(Demonology) Powers — Willie Mullan

You can get the swing of it. It's an old battle hymn that the Republican Army of America used to sing as they went to battle. It's the hymn that old Churchill had sung at his funeral. So it's got really a lot of things about it.

My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trumping out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword. Our God is marching on.

697, we'll have a go at it anyway. Turn the heaters off. Have we too much on there? Because you know we have a long way to go and we'll wind up now. Just making all off. OK. Sending the signals from the back there.

Alright, on the last verse you're doing well. My, you're like a Republican Army, but that's a dangerous thing to say, isn't it? Alright, last verse. ...again this evening. This is our third evening and we have a great many to go.

The Armor of God and the Demonic Powers

On our fifth evening we looked at Lucifer, the leader of this highly organized demon army of his. Last week we looked at principalities alone. Let's begin again in Ephesians chapter 6 this evening. Paul's letter to the Ephesians.

And now the sixth chapter, verse 10, just to get the connection. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities. And we stopped with this word last week and we found out from the Greeks that these principalities were princes, because there are demon princes.

When the Pharisees wanted to insult Christ, they said, he casteth out demons by the elves, by the prince of the demons. And we began to see that there were names for these princes. And we found that these princes, these demon princes, were going against governments and parliaments, that they were working overtime in the political realm.

One was called the Prince of Pleasure. And we found out that he even withstood a bright and shining angel for 21 days and kept back the answer. And so we looked at these principalities last week, coming against the governments and the parliaments of this world, deceiving the nations actually with the truth.

Powers Warring Against the Physical Realm

But we're moving on to the next word this evening. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers. You see, there's a difference between principalities and powers.

These demon princes have a job, and it seems that the demon prince that's over this land of ours is really getting on with the job. But we're moving from principalities to powers this evening. Now for once, I think only twice in the history of this class, our lady secretary has made the mistake in the notes.

And out of 20 years that's not bad going, you know. You see, I put down here, principalities warring against the governmental. Now that's what we were at last week. But the word below that principality should be the word powers, warring against the physical.

So you took the second principalities out and put powers in. You see, I draft these out, and I'm a good writer, you can read easily what I write. And when I looked at these after they were printed, of course, it was too late.

I said, come over here, my dear. That word should be powers. She said, well, you have principalities on the notes. How do I know? Get them to sit on the floor, knock on their end of bed. I said, you know, I can't argue with you, but I know that I put the word powers down.

She said, all right, if you say that. So we were just finishing the book, and I was dictating a bit more than in the midst of it. She said, I still think it was principalities. You know what a woman is, don't you?

Yes, Robbie Burns said, convince a man against his will. He should have said, convince a woman against her will. She's off the same opinion still. So when she said that, you see, I just rose from the chair, and I went back to the bin, and I went through the bin, and I got the paper.

And I was wrong. And you know, you should have seen her. You would have thought she had been injected twice over with adrenaline. Her eyes were shining, and her face was all beaming, you know. I said, if I had only thought that my mistakes would make anybody so happy, I would make more of them.

And then I tenderly said, I forgive you for being, I forgive you for being happy about my mistakes. She said, you know, you can't win with you. You're like old Nick himself, no wonder you know so much about the subject.

Oh, well. Well, then it's my mistake, and I humbly make it to you now. The word should be powers, warning against the physical. And I want to get up very careful this evening, because we're thinking about these demon powers coming against physical friends.

Demon Powers and Sickness

And coming against physical friends, first of all, we can only deal with this this week, because we've got weeks of this coming. First of all, in sickness. And I'm not talking about demon possession. And I'm not talking about demon powers coming against the mental.

Because we'll go into that very carefully. You know, there are one or two things in this book that we would need to take note of. Let me just do this for you. This is John's Gospel, Chapter 10. John's Gospel, Chapter 10.

And this is where the Lord teaches all about Him being the Good Shepherd. I am the Good Shepherd. And, of course, as usual, He annoyed the Pharisees. Verse 19 says, There was a division, therefore, again among the Jews for these sayings.

And many of them said, He hath a devil and is marred. Did you get that? Because they had seen demon possession before. And they have seen people marred through demon possession. That's not going against the physical at all.

That's going against the mental. And that's not our subject this week. Have a look at this. This is Matthew's Gospel. And it's Chapter 15. Matthew, Chapter 15. Verse 21, Then Jesus went hence and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

And, behold, a woman of sin came out of the same coasts and cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David. My daughter is previously vexed with the devil. Did you get that word that I was trying to warm the line for you?

