Dharius Daniels - The Dynamics of Deliverance

I want to talk to you about the dynamics of deliverance. Deliverance is a term that’s thrown around frequently, Pastor, but let’s discuss not just the concept of deliverance and not just the promise of deliverance—because deliverance is a promise, right? Part of the ministry of Jesus is a ministry of liberation. When He goes into the synagogue and gives what many people call His vivid vision description, quoting the prophet Isaiah, He says, «The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach.» When you follow some of the statements He makes in that vivid vision description of His life and mission, Pastor, you see Him frequently alluding, at least on a couple of occasions, to deliverance—to setting at liberty and to setting captives free. His ministry is a ministry of liberation and exorcism, which we are about to discuss tonight. Exorcism is actually an act of liberation; it is Jesus setting people free from that which they could not free themselves from with human effort, innovation, or ingenuity. Yes, it is God opening prison doors that we couldn’t open ourselves. The concept of deliverance is a biblical concept, but we need to talk about some of the dynamics of how it actually works. So I’m going to read the scripture in Matthew chapter 12, and it’s about to be interesting today.

Matthew 12:43 says, «When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through dry places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house that I left.'» When it arrives, if it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean, and put in order, then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself. They go in, watch this, and live there, and the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be in this wicked generation. We’re going to talk about the dynamics of deliverance. I want to start by saying this: I’ve said this before, but I think it warrants repeating. All that God is is everything that we will need. In other words, He is not anything that we don’t need. So, if we use the language of antiquity, what some of the saints would say, if He is a way maker, if that’s who He is, it means eventually we’re going to need ways made. If He is a healer, that means eventually we’re going to need healing, because everything that He is is something we will need. He is a liberator. My God! He’s the God who sets free. Here’s what the scriptures say: «If the Son makes you free…» There are different sources of freedom. I love it. Some freedom can come from effort. Some freedom can come from human strength. But what the text teaches is that if the Son— not the sun, but the S-O-N—sets you free, that’s a different kind of freedom. You’re not just free; you are free indeed. He is the God that sets free.

Now here’s what’s interesting: all that God is is everything we will eventually need, which means if He is the God that sets free, it means that all of us may find ourselves in seasons or situations where we’re wrestling with some sort of bondage. But there are two types of bondages: bondage you’re aware of and bondage you’re not aware of. There’s bondage we can see and bondage we can’t see. Here’s the issue, and this is what I want to lift up today: some bondage that we do see is a result of evil influences we can’t see. My God! Here’s what the text is teaching us now. That’s right, Doc! You’re in the text; you’re in the book. Am I in the book? Yes, you’re in the book. Some bondage that we can see is a result of evil influences that we can’t see, and until we address the things that we can’t see, we won’t be able to tackle the things that we can see. Some things, no matter how many promises we make to ourselves, and how many promises we make to God and to other people, we cannot get free from without our own effort and our own human ingenuity. There are certain things that require divine intervention. God is a root God; He deals with roots, not just fruit. Pastor, I love it. This teaches us that sometimes you can’t will your way out of stuff. That’s good, because all of us have been in situations where we had to will. If we could do better, we would have done better. Sometimes, when you don’t have willpower, you have «Y» power—sometimes the «Y» power isn’t enough; you need divine intervention. When willpower and «Y» power are not enough, you know it’s hurting you. You know that it’s putting you at a deficit, but there’s something…