Rabbi Schneider - How Demons Enter?
God bless you and Shalom, beloved ones. My name's Rabbi Schneider. Welcome today to this edition of Discovering the Jewish Jesus, where I'm continuing in a series that I'm calling Self Deliverance: Gaining Victory Over the Powers of Darkness. Paul tells us in the Book of 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 3 and 4, this: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. What type of fortresses is he talking about? He's talking, beloved, about fortresses of spiritual darkness that the Bible calls Satan and demons.
I want you to step back with me for a second and understand we're talking about spiritual energy that's personal. And even as God is a force in the world, even as he is a personal God that's invisible, there are also other forces in the world that are his opposite. That's why the Bible talks about in the end times the what? The anti-Christ will emerge. What does it mean anti-Christ? He's exactly anti who Jesus is. And why will the anti-Christ arise? Because there's evil in the world that's anti-Christ. And this evil that's in the world, beloved, it does not automatically leave Christian people alone.
Why was John the Baptist put to death? Why were all the disciples, beloved, of Jesus, rather the apostles, why were all the apostles murdered, put on the cross upside down? Why were their heads cut off? Why were they burned in oil? Isn't it because evil still exists in the world and the evil that's in the world hates what God is doing and hates who God is? In fact, I notice in my own life, often times when I'm really moving forward in God, that's when I sense the greatest onslaught of evil against me. In fact, let me share with you an incident in my life going back now over thirty years. I was a very young believer. I knew really nothing about the devil or demons. I mean, I read in the New Testament once Jesus brought me to himself that the devil was real and the demons were real. I read it on a page with ink. But I had no revelation about it.
And then one day I said to myself, you know what? The Bible tells me in the Book of Hebrews that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him. And so I said, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna spend all day tomorrow just seeking God. And so I got up the next day and I had such a focus. I had such joy in me to take that whole day completely focusing on seeking God. And beloved, all day all I did was I read the Bible, I listened to spiritual music, I worshipped God and I prayed all day long, from the time that I got up to the time I went to bed. And I remember as I was walking into my bedroom that night after spending all day seeking God, and I can still remember it. I was thinking to myself, I'm gonna have a really great reward. Something really great's gonna happen to me because the Bible says that God's a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.
And I just spent all day seeking God. And I went to bed with such anticipation as to what good thing was gonna happen to me. And that night, beloved one, I was so violently, spiritually attacked in my sleep. I never experienced anything like it or since. I can't even explain it. It doesn't even make sense. I can't even... It doesn't even make sense. But I'm gonna tell you is what is felt like. It felt like the most violent spirit that you could even imagine, I mean, even more violent than any violence you've ever seen on earth. This invisible, violent spirit attacked me in my sleep and I felt like I was literally being slammed against the walls in my bedroom, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam; just violent attack upon my soul all night long. I woke up the next morning and I was like so I felt like I'd been run over by a Mack truck. And I was so, you know, shaken by the experience, that fear actually entered my heart and I thought to myself, wow if that's what happened when you sought God so hard, maybe you shouldn't seek him so hard like that anymore.
I had enough spiritual discernment despite my young age in the Lord to recognize that it was the devil that must have done that. And he was trying to get me to, from seeking God. He was trying to stop me, beloved one, from seeking God. The point is, is that when we press forward in the Lord, sometimes that's when the enemy attacks the fiercest because, remember he's anti-God. He wants to stop us from laying ahold of God. And you need to be ready, and I need to be ready to understand that when we're advancing in the Lord, that there's gonna be resistance. That's one of the primary definitions of the devil. He's the one that resists God. He tries to hinder God. And he's trying to stop you, beloved ones, and he's trying to stop me. And the weapons that we defeat him with, Paul said, are not flesh weapons, they're spiritual weapons.
Listen again, 2 Corinthians, 10:3-4: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses, spiritual strongholds. Our fight's not against flesh and blood. And so we've been talking about this amazing battle that we're in right now, and it takes a spiritual enlightenment to be able to stop looking at the flesh, and blaming the flesh for everything, and blaming this person, and blaming that person, and blaming this circumstance, and blaming that circumstance for your unhappiness, and from your frustration, and from your defeat. It takes revelation for you to lift your eyes above the natural world to understand, beloved, that what I'm telling you is the truth; that your fight and my fight is not against flesh and blood.
Our real fight, beloved, is in the invisible realm of the spirit. And until we learn how to warfare in the invisible realm of the spirit, get it, we're never gonna attain victory. You see, just because we're born again, it doesn't mean we are automatically living in victory. I mean, this is obvious enough, right? I mean, think about all the people that you know that call themselves believers, that call themselves Christians, and yet how many of those people that you know that call themselves Christians are living in joy, are living in peace, have their families in order, have their finances in order. You know, how many of them are really living, beloved, in the type of experience that you want to live in. And yet the Bible tells us that we should be living in victory.
