Pathway to Victory

David J. Mullens: Hey podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today’s podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a non-profit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God’s Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here’s today’s podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I’m glad to study God’s Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today’s edition of Pathway to Victory, why do I say exorcism is not relevant or even effective today? The specificity of the gift, to whom it was given and whom it wasn’t, the infrequent mention of the gift in the Bible—it's obviously not an important topic—and thirdly, the limitations of the gift of exorcism.

David J. Mullens: Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. For decades, movies and television specials have fueled our fascination with exorcisms and demonic rituals. But what does the Bible actually teach about casting out demons? Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains what scripture says about exercising spiritual power and why the real battle is won through different means entirely. But first, let’s take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thanks, David, and welcome to the Friday edition of Pathway to Victory. Before we begin today’s message, I’d like to extend an invitation for you to join us for the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska. The dates are June 13th through 20th. You know what I’m discovering? The older I get, the more I value spending time with people who share my faith and values.

That’s one reason I’m so looking forward to our Alaska cruise together. I want to share the majesty of God’s Alaskan masterpiece with friends, and I’m hoping that includes you. Here’s what awaits: seven days of pure luxury where every meal is prepared for you with sumptuous offerings that will delight you.

The world-class service aboard our ship means you can completely unwind. And the best part? Those heartwarming, casual conversations over meals with like-minded Christians. So, check out the details and reserve your spot today by going to ptv.org.

Before we start today’s message, I’ll remind you about the companion book I’ve written for you. It’s called *The Divine Defense*. And if you’re ready to learn more about putting on the armor of God, I invite you to request a copy of my book. My book includes thought-provoking questions that will spark lively and meaningful conversation with your friends.

And it’s yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. We’ll give our contact information at the closing of my message, so be ready to write that down. But right now, let’s turn in our Bibles to Luke chapter 4. Today we’re talking about exercising power without exorcising demons.

The other night I was flipping through the television channels and I landed on a movie I had not seen before on purpose. It was one of those forbidden movies that I had gone out of my way not to see. But I’ll have to confess to you, my curiosity got the best of me, and so I indulged. Now, before the deacons call an emergency meeting, let me assure you it was not some pornographic skin flick.

It was a movie you may have heard about. It was called *The Exorcist*. Remember *The Exorcist*? It came out 50 years ago when I was in high school. The story of a Catholic priest who exorcises—removes a demon—from a 12-year-old girl. I remember when that movie came out, there was such a hubbub about it. Pastors preached sermons against it.

Pamphlets and books said that if you were a Christian and saw that movie, that was the next step toward Satan worship. And so I avoided it for a long time. But knowing that I was going to preach on this subject, I decided to watch it. And I’m going to tell you the truth: it was so boring that I ended up turning it off.

But the fact is, that movie, when you look in history, it began what has been 50 years of discussion in our country and our world about exorcisms, demonic influence, and satanic influence. It’s a discussion that continues right until today. In fact, I saw that a major cable news network—we’re not going to mention it—has a major special on exorcism. It’s called *The Exorcist*.

And I saw a preview this week in which a Catholic priest who’s involved in it says that in decades of performing exorcisms, he has never seen more interest or need for the topic than right now. What are we to make of that? What about these rituals that seemingly remove demons from individuals? The fact is, we’ve been studying spiritual warfare and we’ve looked at Paul’s weapons in Ephesians 6 for defeating Satan’s plan to destroy your life.

But are we missing something when we don’t mention exorcism as a viable tool? Are there some extreme instances of demonic activity that are so severe they demand an extreme ritual like an exorcism? That’s what we’re going to talk about today. Today we’re going to look at how we exercise power without exorcising demons.

If you have your Bibles, turn to Luke chapter 4. In Bible study, we have a principle called the law of first mention. It’s very simple. If you’re studying a topic, an individual, or a word in the Bible, you need to look at the first time it’s used in the Bible. And what makes Luke 4 interesting is it is the first exorcism in the Bible. And it was performed by the first exorcist, Jesus himself.

