same authority that Jesus Christ walked in. The demons knew Jesus had the power to cast them out and do whatever He wanted with them. So here the demon is pleading with Jesus not to torment him. For this reason, we do not need to fear the demonic, but the demonic should fear the Spirit of God inside us.
For He [Jesus] said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” (Mark 5:8).
Here Jesus addresses the strongman who is the unclean spirit and commands it to come out. Jesus was in the business of casting out spirits. Jesus did not say come off, stop hindering him, or get away from him. Jesus called it like it was and cast the spirit out. When we search further Scriptures, we can find that Jesus always casts out the spirits, which is also proof that they can invade our soul and live inside us.“Come out” means to emerge, make known, or come into the light. Coming into the light is exactly what Jesus is doing. He is taking out the darkness and exposing it into His light. The demon through deliverance is being made known and emerging out of a physical being. Deliverance is a miracle when we are taking a demonic entity and casting it out of our soul and physical bodies. We need more of these miracles to manifest in the body of Christ to bring forth spiritual healing and wholeness.
An interesting footnote in the New Spirit-Filled Bible states about the phrase “He said” in Mark 5:8: “The Greek tense behind He said indicates that Jesus had repeatedly been ordering the unclean spirit to leave. Demons do not want to be disembodied and often wage severe contest.”
Discernment
Don’t assume a demon will come out easily or the first time. I tell people to never cast out a spirit loosely or on the fly. You never know what else it is attached to. In deliverance ministry, you must be careful to discern if the demon has left. This can best be done with the gift of discernment. If a person operating on your team does not have discernment, then look for one of the physical manifestations I discuss in this book. We usually have one intercessor specifically praying for the deliverance minister in the session to receive discernment and revelation from the Holy Spirit. If a demon is not coming out, you need to go back to prayer and ask the Holy Spirit what is blocking the manifestation of that demon. You can also in the natural go to my Roadblock chapter to discover why the demon is not leaving.Then He [Jesus] asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many” (Mark 5:9).
Jesus asked the spirit, “What is your name?” Notice that Jesus did not ask the demon its name while it was in the person. Jesus asked after it was cast out. You do not need to ask a demon its name. Many deliverance ministers will consult with demons during a deliverance session. They ask their name and what legal right they have. Why do we need to consult with a demon and ask for information in order to cast it out when we have the Holy Spirit to consult? Why would we want to ask the father of lies and trust a demon who lies all the time to give us the truth? Why would we consult with evil spirits when we have the One true Holy Spirit to consult? It just doesn’t make sense why we would consult with the very demon we are trying to cast out, who doesn’t want to go and resists. The only thing they will do is lie, lead you on a rabbit trail, or give up the lesser demons in order to protect the strongman.To increase your discernment and receive revelation see my book Who Is Speaking. I also encourage you to get to know the Holy Spirit, the One who gives you discernment. Focus on developing a close relationship with Him. Often we have been taught to get to know Jesus, but it is imperative that we develop a relationship with our Father God, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit. I love the Holy Spirit. He has always been my best Friend. I want Him to be your best Friend too and for you to rely on Him.To help you rely on Him and develop a deep relationship with Him, I encourage you to purchase my book entitled Baptism of Fire and Power and the Life in the Spirit books entitled In His Presence and Holy Spirit Baptism. In the Life in the Spirit booklets, along with several articles, I have written a thirty-day devotional that draws you closer to the Holy Spirit, reveals His characteristics, and the different names of the Spirit that define who He is to you. You will also discover how to operate and release all nine gifts of the Spirit, which includes gifts pertinent to deliverance such as words of knowledge, words of wisdom, discerning of the spirits, faith, and miracles.
Also, he begged Him [Jesus] earnestly that He would not send them out of the country (Mark 5:10).The demons didn’t want to leave the country and asked to stay. Perhaps one of the reasons they asked is because they may have had legal rights to stay. Legal rights can be when a person opens the door to the demonic through sin. When a person is unrepentant and entertains demons—which means to be passive and complacent and not seeking or pursuing their deliverance or the person is in constant sin—the demons can have what we call a legal right to stay.