You see, madness and vexation belongs to the mental. Not the physical. That's mental. Do you remember when Peter preached in the house of Cornelius? He talked about Christ healing all that were oppressed of the devil.

Do you remember the man bringing his little son? It's just two chapters over. It's Chapter 17 of Matthew. Chapter 17, Verse 14, And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic.

That's a tremendous word, isn't it? You ought to know where that comes from. It comes from the word lunacy. And you ought to know where lunacy comes from. It comes from lunar. And you ought to know what lunar means.

It means the moon. Of course, you do know some folk who are moonstruck, don't you? I could tell you some tales, you know. But we'll wait till next week. Look, this lunacy, this being oppressed, this being vexed, this being mad, it belongs to the mental.

Oh, keep dissecting the subject. We're not looking at the mental. We're just looking at the physical. Now, I want you to get that into your mind, because we're looking at demon powers warring against the physical.

Natural Sickness and Epaphroditus

And only in sickness, they war against the physical in a great many other ways, which we'll take time to find out when we come to it. Now, we must be very careful all the time with these subjects, because there's one thing that's absolutely sure, when we get on to demonology, and we're looking at demons, and the work, and the diabolicalness of demons, and then you almost think we're going to do the opposite.

And that's the unbalancing of the subject. And Dr. Pentecost, who was here with us, who has written a book on demonology, and I can assure you it's one of the finest. Dr. Pentecost told me this himself.

He said, you know, I was at Dallas, we had a doctor there preaching one morning, and he said, I took him out for breakfast. Went downtown to a place and had breakfast before the session started. He said, you know, at breakfast I could see him closing his eyes and praying at times.

And he went on with the breakfast and talked, and then he closed his eyes again. He said, I said, would you like to tell me what you're praying about? He said, I've just had an attack from Satan, and I've just had another one.

He said, did you notice about two or three minutes ago I spilt some tea on my tie? And now I've spilt some egg on my tie. It's the devil, he said. What do you think? Well, I would think you're not as soft as all that.

It wasn't a blessing he needed, it was a bed he needed. The man was just awkward, that was all. The devil had nothing to do with it at all. What a doctor he was. So you see, don't let's get anything unbalanced.

Don't be gone and blaming the devil for everything. It would be silly if I had to blame the devil for the girl with the wood, because I would have been the devil. No. That's why we're going to take a look at sickness itself.

Because you know, if I bring out, and I will, that the devil can make you sick in so many ways, then everybody that will be sick from now on will blame it on the devil. Now sickness is a great lot more than that, and we're just going to take time with sickness this evening.

Let's go over to Philippians, chapter 2, please. Paul's letter to the Philippians, chapter 2. And Paul's writing to this church at Philippi, to these saints, and in the second chapter he said, verse 25,.

Yet I suppose it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labour and fellow-soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my watch. What a wonderful testimonial he gave to Epaphroditus.

For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye have heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick, nigh unto death. This good man was sick, nigh unto death. And I assure you that Paul didn't heal him, not a bit of it.

Here's what he says,. For indeed he was sick, nigh unto death, but God had mercy on him. Sometimes folks are raised up by the mercy of God, many times I think. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

I sent him therefore, but more carefully, that when ye see him again ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such a reputation, because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death.

Does he know why he was sick? Believe me, he was working too hard. He was pushing. Sometimes I'm blamed for pushing, sometimes I think I do. There have been times when I've been laid on the broad of my back, and it's just because I worked too hard, it wasn't the devil at all, and it was so with Hippocrates.

That's just what I call natural. Just go for night after night, and night after night, and day after day, and hour after hour, and week after week, and you won't hold out, you know. No matter how big you are, you won't hold out.

It's a natural thing. You'll become it, and the devil has nothing to do. Have a look at John's Gospel, Chapter 9, please. John's Gospel, Chapter 9. Now, here's something that's most interesting, and I'm not dealing with it all tonight.

Sickness as Mystery and Infirmity

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. He's a blind man. He was born blind. There was a blind baby came into this home, and his disciples asked him, saying, well, what's the question?

Master, who did say, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Tremendous question. You see, it was a blind baby, born blind, then asking the Lord, who did sin? This man? Could he sin before he was born?

That's the implication. Can you sin before you're born? Of course you can. That may be shocking you a little bit. But I can tell you that Jacob wrestled with Esau in the womb before he was born. And I can tell you that Jacob grabbed him by the heels, held on.

And the disciples were saying, did he do something before he was born, that he was born blind? Or did his parents do something? I was in the hospital once when a little blind baby was there, and the mother said to me, what a God you have, given me a blind baby.