When I read this story in Luke 4, I’m reminded of what one British pastor said. He said, "After the Apostle Paul preached, the people rioted. After I finish preaching, the people go have tea." Well, when Jesus preached, it excited everybody, including the demons. Look at what happened. Luke 4, beginning with verse 31: "And Jesus came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were amazed at his teaching, for his message was with authority.

In the synagogue, there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon." As we’ve seen, that term "demon possession" is not in the scripture. What it actually says in the original language was there was a man who was being demonized. He was under the influence of a demon. And that demon cried out with a loud voice.

Remember, demons don’t have voice boxes. They have to speak through human beings. And so this demon yelled out with a loud voice, "Leave us alone! What business, Jesus, do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God." How did Jesus respond to the demon? Look at verse 35: "But Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet and come out of him!'"

And when the demon had thrown the man down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing any harm. I’d just point out something that’s fairly obvious here. This passage teaches that demons are actual beings. Some liberal theologians today say, "Oh, there’s no such thing as a demon. When you read about it in the New Testament, these were crude attempts for the first-century people to understand complex subjects like mental disorders."

They think the biblical writers were too dumb to understand that, and so they ascribed this to demon possession. Well, if that’s true, then Jesus needs to be locked up in the loony bin. He ought to be put in an insane asylum because he interacted and had conversation with these imaginary beings. They’re not imaginary at all. They’re real beings.

This demon shows three characteristics of any being. He had intelligence. He recognized Jesus for who he was. He knew he was the Son of God. Secondly, he had emotion. He was fearful of what Jesus might do to him. And finally, he had a will. He could make choices. He willingly chose to submit himself to Jesus’ authority.

It is so interesting to me that when you look at this vast universe, every being in heaven—the angels, Christians who are already in heaven, people on earth, believers who have trusted in Christ as their savior, even those under the earth, demonic influences—they all submit to the authority of Jesus Christ. There is only one group of people in this universe who do not yet support the ministry and the authority of Jesus.

They don’t subject themselves to Jesus, and it is unbelievers in the world today. They’re the only created beings who do not submit themselves to God’s authority, and yet even one day they will. The Bible says one day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is God. Now, will you notice how Jesus deals with this demon? Look again at verse 35.

Jesus doesn’t tell the disciples, "We’ve got a problem. We’ve got a demon-possessed man. Now let’s form a prayer circle around this demon-possessed man and begin praying for him." They don’t engage in hours of prayer for this demon-possessed individual. They don’t all put on garlic necklaces. They don’t break out in Latin incantations.

None of that. Instead, Jesus says simply to the demon, "Be quiet." Literally, "Be muzzled. Put a lid on it, demon, and come out of him." And the demon submits himself to Jesus’ authority. That was the first exorcism. No drama, no theatrics like you see on religious TV today in some places. Just a simple command and the demon responded.

Well, that was Jesus, the first exorcist. Is there anybody else in the Bible who had the power of exorcism? Yes, and we find that in Matthew chapter 10, beginning with verse 1. Jesus delegated the power to exorcise demons to the apostles. Look at verse 1 of Matthew 10: "Jesus summoned his twelve apostles and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness."

Why did Jesus give them the ability to do that? Very simple. Jesus gave them the authority to perform miracles for two reasons. First of all, to authenticate them as true messengers from God. How are the people to know whether or not these people were really speaking from God when they said, "Jesus is the Messiah and only through him is there salvation"? They didn't have a New Testament to read.

The way that Jesus authenticated the message was by giving these apostles the ability to perform miracles. These signs were given to authenticate the messenger and to authenticate the message the messengers were preaching. Remember for thousands of years up to this point, people had been under Judaism. They thought the way to please God was through keeping the commandments and by engaging in endless sacrifices.

But here comes Jesus and the apostles with a new message: "The only way to please God was by faith in Jesus Christ the Messiah." How did the Jews know that this message was from God? After all, there was no Book of Romans or Gospels to read. It was a validation by the signs that these messengers performed. So, who had these gifts? It was the apostles.

