(Demonology) How to Overcome - Part 1 — Willie Mullan

The Believer’s Warfare Against Demonic Powers

And this is week number seven, this is week number seven, and for the past six weeks we have been looking at this great subject of demonology which is simply the doctrine of the devil and his angels. I had a phone call from London yesterday, and right in the heart of London, in the biggest, largest Baptist church in London, they would like me to go and give the last six messages that I have given, like me to give them six days.

They were so kind to put no dates on it, I can go when I'm free, and I may take six days out of my holidays, or maybe seven, or maybe eight, or maybe nine, and go to London with these messages. Now, as we have been looking at this demonology, we looked one night at Lucifer, the leader of this great, mighty, multitudinous demon army that he leads.

And we noticed that close behind him there was a great army called Principalities, which simply means demon princes. And these demon princes came against the governments and the parliaments, came against the political realm, and they tried to deceive the nation.

And I'm sure there's been a great lot of Satan activity in this land of ours, where men have been deceived, and where the political realm has been really upset. Then we looked on another evening at another army following close behind Principalities called Demon Powers, and we saw them coming not so much against the political, but against the physical.

You remember the woman that was bound for eighteen years? When Jesus swinged her, he said, ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound these eighteen years, be freed? And then we looked one week at this great demon army coming not so much against the physical, but against the mental.

You know, I think a great many people suffer even today from this. The old devil oppresses them. You remember that Jesus went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil. And he does come to vex the minds of men and women.

The Canaanitish woman said, my daughter lies at home grievously vexed. And I saw more than one or two in my lifetime, oppressed, and distracted, and grievously vexed by demon powers. And then we looked at these demon powers coming against spiritual men and women, and I mean spiritual men and women.

And they came with the wiles of the devil, and they came with the fiery dots of the wicked one. They came with the snare of the devil. They came with the roar of the lion. And we looked up this demon army coming against spiritual men and women.

Last week we watched these demon armies coming against the eternal Son of God. And we looked at a lot of questions. We looked up why they came. Because when Christ was born into this world, he was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, and the whole armies of Satan came against him.

We looked up when they came. When he was a baby, they tried to destroy him. When he was asleep in the Hindu park of the ship. When he was rejoicing at the great truths that Peter had learned from his father.

When he was on dark, blood-stained Calvary. Principalities and powers gathered round him. And we learned last week that he spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, and triumphed over them in the cross.

Spiritual Weapons for Overcoming

We're going to sort of take a breath in the battle this evening. You see, I've been bringing this mighty demon army before you. And you have watched and learned of these demon princes, and these diabolical demon powers.

I want to let the believers here know the way to overcome them this evening. Because as we watch this warfare that we're in, whether we like it or not, I want this to be a sort of spiritual military academy.

Where every believer will learn how to fight, and how to overcome. So that's what we're about this evening. We want to know how to overcome these principalities and powers, these rulers of the darkness of this world.

And that's what we're about this evening. I want you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, please. 1 Corinthians, and we're at the 9th chapter. And Paul asks a question in verse 7, 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 7.

And Paul asks this question, Who goes of warfare any time at his own charges? Well, you know that there is no one who goes of warfare at any time at his own charges. When you see your soldier laddies on the streets, with all the equipment they have, their machine guns and their saracens and everything that we could name about them this evening, it's all supplied, you know.

You don't join the army and buy your rifle, you know. You don't go any time of warfare at your own charge. And this is a tremendous point when you think about the warfare that we're in and the mighty forces we meet.

Remember, God sends not one of us of warfare at our own charges. He has supplied the weapons and it's up to us to get to know how to handle them so that we will overcome. Have a look at 2 Corinthians chapter 10, 2 Corinthians, and we're at the 10th chapter.

2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 4. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. It's something that we must get into our hearts. Verse 3 said, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.

And for all the students here, the word flesh in that verse is in two senses. Sometimes when we use this word flesh, we talk about our bodies. We talk about God being manifest in the flesh, in a body.

And although we walk in the body, we do not war after the flesh. And we're not talking about body now, we're talking about the old nature. Sometimes the old nature inside is called flesh, rightfully so.

Sometimes the body is called flesh. Well, although we walk in the body, we don't war after the old nature. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

You see, we're in a mighty warfare, and we're moving continually 24 hours every day against a mighty foe. But make no mistake at all about it, God has supplied us with mighty weapons. They're not carnal ones.

They're mighty. And they're mighty through God. To the pulling down of strongholds. My, Satan has set up some strongholds in this world. The casting down of imaginations. And if you look at the word imaginations and look at your margin in the marginal reference, it's the word reasonings.

