Demons: They Are Amongst Us, But Jesus Defeats Them!

Matt 8:28 When Jesus came to the territory of Gadara on the other side of the lake, he was met by two men who came out of the burial caves there. These men had demons in them and were so fierce that no one dared travel on that road. 29 At once they screamed, “What do you want with us, you Son of God? Have you come to punish us before the right time? 30 Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.

2. I recall when I was younger there was a movie of a 12 year old girl that was demon possessed called “The Exorcist”. Considering that people were more pure minded and church going in 1973, it was a very shocking and disturbing movie! It still is, don’t see it! It was the highest grossing film ever in history until “Jaws” came out over a decade later. It really was repulsive and frightening so why was it so popular? Why are people so fascinated with evil and demon possession? Is fear really entertaining? Without Jesus demonic power is overwhelming!

Just mentioning demon possession as a sermon topic, I am sure is making some of you uncomfortable because you have had some bad experiences in life already with evil spirits and I have too! It is not a subject I mention very often at all, but every person does have to deal with it sometime or another. Considering the study we are doing on ‘spiritual battle’ and Jesus in one of His commands us in Matt 10:8 says to cast out devils, then we must learn something about it. Grammy awards seem to include a lot of Satanism, so it is time we learn more about how secret societies, politics, and evil is affecting the world around us! People near us have demons!

Sadly, the culture today accommodates many demonic practices and we as Christians must be aware of this and be sure that not one of us permit any occult or demonic influence to destroy our joy, and peace with God. There are some evangelical churches that see demons in everything and they are every Sunday talking more about Satan and his works than Jesus himself. Some churches do exorcisms every Sunday; have you been to a church like that? You see the occult is more exalted than Jesus Christ! On the other extreme, we cannot be silent on this issue either or we will not know how to deal with it. How can each of us conquer demons then? First, start with yourself! Are you purified by the burning of the Holy Spirit of all vices, uncontrolled emotions and words?

3. For an outside influence to not have a dominating power over you, you and I must recognize our own weaknesses, and before anything else free ourselves from any sin, fear, temptation, bitterness, and in particular, pride where demons come in. Jesus spent 40 days tempted in the wilderness and He conquered Satan’s same old tricks through the ages of trying to get him to succumb to the desires of the flesh, to abuse his power, and to get Him to worship him.

So first, how do you cast out any demons you may have? Think of it this way, can a drunk help another drunk to stop drinking? Can the blind lead the blind? One has to abandon all bad friends and start over! I left all my bad friends when younger. No person can ever have power over a demon unless they have replaced their emptiness with the power of Jesus Christ living in them! A demon may grant a person a little temporary power, but Jesus is a power above all powers! With Jesus you can grow your spirit powerful in a position of holiness, which is God’s pure power, into a position of having full control over any weaknesses of the flesh or spirit. To conquer spiritual powers another person who is full of the spirit walking in holiness must pray with you with you asking to be free! Jesus is there where 2 or 3 gather.

Would you not agree that many church going Christians have never taken this first step of ridding their own selves of their own demons? My experience as a young man, getting corrupted a few years by pot and drugs, when I gave my life to God, I had to cry out to God desperately, repenting saying, “Forgive me!” “Never again do I want to offend You by harming my body that You created, the temple of the Holy Ghost!” I knew that any un-submitted area of my life, any area that caters to the desires of the flesh, allowing any abuse of power on my part, and any fascination with evil which is an unconscious worship of Satan, would be the gap where the demons could get in and overpower me.