Iniquity–Lawlessness (sin)–separates man from God, leaving him without help in the face of Satan’s relentless temptations to rebel against God (Isa. 59:2).  Jesus of Nazareth was no exception.  Until the instant of His death, the devil and his minions were tempting Him to give in, to take the easy way out, to defy the Father’s commission.  Like any other human being, His will was to live, to get out of what He knew was coming.  But He stayed the course set before Him by submitting His will to the Father’s will.  His church is the result of His determination to obey the Father.  Those who obey Him constitute His church today.  Though miniscule in number, her saints follow in His footsteps by obeying God’s Law in spite of relentless attacks of Satan and his fallen angels.  They “count it all joy” when they overcome temptation (Jam. 1:2), knowing that a seat beside Jesus Christ on His throne will be the payoff (Rev. 3:21).

During His short time on earth Jesus taught and demonstrated to His apostles what they were to do until His return.  They are to teach God’s Truths, then undo the works of Satan and his angels in those who have not obeyed His Law when they are led by His Holy Spirit to do so.  The casting out of the tempting spirits which prompted the sin is part of this process.  This posting will highlight some of the instances in which Jesus and His servants healed the afflicted, and in some cases, cast out the offending spirits, known as deliverance, as recorded in the Holy Scriptures.  First and foremost in importance relative to the work of God’s messengers is the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.  God then uses miracles to prove that the Gospel message is true.  Jesus tells us that deliverance and healing are part of His sin forgiveness program (Mat. 9:1-6), that they are one in the same act (Mat. 9:1-6).

I will provide a list of such miracles and a Scriptural reference where each miracle is recorded.  Keep in mind that sickness, infirmity, disease, mental and physical defects, poverty, premature death, natural disasters, etc. are curses caused by demonic spirits who have been allowed in by people who do not keep God’s Law, which is the Biblical definition of sin–iniquity.

The following are miracles performed by Jesus to undo what Satan and his demonic spirits had done to iniquitous people: healing of a leper (Mat. 8:1-4); healing of a centurion’s servant (Mat. 8:5); deliverance of demoniacs (Mat. 8:28/Mk. 1:23; 1:23); healing of the palsied man (Mat. 9:21); healing of the woman with an issue of blood (Mat. 9:20); healing of the man with a withered hand (Mat. 12:10); deliverance of the epileptic boy (Mat. 17:14); healing of blind and deaf people (Mat. 20:30/Mk. 8:22/Jn. 9:1/Mk. 7:31); raising the dead (Lk. 7:11/Jn. 11:38).  Other miracles such multiplication of food, the turning water into wine, the stilling of a storm, the cursing of a tree; the haul of fishes, etc. in which miracles, signs and wonders were used to prove not only what Jesus could do, but what his true apostles could, and still can do.

Now let us take into account the miracles of the early church in their work to counteract the works of the prince of the powers of the air and his fallen angels as recorded in the Book of Acts: healing of lame persons (3:1-11/5:12-16/8:6,7,13/9:32-35/13:9-11/4:8-12/6:16-18/19:11,12/8:7-10); killing of Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11)/deliverance of Peter from prison(12:5-17/ numerous miracles by Paul (19:11,12/ raising of the dead (20:7-12).

In Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 God makes clear the fact that man determines how he runs the race of life.  If according to God’s Law, the outcomes will be positive.  If according to Satan’s law, the outcomes will be negative as Satan and company are loosed on the sinner to do damage of some sort, or in some cases, of several sorts.  Read Would God Do That?  Key word–Would.  The humongous size of the medical, defense and insurance industries tells us that mankind is in deep trouble with the Lord.  Mankind is in trouble with God because he refuses to obey His Ten Commandment Law, thereby making the world’s population guilty of iniquity–Lawlessness.

All mental, physical, economic, weather, “natural,” social, etc. problems, whether individual, national or international are curses having a cause, as says the Lord in Proverbs 26:2.  As Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 make perfectly clear, man is the captain of his own ship, the builder of his own house, etc.  His will dictates whether he will obey God and be blessed or obey Satan and be cursed.  There is no gray area.  Neither Satan nor his angles can force anyone to sin.  Those who give in to their temptations have made deliberate choices.  They have invited his devils to enter their minds from whence they direct the thoughts, words and actions of their hosts.  Unless those spirits are cast out, they will remain within the heart/mind of their host as long as he/she lives.

Without the power of God’s Holy Spirit working for them–the result of obeying God’s Law- man has no chance against such powerful beings.  WE MUST USE GOD’S SPIRIT TO REPELL SATAN’S “FIERY DARTS” OF TEMPTATION.  We can have His Spirit only by obeying His Law.  With His Spirit we can resist the devil.  Jesus said: “Behold, I give YOU power over all the power of the enemy” (Lk. 10:19).  Recall that James 4:7 tells us to “Resist the devil and he will flee from YOU.”  We must resist every day of our lives for he is constantly trying to lure us into obeying him.  His temptations come via his demons.  Much of Christ’s and His apostles’ ministries involved casting out demons.  His commission to His original apostles as well as their spiritual descendants is to “cast out devils.”  This is His way of telling us that He cares for us and wants the best for us.  Once one is delivered of a demon(s)–the most demons I have cast out of a person was 33)–one is required to get right with God and remain that way.  Recall that when a demon is allowed to remain in an individual, he will go get seven more and bring them back to live in his host.  Read the previous posting.

The problem is that the vast majority of people, including church people, do not believe in devils.  Those who do believe that demons can’t afflict them because they are supposedly saved.  They are not God’s people and are therefore subject to whatever Satan wants to do to them.  When the devils do their work, they assume that the curses they endure from birth until death are “just the way it is.”  I and a few others try to tell the physical world about the spirit world that surrounds them.  Few believe it even though the Bible repeatedly proves that such a world not only exists, but controls most of mankind, including those in “the church.”  They do not understand that God’s promises do not involve them because they are “WORKERS OF INIQUITY” WHOM JESUS DOES NOT “KNOW” INTIMATELY (Mat. 7:23).  L.J.