Powerful Talk on Demonic Possession

I'm starting in verse 28 as you guys get to Matthew chapter 8 verse 28 OCT 2015 11 from God but God does this he gives us this revelation through human authors they don't lose their humanity in writing scripture they don't go into a trance when they start writing scripture and all of a sudden it's not really them writing they're writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit carried along by God's Holy Spirit it's God's revelation it's his story about his glory the glory of a son to the world God has used this particular text to bless the church for so long I've mentioned as we've done this so many times that this was the most popular of all four Gospels in the second century of the Christian Church Matthew this is the one that Christians were living on of course possible there were Christian communities they didn't have the entire New Testament revelation they might have had bits and pieces and parts books maybe they had only Matthew and they lived off of Matthew their lives were transformed by Matthew and Matthew is telling us a story it's a story with a singular hero it's about Jesus and this story is a symphony of course you have moments where the music is building and then it gets to this point of climax and it ought to excite you and I think Matthew is exactly like that the whole book of Matthew is like that from beginning to end it really genuinely is starting off with this who Jesus is he has the right to the throne this is genealogy I'll prove it to you look here's here's these pagans come in to worship the Jewish king who is going to save the world all the nations are going to stream to God and you see the first people coming to worship Jesus are not Jews but pagans Mathies of course telling you the story this is what we expected Jesus is Messiah he's the one we were expecting to come to the world to bring Redemption salvation to the ends of the earth and of course matthew ends matthew 28:18 through 20 all Authority has been given to me therefore go make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you to obey and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age that's that's a story of a hero who's accomplished his work and mission and now here's that climax he's seated now on his throne he's ascended to the Father he's seated now as the Jewish people knew he's putting all of his enemies under his feet and then of course the final return in the day of judgment which you're going to see in a moment the demons are well aware of Matthew 20 Matthew 8 starting in verse 28 here now the words of the living and true God and when he came to the other side to the country of the gadarenes two demon-possessed men met him coming out of the tombs so fierce that no one could pass that way and behold they cried out what have you to do with us oh son of God have you come here to torment us before the time now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them and the demons begged him saying if you cast us out send us away into the herd of pigs and he said to them go so they came out and went into the pigs and behold the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drown in the waters the herdsmen fled and going into the city they told everything especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men and behold all the City came out to meet Jesus and when they saw him they begged him to leave their region as far as the reading of God's Holy Word let's pray father won't ask for your special protection upon your church today as we talk about a subject that is so important I pray God that you would protect this church from an unhealthy interest in the demonic I pray that you protect our church Lord from fear of the demonic and I pray that you would protect our church from bad theology help us to understand Jesus your victory over darkness help us to understand Lord that every creature you've made is in the palm of your hand and you do with them as you please help us understand that though Satan may be a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour as Peter says he is a lion on a leash help us to know lord your might your power and strength over darkness and blood bless me today get me out of the picture out of the way please God speak to your church teach your church today I pray that Lord through this message you would build up your church equip us and I pray that this message would cause us to love Jesus so much more speak by your spirit today Lord through your word in Jesus name Amen so the synoptic Gospels we've got Matthew Mark Luke John is distinct not seen as one of the synoptic synoptic means seeing together so when you hear that word that synoptic Gospels is the Gospels that you can see together Matthew Mark and Luke these are Gospels that you can line up side-by-side and you've got eye witness testimony and that eyewitness testimony can be laid alongside one another and you have one story told where Matthew has a particular purpose and points he's going a direction don't forget Matthew is not copying off somebody else imp leap ledger izing Matthews telling a story through the inspiration of Holy Spirit but he's telling the story to point out particulars that are important to his story and Mark and Luke many times you read those stories alongside one another and you get the full picture you get a better picture of who was actually there you get a better picture of all the little details that happen around the story that actually I think make it much more exciting there are times in the synoptic Gospels Matthew Mark and Luke where Luke who is essentially Gentile writing to maybe a more formally Gentile audience he might actually take things that Matthew might say in a very Jewish way and he takes it and he Gentiles it right he takes it and makes it to where you can actually understand well what's the point so I'll give you one