Is it just me, or have you also noticed that interest in the occult and demon possession is increasing at an alarming rate. Have you noticed the number of movies made centered around demon possession or demons in general? Just the previews give me the creeps and make me shudder to think of all the people who are actually going to see these types of movies and what it is doing to them without their knowledge. Even Tom Hanks and Ron Howard have a new, very controversial movie coming out this spring titled “Angels and Demons.” This movie will only fuel our society’s insatiable appetite for the occult. And by the way, why do you suppose that so many books are being written and so many movies being made about the occult? It’s simple, it’s called the law of supply and demand and right now people are demanding to see the occult. They want to see evil in all of its forms imaginable.
That being said, statistics indicate that most people either have an unhealthy obsession with demons and the occult or they dismiss them as fictional altogether. Believe me when I tell you that the Devil is well-pleased with either view. Those who have an unhealthy obsession with the occult make themselves very vulnerable to his power to manipulate them while those who don’t really believe in demons and spiritual forces of evil are also very vulnerable because it is hard to take the proper steps to protect yourself from something you don’t believe exists. But exist they do..
Turn with me to our scripture reading for today. Ephesians 6:10-12 (READ)
Paul counsels us not to underestimate the power of the devil and his angels. If you are not convinced of the presence and power of these spiritual forces of evil in our world today, I challenge you to pick up a newspaper or turn on the evening news! I’ll be honest with you, when I hear about a father brutally murdering his wife and little children, or people going on shooting sprees killing complete strangers and then themselves, I have to believe that many of these folks are actually possessed by the devil at least to some degree.
Turn with me to Mark 5 and we are going to look at Mark’s account of his eyewitness encounter with a man who was possessed. By the way, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all have included this confrontation in each of their gospels.
Mark 5:1-20 (READ)
I. Give some context. Jesus had only hours—maybe even minutes earlier delivered the disciples from the fury of nature when He spoke to the wind and waves and brought them under submission to His command. During this experience the disciples began to understand even more the power of their Master, they said, “who is this man that even the wind and waves obey Him?!” One would think that at this point, the disciples would have realized that it didn’t matter where they went, they would be safe as long as they were with Jesus!
II. Imagine the situation with me for just a moment. Jesus and His disciples arrive on the other side of the lake in the region of the Gerasenes, a predominantly gentile region and when they step out of the boat they are confronted with a horrific sight…(describe what happened and how he likely looked)
III. What do we know about this man before he was possessed by these demons? Well we know that he was someone’s son. He was more than likely someone’s brother, probably someone’s husband and father…
IV. What happened to him? The bible doesn’t say but I would assume that he had been dabbling in the occult or in some other way little by little yielding to the temptations and manipulations of those spiritual forces of evil in high places. Until finally, he was almost completely possessed by the devil
A. I don’t know about you, but I am very concerned about our young people today… We all know that the children are our future and that the youth of today are our leaders of tomorrow. If we can only train them and guide them to be all they can be, our future will no doubt be bright. But guess what, Satan knows that as well. If he can only train, guide and manipulate them, his future is much brighter and ours much darker. I believe that’s why we are seeing the release of all of these horror movies featuring demons and the occult. That’s why so many of our children are walking around in black clothes, with dyed black hair, painted black fingernails, black lipstick and eye shadow. Some think its just a fashion fad and for some it may be but I believe this dark attire often accompanied by dark personalities could also be a tribute to the prince of darkness. Friends, Eve should not have flirted with temptation at the tree and we should not dabble in the occult or play with spiritual forces of evil..
B. The man in our story somehow allowed these spiritual forces of evil to “hijack” his mind and body. Now, he was a mere prisoner held captive by forces much more powerful than himself.
1. We’re told that no one could bind him—no one could control him—only his new demonic masters.
a. Have you ever heard the expression “you need to conquer your demons.”?
b. Acts 19 mentions seven brothers who used to go out together and try to drive demons out of people by saying, “in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches I command you to come out!” It turns out that one of those demons answered them saying, I know Jesus and I know about Paul, but who are you? And then the one demon-possessed man jumped on the seven brothers and beat them so badly that they fled the house they were in naked and bleeding… again no one could control the demons in this man.
2. To ensure their continued control of their victim, the demons drove him away from his family and all who cared for him to live among the tombs. The devil works the same way today, he wants us to spend all of our time dwelling among the “dead” the spiritually dead that is… In 1 Corinthians 15:33 Paul says, “Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
3. The demons within caused him to torture himself. Cut himself with stones…
4. But as much power as these demons had over this pitiful soul, they couldn’t keep him from “crying out” in anguish of spirit. And guess what, Jesus heard his cries. I don’t believe for one second that it was only by chance that Jesus said the night before, “let’s go across to the other side of the lake..”.
A. When the demons saw that Jesus had just landed on their shore and that their unwilling “host” saw Jesus, do you think that they were excited or that they couldn’t wait to meet him face to face? They knew Jesus all too well, they had already been cast out of heaven by Jesus, I don’t think they really wanted to encounter Him again.
B. Again this demon or group of demons was named Legion because there were many of them. Just how many were there? Well, there were about 6,000 soldiers in a Roman legion… So, think about it, there were as many as 6,000 demons trying to keep this one man from running to Jesus! Think about that for just a moment…Jesus said in John 12 that, when I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself.” Even before He was lifted up, Jesus was drawing this man. And this poor, desperate soul was responding.
C. When we genuinely DESIRE to respond to Jesus drawing us, there is not a power in this or any other world that is strong enough to stop us!!
Romans 8:37-39 (READ)
V. The demons were driven out.
a. The people begged Jesus to leave their region.
b. The man who was delivered from the demons begged to go with Jesus.
c. Jesus said, no, rather go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you. He became the first evangelist to the gentiles.
We have to ask the question, is devil still in the business of possessing folks today? Without a doubt and, even though we are in the midst of a terrible economic crisis, for the devil business has never been better.
We don’t see many raving lunatics today like we read about in this biblical account but we need to understand that Satan and his demons are still working… they’ve just learned to be more subtle and less noticeable yet their power to manipulate and destroy is just as strong.
The best way to prevent spiritual forces of evil from taking up residency is to have NO VACANCY. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus tells us, “Here I am. I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him…” (bible study and prayer, daily surrender of our will to the will of God)
Brothers and sisters, if you can sense the working of the spiritual forces of evil in your life, whether it be temptations that your are struggling with, addictions, habitual sins, or maybe satan is using guilt for something you did in the past to hold you prisoner… or if your faith in God isn’t what you know it needs to be. It’s time to do something. Remember, those 6,000 demons could NOT prevent that man from coming to Jesus—no, by the power of God that man drug those demons kicking and screaming to the one place on earth they didn’t want to be. In the very same way, no matter what we’ve done or how much of ourselves we have surrendered to those spiritual forces of evil, Satan himself CANNOT hinder any of us from coming to Jesus for deliverance.
In Luke 4:18,19 Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
It’s time we realized that, even though we were born into a sinful world, we do not have to allow sin to reign in our lives and ultimately destroy us! Won’t you as Jesus to set you free right now?
