The cry for freedom from demonic oppression is the cry of one who has begun to see that the most terrible chains are not made of iron, but of sin. You ask for strength to be free from every kind of control, from every source, for every reason. Hear then where true strength lies. The bondage that holds the soul is not broken by human effort alone, nor by merely naming the oppressor. It is sin that makes a man a slave, and from this slavery God alone can deliver. For to forgive sins belongs to none other, and to break the power of sin is the work of the Son who abides in the house forever. If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
Do not think that external rituals or sudden declarations will drive out every shadow at once. Even Israel, to whom the promise was given, endured four hundred years of bondage before the deliverance came, and God permitted the affliction though they were His own. So now, though the Kingdom is promised, He suffers you to be exercised in temptations. The demons see you, they rage, but they have no strength to injure one who clings to Christ. Yet if you give place to them through unrepented sin, through pride, through hatred, through filthy speech, then you become like a demoniac, not one to be pitied only, but one who brings upon himself a self-chosen madness, making his own soul a sewer. True freedom is not found in casting out a name, but in casting out the love of sin. For if the love of Christ is not rooted within you, you will always be turning back to some bondage.
Therefore I say: Let virtue be your study. She bestows the true freedom, and causes the same to be discerned even in the midst of oppression. She does not always release from the trial, but while you remain in the trial, she exhibits you more honorable than those who seem free. Holiness is not chastity alone, but freedom from every kind of sin. He is holy that is pure in heart. What then must you do? Not merely cry out against the darkness, but flee to the light. Partake of the awful Table with a clean conscience, for it is the medicine of immortality. Give thanks in all things, even in suffering, as Christ gave thanks before His passion, teaching us to bear whatever we suffer with gratitude. He did not unwillingly go to the Cross, but gave Himself for our race. If the type was deliverance from Egyptian bondage, how much more will the Truth set free the world? Do not rely on your own lineage or past deliverances, for relationship to God depends on actions, not blood. Abide in His word, and the truth will make you free. When the enemy presses, answer him not with terror but with the promise: "The nation to whom they shall be in bondage I will judge, and after that shall they come forth and serve Me." God's delays are not forgetfulness; they are the preparation of a mighty salvation. Stand fast therefore, not in your own strength, but in the Son's, who is Master of the house. He has power to grant freedom, and He will do it, if you love Him with your whole life and hold fast the reproach of Christ as greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt.