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"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law." (Gal. 5:22-23) |
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"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law." (Gal. 5:22-23) |
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Recent Newsletters
October 2006 Newsletter Exciting News!
I, Paul, will be travelling to Orlando, Florida, in two-weeks time, to be a guest attendee at the 2006 KINGDOMQUEST.NET INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. Kingdomquest.net is a ministry that is networking apostolic networks, five-fold ministries and local churches. Apostle Don Atkin is convenor of the ministry and Paul's host.I trust there will be exciting things to report next month. All the company at SHILOH send their greetings in Christ Jesus.Paul Galligan. INTRODUCTION TO SPIRITUAL WARFARE Walking
in the authority that Christ has given. There are clearly three levels of spiritual warfare: the
individual level which refers to every individual believer; the
body of believers in a local church with an eldership appointed
by an apostle; and the international or worldwide church under the
leadership of apostles and prophets. However these levels/realms
of spiritual warfare/opposition to the church/believers intermesh.
The devil is totally indiscriminate in his attack on individuals,
local churches and international apostolic ministries. The main
point is to recognise our placement in the body of Christ and to
know our standing in Christ as an individual believer, as a member
of a church fellowship and as part of the world-wide church which
is “the
whole building, being fitted together, growing into a holy temple
in the Lord” Eph.2:21. The second main point is to have a growing knowledge of
“Christ in us”. The Scripture says
that Christ has “disarmed principalities and powers; He made
a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross” Col.2:15.
The Scripture also says “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested,
that He might destroy the works of the devil” 1Jn.3:8. We need to know our placement in Christ,
that God has “raised us up together, and made us sit together
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” Eph.2:6. When we
come to know the word of God through being properly discipled [Jesus’
command in Matt.28:19-20] we realise that we are
able to walk in victory and freedom at every level. Individual Level
In this newsletter we are introducing the individual level
of spiritual warfare to equip the saints to stand in the evil day.
Jesus has given every born again believer authority over demons,
to cast them out. Mark 16:17 “these signs will follow those
who believe; in My name they will cast out demons”. If a believer has a problem with a demon
or is confronted by a demon in the life of a person near them, the
believer has authority from Jesus to command that demon to leave,
in the name of Jesus. The casting out of a demon is not always simple
or straightforward but there is no doubt that Jesus has given this
authority to every believer. James
4:7 gives a key for the
authority of the individual over the devil. “Therefore submit
to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We
are to ‘submit’ to God, and then we will be able to resist the enemy
when he comes against us. Many make the mistake of trying to drive
the devil away when their life is not in submission to God. Submission
to God means walking in obedience through faith in the word. We are enabled to walk in obedience to faith
by committing to discipleship: the diligent study of the word,
having a teachable spirit so that we can be instructed by those
God has appointed to be our overseers and teachers. 1Pet.5:8-9
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him,
steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced
by your brotherhood in the world.”
To come under attack from the devil, to be tested and tried by him,
is something that everyone experiences and it will cause suffering,
but the word of God promises us that if we resist the devil, he
will flee from us. Peter tells us to resist the devil “steadfast in the faith”. The faith
refers to the doctrines of the faith (Jude 3) but also refers to our believing
from the heart; that is what submitting to God really means. As
we learn to submit to God, steadfast in the faith, and endure the
suffering for a season, then Peter promises us that “the God
of all grace who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus,
after you have suffered a while, will perfect, establish, strengthen,
and settle you” 1Pet.5:10. Young men, ministers in training Luke
10:17 “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even
the demons are subject to us in Your name.’”
Here we see that the trainee evangelists or witnesses raised up
by Jesus, going out in the authority of Jesus, had authority over
devils. In v19 Jesus said to those disciples “Behold,
I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and
over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt
you.” Jesus is speaking to the seventy witnesses that He
had appointed and sent out (v1), after giving them some basic
training and clear guidelines for the conduct of the ministry they
were to exercise (v2-12). This is the authority Jesus gave
to ministers-in-training to actually overcome, or tread upon, all
the authority of Satan when he comes against you. This is power
to resist Satan, to overcome Satan, even when all the authority
of Satan is coming against that minister. This authority is to cast
out demons, setting people free from demonic possession and from
being troubled by a demonic strongman. Young men/trainee ministers
are the ones who are able to overcome the wicked one because the
word of God abides in them, 1 John 2:14 “you are strong, and
the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked
one.” The word of God abiding in
us is the fruit of proper discipleship. What
Does It Mean To ‘Bind The Strong Man’?
