When there is a fight about to happen, most people are bright enough to know when you hit someone, they most likely will hit you back, and we will call that “the counter-punch”.  Not many fights are over with just one punch, some perhaps, but not many.  That means, if you are the one throwing the first punch, you’d better be prepared to be punched back, and you may endure many hits before it’s over and the dust has settled.  And if you’re afraid of being hit back, you’d best stay out of the fight to begin with.

We see here the unclean spirit had left its dwelling because it was forced out, and he was looking for another person to dwell in, but wasn’t finding one, so he decided to go back where he was cast out.  Think of it like a person who was evicted from his apartment, and went looking for another, and didn’t find one, so he decided to move back into the place he was kicked out of.  Well, the old apartment he had trashed and was evicted from now was all remodeled, clean, and freshly painted and furnished.  So he decides to go and find seven more unclean spirits worse than himself and they moved back in, trashing the apartment even worse than it was the first place.

Why did that happen?  because the landlord did not defend his nice, clean apartment. He just assumed after he cleaned it up, it would STAY that way, not suspecting the old tenant would return and make it even worse than it was.  Had he guarded his apartment, and changed the locks, and/or put ANOTHER tenant there which was good, he wouldn’t have suffered the loss.

Does this have anything to do with HEALING?  You bet’cha!  It has EVERYTHING to do with it.  When I’m ministering to people about healing, I make well sure I tell them about this passage of scripture, because it is VERY important.  I tell them, just as a burglar will not break into an empty apartment because there is nothing there to steal, if God heals them, the devil WILL return to steal it from them, and if he doesn’t return with a counter-attack, they got nothing in the first place for the devil to come back and steal.  Do you understand that?  Jesus sure did, and He taught His disciples about it.

Yet today, not many teach their people about counter-attacks.  And like it says in Hosea 4:6 in part, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…..” There’s more to that verse, but you get the message, “MY PEOPLE”, that is, God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  The knowledge is out there, just some don’t bother to search it out.  They say “What you don’t know can’t hurt you…” Don’t kid yourself, what you don’t know can KILL you!  You must know your enemy, and your enemy is not other people, nor the government, nor your mother-in-law,  it is Satan and his angels, and you’d better make up your mind to get to know your enemy and how he works, and who he works through.

Don’t be deceived into thinking if you decide you’ve had enough of sickness or oppression of the enemy and decide to evict him from your body and home, that you’ve heard the last of him.  Like I said earlier, don’t even think about fighting the devil unless you’re prepared for a counter-punch.  If you want him out of your body and out of your home, you may indeed land the first punch, but don’t forget, he gets back up and punches back.  So if you’re not prepared to go as many rounds as it takes to defeat him in your life, don’t throw the punch, because he plays tag-team and if you knock him down, his buddies will all get in the ring with him to help.  And sometimes, all of them at the same time.

There are those who cast out devils, telling them to “go back to hell from whence you came.” Let me give you some insight here:  first, the devil has never been to hell; secondly, YOU don’t have the authority to send him there, only the heavenly Father does.  Jesus never granted the disciples the power to send the devil and his helpers to hell, BUT, He granted them the power to “cast them out”.  It isn’t YOUR decision to tell them where to go, but “OUT”.  Adding anything else to that sets you up for loss, for you are trying to operate outside your authority.  And if you don’t have a relationship with Christ Jesus, you could well cast out devils, but find yourself in the predicament the seven sons of Sceva did.  Here, let’s read about it!  Keep in mind what Hosea 4:6 says.

Act 19:13  Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
Act 19:14  And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
Act 19:15  And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
Act 19:16  And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Act 19:17  And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Believe me, you DON’T want a devil to speak back to you when you’re casting him out in the name of Jesus, saying, JESUS I KNOW, BUT WHO ARE YOU??? You’d better have that relationship with Jesus in place first before casting out devils, or you will regret it.

BUT, on the other hand, don’t forget who is on YOUR side, and God ALSO plays tag-team, and if you reach out and tag GOD, you will have all the reinforcements you will ever need to win the battle AND win the war.  You see, that’s where many go wrong, they hit the devil with a Bible verse or two, and the devil is down and hurt.  So when the devil gets mad and comes back, many people are defeated because they try to beat the devil in a re-match on their own strength, forgetting that God is there to back them up, and He is absolutely undefeatable, period.

There is this girl whom I taught for three days, who was eaten up with cancer, and I told her about counter-attacks.  When I laid hands on her, she was instantly healed and she knew it.  She was rejoicing for a while, but after I left, here comes the devil saying, “So you’re healed?  Think so, huh?  Let me show you a thing or two!” And he hit her hard with symptoms and she was knocked down HARD to the point where she wondered what happened.  Well, she forgot her training, apparently.  I warned her well in advance that the devil does not play “nice”.  But she is back in the fight to win, and hopefully better prepared for the battle as she is learning the tactics and lies of the devil.  AND, most importantly, the integrity of God’s Word!

The truth is, she WAS healed, and she knew it, and God knew it, and the devil knew it.  The devil was effectively evicted from his dwelling place that he had trashed (her body), but guess what?  He returned and found her all healed up and announced, “I’m baaaaaack!, and brought several of his buddies with him.  Does that mean for her to give up?  NO!  That means for her to come out fighting AFTER tagging HER helper, the Holy Spirit, and beating the devil back out of her life.  Sooner or later, the devil will go looking for an easier opponent, because it sure isn’t HER!

You have to have that attitude that you WILL NOT BE DEFEATED.  God is available to help if you call upon Him.  Maybe you will be in several battles before it’s over, for the devil is a spirit, and you can’t hurt him physically, but he can sure hurt YOU physically.  Your weapons are not carnal, but mighty to the pulling down of the devil’s strongholds through the use of the Word of God.

I had cancer back in 1993 and with the help of the Holy Spirit in me, defeated the devil and ran him out.  But I couldn’t have done it alone, and I was smart enough at the time to know that, and have ever been mindful of that since.  Have I suffered any counter-punches?  Sure, lots of them, but I remember who’s on my tag-team, and the winner is IN me, the Holy Spirit.  It is written in Proverbs 24:16, For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. Did you see that? The number 7 means “completely” or complete.  Though you get knocked down completely, God will see to it you rise up again!  In other words, every time you get knocked down, you will always get back UP!!  The devil cannot keep you down no matter how many times he and his buddy hit you!  God will see to it that you do not lose, that is, IF YOU HAVE HIM ON YOUR TAG-TEAM.

So, don’t fear the counter-punch.  You have the GREATER ONE on your side.  Actually, the devil hopes you never catch on that that revelation, for when you do, he knows his defeat is sure and he will finally leave you alone, for you are far too expensive for him to mess with.  There are easier targets out there who don’t cause him any damage.  Go on, kick him out of your life.  Oh, and don’t fall for the sucker-punch, be ready for it this time, and put his lights out.