Because as I move in this mighty warfare, I come against the reasonings of men. And I need to cast them down at times. Because it's just simple human reasoning. And the word of God can defeat it every time.

And so I want you to get the hold of this, that God has given us mighty weapons, and we will need to know how to use them. Now, I believe this with all my heart and soul, that the greatest weapon the Christian has, the most mighty weapon of all our mighty weapons, the mightiest one, is the cross of Calvary.

And I think you know we get away from the cross at times. And the Lord Jesus intended that we would never get away from the cross. You know He instituted the Lord's Supper. And each Sunday morning, at least the early church did on the first day of the week, they gathered together to break bread.

And the book says, as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, and it doesn't say as seldom. Because I think that's how some of them work it, once every six months. But it didn't say as seldom. Happened to say as often.

And the early church lays down the principle that it was on the first day of the week. And you know, I think this is how the week should begin. We should begin, because of these emblems, to get close to a cross.

For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's. And I think that this is probably our mightiest weapon. You see, in my experiences in life, I have met men and women, old and young, learned and illiterate, of all classes and creeds and colours.

Guilt, Sin, and the Sufficiency of the Cross

And you know, even though they have been gloriously saved, yet the old devil comes along and he brings something to bear upon them and he oppresses them. He distracts, brings an old thing that was committed maybe twenty, thirty, forty years ago.

I don't know if I ever told the class this, maybe I did sometime many years ago. A professor from Greens called me once and said to me, Willie, I want you to go and see my father. And I knew the professor and I knew his father.

His father was an old army major. But he was gloriously saved and belonged to the people known as Brethren. And I said, what's wrong? He said, you know, it goes off his head every month of March as it comes.

We have taken them to every psychiatrist in the land. We have taken them even to Harlem Street. We have taken them to America. And he says, we can do nothing with them. He said, Willie, I believe that you could get something over them.

So away I went and found them in a big house in Bangor, sitting up in the lovely sitting room there in a big chair. And he had been to many of my meetings and he knew me and he said, Willie, it's nice of you to come today.

He said, what brought you this way? I said, your son phoned me and he tells me that you go off your head now and again. Normally put your cards on the table. Why should I fiddle around with it? I don't know the way to fiddle around.

We can back a little bit at that, you know. I said, it's true, Major, isn't it? He said, it is. I said, what goes wrong? He said, you're all right for 11 months in the year. What's wrong? He said, I never told anybody this, but I will tell you.

He said, I was captured by Hitler just almost at the end of the war. I was taken to a prison camp in Germany. He said, when I looked around the camp, Hitler was on his last legs, as it were. He had only small boys guarding the camp.

They were 13 and 14 years of age, dressed up as soldiers. He said, I knew I could manage this crowd quite easily. I was an old soldier. And one day down in the kitchen I stole a butcher's knife, a long butcher's knife.

And when the little fellow came in that night to bring me my tea at last, or it was something like tea, he said, I just rammed the knife through, threw him into the corner. And I pulled into the corridor and I went down slowly and the other fellow was just coming around the corner, he was on guard, and I rammed it through him.

And I killed four of them. And then I let all the prisoners out. And then he started to cry. He said, they were only kids, he said. They should never have done it. The war would have been over in a day or two.

It was on the 22nd of March. I said to the Major, do you think this was a great sin? Great sin, he said. He nearly jumped out of the chair. Willie, this was murder, murder, murder. I said, I thought you were a believer.

He said, I am a believer. I said, do you believe that Christ was wounded for your transgressions? He said, of course I do. I said, you know, you don't, Major. Sorry to disagree with you. You believe that Christ was wounded for all your transgressions but this one.

You don't seem to think that this one was dealt with at the cross. That will come up a bit. And then I punched at home, because you need to rip at this thing in, you know. I said, I'll tell you this, Major.

If that wasn't dealt with at the cross, you are damned. Because this Christ didn't deal with all my sins. Past and present and future.

And of course, I'm finished.

If he left one out, I'm done. He'd get the hold of it. Because the old fellow just woke up. In fact, to be fair to him, he slipped off the couch and got on his knees. He says, my God, Jesus bore that scarlet son of mine on the cross of Calvary.

And he looked round at me and said, yes, what a savior. And the old devil comes with this guilt complex at times.

And how many people can't sleep at night.

And can't kiss anybody. And they think about the past. Was it dealt with at Calvary or was it not? I'll tell you the weapon that'll settle. Blast them with the cross till you see what it'll do to them.

The need to keep near the cross. Old Hemredar said, Jesus, keep me near the cross. Yes, I think that this is possibly the greatest weapon. You know, we've got to stand at this cross every day by faith.