Jesus said that the purpose for us is that we would be like lights on top of a hill, that everybody would be able to see us on top of that hill, and they would be so marveled at our life, and, and at God's goodness on us that they would look up in heaven and give glory to the Father. In other words, that the victory of God would be apparent on our lives; this is God's will for us, that people would look upon us and that we would be signs and wonders for him. And people would ask, how do they live this way? How do they live in the soundness of mind they live in? How do they walk in such wisdom? How is it that they carry themselves the way that they do? How is it they're able to look up and live in this victory?
And they'll say to themselves, well God, their God, must be real because I see God's victory on their life. But how many people do you know that are living that type of a lifestyle? Very few, and for some of us, maybe no one. And the point that I'm making is, beloved, just because we're Christians, it doesn't mean that we automatically live in victory. We have to overcome. Jesus said seven times in the first several chapters in the Book of Revelation, Revelation, 2-3, he said: He that overcomes will inherit these things.
We need to fight. We need to fight the fight of faith, Paul said. And so, in this series I'm wanting the church to gain understanding of the fact that we're in a real war. I'm wanting to help you get revelation of this. And then I'm wanting to give you tools through the Word of God so that you can know how to fight the powers of darkness, subdue them under your feet and gain victory and a spiritual advantage, hallelujah, over the enemy in your life. Now I really want to encourage you to get all the resources that I've made available on this subject because this isn't something you can just hear about one time and that's enough. We need to train our self in this.
On last week's broadcast, I began to talk about how spirits of darkness enter. And we talked about generational spirits that spirits can be passed on from our mom, our grandfather, our father, our great-grandfather. To try to make it easy to understand, I gave the analogy of depression. If your dad was depressed, probably his mom or dad was depressed, and probably you struggle with depression. If your mom or dad was an alcoholic, probably their mom or dad was an alcoholic, and probably you've had to battle that same fight.
Now listen please, this doesn't mean that we're doomed, because all these things can be canceled and broken in Jesus. But if we don't understand what we're dealing with, in other words, some people say I've tried everything and I can't get free from this thing. And they don't understand why. But often times the thing that's gonna get them free is to understand that the problem that they're having is not a problem that they have to own because it wasn't their problem in the first place. It was passed on to them through their mom or dad. This is why Jesus said, unless a man hates his own father, mother, brother and sister, he can't be my disciple.
And we scratch our head, how could Jesus say that a man has to hate his own father and mother if they're gonna be his disciple. That doesn't make sense to some of us because we think that, you know, our God's a God of love. Well sometimes, beloved, there's many different facets to the same diamond. Of course we honor our mom and dad like the Scripture says. Of course we love our mom and dad. But what Jesus is saying is, your sole alliance, Jesus said, has to be from, to me alone because if your sole alliance isn't to me alone, you're not going to be able to get to the level of victory that I have for you. You're not gonna be able to truly be my disciple because you're gonna still be more connected to your flesh and blood relative and the problems that they had you're gonna have because your primary allegiance isn't to me.
If you want to rise to a higher level than your mom or dad, you have to recognize that there's things in their life that are problematic and unless you make your allegiance to me above them, you're gonna have the same problems that they had. Do you understand that? So the first way that spirits enter into our lives, beloved, is through our family history. These are called in Scripture, in the Hebrew Bible, get this now, familiar spirits. Why are they familiar spirits? Because they've been in the family, they're familiar. And sometimes we're so familiar with these spirits we don't even realize that they're foul.
In other words, people that are dealing with the spirit of depression, they are so used to being depressed and they're so used to being around people that have been depressed in their family growing up, that they actually are putting their arm around depression, this foul, loathsome spirit, and they're so comfortable with it, it's so familiar to them, they're holding onto it like it's their friend.
We break the power right now, Father God, of every spirit that is holding captive the children of God in Jesus's name. Jesus, I take authority over Satan in your name, on behalf of your people, and I break off of them spirits of loathsome depression. I break you in Jesus's name. Satan, I command you to release the children of God right now. I take authority over all spirits of depression and I break you, and I break you off the necks of God's beloved ones. In Jesus's name, get behind them now.
And beloved, what we're attempting to do and are going to do in this series is teach you how to warfare against your enemy. I want to teach you by the grace of God, to fight for yourself and bring self-deliverance to yourself through the grace of King Jesus. Now I also talked about last week as I continued on entry points, I talked about personal sin. And when you and I personally sin, we are actually opening up a legal right for Satan to gain access into our life. You see, people that see God by doing drugs don't realize that when they are doing drugs they are actually putting them self in a spiritual sphere where the enemy, where demonic spirits, can gain access to them.
When people are engaged in illicit sex, and pornography, and having affairs, what they're actually doing is they're taking them self outside of God's protective boundary and they're going outside the fence of his covering and protection, and now they're in a realm where Satan literally can enter into their lives. And there are certain things that you may have done in your life, even before you became a believer or after you became a believer, there are certain acts that you've done, certain types of sin where you open up a door for a spirit to get in, and now that spirit is still harassing you.
