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Demonic Spirits
Today we are going to take a
look at various demonic spirits mentioned in the Bible and the
influences and powers that they have. People often underestimate
the power of a demonic spirit and this can lead to being defeated in
battle.
Let us begin today in Matthew
8:28-34. “And when he was come to the other
side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed
with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no
man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying,
What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come
hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off
from them an herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him,
saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of
swine. And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they
went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine
ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the
waters.”
By looking at this scripture
in the beginning we can see many things. First, the demons are able
to acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God. This is contrary to
what many people teach by saying “A demon can’t say the name Jesus”
or “a demon can’t acknowledge that Jesus is Lord”. This is often
used by people who say if you can get a demon possessed person to
say either of these things then the demon has left. Here we can
clearly see how this is the wrong way of thinking.
Secondly we see that the
demons clearly were afraid of Jesus. They feared he had come to
torment them, and even went so far as to beg him that IF they were
cast out, that they be allowed to go into a herd of swine (or pigs).
This we see Jesus allowing them to do, the question becomes why? We
believe this to be as a sign of evidence of demonic spirits being
real. For someone to have been possessed by devils and then suddenly
be in their right mind, and for pigs to have been behaving normally
and then suddenly rush down a cliff and drown themselves in the
water definitely shows that there was something that went from the
men to the pigs.
Thirdly, we see that Jesus did
not have to hold down the men, throw a Bible at them, sprinkle holy
water on them, yell and scream at the men or any of the other
tactics often used in deliverance ministry today. Jesus said one
word. GO. That was all it took. Now you may say “yes but this is
Jesus we’re talking about here”. Yes it was Jesus but does the Bible
not tell us that as a spirit filled saint we have the power to do
the things Jesus did? Well if all it took was for Jesus to say “Go”
then why should it not be as easy for us?
Finally we see just how much
of a hold these demons had upon these men. It tells us they were
exceedingly fierce so no man could pass by. That says these demons
had a very strong hold. After they had been cast out everyone was
amazed at the change that came upon the men.
Now let us go to Matthew
9:32-33 “As they went out, behold, they
brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil
was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying,
It was never so seen in Israel.” Here we can see just how
much power a demon can have over someone. Many of the new “modern
day people” would say this was a medical condition that was cured
and wasn’t really a devil or demon but one must realize that this is
just what Satan wants people to believe. He does not want people
knowing the truth of how much power a demon has. Another example is
found in Matthew 12:22. “Then was brought
unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed
him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.”
Once again we see the control that a demon has on a person and we
see that Jesus healed him by casting out the demon.
Matthew 17:14-21 tells us
“And when they were come to the multitude,
there came to him a [certain] man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for
ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I
brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then
Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how
long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him
hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of
him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the
disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say
unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say
unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall
remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind
goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Again we see the
power that a demon can have upon a person. Here we see where the
disciples had not been able to cast out this demon because it had
such a grip on the child. Of course today this is explained away as
epilepsy but are you going to say that Jesus did not recognize this
as a demon? The scriptures do tell us that he rebuked the devil, and
also that he told the disciples that this kind only went out by
prayer and fasting.
Now why would Jesus say prayer
and fasting? When one is fasting and praying they are drawing closer
to God and understanding what God wants in their life. It is during
this time that one gains power. It is during these seasons of prayer
and fasting that one is walking closer and closer to God.
Mark 1:23-27 tells us
“And there was in their synagogue a man
with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let [us] alone;
what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come
to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And
Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And
when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice,
he came out of him.” Once again this goes against a common
belief of people today, demons cannot go inside a church.
Here we see Jesus was in the
synagogue and that is where the man with the unclean spirit was. The
demon had come inside the church inside a person. Do demons come in
the churches today? Absolutely they can be there. How many people
recognize them for what they are? Probably not nearly as many as
should. This is due to people not being trained in the ways of God.
Luke 4:41 states
“And devils also came out of many, crying
out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking
[them] suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was
Christ.” Jesus didn’t engage in a long dialogue with the
demons as many who engage in deliverance do today show that there is
no need to do so. He simply rebuked them, didn’t argue with them and
cast them out. Because of this example we know that we do not have
to argue with a demon and if a demon chooses to try and argue
claiming rights or whatever it is because they are attempting to
“defend their turf” so to speak.
Now that we have looked at
several cases of demonic possession in the time of Jesus and how he
handled various situations let us look at one more case showing what
demons can do. Let us go to Acts 19:13-16.
“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. And there were
seven sons of [one] Sceva, a Jew, [and] chief of the priests, which
did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and
Paul I know; but who are ye?” Here we see a mockery being
made of the sons of Sceva. The demons are not in any way responding
in the way the sons of Sceva expected them to. In fact what do we
see happened? Look at verse 17. “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.” This is what can happen if you start
messing around in something you are not ready for. Look at this
example closely. One man had an evil spirit and he overtook SEVEN of
the sons of Sceva, ripped their clothes off of them and sent them
out of the house naked and hurt. Now anyone knows that one normal
man is not going to be able to take on 7 men at one time and send
them out of a house in that condition. Only a demon could allow a
person to have that kind of non human strength.
Notice that the sons of Sceva
told the devils to come out “in the name of Jesus of whom Paul
preaches”. These were not men who were on a “first name basis” with
God, they were not followers of Jesus themselves and as a result
were only copying what they had seen Paul do. When they attempted
this it was obvious that it was not successful. Today we cannot
cast demons out in the name of “Jesus of whom Billy Graham preaches”
or “Jesus of whom my pastor preaches”, we can only cast out demons
based on the authority that God has given each of us.
A demon is not something to be
played with. Based on the examples shown here one can see that
demons are real, have a great amount of power and have no respect
for anyone. It is a strong and formidable enemy and before engaging
in battle with one, it is necessary to make sure that you are where
you need to be so you don’t end up like one of the sons of Sceva.
God bless
Apostle Charlie and Sister
Becky