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                             Demons Can't Swim

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By David Wilkerson
November 09, 1992
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          The title of this message no joke - I'm not being
          facetious. I believe the Bible speaks very clearly on
          this subject of demons: They can't swim - because they
          hate water!

          "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he
          walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth
          none" (Matthew 12:43). Unclean spirits - or demons -
          roam about in dry places, where there is no water. (The
          New American Standard translates dry places as
          waterless places.) And the rest they seek is possession
          - a body to live in, a dwelling place that's dry,
          without water of any kind.

          The Bible gives us a very clear picture of this in Mark
          5. Jesus was approached by a Gadarene man who was
          possessed by a legion of demons (that is, about 2,000
          of them). When the demons saw Jesus, a spokesdemon
          cried out: "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou
          Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that
          thou torment me not" (Mark 5:7).

          The demon begged Jesus to send them all into a herd of
          swine that was grazing on a hillside nearby. I believe
          those unclean spirits had every intention of driving
          the herd into the wilderness - a dry place, where they
          could wait until they found other humans to inhabit.

          Jesus did permit them to possess the swine - but then,
          Scripture says,

          "The herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea
          (they were about 2,000;) and were choked in the sea"
          (verse 13). What an incredible scene! I have often
          wondered why Jesus allowed those demons to enter into
          the hogs. Why didn't He just send them into outer
          darkness, where they could never harass another human?

          The fact is, Jesus never said or did anything without a
          powerful spiritual truth behind it. And I believe this
          incident has great spiritual significance for us today!

          As I was studying this passage, the Holy Spirit
          whispered to me: "Demons can't swim!" I answered, "Lord
          I don't know what that means. Please show me!" And He
          began to open to me the significance of what Jesus
          allowed to happen:

          I believe those hogs - suddenly possessed - were
          compelled by the Spirit of God to run pell-mell down
          the hill and plunge into the sea. Jesus is Lord over
          all of nature - and He commanded the swine, "Go! Take
          them now into the sea!" That was the end of that
          demonic possession - the Gadarene man was saved and
          delivered. Yet as the hogs ran into the water, the
          legion of demons went screaming in terror, out into dry
          places because they hate water!

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                           Throughout the Bible,
                            From Cover to Cover,
                    Water Is a Type of the Holy Spirit.

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          Jesus Himself said, "He that believeth on me, as the
          scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
          of living water. (But this he spake of the Spirit,
          which they that believe on him should receive)" John
          7:38-39).

          The Holy Spirit is living water! He falls like rain
          (both the former and latter rains). He springs up like
          a well within thirsting believers. And His life is
          poured out as a flood upon the world - like streams in
          the desert!

          When I say demons can't stand water, I am talking about
          the Holy Spirit! Every demon in hell knows that water
          in the Bible represents God's Spirit. And they know
          that since Jesus is now bodily with the Father, their
          arch enemy is His Spirit - and wherever He abides, they
          must flee! They can't stand the water of the Holy Ghost
          - in you, in the church or in the world. And the sea
          that the swine were driven into was a type of the Holy
          Spirit! This was to serve as an object lesson to all
          succeeding generations.

          Yet dryness represents one who is void of the Spirit of
          God. Dry places are a type of spiritless people - God's
          Spirit does not dwell in them. David said, "The
          rebellious dwell in a dry land" (Psalm 68:6). This is
          true of the believer who has neglected the Lord: he has
          become "dry," empty of all things of God. And dead, dry
          churches and Christians become the dwelling places of
          unclean spirits. Demons roam about them, looking for
          rest - because dryness opens one up to demonic
          harassment.

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              Scripture Clearly Warns That in These Last Days
                 The Earth Will Be Invaded By a Mad Devil!

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          Right now, Satan and his armies of unclean spirits are
          pouring out their demonic fury on mankind: "Woe to the
          inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil
          is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he
          knoweth that he hath but a short time" (Revelation
          12:12).

          Already we're seeing the evidence of this:

             * America's youth are armed to the teeth with
               knives, assault weapons, machine guns! We face
               anarchy on our streets very soon. It's happening
               in Chicago and Detroit, and in nearly all major
               cities. Already in New York many housing
               developments have become war zones. A few weeks
               ago a young minister was shot in the head while
               passing out literature - cut down in the cross
               fire of a gang drug war!

             * Legions of demonic power have possessed leaders of
               our society! For example, the chancellor of New
               York City's school system recently introduced a
               curriculum that would teach first-graders that
               homosexuality and lesbianism are acceptable
               life-styles. He claims that such teaching is
               needed to educate children against AIDS! I ask
               you: who but someone with a demon-possessed mind
               could present such an idea with a straight face?

