Derek Prince - How To Keep Your Deliverance
This is an excerpt from: How To Expel The Enemy
One last topic. If I could get the top part wiped off. Thank you. How to keep your deliverance. I usually don't have time to teach on this. Let me say that I have a series of six cassettes called Deliverance and Demonology which are available to all of you. This final cassette is: Seven Ways to Keep Your Deliverance. So if I don't cover it in detail... anyhow. Number one, make Jesus Lord. OK? In the end of a deliverance service I'll tell the people that have been delivered: Don't you go out of this auditorium until you've made Jesus Lord of every area of your life. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 12? When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man? He walks through dry places seeking rest. Then he says: I will return to my house. What does he mean by my house? The person he occupied. And when he comes he finds it, three things: Empty, swept and set in order. What's the problem? No problem with having the house swept and with having the house set in order. What's the problem? Empty. Unoccupied, no one else has been allowed to move in.
Only one person is strong enough to keep the devil out. You know who that is? Jesus. Every area Jesus occupies is safe. But any area where he is not Lord is unsafe. Have you ever driven through the United States about six o'clock in the evening looking for a motel to spend the night? You're looking for one word in red neon letters, what is it? Vacancy. And when you see that, you know you can get in. In the spiritual world any area of your personality which is not totally given to the Lordship of Jesus has got that red neon letter sign, vacancy. And the enemy knows he's welcome. And when he comes in he's liable to bring with him seven others worse than himself.
Number two. I'm going to just put briefly, garment of praise. The Scripture says God has given us a garment of praise in place of the spirit of heaviness, is that right? When you are praising the Lord you are bothering the devil more than he can bother you. Years back before I had gotten to this ministry of deliverance, I was just pasturing an ordinary sort of Pentecostal church in London. We had two Russian Jewesses who had escaped from Russia, being saved and baptized in the Spirit. My first wife and I were praying with them and they really believed in praising the Lord. They were not reticent. They said, In Russia the Baptists praise the Lord much louder than the Pentecostals outside Russia.
And so there we were having a good time with the Lord and there was a ring at the bell and when I went to answer it, there was one of my lady church members there leading her husband by the hand. And she said, This is my husband, he's just come out of prison he has a demon. Well that was unwelcome news to me because I didn't know what to do about demons. But I couldn't refuse the man so I took the couple up where we were all praying. And I said, We'll pray. You know, that's a safe coverall. It's always spiritual to pray. Sometimes it doesn't produce any results, but at least you sound good!
So we went on praying and these Russian sisters were praising the Lord unashamed. So this man sidled up to me and he said, There's too much noise; I'm going! I didn't premeditate my answer. I said: Listen, the one who doesn't like the noise is the devil because we're praising Jesus. You've got two options. If you go now, the devil will go with you. If you stay, the devil will go without you. He said, I'll stay. Ten minutes later without anything further happening, he came up to me and said, It's just left. I felt it leave my throat. Well that was such a demonstration to me how much the devil dislikes the praises of Jesus. If you put on the garment of praise, he'll stay away from you, because you embarrass him more than he can embarrass you.
Number three, put on the full armor of God. That's not an option. Ephesians 6:14-17 and it starts with 12, that's right. Now that's all listed for you, I don't have to tell you all about it.
Number four, live by God's Word. Alright. Matthew 4:4 says what? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of the Lord. You cannot live by your feelings. Most dangerous. You'll be up and down, and every time you get a bad mood; you've opened the door. There's a little list of three F's: Fact. Faith. Feelings. Now you have to keep them in that order. The facts are in the Word of God. Faith believes the facts. And feelings fall into line. But if you reverse the order and start living by your feelings you've lost your anchor. You're like a ship adrift without an anchor.
Number five. Submit to God and what else? Resist the devil, that's right. I'll put Satan because it's shorter to write. Which is James 4:7. Notice which comes first, which do you have to do first? If you've submitted to God and you then resist the devil what does the Bible say will happen? He will flee from you. Do you believe that? But a lot of Christians are actually doing the opposite. They're submitting to the devil and resisting God, you see? Really, many.
All right. Number six, number 6. I'll put right fellowship, I can't put in more. It matters what kind of fellowship you have. 1 John 1:7. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, what happens? We have fellowship. If you're out of fellowship, you're out of the light. You're not protected by the blood. The blood only cleanses in the light. And you're going to have some kind of fellowship, which is it going to be? With the godly or the ungodly? Paul says: Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. The fellowship is an acid test of where you're at in your spiritual life.
Number seven, I don't know how many I got. Can I get them all in? I can. Come under discipline. You cannot be a real Christian without being under discipline. Self-discipline, family discipline, governmental discipline school discipline, church discipline, there are many areas of discipline. But the one who refuses is a rebel. And you know what the Bible says about rebels? First Samuel 15:23, Rebellion is as witchcraft. The moment you become rebellious you are exposed to the spirit of witchcraft. Discipline. Did you get that? For many people today it's a dirty word. It starts with self-discipline. Most Christians indulge their moods and their whims and their fancies. You are not free to do that. It's just as dangerous to do that as it is to indulge your sexual impulses. You are not free to do it.
Number eight, this is the last one. Make Jesus central. Alright. You notice it begins and ends with Jesus. And I'm going to put a Scripture there, John 12... 31 and 32. Which says, Jesus says: Now is the judgment of this world, and now is the prince of this world cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Notice the order. When Satan is cast out, what's the next thing to do? Lift up Jesus. That's right. Fill the vacuum with Jesus. The driving out of Satan creates a vacuum. It's very important you fill it with the right thing. Focus on Jesus. Do not focus on demons. Don't give the devil too much publicity, he loves it. Demons are real like germs and viruses and other things. We have to acknowledge them; we have to deal with them. But a healthy person doesn't go around thinking all the time about germs. Health, in a certain sense, excludes them. Don't see a demon under every cup and saucer. And if you're from some old-line church or even a less old-line church don't go back, go up to your pastor or rector, stick your finger between his eyes and say, You have a demon! It may be true but it's not the right way to handle the situation.