Now, here’s the real question for us today: Has the gift of exorcism, the ability to cast out demons, been given to anybody else other than Jesus and the apostles? I’m going to submit to you today three reasons why exorcism is neither relevant nor even effective in spiritual warfare today. Three reasons we do not practice exorcism.

Number one, the specificity of the gift of exorcism. It is only given to a few specific individuals. Go back to this list in Matthew chapter 10 that we just looked at—the names of the apostles, the names of the people to whom this gift was given: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew. Do you find the name of any prominent televangelist in here anywhere? Is there the name of any pastor or your name in this list?

No one of us has our name as a recipient of these miraculous gifts. Why do we assume that promises and gifts given to somebody else automatically become our promises and our gifts? Imagine you’re working at a company and you get the copy of an email that's been sent out company-wide. The email is not addressed to you, but it’s given to you for informational purposes.

The email comes from the president of your company and it’s sent to the three division managers. This is what the email says: "You are hereby authorized by this email to hire an assistant at a salary not to exceed $75,000 a year." Now, you’re looking at this memo and you think, "Come to think of it, I kind of feel overworked myself, and I think I’ll go out and hire an assistant as well. After all, I’m a part of this company."

What happens? Your supervisor calls you in and says, "Why in the world did you go out and hire an assistant?" You hold up this email and say, "Well, look at the email." And your supervisor says, "Is your name one of the recipients?" "Well, no, but I assumed if somebody else had the gift, I had the authority to do it as well." How do you think your supervisor would respond?

He would tell you, "You don’t have the authority to do this. This was given to three people, the three division managers." It’s the same way with gifts or commands in the Bible. Now, I want you to hold on to your pew right now because this is going to shake some of you up. While all of the Bible was given for us, not all of the Bible is directly given to us. All of the Bible was given for us, but not all of the Bible is given to us.

For example, God has not commanded anybody in this room to go out and build an ark to prepare for the coming flood, like he did Noah. God has not given anybody in this room the command to go out and sacrifice your firstborn son, like he did Abraham. God has not told anybody in this room to go march around the walls of Jericho and blow a trumpet once a day for six days, like he did Joshua.

All of the Bible is given for us. These stories are important because they teach us important principles about God. But it’s not given directly to us. One of the great mistakes people make is assuming every promise in the Bible belongs to them. It doesn’t. There are some promises that are given to specific people or to Israel that haven’t been given to us.

We need to understand that while all the Bible is for us, not all of the Bible is written to us. And that’s true about these individuals who have received the gift of exorcism. Now, people always say, "Pastor, there is a passage in the Bible that indicates all believers have been given this gift." And it’s found in Mark 16, verses 17 and 18. Turn there for a moment because somebody at some point will ask you about this.

Look at Mark 16, verses 17 and 18: "These signs will accompany those who have believed. In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. They will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them, and they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." Now, most Bibles will have those verses in italics or written inside of a bracket.

If you have a study Bible, there’ll be a note that indicates these verses, Mark 16:9-20, are not found in the most reliable manuscripts of the New Testament, and therefore it is questionable whether they’re really part of God’s Word. He’s making us doubt the Word of God. No, listen. There are three passages in the New Testament scholars know don’t appear in the most reliable manuscripts.

There aren’t 30 of them or 300 passages. There are three. It’s this one, it’s also John 7:53 through 8:11, the story of the woman caught in adultery, and Matthew 18:11 where you find in brackets the verse "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost." We know it appeared in Luke’s Gospel. Matthew’s version is questionable.

So, what does that mean in our interpretation of this verse? How are we to handle it? Dr. Charles Ryrie, one of the most conservative Christian theologians in the world, was a member of our church for many years. In his study Bible, you find this explanation about these verses: "The doubtful genuineness of verses 9 to 20 makes it unwise to build a doctrine or base an experience on them, especially verses 16 to 18."

You know what Dr. Ryrie is saying? Very simply, before you go pick up a serpent, drink poison, or exorcise demons, you might want to find a more credible verse to do that than one that is questionable. And even if you believe these verses do belong in the original manuscripts, notice verses 17 and 18 clearly indicate not everybody has received these gifts.