Ah, take a moment tomorrow somewhere and calm down a bit. And close your eyes and look up the battered, bruised, bleeding, naked form of the Son of God on the tree. Bearing your sins, all of them, in his own body to the tree.

Oh, what a weapon this is. Old devil sometimes tries to come to me, you know. I've got terrible sins right there. Sins that I wouldn't like you to know this evening. If they were written on the wall I would get out.

Like, you know what the devil did in the dreams of Martin Luther? Put all his sins on the wall. Yes, I hear the accuser roar of sins that I have done. I know them all. And thousands more. But the thing is, Jehovah findeth none.

You see, Martin Luther lifted a pen as it were in the dream and wrote across it,. The blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth off from all sin. And the wall was white as snow. That's a weapon you'll need to use.

He'll come to you, you know. We've all done weak things and big things and ugly things and black things and scarlet things. Oh, we have sinned, sinned, sinned, sinned. But the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin.

It's a mighty weapon, you know. But I want you to get the hold of this. Let's go over to Ephesians. And we're at the first chapter. And Paul is praying for these Ephesians. He's praying that they might know certain things.

He's praying in verse 19, that they may know what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who are beneath. According to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised them from the dead.

And set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. I get this into your mind. Far above. Oh, I have it written in red here. Far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named.

Not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And that's where he is tonight. At God's right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all these demon princes and all this demon power and might and dominion and every name that is named.

Union With Christ and Authority Over the Devil

And then he begins the second chapter with these two words,. And aren't you, talking about you now. I shall preach some more true words some morning. Aren't you. Aren't you half he questioned in all. If you're born again tonight he has questioned you.

Who were dead in trespasses and sins. Here some of us remember the time when we were just deep-dive sins. Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world. According to the prince of the power of the air.

We were in his hands. The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past. In the lusts of our flesh. Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.

And where by nature. We were born like that. The children of wrath even as others. But the God who is rich in mercy. For his great love wherewith he loved us. Even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us.

I want you to get this word. Together. Quickened us together with Christ. And heart raised up together. May not shift. Together. There he is in my kind of heavenly place. Fire fills me to my soul. Because that's where I am.

Seated with him. Together. As torsos can be. With our unity. They will never be broken. He's in the place of authority to me. You know he says to his disciples. All power in heaven. And on earth. Belongs to me.

Is far above. You know we don't only need to stand by faith each day at the cross. But we need to rise by faith each day. And sit down where God hath seated us. Oh we need to get this into our minds you know.

Because we're not fighting from a backyard you know. We're fighting from the throne above. I tell you this is tremendous you know. You see the old devil. He comes against us. Not only with oppression.

But he comes against us with these fiery darts of the wicked. He comes against us with these demon missiles that we talked about last week. He comes against us. And makes that day to be an evil day for us as it were.

Oh let's not forget this. That we can rise by faith any evil day that comes. And sit with him on the throne. And overcome these powers. I say. Somehow you can easily get it by faith standing at the cross.

And bombing faith when he comes to you about your sins. Oh well you'll need to learn to go to heaven by faith. And sit down on the throne. We're seated together with him in heavenly places. You know we're in the place of authority.

And it's time we exercised a bit of it against the devil. You know you would think that we were being defeated.

We're not on the retreat you know. We're on the advance.

And Jesus said this. I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail. We're going through you know. We're all hemmed in. We're all hemmed in. And the gates of hell will not prevail. There's a day not far distant when we'll trample the devil under our feet.

Sometimes I think you shouldn't swim at all. You're quick to might. You're getting off the mark quick to might aren't you. If the wetter you would be the better it would be wouldn't it when he's under your feet.

You've got that. That's very good. Let's go to the book of James. James chapter 4. All the big fellows are smiling now I can see that. James chapter 4. And James was a great practical old warrior. And in verse 7 he said this.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil. And he will flee from you. I don't think that if you're living a sort of calm life that this will work out. I think that you need to have your affections set on things above not on things on the earth.

I think you need to be risen by faith and seated on the throne. And then you can resist the devil. And I'll tell you this. He'll be afraid of you. I don't think the believers are taught this enough. You think we need to lie in the corner and be scared of the devil.

Is it true or is it not that he'll flee from you. Break my lace out of him if you're in the right place. Won't you ever let that old cunning serpent get it over on you that he can master you. He can't win this war if you know how to use the weapons.

And you need to stand by faith at the cross. And you need to sit by faith on the throne. Do you remember this? Let's go back to Matthew's gospel chapter 4 and we mustn't take too much out of this because we have done this before when the Lord was in the wilderness and he's being tempted of the devil.