               The blindness and deception are incredible. Yet
               these same deceiving spirits have now invaded the
               church as well! "Now the Spirit speaketh
               expressly, that in the latter times some shall
               depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
               spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Timothy 4:1).
               We are seeing Paul's warnings fulfilled:

             * Anti-Semitic doctrines are sweeping through
               evangelical and charismatic churches. These
               teachings come straight out of the pit of hell!
               The devil hates Jews, because God still has a
               covenant with them. He hates anything having to do
               with the covenants of God. How could Satan get
               such doctrines into our churches? It is because
               many have become dry - empty of God! And they are
               now grazing grounds for demonic powers!

             * A new "Cushite doctrine" of black supremacy is
               seducing black evangelical churches across the
               nation! Many white churches are teaching doctrines
               of white supremacy as well. These satanic
               teachings are whispered into the hearts of
               spiritually dead shepherds - and they end up being
               manipulated by demons, preaching doctrines of
               hell!

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               God Says the Unbelievable Troubles Just Ahead
             Will Be Beyond Anything the World Has Ever Seen!

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          Right now America is witnessing the entire breakdown of
          our way of life. Yet this kind of breakdown is not just
          happening here - its worldwide:

          In Germany, young people are full of hate, especially
          toward immigrants from Eastern Europe. They are burning
          down housing projects where the immigrants are taken
          in. They especially hate Romanians, who are not even
          allowed to hold jobs.

          Yugoslavia is being ripped apart by demonic strife, and
          Russia is still being torn by ethnic strife. There are
          wars and rumors of wars. I see terror coming to this
          world on all fronts: looting, killing, no respect for
          life or property; schools out of control, government
          with no solutions; earthquakes, hurricanes and
          tornadoes such as we have never seen.

          Sometimes, as I see these things coming, I think to
          myself. "Lord, I'm tired of all this - I want to go
          home and be with You. I don't want to be here when all
          hell spills over!" But beloved, God has no intention of
          letting demons frighten His church! He is not about to
          stand by and let a mad devil take over. He has a
          glorious war plan - a sure-fire way to send unclean
          spirits into a chaotic frenzy:

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           God Promises to Issue Out of His House Living Waters!

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          God is going to send forth floods of water on dry
          ground, where devils work! He is going to have
          well-watered gardens where before there was only
          dryness. How? you ask. He is going to chase demons out
          of His house by flooding it with His Spirit! We see a
          picture of this in Ezekiel 47. The Lord showed Ezekiel
          a vision in which His Spirit overflowed and became
          "waters to swim in":

          "He brought me again unto the door of the house; and,
          behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of
          the house" (verse 1). Ezekiel saw water begin to
          trickle out from under the doorway of the Lord's house.
          First it came up to the prophet's ankles... then to his
          knees... then to his loins... until finally, he said,
          "It was a river that I could not pass over. for the
          waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that
          could not be passed over" (Ezekiel 47:5).

          Then the Lord said to Ezekiel: "Every thing that
          liveth, which moveth, withersoever the rivers shall
          come shall live" (verse 9). In other words: "Wherever
          this river flows, there's going to be life. Living
          water will flow out from My house!"

          Beloved, that house signifies us! We are God's house -
          our bodies are temples of His Holy Spirit! And the Holy
          Ghost is a well that continually springs up within us:
          "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well
          of water springing up into everlasting life" (John
          4:14).

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                       When You Get Alone With Jesus
                         to Worship And Adore Him,
                    Those Living Waters Begin to Flow!

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          That is how God is going to fight the devil's invasion!
          No demon can hang around when the Holy Ghost's water is
          flowing within you. He'll flee to a dry place!

          God sees every heart that is thirsty - and He is going
          to open up rivers of His Spirit for all who cry out to
          Him. Isaiah prophesied:

          "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed,
          for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee ... they that
          war against thee shall be as nothing.... For I the Lord
          thy God will hold thy right hand.... When the poor and
          needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue
          faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them... I will
          open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst
          of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of
          water, and the dry land springs of water" (Isaiah
          41:10-18).

          God is saying to us, "Don't worry about the devil
          taking over. I'm about to pour out My glory! All the
          dry places where seducing devils roam about will be
          turned into places of praise and glory to Me. The
          wilderness will become a lake of life!"

