anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19
Mental oppression can be experienced by new and old believers alike in many ways. For some restlessness and anxiety can both attack at the same time and for others they can hear evil blasphemous voices, even voices to commit suicide or to kill someone. Others may dream they are killing somebody. Mental oppression is not new and has been one of the oldest ways by which the enemy tries to imprison us into our own world. It is not a disease by which science can heal, if it were so, there would have been no more need for mental institutions in our country. How do we deal with this kind of oppression? How do we overcome and find deliverance? In experimental ecology if we have a question, we do a demonstration to find out the outcome. The outcome may vary in different latitudes, geographical locations and places but there is always a pattern that emerges at each scale and time which can be interpreted to be relevant to the question asked. The nature of man must be understood so we can begin to comprehend the way we think and the way we act. Unless we do this, we will forever find ourselves asking the question “where are we” and “what brought us here”. The revealed things of the Scriptures are for us and our children while the hidden things of God, let God reveal in His time (Deut 29:29). It is always easier to understand a problem when we have a handbook written about it. When travelling in unknown place, my wife and I are glad to find the name of streets and the maps we have but we are also especially glad that they put the sign, “You’re here”. Without knowing your origin, how can you find your destination? We can only solve our problems by understanding ourselves in the light of the Scriptures. Without the Scriptures to serve like our maps, we will always find ourselves tossed to and fro about the doctrines of man that can easily obstruct our views of God and who we are.
There are many books about man, his ways and his thoughts as well as sufferings. But we will not attempt to do that here, I want to emphasize here, “how do we get deliverance from our struggles”. When Jesus walked on earth and begun His ministry, He refused no one who came for healing. Many of them were sick in the mind but He primarily dealt with healing the soul of man. Most hospitals today have their origin from the Christian care ministries beginning with the abolition of pagan hospitals in 331 AD by Constantine who converted to Christianity. It was through this abolition that the sick were cared for by the Christian volunteers and ministers. It emphasized the care and the relationship between the sufferer and his fellow man. From this many monasteries that were later established have their own infirmitorium where the sick monks are healed and taken care of. During the Middle Ages, Christians continued to operate their own hospitals both for the sick and for the Crusaders. When monasteries in England were dissolved by Henry the 8th in 1540 hospitals supported by religious orders declined and saw the beginnings of transfer of responsibility from religious orders to secular hands. Our hospitals today are mostly secular in nature so that only the body is cared for except in religious hospitals where Jesus is preached as the healer no matter what method of healing He uses to bring about wholeness in the body of the sick.
There are many medical advances and breakthroughs today that we are thankful for, from x-rays, chemotherapy, Computer Tomography (CT) scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), to robotic surgery. All of these are good and God can use them to heal His children because He is the God of Knowledge and Wisdom (Col 2:3). Though many among us more familiar of the notion that science came from the Greeks, it was the Lord who taught Adam about science who in turn taught his children. Science is basically the study of things around us, how they function and how they work. The first One who taught science to man was the Lord. He taught Adam about the garden (Gen 2:15-16) and who in turn taught his children. Thus in essence, although unacknowledged by the secularists, God is the source of all true revelation whether this happens by chance or through a non-believing scientist, the true source is still the Father above who brings light on the matter, the revealer of truth and hidden things.
“Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what isin the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.” Dan 2:20-22
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17
Mental “diseases” therefore should not be seen as incurable for even AIDS and cancer can be healed by the Lord, for with Him, “nothing shall be impossible” (Lk 1:37; Lk 18:27). Though there are things that we do not understand and remain hidden from us, we should bring them to God who understands everything. He is the light.
How torments come
God made man in His image. He fashioned him after Himself so that we have our own free will, decision making abilities, creativity and intelligence. What separates us from other forms of creation is the image of God in man whether one believes in Him or not. When Satan fell away, he has but one intent, to bring as many human beings as he can to hell with him and to do so in the most vile manner he can accomplish (Jn 10:10). Torments are meant by the devil to steal the joy of the believer in his salvation and freedom in Christ (Gal 5:1). The Lord Jesus told a parable in Matthew 13: 24 which we must remember. Parables are meant to illustrate truths in the Kingdom of God. In this parable, the Lord planted good seeds in His field but when the night came and all were sleeping, the devil crept in and sowed tares in the field of God. Tares are weeds. It symbolizes everything that the devil tries to thwart in the field of the Lord. The field can be the world; it can also be the soul of man. God brings in the good seed, but the devil tries to mix it with his own weeds.
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field.
But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.
