Demonic Influences Series

Please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 8.

Jesus has been talking about faith in Luke Chapters 7 and 8. Believers of God are to live by faith. Faith is living out what God says. And because Jesus is God and became a human being on earth, Jesus not only spoke God’s Word, Jesus lived out God’s Word. In other words, Jesus is the One and Only True Master to listen to and to imitate! All disciples of Jesus Christ are to listen to and imitate Him.

In our passage today, we will learn many things; but the main objective of Jesus Christ was to give an example to His disciples for we read in the beginning of Luke 9…….

All disciples of Jesus Christ are to listen to and imitate Him. Are we disciples of Jesus Christ? Are we listening and imitating Jesus Christ?

Let us pray our commitment to God’s Word…………

Read along with me Luke 8:27-39………

What are facts that we can note from this story?

Jesus and the disciples encountered a man, and likely many others, who were indwelt and possessed by demons. The man in our story was not just indwelt by one demon but a legion, which indicate thousands of demons!

1. People can be possessed by demons!

And before we dismiss the idea that demon possession can only happen before Jesus died on the cross, let us note a few truths: Acts 19:13 - Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.

There were demon possessions after Jesus Christ died on the cross for all of man’s sins.

1 Timothy 4:1 - The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Some who profess to be Christians will listen to the devil!

And today in the Year 2012, you can “Google” all sorts of stories about demon possessions; the Discovery Channel even has a special on this. Right here in Milwaukee, do you know what the hottest ticket was this weekend??

Quite sick, someone decided to have tours for all the bars where Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer found his victims and these tours are sold out! There are a lot of evil going on even right here in our city.

Scriptures tell us that demon possession of people can happen today and will be allowed till Jesus locks up all the demons in the future.

And back to our passage, we can note what happens

2. when people are possessed by demons:

v27b – basically, no care for other people

v28 – controlled physically and orally

v29c – can have tremendous physical power

v35 – not in the right mind

And v28 also tells us that

3. Demons know that Jesus is God!

And because Jesus is God,

4. Jesus has power over demons!

And what can we note from v31?

5. There is a place called the “abyss” = bottomless pit = hell.

There is a physical place called hell! Sadly, even many Christian leaders today are denying this.

The 6th fact we can note from this story is very interesting.

6. There are 2 types of responses to God dealing with demons!

v36-37 – People got afraid of Jesus and asked Jesus to leave them! Isn’t that interesting?

Why would people ask Jesus who has power over demons to leave them alone??

Jesus states in John 3:19-20, This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

The right response to Jesus of course is how the cured man responded; look at v38-39…

- Begged to be with Jesus

- Obeyed Jesus

- Proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ

What are the main Biblical principles for us today from this passage?

First of all, we must not be ignorant of this truth; under God’s authority, the devil is alive and well on earth. Note the warning to Christians in 1 Peter 5:8, Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

1. People today can be possessed by the devil!

And again, let us note the context of the story. Jesus explained faith in Luke 7. In Luke 8, Jesus described faith, the results of faith, the cost of faith, and the need for testing faith. In the midst of these lessons about faith, Jesus cured a demon possessed man! Why? – Look again at Luke 9:1-3