Now let me clarify that a believer cannot be possessed by a demon. Listen again, church. Believers cannot be possessed by the devil. Possession implies ownership. And we cannot be owned by a demon or by the devil. We're God's children. We're God's sons and daughters. We're the inheritance of Jesus. God alone owns us. But listen to me, what demons do and what demonic energy does, get this now, church, get this now, it invades our space. It can enter into our space. If there is an opening in our space, a demon can get in. He can occupy space. He's a squatter. He's not supposed to be there, but he can enter in and occupy space either in our minds, or even in our bodies. And when that happens, these demonic persons need to be confronted by the living Word of God, by Jesus himself, and driven out.
Let me share with you a dream that God gave me that gave me revelation on this subject several years ago. In the dream, I was living in this really dilapidated, broken down house. It was really, really small. It was dilapidated. The wood was decaying. And it was just a depressing place to be. Now right across from where I was living, just like thirty feet away from where I was living in this dilapidated house, thirty feet away there was another house. The other house was big, and it was beautiful, and it was clean, and it was brand new. And it was just the type of place, the type of house that you'd want to live in.
And in the dream, I knew that, that other house, that beautiful house was mine, I owned it. But why was I living in the dilapidated, little broken down house? Because in the big house that I owned, get this now, there were squatters. In the dream they had the form of human beings, but I could literally see that they were demons because the energy that was coming from these beings in human form was so hostile, and so full of hatred, and so sadistic I knew they were demons, and get it now church, I was afraid to go into that beautiful house that was mine because those squatters, those demons, were living in it. I was afraid to go in and take, get it now, possession of my space.
I was afraid to occupy my space just like the God of Israel told the children of Israel, I have given you a land flowing with milk and honey. God said, I am bringing you into a spacious place. But what happened? They didn't go in. Why? Because when the Lord had them go look at the land, when, when they sent spies into the land, the ten spies came back and they said, we cannot go into that land because there's giants in it. And the fear of the giants kept Israel from taking possession of their land. It's a shadow, beloved, of the type of environment that God has for us in the Spirit. He has such a bigger space for you and I to live in. He has a space for you and I to live in that's filled with peace. It's filled with love. It's filled with space. It's filled with no fear. It's filled with courage.
It's just a beautiful place to be living, to be experiencing. But we're not entering fully into this space, most of us, because we're afraid to face the demons that are keeping us from entering in. And we don't even know that the demons are keeping us from entering in because we don't even have the self-awareness to know what's going on. See I've learned in my life that when Satan is making me afraid of something, when I begin to face that fear psychologically, Satan makes me afraid when I begin to face it, that the thing that I'm afraid of is gonna happen to me for facing it.
You see, he tries to make us afraid of facing him. But in the dream, let me tell you what happened as I get back to the dream. So these beings, these demonic beings are squatters in my space, in my house. And I'm trapped in this little broken down dump. But finally I get so tired of living in this depressed, broken down space, that I say you know what, I don't care what happens to me. Even if I die, I'm gonna go face that demon that's living in my house. And I went to the door of that beautiful house and I waited for the demon to come out.
And when he came out, church, I took ahold of him by the collar, I threw him on the ground and I started punching him in the face. And when I first started punching this demon in the face, again it was in human form, it seemed like nothing was happening at all. Listen, I felt totally powerless. I felt my blows were having no effect on him whatsoever. But I was so focused on I am not gonna stop. I'm gonna keep punching. I'm gonna not live in that dilapidated place anymore. I'm gonna take possession of the beautiful place that's mine. I just kept pounding away. And all of a sudden, pshoo, all the air went out from that demon, and bam, he was gone.
And then the dream was over, and the Lord was showing me there, I have a bigger space for you to live in. It was illustrated by the house, of course. I have got a place for you to live in, listen to me church, that's free from fear, free from worry. It's a big place. It's full of Shalom. It's full of love. It's full of goodness. I've got that space for you to enter. But in order for you to enter it, you're gonna need to face the demons. You're gonna need to face the worry. You're gonna need to face, beloved ones, the fear. You see, demons disguise them self as angels of light. You don't know that they're demons that you're dealing with because demons occupy the realm of thought.
We read about, for example, in the Book of 1 Chronicles, 21:1 this: Then Satan stood up against Israel, get this now, and moved David to number Israel. David didn't know that it was Satan that was moving him to number Israel. David thought it was own, his own thoughts. Now on next week's broadcast, I want you to join me as we talk about how demons don't appear as these hideous beings with horns on their head. No, but rather they project thoughts into our mind and we're deceived into owning those thoughts, thinking that they're our own.
Father, I speak blessing over your people today. I speak blessing over your church today. Father, I break into the darkness that is hindering your people, Father God, from seeing your light, from seeing your truth, and from seeing the truth. Satan, I take authority over you right now and I break up the powers of darkness that are blinding the minds of the people of God from seeing God, and King Jesus, and the marvelous light. Jesus, you said that if we would follow you we would know the truth, and the truth would set us free. Jesus, right now we claim that truth. We ask you to wash us in that truth. We ask you to wash us by your Word, Jesus, by your blood, and by your Spirit. Jesus, we thank you today that you triumphed over darkness and have given us, your church, victory over all the gates of hell. We crown you, King Jesus, with praise today. We love you, Amen.