"The farmer's workers went to him and said, 'Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?' "'An enemy has done this!' the farmer exclaimed. "'Should we pull out the weeds?' they asked. "'No,' he replied, 'you'll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.'" Matt 13:24-30 (NLT)
When the seeds have grown, the caretakers were surprised to find two kinds of plants in the field. They went to the Lord and asked what happened to the field, there were two kinds of plants growing together; one which was wheat and another which was weed. Then the Lord told them to allow both to grow until it is time to reap. The soul of man is much like a field; it can be sown with seeds of the Kingdom or the evil one through the senses. Jesus spoke that we must beware of what we hear or see for whatever it is, we will get more and more of it.
“Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. “For whoever has, to him moreshall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” Mark 4:24-25 (NASB)
The Scriptures also say that we reap what we sow and when people watch and listen to dynamic preaching of the Word of God, we see many converts. When people listen to others with encouraging words, they become stronger to face their problems and struggles. But when they watch and listen to all sorts of worldly music, movies and entertainment they too are influenced to do the opposite. Some dream of lustful scenes. Others think how to bring about their vengeance to those who hurt them. No wonder the words of the Apostle come alive in such situations, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Gal 6:7-8. Our lives are the consequences of our accumulated decisions, right or wrong. What we have sown whether in the flesh or in the spirit come alive to our memories because they are in the soul of man. We would be able to better understand the mind of man by studying his nature and composition. In the beginning, man became a living soul by the breath of God. Out of dust, God formed man but there was no breath or life in it. It was only when He breathed life that Adam became alive (Gen 1:27; 2:7).
The tripartite being of manMan is made up of two things, the body and the animated life
of God in it. But within the immaterial composition of the life in man is composed of soul and spirit, a complex that sometimes we may not completely understand how it operates but we can take clues from what the Word of God tell us. There are proponents that suggest that man has no soul or spirit in it. This originated in the idea of spontaneous generation where living matter comes from non-living matter. They thought that life can be produced without a causal origin. Francesco Redi, John Needham, Spallanzani and later on Louis Pasteur brought an end to this theory by
demonstrating conclusively that decomposition of organic matter such as food are caused mainly by germs present in the air and that it does not undergo transformation or putrefy in such a way as to spontaneously generate new organisms within itself. With Oparin’s experiments on amino acids in the 1920s, this theory has resurfaced to support the thesis of Darwin on evolutionary origins of man. But questions on proponents of this Neo-Spontaneous generation is that though amino acids and the genetic basis of life can be produced by
electromagnetic sparks and concoctions, it still remains that this is largely an speculation. There are many problems it has to overcome such as the need for good mutations to occur so that a protoplasm that can be produced will bring about teeth, different skin coloration, arms, feet etc. More often mutations in nature are rarely good but always detrimental when they do occur. As organisms get more complex, new set of genes are needed to be produced to bring a genetic basis for those characteristics and traits. The question is where do the organisms get those new set of genes from teeth, eyes, nose and even fingers? Others propose that this happens in billions of years so that the needed arms and teeth can be produced in such a way. But again, the chances of producing teeth or a compound eye, how much do they stand if we truly calculate them even say 4byn years? Could life really evolve by chance? The probability of forming one protein molecule by chance is one in 10243, which is a figure of 1 followed by 243 zeros. This fraction is so small that one may say that the probability is zero. Moreover in the concept of natural selection, where good traits are supposedly favored from bad ones to survive in nature, are we really sure that nature guarantees that every turn of evolution brings in the good traits? For example, how much sure are we that even if nature produces the tear ducts, in the next turn, it does not reject it while waiting until other mutations happened that produced the lashes, slit, cornea, lens, etc.? Or would natural selection breed out the organism that had a tear duct but no other components of a seeing system simply because it was not useful alone? In the laboratory and in the natural (by way of hybridization) we can easily select for good traits but this does not necessarily bring about new genes and mutations. Moreover, for evolution to exist, it presupposes temporal suspension of the second Law of thermodynamics. That is, though energy in the cosmos remains constant, the amount available to do useful work is always decreasing (and entropy, the measure of unavailable energy is increasing). Everything then, is moving toward less orderliness or greater chaos. This, of course, runs directly contrary to what evolution teaches where through time, organisms big and small continually evolve more complex traits and apparatuses thereby creating something out of nothing. For example, the sun may beat on the protoplasm for thousands of years without ever producing additional or mutated strains with arms and feet because there is no mechanism within the protoplasm to convert that energy. It is by converting that energy into a useful form so that the protoplasm can make use of it, channel it to produce mutation and pass that mutation to its offspring and bring about the arms and feet. There must be an appropriate energy conversion process along with a preprogrammed template to work from before solar energy can reverse the second law. Or as one evolutionist asked: “How, when no life existed, did substances come into being, which today are absolutely essential to living systems, yet which can only be formed by those systems?” (Harold F. Blum, Time’s Arrow and Evolution [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968], p. 170). Simply said, spontaneous generation and its variant form of Darwinian evolution do not make sense at all.