          This flood of water is going to chase away all demonic
          powers and turn the dry places into gardens: "In the
          habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass
          with reeds and rushes" (verse 7). According to Isaiah,
          it's all going to sprout and grow with life because God
          will chase all dragons of death away!

          Yet the promise is not just for us, but for our
          children as well: "I will pour my spirit upon thy seed
          [your children], and my blessing upon thine offspring:
          and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows
          by the water courses" (Isaiah 44:3-4).

          God has given us His everlasting word that He will fill
          our offspring with the very life of Jesus Christ! I am
          claiming this promise for the young people in our
          churches - the promise of a Holy Ghost flood - so that
          demonic powers will flee from them in terror, losing
          their influence and hold upon them!

          Are you worried or fearful about the future? Do you
          wonder if a mad devil has become temporarily more
          powerful than our Lord? God says to you: "Is my hand
          shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no
          power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the
          sea, I make the rivers a wilderness" (Isaiah 50:2).

          The Lord is able to turn our school systems upside down
          with His Spirit! He says, "I am the One who controls
          the waters. I merely speak the word, and there comes
          either flood or drought!" Isaiah prophesied: "Say to
          them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not:
          behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God
          with a recompense; he will come and save you.... For in
          the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in
          the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool,
          and the thirsty lands springs of water" (Isaiah
          35:2-7).

          God says His waters will break out! (The New American
          Standard translates this phrase, "gush out.") To "break
          out" means to come with such force that it overflows
          all boundaries - flooding all surrounding areas!

          Beloved, when your church becomes flooded with the
          water of the Spirit, the other dry churches in town
          will get some of the overflow. It will probably happen
          like this: Suddenly, in the middle of a service,
          someone will get a little touch of the Holy Ghost -
          which has overflowed from your church. He'll get out of
          his seat and walk toward the altar. And he'll cry out,
          "Pastor, I want to be saved!"

          The pastor and his elders won't know what to do. But
          God is going to reach every heart! And whether the
          congregation wants it or not, the Holy Ghost is going
          to flood through the thirsty hearts in that dead, dry
          church - and mighty and wonderful things will happen!

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                      What God Has Promised Us Through
                   His Prophets Is Amazing and Glorious!

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          Ezekiel prophesied that the flood is going to flow in
          ever-increasing intensity. It will grow from a
          trickle... to a river... and finally to an ocean to
          swim in!

          Some would say, "Wonderful! We want the Holy Spirit to
          gush out of us. We'll just gather together to pray and
          believe God to open the windows of heaven and flood
          down upon us. We'll sit here in faith and wait for the
          gush to come."

          No - the Bible says something altogether different! The
          water was only a small trickle when it was in the
          house; it increased in intensity only when it got to
          the outer gate. You see, God's water flows through us -
          but it cannot become a sea to swim in until it flows
          outside His house!

          If we keep this living water to ourselves, we will
          enjoy a measure of life. But if we want to see demons
          put to confusion in all of society, the water has to
          pour out of us! Every true believer is to be a fountain
          - overflowing outside the walls. We are to be wells
          that spring up and gush - not just in church, but in
          our home, on the job, on the street - everywhere we go!

          As Ezekiel watched the flood turn into an ocean, the
          Lord told him to come up out of the water and look back
          over the banks that once were barren. "Then he brought
          me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.
          Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the
          river were very many trees on the one side and on the
          other" (Ezekiel 47:6-7).

          What a wonderful sight! Once there had been nothing but
          dryness - but now multitudes of trees had grown. In
          fact, everywhere the water flowed, life had sprung up.
          "And it shall come to pass, that every thing that
          liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall
          come, shall live" (verse 9). All death had departed -
          every demon had fled!

          If there is a promised latter rain to come - a final,
          great outpouring of the Spirit - then a great harvest
          of souls is inevitable. Ezekiel saw this and said:
          "There shall be a very great multitude of fish, because
          these waters shall come thither" (verse 9). That means
          a catch of exceedingly many fish - multitudes of souls
          saved!

          The vision was so overwhelming, Ezekiel couldn't
          comprehend it all. Beloved, it is because he was seeing
          our generation! He was prophesying that we will witness
          more of God's flow than any past generation ever did!

          Years ago, when I saw Ezekiel's prophecy, I prayed for
          God to let His flood flow through me. The Lord said to
          me: "David, if there is nothing in you that blocks the
          moving of My water - if you've got the sweet fountain
          of Jesus in you - then everything you preach and say in
          the Spirit is going to produce life!"

          Dear saint, if you have His life in you, then you are
          spreading life because life produces life!

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                In Light of All These Prophecies, I Ask You:
                What Is Coming Out of You? Life - or Death?