example of that in the Synoptics so in Matthew 24 Luke 21 mark 13 the Olivet discourse the famous Olivet discourse known to create many cults and to strike fear into the hearts of so many the Olivet discourse the discourse wars and rumors of wars famines pestilence plague the son of man coming from the east to the west the angels coming the gospel being preached to all creation you have the promise of persecution in Matthew 24 and in Matthew it says something actually kind of interested that if you didn't have your Old Testament and you are Jewish maybe you wouldn't understand a word he was saying he says in ninety 24 when you see the abomination that causes desolation spoken of through Daniel the Prophet let the reader understand and you might be thinking right now I don't that's 44 so when you see the abomination of desolation these early Christians are hearing Jesus say when you see the abomination that causes desolation he says to flee well that's a lot of help if you have no idea what the bomber nation desolation is like thanks Jesus I don't know so I guess I'm toast right these early Christians are hearing this from Jesus as he tells them when you see it when you see what Daniel was talking about then flee don't wait flea don't go back to get your coat flea immediately leave the city now Luke in Luke 21 in the synoptic tradition seeing together Luke actually takes what Matthew says as the abomination that causes desolation very Jewish and he says very simply when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies Thank You Luke for helping us Gentiles out right you saved my life dude right so when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies flee and you can look in the history the Christian Church in the first century the Christians in Jerusalem were the only ones to escape the war between the Romans and the Jews because under direction of their Messiah he told them that when the city was surrounded by the Romans that they were to flee and isn't it amazing when you look in history the Roman armies came they surrounded Jerusalem at that time and that all of a sudden Rome's started falling and falling apart the Roman armies turned around left the city and started taking off and it's a matter of historical record that the Christians that were there all together fled to a town called Pella and as soon as the Christians left the city what happened the Romans turned right back around they came and Rees act the city and there went the three and a half year war between the Romans and the Jews which ended in complete desolation the temple being destroyed blood literally pouring through the streets all those things took place but you see that in the Synoptics you see them seeing together you've got eye witness testimony of what happened in the historical narrative of Jesus life but some of these authors give us different details some of them leave details out that weren't important for their story that's important as you look at this particular scene because what you need to know is that Matthew chapter 8 this section of the domani acts can be lined up side-by-side seen together with mark five and Luke chapter eight we're actually going to look at some of those today so if you line them up together you get the entire picture now this is what's important I want to go ahead and just start addressing these things now as we open the text together when you look at these different synoptic Gospels oftentimes you have Matthew giving you details that Mark doesn't give you and sometimes people who apparently have a hard time reading the Bible like they would any other work people have left on that as well there's an example of that story isn't word-for-word exactly the same I say praise God it isn't because if you go into a court of law with testimony or documents that are to practice to word for word without incidental details different to h1 you have people that are clearly identifying that they have been working together you can see issues of plagiarism coming up in the Gospels you see the stories coming together but one author might emphasize one person over two people one author might actually give you more details that were relevant to his story than the other I'll give you an example I'll give you a story from last night last night I went to a birthday party at the bowling alley I'm gonna usually hang out bowling alleys I did mine I was 16 a lot some of you guys know what I'm talking about right I went to a great bowling alley went to a birthday party and I actually got to hang out a bit with Esther and Esther and I got into a fantastic conversation about Jesus first miracle of turning water into wine his first public miracle he's there at the celebration it's a wedding and now you have the Messiah's first public miracle being turning water into wine very very good highly alcoholic wine that's the truth it wasn't no Welch's grape juice right it was delicious aged wine that's what it was you can't get away from it that's what the people at the wedding thought this is amazing right usually they save this stuff for the end of the wedding and now you got the good stuff up front way to go it's amazing right well here you got Jesus first public miracle and like what does that mean so Esther and I are talking about what exactly does that mean and I pointed it Isaiah 25 and God's promised that when this all came about that he was going to create a feast for his people and given the most delicious aged wine and I talked about there's so much to wine in Scripture that has symbol and we're going into we had a great fantastic discussion about that first public miracle of Jesus great conversation now you know what there's someone else coming that can tell a story to you after service and that's summer summer was there as well I didn't tell you that part did I summer could tell you the story from a different perspective about how