They said, I'd like to ask you one or two questions about that. Has your husband got syphilis? You know what I'm talking about. Because he had. He was responsible for the blind baby. Don't be always poking at God.

He's our son. Sometimes it's a rotten father or a rotten mother. And I don't mean to lash that out, do I? Now, on this occasion, it was neither father nor mother, nor child. Listen to the Lord's answer.

Verse 3, Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. You know, this is sickness. It's a complete mystery. You and I cannot always answer the questions, you know.

If I hadn't have known the man that the woman was married on, I may not have got the answer, but I happen to know him, you see. You see, sometimes sickness is a mystery. It's neither God, nor man, nor the devil.

But there's something glorious when you come out of it all. But I'm not able to follow it all. It's a mystery to me. You remember Paul's talk in the flesh. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12.

Paul, writing here in flesh, said, I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago. And when you go down the story, you'll find he was the man. And I think you can see the humility of the man as he writes. He's not wanting to say himself just out loud like that.

I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell. God, nor such a man caught up to a third hand. You know, this is a very wonderful experience, wasn't it?

To be taken right up and see all the glories. If you measure back from here, where he's writing, back 14 years, you'll come to the spot where Paul was dragged out of the city of Lystra and left outside for dead.

And while his body lay there, God took the man in to let him see the glories. You know, this is something that should really rejoice the heart of every believer who has lost a loved one. You see, when Paul went in to the third heaven and saw the glories of God, he said that whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell.

Our friends that have gone and we have buried their bodies, they don't know whether they're in the body or out of the body. They don't miss it. We used to have a fellow here. I baptized him one night.

He had a wooden leg. We have another brother there tonight. Bless him. He said to me, you know, this old leg is off for a long time but I can feel the toes quivering. Yes, he said. And there is something in it.

And it's not what we're asked to. You see, Paul had these mighty revelations and all the rest of it. How he was caught up, it says in verse 4, into paradise and head on, speakable words, which is not lawful for a man to utter.

Such in one will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory. He says, verse 7, unless I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. The messenger of Satan debuffed me lest I should be exalted above measure for this thing I besought the Lord Christ that it might depart from me.

And he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities. That is the word which connects the subject with the body.

Paul had some physical infirmity. And I can tell you it wasn't natural nor mystical. My dear friend, it was essential. You know, he thought if I was rid of this thing then I was a hundred percent sick.

All the things that I could do. God says, no, you've lost your balance. You see, some of us are ailing at times. You never know about it. Kind of diabetic. Oh, well, it all helps to keep me on the ground.

In case I would get too big for my boots. God knows how to handle you. So much sickness. Sometimes it's just a natural thing. You pray for me, God, to God. Sometimes it's mystical. God has something ahead that you can't see.

Sometimes it's essential. You need it. And you needn't ask God to take it away. You're better with it than without it. Go to the book of Proverbs just for the moment. We're going fairly slowly tonight, but that's just the speed we're working at now.

Proverbs. And we're at chapter 17. Book of Proverbs. Chapter 17. And verse 22 is a tremendous one. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. Proverbs 17, 22. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. And if you have a good Bible, there's a number at the word like.

It's an italics. And if you go to the margin, it says, a merry heart doeth good to a medicine. You see, you know, the sort of attitude of your mind that helps the medicine. It helps the doctor at times.

You know, there are some folks who nearly kill themselves. And it's functional. It's a mind. I have a lady, and she's in the meeting now. Now, you sit still, and I'm not going to sing about it. She said to me, when I put my ear on the pillow at night, I can hear my heart bump.

And I said, the night that you don't hear it, we'll be laughing up their jaws. That's what we'll do. She said, oh, you bless God that it's bumping, never mind where it's bumping. It's all right when it's bumping.

You know, before I was saved, I worked with a squad of men, and you can guess I was a terrible case. We had an old fellow there. Oh, he could have been my father, you know, but he was one of these old fellows who was always frightened about everything.

Sometimes, just for drivelment in the morning, I would say, what's wrong with you, Tom? You're as white as a ghost. What's wrong with you? I was reading about a fellow the other day who came out to walk like that, and before dinner time he was dead.

And the old soul, you know, he was so scared. He went home from his work, you know. And some of the older men came round and scolded me about it, you know. But I always looked after him because he punched the clock to come in in the morning.

He punched at 7 o 'clock in the morning. And if he was out all day and it wasn't punched at night, he lost his pay. But then I punched it at night for him and nobody knew about it. And the pay was all right, so I was keeping him square all right.