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          "Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet
          water and bitter?" (James 3:11).

          I believe that many who read this message are going to
          be shocked on Judgment Day. They are going to wake up
          to the truth that they have neglected and departed from
          the Lord!

          "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a
          salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3). To neglect means to "be
          careless of" - to act as if something doesn't really
          matter. And this verse comes immediately after the
          warning "to give more earnest heed to the things which
          we have heard, lest at any time we should let them
          slip" (verse 1).

          Suppose I knocked on your door today, looked you in the
          eye and said: "I've been sent by the Lord to warn you
          of something dangerous in your spiritual life. And I
          have a word for you, directly from God's throne: You
          are not going to make it! You will not be with us in
          glory - you're marked for eternal hell. You have opened
          yourself up to demonic activity, because your heart is
          dry and empty!"

          No doubt, you would be offended. You'd say, "That can't
          be! I praise and worship God with my hands upraised. I
          feel the Spirit move on me. How could I be a dry place
          where demons seek rest?"

          My answer would be: "What you receive in such meetings
          isn't from your own well. It is the overflow of living
          water that God pours out upon awakened saints all
          around you! They walk daily in the Spirit, they commune
          daily with Jesus - and they have developed the
          up-welling of the Spirit of God. But your well is
          bone-dry! Ever since you've known the Lord, you've had
          time for everything but Him. And you have done just
          what He has warned against: you have neglected your
          great salvation! You have departed from Him in your
          heart!"

          "But," you argue, "I love people - I'll do anything for
          anybody. I'm not living in sin. I pray, I give. Don't
          tell me I don't love Jesus - you're judging me. God
          knows my heart!"

          I would answer: "Yes, He does know your heart - and He
          sees every hour of your day! But you don't hunger and
          thirst for Him. You don't take the time to pray or dig
          into His word. Instead, you let it all slip by as if it
          really doesn't matter."

          Neglect has become a way of life for you - it has
          turned your heart into a dry wilderness! That is why
          you are so harassed, depressed and bitter at times. It
          is why you are attacked so often in your body. If the
          Spirit were flowing in you daily, all unclean spirits
          would have fled. But instead, you have become a dry
          ground - open to demonic harassment!'

          Beloved, I am not suggesting that all sickness is the
          result of demon activity. Nor am I saying we need to
          pray and read the Bible all day long. God has made time
          for us to rest, play and enjoy our family and the good
          things He provides. He is not a hard taskmaster.

          But when your whole day is spent on self, family, work
          and play, and not one hour for the Lord - not fifteen
          minutes to be refreshed by fellowship with Him - that
          is neglect! That is acting as if it does not matter!
          And on Judgment Day, God will show more mercy toward
          the addict, the fornicator and the drunkard than He
          will toward you!

          Soon it will be too late for you! You may think that
          when the world literally begins to fall apart, perhaps
          then you'll start to seek Him. But your heart will be
          so dry and empty, you'll have nothing to draw on. You
          won't want to pray. Instead, your condition will get
          worse - and you'll grow harder and colder than ever.
          When you come to church and see others running to God
          because they know the hour of judgment has come, you'll
          be so harassed and confused you won't know what to do!
          If you won't come while His mercy is available you
          won't come during the flood of judgments!

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                  If All of God's People Came to His House
                      Full of The Water of the Spirit,
                        We Would Never Have to Bind
                    Demon Powers or Rebellious Spirits!

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          There would be such an ocean of God's Spirit, all
          demonic powers would flee in panic. There would be a
          breaking forth of His glory like nothing we have ever
          seen. No sinner could remain neutral!

          But what breaks God's heart most of all is that the
          majority of those who neglect Him are the ones He so
          wants to use a soul-winners. You could have your
          fountain opened up - the Spirit could flow His
          life-giving water through you. You could be a
          life-giver instead of a dry bush in the desert.

          Is God's life-bringing water springing up out of you
          daily? Or have you become a dead, dry well? God has so
          much in store for you, if you will only repent and
          confess your neglect to Him. Call out to Him now:

          "Lord - I have been dry for so long. I have neglected
          You and departed from You in spirit. Forgive me! I'm so
          dry, so lifeless. Fill me with Your life-giving water -
          drive all harassing spirits away.

          "Flood my soul, Lord! I want to experience Your
          life-giving flow. Use me - and let me see Your ocean of
          living water poured out in my life!"

          Amen!

          ---
          Used with permission granted by World Challenge, P. O.
          Box 260, Lindale, TX 75771 USA.

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