In Matthew 12:29 Jesus says “how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his
goods, unless he first binds the strong man”. Who is the strong man? The context
of this passage is of Jesus healing a demon-possessed man, who was
blind and mute (v.22). The Pharisees accused Jesus of
casting out the demon by the power of the devil. Jesus tells the
Pharisees that a house divided against itself is not able to stand.
Jesus is referring to a demonic spirit in a ‘house’. This house is the individual’s
life,
not a principality in the heavenlies. When a person is possessed
by a demon, they need to be delivered of that demon. Jesus clearly
says that we do this by ‘binding the strongman’ [evil spirit] first
and then with the person’s agreement
we cast
it out. The strong man spoken of is a demonic strong man on a human
level, not in a heavenly realm. This is deliverance of an individual.
Jesus set the man free from a deaf and mute spirit.
In Matthew 12:43-45 Jesus speaks of an unclean
spirit that has been cast out of an individual. Such a spirit goes
to a dry place; it is not for us to decree where the unclean spirit
goes; it is for us to cast the demon out of the person. The ‘house’ from which the spirit has come,
refers to the individual from which the spirit has been cast out.
When a spirit is cast out of a person, that person must be lead
to full salvation, including water baptism, according to the Scriptural
pattern and filled with the Holy Spirit, so that they no longer
have an empty house. A person who
is saved can have a demon;
they may not have fully turned from evil. Sometimes even a very
committed and dedicated believer, even a minister, can be troubled
by a demon – a demonic strongman who has been assigned to that person’s
life to oppose them and make them ineffective through a besetting
problem. Often the person with a besetting problem thinks it is
evil in their own heart. However every effort to be free of that
problem by fastings and prayers is unsuccessful. We need to ask
the Lord for discernment because often the besetting problem is
being caused by a demonic strongman. Examples of what I am referring
to are: having abnormal lustful or impure thoughts, arguments in
the mind, being ineffective in spiritual disciplines. We have seen
people released in all of these areas and we are talking about good
committed saints. The person
needs to repent, humble themselves before God, confess their sin,
remove the demon or have the demon removed, and be filled with the
Spirit of Christ. Generally
we need to ask someone in eldership to take authority and cast the
demon out. In most cases when the person is aware of a problem and
has come for help, this is a very simple process. Often the Lord
has shown the person the nature of their problem. Casting
out demons is successful when the minister [or believer] knows their
authority and standing in Christ. There is no need to shout
at demons but rather speak with authority in Christ. I have spoken
in whispers to demons on occasion and they have obeyed me! Warfare In
The Mind 2
Corinthians 10:3-6 is also
speaking of individual warfare. It is primarily talking about warfare
in our minds. These Scriptures are not referring to demonic strongholds
except that there are demonic forces at work to deceive people in
terms of what they believe. However the warfare that Paul speaks
of and instructs us in, is in the context not of the demonic but
of the mind: thoughts, imaginations, arguments, beliefs and the
attitudes that come from those beliefs, that often end up being
very strong, aggressive expressions that lead to all of kinds wrong
behaviour and interpersonal problems. v.
3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to
the flesh.” We
are by nature children of the flesh; that is our condition, but
once we are the Spirit-born children of God, we now have the very
Spirit of God at work in us. Consequently we no longer need to be
governed by fleshly principles and such principles are of no avail
when it comes to the renewal of the mind. v.4 “For the weapons of
our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down
strongholds.” The
Spirit of Christ gives us weapons and imparts to us the power to
effectively overcome the fleshly principles that govern our life
by nature. He gives us spiritual weapons, that is the spiritual
ability to be transformed through the renewing of our minds (Rom.12:2). A stronghold is a place of belief and thought pattern in
our lives that has been firmly established often from birth by the
environmental circumstances that we grew up in. We are to pull down
such strongholds in our own thinking, in the wisdom and power of
God. These strongholds can be deep things that have been bred into
us since birth, such as racial strongholds between fair and dark
skinned people groups. These strongholds can be cultural, national,
tribal, religious, denominational, or inter-faith beliefs, [eg.
Islam and Christianity] that we take for granted and we do not even
question their validity. We have grown up with such attitudes and
beliefs. People act, and have even killed, out of such strongholds.