But, you know, sometimes you would talk about tumours and things like that. A fellow had a tumour, and I would say, let me see your pulse. I think he's poor. Looked out on the stage and said, I'm not feeling too well.

Think I'll go home. And you know this sort of people, don't you? This is what state healers make their money out of. People who think they've got cancer. I was going to say hands up who never thought this.

Mind you, I'd tell you a few if you'd be caught on. Some people think they've got heart trouble. Some people think this and that and the other. And you know, if it's just an imaginary disease, you can have an imaginary healing.

It's what the medical profession calls functional. It's just in the mind. They're not too bad at all. Some of you were dying twenty years ago when I came here. You're running about yet? Well, I don't have to bother getting rid of you.

Yeah, you know, we all go through that. I can remember when I was alive, you know, thinking I was going to die next week. Oh, we've all been through that. Just put it behind you. That's what you call functional.

Judicial Sickness and the Example of Jehoram

You see, sickness may be natural. You're working far too hard. May be mystical. May be essential. May be functional. May be traditional. Let's come in closer to the Mark, you know. Have a look at 2 Chronicles, chapter 21.

2nd book of Chronicles, chapter 21. Verse 1, just to get the connection. And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Jehoram, his son, reigned in his stead.

And he had brethren, the sons of Jehoshaphat, and it gives all the names right there in that second verse. And their father gave them great gifts of silver and of gold and of precious things with fenced cities in Judah.

But the kingdom gave he to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and slew all his brethren with the sword. And died was also of the princes of Israel.

Verse 16. Moreover the Lord stood up against Jehoram in the spirit of the Philistines and of the Arabians that were near the Ethiopians. And they came up into Judah and broke into it and carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house and his sons also and his wives.

So that there was never a son left and saved Jehoshaphat, the youngest of the sons. And after all this the Lord smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease. Did you get that? Because you can take him to whatever healing meeting you like.

But he's not being healed. The Lord smote him with an incurable disease. And you might as well get the adjective. Incurable. Or you needn't line him up or get him a number either. He's not going to be healed.

The Lord has smitten him. Now that's judgment. Of course you could fill the next stall by taking all the folks that the Lord has judged in this book. Sometimes the way God's people act at the Lord's table, God judges them.

Some of them are weak and sickly and some of them sleep. It's most important to them. That's why I said that if you learn the truth you should never wipe your feet on it. They're not allowed to. So that I did all this just that you would get the proper balance in the message.

Because sickness can just be pushing it too far. And you're bound to grow tired and you'll probably be ill. Sickness might be something that you cannot possibly understand. It's in the program of God for the glory of God.

Sickness might be essential. You may have an infirmity that you'll never get rid of. Sickness may be functional. You just think things. Sickness may be judicial. Now we're back onto the lines again. Sickness may be satanical.

Satan's Assault on Job

Of these powers that we're thinking about tonight they can most surely come against the physical frame. Did you go to the book of Job for a minute or two just before the book of Psalms and read out the first chapter?

Job chapter 1 and I want you to get a look at this farmer for a farmer he was. Verse 1. There was a man in the land of Oz whose name was Job. That man was perfect and upright. One that feared God and eschewed evil.

I've seen some commentary papers writing about him and saying all kinds of things. I'll tell you what the Bible says. He was perfect and upright. And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.

Lovely family. His substance also was seven thousand sheep. Mind you that's some sheep. There are some big sheep farmers in the north of Ireland. Not one of them is seven thousand sheep. I think the biggest sheep farm in the country is at the back of the mountain there at Ballymena.

And there's a fellow that I go to visit sometimes. I think he's got about three thousand sheep there. And that's some sheep farm I tell you. But he's seven thousand. He had three thousand camels. Can you imagine three thousand camels?

Five hundred yoke of oxen. Five hundred she-asses. And a very great household. So that this man was the greatest of all the men of these. And it says in verse six, Now there was a day when the sons of God, or as the old translation has it, the angels of God came to present themselves before the Lord.

I think that you can easily see it's the angels of God when they're presenting themselves before the Lord. And Satan came also among them. He's one of the angels. You know, fallen one. And the Lord said unto Satan, When shall we start?

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and through in the earth and from walking up and down in it. Which shows you something of the activity that he has. But on this occasion he was telling lies, of course.

He's a liar all the time. You see, he wasn't walking up and down. He was in Job's backyard trying to get in on this land. And the Lord knew where he was. And the Lord said unto Satan, And for anyone in this meeting who would like to come and tackle me about the personality of the devil, I'm quite prepared to take you on.