The Word of God Against Temptation

Wesley, just to save time, and when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made red. I believe, you know, that right there we have one of the proofs of Christ's deity.

I believe that while he said, If thou be the son of God, that he knew quite well that Christ was the son of God. I don't think if I were in the wilderness and I was unhungered for 40 days or 40 nights, I don't think he would ever come and say to me, Command these stones to be made red.

He knows right well I can't do it. But it happens to be he knew that Christ could. Oh, he knew who he was. He knew perfectly well. But you know the Lord answered him just like this, verse 4. But he answered and said, It is written.

He just got a phrase out of the word of God, you know. You know, the devil will come to not only oppress our minds and we'll need to by faith stand at the cross. And the devil will come to throw fiery darts or these demon missiles at us to make our day an evil day.

And we'll have to be in the place of authority where we can resist him and inflict on us. But you do know that he's come to tempt you. And he lays snares for some of you young ones. You're trying to find your way through this wilderness, are you?

Lays snares for. And I tell you, my dear young friends, if you don't get to the word of God and know what's written, he's going to get the better of you. Because we don't only need the cross and the throne.

We need this book. I was just thinking this very day of some of the great moments in life I've had. You know, I was saved as a trumpet crew. Then I became the foreman of Dixon's nursery. And 70 men under me learned the trick or two there.

And then a famous surgeon came round, a professor of surgery, a very clever man, decorated by the Queen, said to me, you'll come and work for me. I said, if the Lord says so, well. He said, well, if that's the kind of man you are, you just talk it out with the Lord and come and I'll give you a job and I'll give you three pounds more than Dixon's given you.

And I don't know what he'd do. And three pounds in those days, it's like the 34 that those coal men's looking for now. After playing it through, I decided that I should go to work with this professor.

The Lord was guiding me very carefully. And these were the great days. He owned a big yacht, a tremendous thing. And I learned to drive it and knew everything about Strangford Rock. And, well, we had great days together.

He loved fishing. And we would go right out there and let the anchor down and he would sit at the end of the boat and fish and I would lie on the deck with my Bible. And he would fish for hours and I would read for hours.

Sometimes he'd come along the deck and say, you must be getting something wonderful out of that book. And I said, I'm getting more out of that book than you're getting out of the sea. But, you know, he owned hunting horses and little show ponies and he owned a mountain.

Guidance Through Scripture and Calling

And I used to go out to the mountain every morning and go and hunt the horses and bring hay and all the rest of it. At this time, you know, Frank Forbes, who was the secretary of the Baptist Union, he came down to the garden to see me one day and he said, you know, you've got to give up this work and you've got to come to us as an evangelist.

And I said, you know, I'm having a jolly good time. I'm doing very well here and I'm getting paid and I can go preaching when I want to. And I don't think this is for me. And he came twice or three times and then all Pastor Shields came and walked around the garden with me and said, you know, you've got to give this up.

God has a place for you. And I wasn't just thinking like that, but then I began to pray. And one morning I was up at the mountain and I'd gone right around it and around it again. And I sat down on a rock and I said, Lord, what do you say about all this?

And as clear as anything I heard this word. I'm reading it to you now. Ye have compassed this mountain long enough. Turn you northward. He's sitting up on the mountain. I went down and brought my old brass compass from the ship up to the mountain.

Settled her down. And northward was Belfast. That's where the Baptist Union wanted me to go. So I was giving my directions now. And I had to give up the job. And it was a terrible thing to do. I meant to tell the boss every morning.

But I couldn't get it out. And one day nearly at the end of the time when I should be going, he jumped into the car, put his arms around me and hugged me and began to tell me about an old lady who came in this morning.

And I said, look, sir, don't go on with this. Turn the engine off. I said, do you know that I've got to leave you? And I could see the big tears welling up in his eyes. And he said, you know, I've known this for a long time.

I don't know how you didn't know. You shouldn't be here. And I say this to you. Both of us sat in the car and cried for an hour. Never went home. Just cried.

I didn't want to leave him. And the devil would have kept me there.

Wouldn't do, you know, sure it wouldn't. And then I preached this whole country through. And into Scotland and England. And I had a pile of letters like that for meetings that would have kept me gone for years.

When Bloomfield Baptist Church asked me to go to be the pastor. They began to know now that you don't go to the world to look for help. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.

But I hope you don't go to ungodly friends for direction. Or ungodly horoscopes for direction. You go to the book. You find this. It is written. And I sat down to argue with the Lord. Lord, thou know'st that evangelism and folk are getting saved and have tons of work.