Territorial and Familiar Spirits
The demons wanting to stay indicates that they were territorial or familiar spirits. Territorial spirits occupy that territory and have dominion over that land until we as believers break it down and destroy the occupancy through warfare prayer. It is important to point out as an intercessor, pastor, or deliverance minister that you do not have the right to break up and cast out those territorial spirits by yourself. Ministries should come together to come against these spirits. They have a hierarchy and territorial dominion.
One of the challenges people have is going into a region and seeing spirits and praying loosely to cast them out. If a person is a prophetic seer and intercessor or deliverance minister and they go into a region, they should gather spiritual information and take it to the pastors and intercessors in that region. They should work together to break down the strongholds in that region, because the pastors in that region also have a certain authority over that place. Therefore, it will be much more effective and a lot less spiritual warfare if teams work together to collectively break down spiritual strongholds.When we go into an area, I will spiritually map the region and pray over it. I will anoint buildings, ask the Holy Spirit for discernment, and collect information on that region. When the Holy Spirit releases me and guides me, I will then meet with the pastors as the Spirit instructs and release my findings to them.Familiar spirits can also be infiltrating the territory. Familiar spirits repeat the same things over and over again. Familiar spirits can be spirits of divorce, abuse, rejection, depression, and things that happen frequently. Someone’s continuing financial insufficiency could be because the person is lazy, irresponsible, and not a hard worker. Perhaps the person is suffering from a self-inflicted fate. Or a familiar spirit could be attacking the person, destroying their finances every time he or she tries to get ahead.
Familiar spirits usually attack around important events such as a birthday, anniversary, Christmas, or the anniversary of a loved one’s death. Do you ever notice that the same bad things happen at the same time of the year, every year? Usually, something happens three or four weeks before one of these events, and it seems to hover throughout the entire season. Often you don’t know what it is, but some kind of spiritual warfare leaves you out of sorts, depressed, heavy, or stressed.
These are familiar spirits attacking, trying to wreak havoc and cause destruction in your life.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Because we see the possibility of territorial and familiar spirits manifesting during these times, you will want to cast both a familiar spirit and a territorial spirit out of the person.Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them” (Mark 5:11-12).
The demons no longer had authority; they had been cast out, so they had to ask Jesus to go into the swine. It is also important to realize the demons were cast out. Deliverance ministry works, and it still works today. Jesus wasn’t the only Person who was supposed to cast out demons. He said we would do greater works (John 14:12). We have been given authority to cast out demons (Mark 3:15). We must inform people so we can continue the ministry of deliverance Jesus came to start.
And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea (Mark 5:13).
The swine ran violently down the hillside. Looking back at verse 4, we discovered that the man had the spirits of violence, anger, and rage. Now the demons are cast out and the spirits go into the swine, and now the swine ran violently. The spirits of violence that were cast out of the man in verse 4 go into the swine in verse 13. Now upon these spirits of violence entering the swine, the swine run violently down the hillside. The man had insane, crazy, and confused spirits inside his mind, which the swine inherited when the spirits went in them making them run violently.
So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened (Mark 5:14).
The people were more concerned with the loss of property than deliverance. I believe this parallels to our churches today in regard to deliverance. Pastors, in general, don’t want to lose their tithe, offerings, and their congregation’s commitment to their church. Pastors are in competition and jealousy with each other and with deliverance ministers. Often they won’t allow traveling ministries into their church because they are more concerned with the finances staying in their ministry and people staying committed to them than they are the freedom of their people.Deliverance ministries are not allowed into many churches because of finances, material possessions, and religious spirits. If a pastor allows a deliverance minister to stand behind the pulpit, it may upset the apple cart, and people will leave the church or pull their financial support. Therefore, instead of risking it and offering people freedom, church leaders often hold back to keep their lights on and bills paid. Congregation members, primarily those who are large financial givers, often have a religious spirit. The religious spirit does not want nor believe in the ministry of deliverance. Therefore, deliverance is shunned to keep the majority of the religious people happy who pay the church’s bills.
Fully Delivered and Free
Then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid (Mark 5:15).