Because if you think that the devil is only some sort of evil influence, I wouldn't know how the Lord could talk to it. And the Lord's talking to Satan. And here's what the Lord said. And the Lord said unto Satan, When comest thou?

And he waited for the answer. And the Lord said unto Satan, verse 8, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God and eschews evil?

What a wonderful testimony God gave. And then Satan started. Then Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?

How did he know that now? Because he'd been trying to get in. And he just couldn't get in. Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

Now Job's working away on the farm, you know, planting the sheep down there, looking after the family. He doesn't know that this argument's going on from heaven. It would be alright that he knew, but he doesn't know.

And the old devil is challenging God about Job. He says, you know, if you didn't bless this fellow, if you'd give him a bit of coughing up and down, you know, he'd curse you. That's what he would do. And God said, listen, I'll take you on.

I'll trust Job now. Job trusts me. Well, I'll trust him. I'll allow you, you see, Satan can't do a thing until God allows him. And the Lord said unto Satan, verse 12, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power, only upon himself.

Put not forth thine hand. You can touch the sheep. You can touch the camels. You can even touch the family, if you like. I'll allow you to go that far. But don't touch him. You see, the devil's not as big as he makes out to be.

He can't touch the child of God unless God allows him. There's a bit of... I wouldn't be here this evening if he could. I had a commercial traveler who used to come here and he came into the room. He was a man earning over 4 ,000 pounds a year.

He was no fool. He said, Mr. Moon, I have something to confess to you. I get up at 4 o 'clock in the morning to pray to the devil that he will destroy you. I had a great laugher. He was like somebody out of the comic books.

He says, you must be a bigger fool than I ever took you for. I said, if the devil could destroy me, he wouldn't have written a new prayer for a fool like you. He presumed to do it. I said, not until the Lord allows him will he ever touch me.

I was afraid of the devil. Not unless God allows him will he ever put his finger on me. And the Lord allowed him to. It was a tremendous thing. You know, I give Bible readings, and in the front seat was a little Mongolian fellow.

Bless him. And while he wasn't altogether right in his mind, he could follow things tremendously. He used to put his arms around me at night and give me a hug and all that. He must have been 25 or 26.

That night I preached to him, and he came up around quick and sat down beside me. He says, it was a terrible thing. I said, Tommy, it was a wonderful thing. He says, God made a hole in the hedge for that old fellow.

I was pretty good, you know. He got the thing going. I said, yes, it was terrible, Tommy. God made a hole in the hedge and let the devil in. It was terrible. But he got it all right. He had his own way of saying it, but it was good enough.

Now, look at this twelfth verse. The Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that the house is in thy power only upon them shall put not four by nine. So, Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. And if you read the rest of the chapter, you'll come back to it some night, because it lets us see the things that Satan can employ.

He can employ the Sabines, and he can employ the right knee, and he can employ so many things to come against. And in one day, good seven thousand sheep were dead. Three thousand camels. What more, his seven sons and three daughters were dead.

What a blow the devil had given them. Now the devil thought he would curse God. And yet, at the end of the day, this farmer got down before God, held up his hands and said, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. And the devil was beat. Now, we're into the second chapter. Just watch it now. Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present themselves before the Lord.

And the Lord said unto Satan, Come whence comest thou? Same old answer, from going up and down. The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered myself and Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that fears God and eschews evil?

And still he holdeth fast his integrity. And though thou movest me against him to destroy him, without cause is the word, Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

But put forth thine heart now and touch his bone and flesh without the physical now, not at the final hour, his bone and flesh. And he will curse thee to thy death. And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand, but save a life.

You can do what you like with his physical frame, but you can't kill him. It was a terrible moment, mind you. Job didn't know. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, now watch it slowly, and smote Job with four boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

Did Satan do it? He smote him. He didn't see him coming or anything like that. He came along to this wee farm and he knows so much about this physical frame of ours that with one touch, one tiny touch, he can cover us from the crown of the heads of the soles of the feet.

That was physical. Don't for any sake think that that is mental or don't for any sake think that that is demon possession. Don't just touch him, sir. There he's come. Dr. Van Ross, who was without doubt one of the greatest expositors, that's a very clever man, walked along the sands with me at Fort Stewart, put his big arm round me and squeezed me.

He said, did the devil cover Job from the crown of the heads of the soles of the feet with one touch? He did. He said, do you think he could have touched him the next day and healed him? Do you? I can tell you he could.