These strongholds are in the lives of believers. Paul says that
we have the power of God in us to pull down such strongholds. We
need to re-examine our hearts, our thinking and become obedient
to the gospel. It is the word of God only that is “quick and powerful and sharper that any two
edged sword” and is able to pierce “even to the division of soul and spirit …
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”
Heb.4:12. There is no other power or agent in the universe that
is able to do this. Therefore the most powerful weapon that God
has given us is the Word of God, the Bible, the ‘Logos’
of God. There is no substitute to regular committed Bible Study
and committed discipleship wherein the teacher
teaches the word to the believers. It is very important for the
believer to learn Scriptures off by heart, thus wielding this two-edged sword. v.5a
“Casting down arguments.” ‘Arguments’
refer to our own belief systems or opinions about things, eg. the
doctrine of evolution. People who are full of wrong doctrine just
want to ague about everything. These are arguments in our minds
and again Paul is saying we have the power to pull them down. That
power is the Spirit-empowered word, coupled with all kinds of prayers
in the Spirit. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance
and supplication for all the saints” Eph.6:18. v.5b “and every high
thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.” ‘Every high thing’ can refer to our own pride and prideful
things, opinions, attitudes etc. In the Old Testament, after the
reign of King David, there is continual reference to the ‘high places’.
When reforming kings were on the throne they destroyed idol worship
in the high places but often the worship of YAHWEH continued in
the high places, whereas the word of the Lord had made it very clear
that the worship of YAHWEH was to be in the place of His presence
[the Tabernacle and then the v.5c “bringing every
thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” ‘Every thought’ that is, things that we set our minds
on, a contrivance of the mind which can act as a trigger or a device
of the mind to which we react in a specific way. It is something
that triggers a person to have a certain response and that response
makes the person act/react in a wrong way, leading to strife and
condemnation. A thought is not a demon that needs to be cast out;
these Scriptures refer to people thinking and acting out of wrong
mindsets. Paul says that each one of us has the power to pull these
things down and to bring them into captivity to the obedience of
Christ. We are to take every thought captive. In other words, through
being spiritual people, we are meant to rule over our minds, learning
to judge ourselves by the spirit man within us. We are to recognise
that our thoughts are in the realm of the soul. Do not be ruled
by the soul. 1Cor.2:10-16 teaches us that “the
spirit of the man which is in him knows the things of the man” and
because we have received the Spirit of God we may “know the things that have been given freely
to us by God.” The spiritual man is able to judge all things,
“yet
he himself is judged by no one.” How does one take thoughts captive? When your mind is
full of thoughts that seem to be out of control, simply confess
this word, ‘Lord I take captive all of these thoughts that are racing
through my mind and I bring them into obedience to Your word and
will in Jesus name!’ You will find that your mind then becomes peaceful. v.6
“And being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience
is fulfilled.” The
object is that our obedience will be fulfilled and when this happens
for us we will be able to help others come out of their disobedience.
Obedience has to do with “how we hear”!
It is Strongs #5218 ‘hupakoe’,
literally to hear under.
The word signifies attentive hearing, to listen with compliant submission,
assent and agreement. In the New Testament it is used for obedience
in general, for obedience to God’s commands, and for Christ’s obedience.
We must humbly receive the word as the word of God, a word that
has ultimate authority and we must be willing to obey the word that
we hear - that is faith in action. The key that I have emphasised in this teaching is discipleship: being taught the word of
God until you know the word of God and are able to stand in faith
in the word of God, and thus overcome the wicked one, able to pull
down strongholds in your own mind, confident to resist the devil
and see Him flee, able to cast out devils. Through a growing knowledge
of the word you will come to know the authority of the name of Jesus:
He is Lord of lords and King of kings; His name is higher than any
other. You will come to know the power of the blood of Christ to
cleanse you from all sin and to keep you from the evil one. The
other key area for victory in our lives is persevering in committed
prayer. by Paul
Galligan. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CALENDAR Stop Press! Paul has accepted
an invitation from apostle Don Atkin to attend an Apostolic Conference
& Council in Please note: Because of this our Training Day dates have been altered. Saturday 4th Nov. Training
Day at tea at 10am, lunch provided. Saturday 9th Dec. Training
Day at be ministering after their overseas trips. Other events: Oct.
Fri.20th to Sun.22nd Oct.
Sat. 21st – Men’s Breakfast at
- Women’s Breakfast
at Nov.
Tue. 7th Combined Worship Day at Killarney from 9am:
sending out team to Overseas Trips: East
& Central Africa Dept. Sun. 29th Oct. – Ps Peter
De Bressac & Paul Esselink will be teaching and sharing in various
seminars and gatherings in We will be sending money for orphanages in both
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