The ministry of deliverance to those who have lived in flagrant sin, whether unbeliever or believer, is not a small task. Everyone living in the spirit of the world is in the breeding ground of vipers. Those who have received Christ may have to be set free from the knot of vipers. As a general principle, those who have wrecked their lives with sin will need deliverance. New believers upon entering the kingdom of God experience the miraculous change of forgiveness. I see it happening all the time with new converts. They have been set free from the power of darkness. “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14) If there is not a palate for the milk of the word, they will miscarry. Sadly, this is the experience of many when they do not lay aside their evil ways. “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (I Peter 2:1-2) Two things must happen…desire for communion with God by reading the Word of God and gratitude for His marvelous grace that has set you free. Without this, the seed will fall on stony ground resulting in apostasy.
Even if the seed falls on good ground, there may be a need for a power encounter to drive out the unclean spirits that have entered the body. The spirit of the born-again man is sanctified and made holy. In my own experience, the gracious Lord delivered me from many unclean spirits shortly after my salvation. It was a power encounter by the Lord Himself to drive out those unclean spirits still housed in my body. Jesus, the almighty God disarmed the strong men (unclean spirits) that had been taking me captive to do their will. “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his plunder.” (Luke 11:21-22) The strong man has plundered the dignity and the will, and meaning of life. He enslaves the subject to do his bidding by force. This is why a person cannot just say no; “having been taken captive to do his will.” (II Timothy 2:26)
Both John the Baptist and Jesus condemned the Pharisees and the Sadducees as a “brood of vipers”. It was a declaration of the religious leaders as “deadly sons of serpents”. When John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come”? (Matthew 3:7) When the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons, Jesus responded to them; “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil twreasure brings forth evil things.” (Matthew 12:34-35)
One reason heartaches abound is the evil treasure of the heart. This root always bring forth evil in relationships, appetites, lusts, emotions, and conscience, leading to chains and darkness. This behavior opens the door for unclean spirits to enter the body manifesting their lusts to produce evil through the body. Clinical resources abound attempting to help dysfunctional people. Faith-based ministries have sprung up to deal with spiritual warfare that wages war against the saints. I thank the Lord for those who have the mercy and compassion to minister to the hurting, troubled, wounded, and bruised psyches.
“Francois Mauriac’s work, The Knot of Vipers, tells the story of Monsieur Louis, an embittered aging lawyer who has spread his misery to his entire estranged family. Louis writes a journal to explain to them why his soul is deformed; why his heart seems like a foul nest of twisted serpents. Mauriac’s novel explores the corruption, avarice and hatred, and the divine grace that remains available to us until the very moment of our deaths. It is the unforgettable tale of the battle for one man’s soul.” (Introduction to Knot of Vipers). Near the end of his life, as he was reading the journal he had written, he felt the power of guilt come upon him.
“It was not only that my heart had become a nest of vipers, that it had been filled with hatred for my children, with a lust for vengeance and a grasping of the love of money. What was worse was I had refused to look beyond the tangle of the vile snakes. I had treasured their knotted hideousness as though it had been the central reality of my being — as though the beating of the life blood in my veins had been the pulse of all those swarming reptiles.”
He began to experience his depravity in his enlightened conscience. His sin became “exceedingly sinful”. Monsieur Louis writes in his journal of his “profession of faith” and testifies of his bitterness towards his family. “I want you to know how wretched I have been.” By grace he was transformed into a new man. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17)
“For the first time in my life I was looking forward to their company, was thinking of it in a mood of pleasurable anticipation. I was impatient to show them my change of heart. At last I had cut through the knot of vipers. So quickly would I win their love that when the moment came for them to close my eyes, they would do so with tears.” What a blessing to see God in His mercy deliver one from the knot of vipers and set him free.
Bethel Colony has the training to set men free with the deliverance power of Jesus Christ. Sadly, many who are in bondage feel they are without hope. Jesus is able to set you/them free. “Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
Where the Grace blows,