her and Esther were actually talking together about that text together and I left into the conversation and actually started talking together with them now are we telling two different stories I'm talking about the story from my perspective emphasizing what I want to emphasize for my own purposes now there's a different way to tell that story that gives you more details about the people that were there and what was actually talked about in the conversation it's not conflicting stories it's each person emphasizing something that actually is important for them the Synoptics are that way as you have these eyewitness testimonies coming together you get a fuller bigger picture of what actually took place so again Matthew chapter 8 mark chapter 5 and Luke chapter 8 you can see together don't forget that Matthew is telling a powerful story grab hold of this because the whole story is a good story about a hero accomplishing what God had promised and is getting to a climax in Matthew 28 however there are these little bits and pieces where there is a mini story that has its own slow start and build up into a massive beautiful moment where you're supposed to say the tears fill your eyes you get excited Matthew chapter 8 works like that let me give you an example as a run through Matthew chapter 8 starts off with what Jesus now is finished with the Sermon on the Mount he enters into his public ministry now actually touching people and healing people he's doing what he's teaching in their synagogues he's proclaiming the gospel the kingdom and he's healing them of all their sicknesses and diseases that's the Ministry of Jesus that we see before us here Matthew 8 and Jesus does 1 he comes in I told you guys be cautious be very very careful in thinking that when Jesus performs miracles that he's a wonder worker only the world is filled with people that do things like that if you turn on if you pull up YouTube you can get lost in all the charlatans and religious con artists that are manipulating people with these feats these magical wonders I saw one just the other day it's this famous African preacher who was doing a magic trick where it looked like he was floating and it was all over the news in Africa and here's this preacher that actually hovered he was actually flying in a sense and all it was was just sleight of hand magician stuff you ought not see Jesus as merely a Wonder worker in the same way you see these charlatans when Jesus was performing these miracles they were signposts to something greater when Jesus raises a little girl that's dead from the dead and gives her her life back it's pointing to the reality that Jesus is the giver of life he has power over death he actually has the ability to raise the dead so in the resurrection on the last day when God has done with everything that sine of Jesus performing that particular me Racal is assurance to you and to me that he actually has the ability to raise us from the dead there will be a final resurrection he raised a little girl from the dead he raised a little boy from the dead he raised people from the dead Lazarus from the dead and he raised himself from the dead he said destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again not merely a wonder-worker Jesus is doing something that's pointing to the greater reality of who he is Matthew chapter 8 starts off and Jesus is doing what he starts his ministry of healing he heals a leper they saw lepers as unclean people they wanted him away from them don't touch me stay away from my kids stay on that side of the street they were seen as unclean they thought in that day that if you had leprosy it was because of some sin in your life you were cursed by God and here Jesus doesn't just heal him with a word he does something much more beautiful much more meaningful he doesn't just say to the leper be clean he touches these people the Ministry of Jesus touch where he reaches out and he actually embraces the unclean he embraces the sick and the diseased he hangs out with the tax collectors the prostitutes the scum of society he actually embraces those people and now Matthews telling you that here comes Jesus now into this ministry where he's actually healing and teaching and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and Jesus touches an unclean person and they're healed and Jesus says a word to another and they're healed and Jesus says a word and he heals somebody that's actually not even in front of him and then Jesus shows his authority over sickness and disease and as a story moves on you see the healing of course in Peters house you see this beautiful moment of Jesus touching this woman and then you have the passage we all dealt with together Dustin touched on it he touched on it in a moment of great pain for our church and you know if you were there you know that that moment of geez is actually stilling the storm of him saying peace be still and that water just calmed down you know that that sign was not merely wonder-working it wasn't just Jesus showing his might and his power and just his ability to control the world it actually showed who he was it says in the Bible that only Yahweh controls the Seas and here's Yahweh as a man actually saying to his world be calm be still and it stills you see his disciples freaking out like we often do because of the storm in the waves and don't you even care we're perishing Jesus and then Jesus says little faiths and he actually does what he calms the storm and they say what kind of guy is this that even the wind and the Seas obey Him and Jesus shows his authority there over the physical elements and you know there's so much more to that story than just Jesus controlling waves much much more it's not just that it's much more the stories building he has power over sickness and disease he has authority over that he has authority over the physical world he can actually speak to the