Not all believers. For example, this gift of exorcism is placed alongside the gift of healing. Does every Christian have the gift of healing? If you’ve got the gift of healing, may I suggest you leave this service right now? Don’t waste your time here. Go to Baylor Hospital. Go up and down the hallways and heal people if you’ve got the gift. But we don’t all have the gift of healing.

If any of us has it, we certainly all don’t have it, and we don’t all have the gift of exorcism. That’s why we say the specificity of this gift is clear. It was given to Jesus and the twelve apostles, but no one beyond that. But there’s a second reason exorcism is not relevant or effective, and that’s the infrequent mention of the gift in the Bible.

Even if a few people had that gift today—and I don’t believe they do—it’s not an important gift because you don’t find it mentioned in scripture after the Book of Acts. Think about that. Whether you’re talking about the Apostle Paul, Peter, John, or the writers of the New Testament, not one of them mentions the gift of exorcism. They don’t talk about it at all.

For example, turn to Romans chapter 12, beginning with verse 6. This is a listing of spiritual gifts that God has given to every Christian. Every Christian has one of these seven gifts. "Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly. If your gift is prophecy, according to the proportion of faith. If service, in his serving. If he teaches, in his teaching. Or he who exhorts, in his exhortation. He who gives, with liberality. He who leads, with diligence. He who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

No mention of exorcism as a gift anywhere. What I know with absolute certainty about exorcism is two things. First of all, nowhere in scripture am I commanded to use exorcism as a way to fight Satan and his demons. And secondly, beyond no command, there’s no instruction in how to do it. What you see in movies and the garlic necklaces, the Latin incantations, the hours of prayer—none of that is found in the Bible. There’s no instruction anywhere for how to perform an exorcism. It’s all made up.

I have a lot more to show you on this critically important subject. So, make sure to tune in next time. I titled this study on spiritual warfare *The Divine Defense*. Our series will soon come to a close, so time’s running out to take advantage of our special exclusive offer. Right now, I’m inviting you to request my book, *The Divine Defense*.

It’ll become your guide to understanding Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 6. More importantly, I’ll equip you to fight whatever spiritual battle comes your way. Remember, Satan is a fierce enemy, but he’s powerless when we put on the full armor of God. Be sure to call, write, or go online and request my book. It’s yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

In closing, let me add a quick word about the importance of your generosity with Pathway to Victory. We are living in dark and ominous days. My friend, our enemy, the devil, is definitely on the prowl. Gratefully, you and I know the end of the story. In the end, God wins, and we need not walk in fear. When you give a generous gift to Pathway to Victory, you’re allowing us to teach men and women all across our country and around the world how to walk in the light rather than darkness. And I look forward to hearing from you today. Here’s David with all the details.

David J. Mullens: You’re invited to request a copy of Dr. Jeffress’s best-selling book, *The Divine Defense*, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. As an added bonus, we’ll also send you the highly requested *Equipped for Battle* brochure. Just call 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org.

And when your gift is $100 or more, we’ll also send you, in addition to the book, this month’s new teaching series on audio and video disc, along with the companion study guide. Plus, you’ll receive a special children’s book titled *Suit Up for Kids*. This colorful book helps the children in your life learn to fight temptation and to trust in God’s protection. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org.

And for a quick and easy way to support Pathway to Victory, text PTV to 78800. You could write to PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that’s PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. I’m David J. Mullens wishing you a great weekend. Then join us next week when we conclude our series called *The Divine Defense* right here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today’s podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we’re so glad you’re here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible.

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Oh, and one last thing before we go. Have you reserved your spot yet for the 2026 Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska? You’ve been hearing me and Dr. Jeffress mention it, so what are you waiting for? Just picture yourself on the deck of Holland America’s elegant *Koningsdam* and stepping out on deck to witness nature’s grandeur. It’s beautiful. These moments in God’s creation will deepen your faith in powerful ways. It really will. Experience five-star dining, luxurious staterooms, and visiting iconic ports like Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway. We’re also bringing along our own Christian entertainment. Seats are filling up, so book your spot today at ptv.org.