Those who believe in evolution do so to their own detriments, no morals and no standards of right and wrong. We simply come alive and spend our lives in this earth in passing. They become obstinate and hold on to their views though of the plainest conviction that they failed so that Isaiah calls them, “Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD. LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed …” (Isaiah 26:10-11).
What then does the Word of God tells us? What is hidden in the Old Testament, the Lord has made clear in the New Testament. Man is made up of one body, one substance but made of three distinct layers or compositions. Just as water is made of one molecule composed of two atoms of Hydrogen and one atom of Oxygen bonded together as one, humans are the same. We have a body, which is what we see, and soul which is the seat of man’s intellect and emotions, as well as spirit which is what God often uses to communicate to man.
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and
I prayGodyour whole spirit and soul and body be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” 1 Thess 5:23
“For the word of God isquick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and isa discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb 4:12
It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam wasmadea quickening spirit. 1 Cor 15:44-45
We are therefore admonished to wash our minds by the power of His word (Eph 5:26). The soul of man is not simply made up of empty gas or a mist floating in the air, it is rather the whole constitution of man, his emotions, will, heart and mind. Even Jesus said, His soul was exceedingly sorrowful (Matt 26:38), well pleased (Matt 12:18) and Mary said, her soul magnifies the Lord (Lk 1:46) and Simeon who said to her, a sword shall pierce your soul that the thoughts of the hearts of many shall be revealed (Lk 2:35). Thus, the seat of emotions, heart and mind is the soul of man. It is the soul of man that feels fear (Acts 2:43), anguish and torment (Ro 2:9), happiness (Matt 12:18; Lk 1:46), enjoys (Lk 12:19), hears (Acts 3:23), obeys (Ro 13:1) and believes (Acts 4:32). Thus Jesus came to save souls (Acts 3:23) not spirits or hearts because it is the soul which makes a man, while the body is the cage, the frame that makes up our physical being (Matt 6:5, 10:28). After death, the soul goes to heaven or hell (Matt 10:28; Mk 8:36; Lk 12:20; Acts 2:27; Rev 6:9; 20:4) while the body is left for burial (Matt 27:59; Mk 14:8). The spirit of man is where God communicates such as when God took the spirit of John during the Lord’s Day to see the future events unfold before during the Lord’s Day to see the future events unfold before 45), when Paul was caught up in the third heaven (2 Cor 12:2) and this is the part of man which first receives wisdom, knowledge, anointing and empowerment from God (Exod 31:3; Num 11:25; 14:24; Deut 34:9) as well as stirring, revival and strengthening (Gen 45:27; Ez 1:1, 5; Job 10:12); it can also feel terror, fear, anguish, pain and trouble, sorrow and brokenness, pride and haughtiness, merriment (Gen 41:8; Exod 6:9; Job 6:4; 7:11; Pro 15:13; 16:18,32; 17:22).
Thus, we can put endless references in the Bible which often distinguishes between the soul and the spirit in both the Old and the New Testament. The soul and the spirit of man can therefore think, feel and obey. It is however the spirit which we can call to be the subconscious characteristic of man and which God use to communicate with the Christian because this was the part of man which has been severed from God during the fall. In the process of regeneration and renewal, God speaks through the spirit which is the inner man. In the Bible, we do not see references that say, “I was in the soul,” to denote seeing the Lord in a vision or revelation or receiving guidance from the Lord. We rather read, “I was in the spirit” or “my spirit” because the soul is subject to the person’s and world’s influence on it.
“Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed bethe glory of the LORD from his place. Iheardalso the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. 14 So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.” Ezek 3:12-14
“And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where wasthe seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.” Ezek 8:3
“ I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.” Dan 7:15-16
“And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God” Hag 1:14 (KJV)
“The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.” Zech 12:1
“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.” Matt 4:1-2
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed iswilling, but the flesh isweak.” Matt 26:41
“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.” Acts 17:16
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” Romans 8:15-16
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Cor 2:12
“For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 1 Cor 5:3-5
“For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.” Col 2:5
“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26“I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send itunto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” Rev 1:10-11
We do not however feel this distinct separateness of the body, soul and spirit because the bond between each is strong enough and good enough making it as one like the hydrogen bonds in water molecule. When a man dies, his body separates and decays, but his soul and spirit goes to God. Much like when the hydrogen bond between each Oxygen and Hydrogen atoms are broken apart separating both as gases that simply evaporates or vanishes. The distinctness between the characteristics of soul and spirit is even profoundly seen by the way the Sword of God can pierce through it.
