It is a dreadful thing to be set upon by unseen hands, to feel in the darkness that you are not alone in your own chamber, that a foul presence has pressed itself upon you, and that you cannot shake it off. You have cried out to God, you hate the thing, you loathe it, and you would be free this very hour. That holy hatred is not of yourself: the Spirit of God who stirs the pure heart to recoil from uncleanness is already at work in you. And the Dove may be grieved by the filth that troubles you, but He has not taken wing and departed; He is nearer than the very breath that pants out your prayer for deliverance.
Remember how the wind blows where it will, and in this land none can tell from what quarter the next gale will come. The Holy Spirit is that heavenly Wind, and His operations are always unexpected. The last soul anyone in Jerusalem thought would be converted was Saul of Tarsus, yet a moment came when the raging wolf was made a lamb. Do you think your deliverance is any harder than that? The very thing that holds you may be shattered in an instant when the Wind of God chooses to blow upon it. He sweeps upon the least likely and the most degraded, and your furnace is not too hot for His cooling breath. Expect the unexpected: this afternoon, this night, tomorrow at dawn, the quiet gale of Heaven may rise within you so mightily that every seducing spirit and every warlock’s whisper shall be scattered like chaff before the tempest.
And while you wait, look away from the darkness for a moment and fix your eyes upon your gracious Lord. The office of the blessed Paraclete is not to speak of Himself, but to take of the things of Christ and show them to you. He will glorify Jesus, and in glorifying Jesus He will comfort you better than any mere cessation of trouble could do. The Spirit takes the veil from your heart so that you may see Christ, Christ who broke the power of the prince of the air, Christ who met the foul principalities in open combat and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in His cross. You are not wrestling against these spirits in your own strength; you are clinging to the Victor, and the Victor cannot lose His grip upon you. The Holy Spirit is showing you Christ, and in Christ you are already safe. The enemy may howl at the gate, but he cannot force the door that the Master has locked from the inside.
Let me press another cordial to your lips. The Apostle tells us that after we believed, we were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. A seal is a mark of ownership and a pledge of preservation. You are not a waif to be snatched up by the first passing demon; you are branded with the royal signet. The King’s own seal is upon you, and though the thieves may prowl, they cannot break the seal without defying the King Himself. That same Spirit who seals you is the Spirit of adoption, by whom you cry, “Abba, Father.” And when a child cries out in the dark, the Father does not lie asleep. He hears the least whimper that comes from a terrified heart. You have His ear, and you have His heart.
Now, take up the sword. The Word of God is the one offensive weapon the Captain gives you, and it is enough. When the foul thoughts swarm, speak a plain promise aloud. When fear clutches at your throat, say out loud, “He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world.” The adversary knows the voice of the Captain and he cannot stand before it. Do not debate with the darkness, do not parley with the whispers, lift the sword and strike. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin.” “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Let the Word be in your mouth continually, and the Holy Spirit will make it a living flame in your hand.
Do not believe the lie that your deliverance is long delayed because God has abandoned you. The Holy Spirit is grieved by the sin, but He loves the sinner whom He indwells with an everlasting love. His grief is the grief of a tender mother whose child has stumbled into a miry pit, she does not stand at a distance and scold; she reaches down both arms and pulls him out. He feels your misery far more acutely than you do, and He will not leave you to rot in the dungeon. The seeming delay is only the gathering of a fuller wave of mercy that will sweep every unclean thing away at once.
So rest in this: Christ has bound the strong man and spoiled his house. He has disarmed the principalities. The Holy Spirit is in you as a Divine Occupier who will never vacate the premises. The Wind will blow, the seal will hold, the sword will prevail. The One who began the work will complete it, and the day is coming, perhaps nearer than you dare hope, when you will look back on this dark stretch and see that all the while His left hand was under your head and His right hand was embracing you. And until that day, do not think of Him as a harsh examiner but as the gentle Comforter who sits by your bedside when the fever rages, and who will not leave until every chain is broken.
Let us pray together now, not as people who hope to be heard, but as those who know they have a Hearer.
O blessed Holy Spirit, our Comforter, our Sanctifier, the very breath of our life, we cry to You from the depths of a bruised heart. You see Your child in the grip of things that hate You and hate light. You see the snare of seducing spirits, the black arts of the wicked one, the torments of demonic malice. We do not know how to fight, but we look to Jesus. Glorify Him now, show Him as the mighty Conqueror. Take the blood that was shed on Calvary and sprinkle this troubled conscience, this weary body, this fevered imagination, until every adversary is struck dumb. Holy Wind, blow where we scarcely dared to believe You could blow, into the innermost chambers of this bondage, and set the prisoner free so suddenly that the deliverance shall bear Your own signature. Seal what You have already done, and give such sweet assurance of safety that the memory of this affliction shall be swallowed up in the joy of a new song. Lord Jesus, we trust Your word: if You make us free, we are free indeed. We hold up the shield of faith, we take the sword of the Spirit, we stand in the victory You have already won. In Your all-prevailing name we ask it, and in Your name we give thanks before the answer has yet reached our eyes. Amen.