And the Lord said, lovest thou me more than these? Go and feed my mums. Go and feed my sheep. I have been feeding the sheep ever since. And when I went to Bloomfield, there were about 40 of the congregation.

And in three years, well, they had a meeting like this. Something like 700. And three men from this church, only one of them here now, Mr. Russell. Sam Turns and John McGill, three men, came into our room one night.

Said, we know that God's been blessing you here, but we've been on our knees at Logan. We think that God's calling you down there. I sort of smiled and said, well, if God is telling you about it, he'll tell me about it, won't he?

I took it lightly, you know. But then when they went out, I began to get down before the Lord. One evening as I knelt, something said to me, read Acts 10. And here's what you'll find if you read Acts 10.

Behold, three men seek me. Arise and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. Do you know how to handle the devil now? He tempts you.

He confuses you. He lays snare for you. You'll need the word of God. And don't you move without it.

You make sure you can turn it up. You have compassed this mountain long enough. Go and feed my lambs. Go and feed my sheep. Behold, three men seek me. Arise and go with them. Yes. Great Victoria Street Baptist Church gave me a unanimous call to go, bless them.

And were good to me, came and said, look, we'll get another fellow to do all the visiting and look after the young people. And you'll only have Sunday morning and Sunday evening and the Bible class. And they put me in a section.

And I got all the folks here to pray one night. And they know about it. And as they prayed, there came a word into my mind. It's written on the wall in there, if you go and see it. Painted up in big letters.

Epacle. I was sitting in the prayer meeting and just think, epacle. And I know so many botanical names of flowers. I know hundreds of them. And I know so many names of medicines. And I know a tremendous lot of Greek words.

And to tell you the truth, I didn't know whether it was a flower or a medicine or what it was. I was stuck. So I rose from the prayer meeting, went out through the door and I said to Harry Edgar, who was sitting there, do you know what epacle is?

And I'll dish up your heads. Went on down the street and got an old Greek lexicon out and looked it up. And when I turned the word, it wasn't a Greek word. And the Greek word means, stay where you are.

I got my direction. Had nothing against the 8th Victoria Strait, it would have been an honor to go. But if the Lord calls me to a barn with a dozen of people, then I shall be better there than anywhere else.

Young man, I'm trying to help you. Get in the buckle.

And the devil will tempt you.

And he'll come through you.

And he'll ask for you. And then you take a lantern.

And then you'll pay for it with 40 years. It will be no use. You've got to get it right, haven't you? Yes. It'll have to be written. Make it in the book, do you see? And if you're honest with God, He'll be honest with you.

The Armor of God and Assurance of Salvation

You see, we need to, by faith, stand at the cross each day. And we need to, by faith, rise to the throne. And we need to, by faith, hear His words. Oh, these are our weapons. It's the death of the Lord, and the authority of the Lord, and the word of the Lord.

Let's go to Ephesians chapter 6 just now. You know, he outlines the armour of the Lord here. And he said to them, verse 11, Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

And he said in verse 13,. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armour of God. Verse 14,. Stand therefore, having your loins jetted out with truth,. Having on the breastplate of righteousness,. And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,.

Above all, taking the shield of faith. Verse 17,. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,. Praying always with all prayer. That's the spear that you hurl into the heavens.

You know, I'm sure of this this evening, That all this armour, every part of it, It has to do with the assurance of the believer. It has to do with the assurance. You know, let's begin at the top. Let's begin with the helmet of salvation.

You know, I think you need to be absolutely sure in your mind that you're saved, If you're going to be any use in this fight. If this hat doesn't fit you properly, and it falls over your eyes, I'll tell you, there's no use in this battle.

You know, I've seen one or two believers with the hat down over their eyes, And they're not very sure where they're going. One said to me the other day, Are you sure, you said? I said, of course I'm sure.

He said, what makes you sure? The promise of the Lord. I said, you know, the Lord promised me That whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I just believe. Even if I couldn't take you back to the moment that I called, but I can.

But even if I couldn't, even if I couldn't take you back to the year I called, I'm sure from the very depths of my heart I have called upon the name of the Lord. And what more He'd show, and what more He promised, Whosoever shall call shall be saved.

And the helmet fits me all right. And it won't move. Tight on. Yes, you know, I'm absolutely sure. And you know, my feet shod this evening with the preparation of the gospel of peace. My, we were singing that grand old hymn tonight, I'm on redemption ground.

Oh, the ground beneath my feet's absolutely sure this evening, you know. I'm standing on redemption ground. And I'm justified by faith. I'm justified by faith without the deeds of the Lord. Don't talk to me about the Sabbath or the commandments either, just for a moment.