“For the word of God isquick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and isa discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb 4:12
If there would have been no distinction between the two, it would not have been mentioned at all through the Scriptures as distinct from each other. On the matter of the mind and the heart this is under the jurisdiction of the soul. This is why we are commanded to love God with all our hearts, minds and souls,
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this isthe first commandment.” Mark 12:30
The soul is composed of the mind, the will, the conscience and the heart of man. Differences between the heart and the mind are however less distinct in the Scriptures and often interchangeably used. Soul in the Old Testament most often denotes the whole person, his whole being such as man became a living soul, nephesh (Gen 1:27; 2:7) while in the New Testament it is spoken of as the immaterial composition of man, much like the spirit. It is the seat of man’s intellect and emotions giving way to his conscious personality. In medical science, we see people afflicted with multiple personality disorder or dissociative personality disorder which demonstrates to us how another spirit can control the whole being of a person from his spirit to his soul and body. A person afflicted with this disorder shows multiple
personalities, each unaware of each other and calls himself with different names. The dominant personality is the real person inside that body but the demonic entity which tries to control the person makes us aware that man is not simply made of functioning body but rather has his soul and spirit altogether. The body can be subject to the soul and spirit which is why people can do stunts and weird things from piercings to walking on hot coals. Moreover, these days, we are made aware of the many experiences in the Body of Christ of people whose testimony bears witness to the truth in the Scriptures that their spirit can travel as the Lord allows them to in heaven or in hell such as sisters Rebecca Springer, Mary Baxter, Choo Thomas and brother Rick Joyner. Although this too was experienced by the Apostles Paul and John as well as the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, it is of great importance to know that such occurs even now. It is however tragic to know also that even the devil can do this for people who are involved in witchcraft and allows their spirit bodies to be used to torment other people such as in sorcery.
Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.
Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly all was calm. The disciples were amazed. "Who is this man?" they The disciples were amazed. "Who is this man?" they 27 (NLT)
In the Scriptures, the Gadarene demoniac shows to us how demon possession is real and how the power of God can heal. Even if all the powers of hell are come against us, Jesus shall always be bigger than any hell can blow upon us. At first the disciples rode into a boat that goes far into the other side of Lake Galilee. The disciples must be wondering why they would ride a boat now, but probably are happy to be in the cruise and just enjoy the calm waters of Galilee. When all of the sudden there was a strong gust of wind, and it puff and it puff, until the waters entered the boat and they are about to sink. Then they remembered the Master who was still comfortably asleep at the rear and then they called, Lord, we are about to sink, don’t you care? (seeV.24). Then the Lord woke up and rebuked the wind and the waves, then He chastised them and said, “Where is your faith?” Sometimes we can be full of fear and our thought life so disturbed that we are cast down and can do nothing other than to sigh and like the disciples cry out, Lord, we need your help. He did not rebuke them for asking help or coming to Him, but because of the way they reacted to the waves that compassed them. Though strong waves of fear and anxiety come upon us, we must like the Lord stand up and rebuke them out loud. “Peace be still”, the words of the Lord brought the rushing waves and feisty winds to a halt. We may not encounter the same kind of storm that the disciples encountered on their way to their mission field. But many times, waves and distractions may encompass us that aren’t any different from such storms. The only way to overcome them is to give ourselves to prayer (Ps. 109:4). Disturbance does not only cause loss of money or anxiety and fear but may even cause the loss of lives. In the Philippines which lie in the typhoon belt we expect 20 to pass every year during the wet season. What I have learned during those times is that we cannot prevent them in coming to pass but God’s power can also lessen their impact or dissipate them while still developing in the ocean or on its way to wreck havoc. A typhoon is not a simple storm but like Hurricane the devastation it can bring can only be assessed as massive once it fall on the ground and rubbed the landscape with its punishing winds and rainfall. Flying debris and house parts may kill somebody who disregard warnings to stay at home during those days. Floods can destroy rice paddies and wash away homes built of nipa huts and precarious materials. Storms can destroy lives, devastate families and cause eventual loss of livelihood for many farmers and fishermen. What then can man do? We cannot prevent storms from occurring but we can make ourselves ready. We can be practical by saving food and strengthening our houses and building shelters which are flood proof. Apart from this, we should then pray His protection and that the storms may dissipate and bring the least damage possible.
After the storm, Jesus and the disciples pressed forward to the Gadarenes and there met two demon possessed men whom he cast out demons. These men were the only target of Jesus and one account about these two men by Luke shows that they have been suffering for a long time already, “He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs” (Luke 8:27). These two came face to face with God, their inner cries have been heard so that when they saw Jesus they ran to Him and beg for His mercy to deliver them from their bondage. They have been living in tombs because no man can bind them or keep them. This case of demon possession was highlighted by the Scriptures and one of the best cases of demon poss