By James W. Goll Tuesday, September 18th, 2018
“Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father, He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:43 NASB
I. We Are Called to Battle Against the Powers of Darkness
A. A Look at Ephesians 6:12
1. From the New America Standard Version “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
2. From the New International Version “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
3. From the Living Word Translation “For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies—the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world, and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the spirit world.”
4. From the Amplified Version “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.”
5. From Teacher & Author Derek Prince “For our wrestling match is not against flesh and blood, not against persons with bodies, but against rulers with various areas and descending orders of authority, against the world dominators of this present darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies.”
B. Descending Order of Spiritual Darkness
1. Descending Ranks In God’s creation we are shown that there is a great order. The angels do not all have the same function, purpose, or authority (see my book Angelic Encounters and Angelic Encounters Today curriculum for detailed teaching). So is it in the kingdom of darkness.
2. What Determines the Descending Order? Demons differ as to sinfulness (Matthew 12:45) and as to strength (Mark 9:29). Could this be what determines their organizational position?
3. Stratagems and Methods The enemy does not work haphazardly. He has schemes, plans, goals, strategies and methods to carry them out (Ephesians 6:11; I John 5:18-19).
II. Confronting Strongholds
A. Five Levels of Spiritual Conflict
1. The Conflict Between God and Satan 2. The Conflict Between the Elect Angels and the Fallen Angels 3. The Conflict Between Satan and the Saints 4. The Conflict Between Satan and the Unsaved 5. The Conflict Between the Law of the Mind and the Law of the Spirit
B. Six Classes of Spiritual Forces (Good and Evil)
1. Principalities/rulers (arche) – a ruler must have someone, something or somewhere over which to exercise its dominion or rule. (Ephesians1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Colossians 1:16; 2:10). 2. Authorities (exuosia) – again “authority” demands a subordinate (Ephesians 1:21; 3:10; Colossians 1:16). 3. Powers (dunamis) – Ephesians 1:21. In Mark 9:29 Jesus refers to a type of demon that cannot come out but by prayer and fasting. Possibly some demons are stronger and more powerful than others; hence, a hierarchy or differentiation based on spiritual strength. 4. Dominions (kuriote tos) – again “lordship/dominion” over what/whom/where? (Ephesians 1:21; Colossians 1:16). 5. Thrones (thronoi) – used of angels only in Colossians 1:16; Psalms 22:3; Daniel 7:10. 6. World rulers (kosmo kratoras) – used only in Ephesians 6:12.
C. Spiritual Strongholds that Need to Be Exposed “A spiritual stronghold is a mindset impregnated with hopelessness that causes us to accept as unchangeable, situations that we know are contrary to the will of God.” – Ed Silvoso
The following are a list of 10 different demonic spirits that we need to expose, dethrone and overcome in today’s world.
1. Jezebel’s Influence 2. Ahab’s Dysfunction 3. The stifling Religious Spirit
4. The conniving Political Plots and Ploys 5. The dulling Deaf and Dumb Spirit 6. The workings of Leviathan 7. The paralyzing Spirit of Fear 8. The seducing Spirit of Deception 9. The false supernatural Spirit of Witchcraft 10. The displacing Spirit of Anti-Christ
III. Primary Scriptures on the Deaf and Dumb Spirit
A. From Isaiah 42:18-20 “Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one in covenant with me, blind like the servant of the LORD? You have seen many things, but you pay no attention; your ears are open, but you do not listen.”
B. From Isaiah 42:21-22 “It pleased the LORD for the sake of his righteousness to make his law great and glorious. But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, ‘Send them back.’”
C. From Malachi 2:7-8 “‘For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
D. From Mark 9:17-18 “A man in the crowd answered, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.’”
E. From Luke 9:38-39 “A man in the crowd called out, ‘Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him.’”
IV. Characteristics of the Deaf and Dumb Spirit
A. Detachment – Matthew 17:15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.”
B. Falls to Sleep – Luke 22:45 “When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow.”
C. Dull of Hearing – Hebrews 5:11-13 “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.”
D. In a Stupor – Romans 11:8 “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to the very day.”
E. Doubt and Unbelief – John 8:43, 47 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
V. Breaking the Power
A. Walk in the Remedy
1. Faith Comes by Hearing – Romans 10:17 2. The Lord Opens My Ear – Isaiah 50:4 3. I Will Hear – Psalms 85:8 4. God Speaks Once, God Speaks Twice – Job 33:14 5. I Have Come to Bring Good News – Luke 7:22
B. Closing Prayer of Command
In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, I declare that Jesus has already defeated satan by His death, burial and resurrection and has stripped the devil of his powers. Jesus gave His authority over all the powers of darkness to His disciples. I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, by the power of the name of Jesus and by His blood shed for me, I command that the entrenchment of the deaf and dumb spirit be dislodged. I command it to lift off of me and my household and leave now by the authority of the Word of God. I declare you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. I am free in Christ Jesus! Amen and Amen!