There is so much in this one verse that this is absolutely my favorite verse when I preach and teach this message. Here the man of Gadarenes, who had the legion, is now sitting and clothed in his right mind.He had a legion residing in him, which was about 2,000 demons. Nothing is impossible for our God. No matter how much people are oppressed, how plagued they feel by the demonic realm, or how hopeless life seems—they can be delivered. God loves His children, and He desires us to walk in the fullness and freedom of Christ.
I know there are times when a person will seem “undeliverable,” but no one is beyond God’s reach and love. Tough cases come to my ministry for deliverance. People seek me out when they have not received freedom from other ministries. People are resistant, discouraged, and some have hardened their hearts. However, I came up with a saying a long time ago, “Defeat is not an option.” We never give up! No one is beyond reach and freedom! Even when it seems like the going is tough and progression is slow, we persevere. We do not give up on hoping for the person to be delivered. We go back to prayer, fast more if necessary, and seek the Holy Spirit for the keys to the person’s deliverance. Never ever give up on a person—Christ never ever gave up on you.The man who was in the cave, living among the tombs, is now clothed. He was in the cave with other men, with the poor, criminals, and insane. Again, think about what happens when men are together with other men in prison. Being locked up with other men and being naked, this man would have had a strongman of perversion active in his life, along with lesser demons of lust, homosexuality, and masturbation. This man is now clothed.Therefore, when casting out demons, we have to pay attention to what the person does and doesn’t say. At the same time we are receiving from the Holy Spirit revelation regarding the client, we have to be listening to and truly hearing what the client is saying. There was a time the Holy Spirit revealed to me that a client was tempted by homosexuality. The person wanted to be free, but was too embarrassed to say anything. While I was discerning, the client said to me, “I know what you’re receiving, but I’m not going to say it until you say it first.” When listening to their life story, when we are attentive we can pick up the fine details they aren’t always ready to release, but through the power of the Holy Spirit and revelation, we can lead them to freedom.
Restored Mind
I love the next part of the verse. This man is sitting and clothed and in his right mind. The demons were cast out, and this man’s mind is restored. The battlefield is truly in our mind. When demons torment us, they do it through thoughts in our mind and the lies they speak into our minds. This man was tormented, confused, and depressed—but now he is in his right mind.I have seen God move firsthand with a woman who was diagnosed with many mental afflictions. Upon her deliverance, she was able to remember her phone number for the first time! A short while later, she was off all medications, had a job, a boyfriend, and went on to live in her own apartment—glory to God! That is the healing and delivering power of our God! He falls short in nothing. Our God doesn’t know how to fail. He desires all His children to have rich, abundant lives, operating in the fullness of Christ.This man in Gadarenes was plagued with so many demons. He was perhaps crazy, schizophrenic, depressed, and confused. In fact, we don’t know everything he was plagued with. However, when I look at this story, I have nothing but hope for people with Down syndrome, clinical depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, neurodevelopmental disorder (formerly known as mental retardation), autism, attention-deficit disorder, psychotic disorders, and quadriplegics, since part of their condition is brain related. I believe we serve the healing and delivering God who can restore all these people who the enemy came to inflict.
I declare and speak out loud every time I walk past one of those lovely people diagnosed with one of those conditions, and I ask the Lord to let His glory fall from me and bring healing into their minds and bodies, just like when Peter’s shadow fell on people (Acts 5:15). God did not create or cause illness to come upon these people. The devil stole, killed, and destroyed (John 10:10), and my passion and compassion rises up to be able to heal and restore these people and give them back to their parents, spouses, and loved ones totally healed and restored.
Obviously, Jesus also cared that this Gadarene man was delivered and restored to his right mind (Mark 5).As the man is now sitting in his right mind, the indication is that at some time, he wasn’t in his right mind. This could be the very reason he had outrageous outbursts of crying, cutting himself, and being violent. However, what once plagued him, Jesus cast out, declaring victory for this man—and giving hope to all people plagued with enemy affliction. Jesus was the perfect model of deliverance. We must know how to do deliverance biblically and according to Jesus’ example. There are many people out there trying to do ministry without being properly trained, and they do more damage than good. In my book entitled Identity Invasion, I discuss the different types of deliverance and the difference between exorcisms and deliverance ministers. Deliverance is a muchneeded ministry—and the more ministries we equip in deliverance, the more people will be set free.