waves and they'll rise up he can speak to them and they will all down and now you have the climax now the story is picked up its building its building authority over sickness and disease authority over the physical world now its authority over the demonic its authority over something that all of us in quiet moments in the dark can fear you know what I'm talking about you ever been in a room where it's dark walking down a dark hallway by yourself ever been in a situation where maybe you're in the woods and it's dark at night and you get fear you walk in the woods today in North Carolina South Carolina and there are clowns you know what I'm saying like that that fear that we all can succumb to sometimes where you like is something in my house is something behind me well they had those fears too but for them it was actually real because listen the spiritual forces of wickedness knew that that was the time of the Messiah and how did they know they know their Bibles the Bible tells us when Jesus was coming Daniel chapter 9 Daniel chapter 2 the timing of the Messiah the Kingdom of Rome was there they knew the 70 weeks prophecy it had landed at a time they knew the birth of Jesus they knew and there was a frenzy of demonic activity they experienced it and so for them this moment that Matthew shows us of Jesus having authority over the demonic dark evil forces is a climax it's not a small incidental detail oh yeah and those these demoniac it's Jesus demonstrating his full authority over sickness and disease over the physical world and over spiritual forces of wickedness demons something they can have no control over something they couldn't even necessarily see and touch to spiritual realm the world does not just matter in motion there is a spiritual realm at force there are things called there was a thing called love is it real yes can you touch it can you see it's love how about laws of math can you see a law of math you can see its representation but is that law of math on the page no those are laws that exist in the world in the real world but you cannot see them touch them taste them weigh them they have a reality to them in actual existence but it's immaterial laws of logic same way real laws real existence is not something we've just made up in our minds it's a reflection of the way the world is the way the girl the world actually is because God governs is and there are spiritual creatures angels you and I have a spiritual aspect to our being we are not just physical animals creatures we have an immaterial aspect to our being and these early Jews knew about the reality of the devil they knew about the reality of dark spiritual forces they knew about the enemy they saw a frenzy of activity in that time because of the time Jesus was entering into the world the devil knew that his time was short he knew what God was going to accomplish he knows God keeps his promises so there's a frenzy of activity in the first century because Messiah has entered the world and they knew was around him and now Jesus actually has control of that he has once again authority over sickness and disease uncleanness Jesus has authority over the storms the physical world Jesus has authority over demons evil now let's pause for one moment I said at the very very beginning this is this is vitally important again it is very very important for us as Christians not to have an unhealthy interest in the demonic that is so important if you actually enter into the world of the occult if you pick up things like the Satanic Bible by anton van der la veille you need to know that you're entering a world of real darkness there is a reality to it and it is not something you should be playful with it is not a world you should walk into flippantly many many years ago this became an area of study of my own and I can tell you right now that engaging in this study itself opens up all kinds of opportunity to reach into that world to bring the gospel but it also I believe opens in a certain sense pathways that were closed before that allow for a lot of combat to take place so I want to encourage you be very very cautious about entering into this world you should not do it into a cat in a Cavalier way you have authority over the demons as believers you have power over them but it is not another world you should enter into with your guards down you should also be careful as Christians when you enter into this discussion not to have an unhealthy interest and obsession with this world you should not have as Christians fear of this world and you should be cautious about your own geology your study of angels who are they what are they what are they capable of let's talk about it for a moment let's talk about a look at demons as we go through the text I want to make sure that we answer questions number one demons are fallen spiritual creatures demons are fallen spiritual creatures they are fallen what fallen angels and so the text you want to have at your ready so let's do it together go to Jude verse 5 through 7 Jude verse 5 through 7 only one chapter in Jude Jude verse 5 through 7 here we go now I want to remind you although you once fully knew it that Jesus who saved the people out of the land of Egypt afterward destroyed those who did not believe so much for meek and mild Jesus and the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper Twellman under glute internal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day mark that just as sodom and gomorrah and the surrounding cities which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire now since you're in Jude I want you to move over now to Revelation chapter 12 this is a course again in light of the fact that demons are fallen spiritual creatures angels destined for eternal fire and judgments Revelation chapter 12 verse 9 and the Great Dragon was thrown down that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan the deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him the Bible teaches us that Satan Lucifer the devil is a fallen angel the devil wanted to be like God he wanted to rise above his estate where he was at he wanted to be like God the devil ultimately Jesus says is a murderer he is a liar he is the father of lies he is a deceiver he hates your soul he is the accuser of the Brethren and he devil and his angels fell now you ought to know this from the very beginning the devil and his angels the devil and demons are not causing a problem for God this is one of the most important myths to dispel about ain't about demons and the devil the devil is not God's adversary in the sense that we have like it's Jesus versus the devil somehow they're in a fight with one another the devil is on a leash he is on a chain God only allows him to do what God's will is to do the devil and his demons have absolutely no power whatsoever over Christians the devil is not a mighty powerful force in your life in terms of actually possessing you or somehow exerting power over you that God cannot stop you should know that but demons are fallen spiritual creatures they are fallen angels next point number two demons and the devil are liars John 8:44 deceivers second Corinthians 11 verses three and four they lead people astray first John 4:1 they know the truth that it's important to get you got to make sure you have grabbed hold of this because you're going to see this is really powerful that here in Matthew who are the people making that big profession about who Jesus is is it his disciples are they like saying oh you're the son of God you're the Messiah who were the first ones to actually call out to Jesus in this kind of a way talking about who Jesus is it's the demons they know well who Jesus is they were with them they know who Jesus is so when he appears among them they're startled by it and they call him son of God they know precisely who he is now that should have been evidenced to the early Jews who rejected Jesus Christ that these demons which are running rampant at a time demonic possession was actually again a frenzy at that point because of the time they were in they should have seen that these Devils immediately knew who they were confronting it was Jesus and they were also terrified of him what look what they say in Matthew chapter 8 look what look what they say it says they were so fierce no one could pass that way verse 29 and behold they cried out what have you to do with us o son of God have you come here to torment us before the time they knew who he was they knew what power he had and they knew their destination they knew where they were headed that's important a theology is great James chapter 2 what's James say about belief he says you believe God is one you do well he says even the demons believe and they are terrified they are truly tremble they believe in God that's a good point to make right there about demons right they acquiesced to the facts about God they know he's one they know who the father is the son is the Holy Spirit is they know God's holiness they know his mercy they know his salvation they know it all and they would ferm every bit of it they did they said your Jesus you have the power and we know where we're going we know who you are we affirm who you are we confess who you are but they don't believe him they don't trust him they don't come to God for mercy and grace their theology is great you can have pure theology and you can go to the lake of fire with the devil and his angels because if you don't turn to Christ in faith from sin to God you don't know him they knew him they had an acquiescence to the facts they knew who Jesus was but they didn't know him intimately so they know the truth they are terrified of Jesus Matthew 829 they are destined for hell you want to see this Matthew 25 verse 41 25 verse 41 Jesus is talking now but this great judgment and in verse 41 something terrifying it says then he will say to those on his left depart from me you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels important point to make on this hell is in the eternal state it's a place that is real it is eternal it is conscious and the Bible says here from the lips of Jesus he says that hell was created for the devil and his angels he said well what are humans doing there we know that God is sovereign he decrees all things from the end to the beginning he is sovereign over salvation but there is a sense we need to recognize the devil ordained has our God ordained hell for the devil and his angels it's why I was created human beings go there by perverse choice they don't want God so they get God as judge and they get hell as their perverse choice hell is the fulfillment of their desires when people go to hell they are not going to hell kicking and screaming in terms of saying but god I really wanted you hell is a place that is created by God for the devil and his angels people go there by their perverse choice and they are getting for eternity what they always wanted in life not God they are getting for eternity what they always wanted to be away from God not to hear God I don't want his voice I don't want his hand of mercy I don't want him before me and ultimately of course God is a sovereign over salvation and His grace and salvation but there is a true commitment to our own perverse choice to go to a place that was created for the devil and his angels that's Matthew next you need to know besides the fact they are terrified of Jesus that they are destined for hell that we have authority and power over them and you need to see this together go to Luke chapter 10 when discussing demons you'll find that Christians run into great conflict and controversy on this point there are entire quote/unquote ministries that are dedicated to casting out demons out of Christians that is one of the most ridiculous things that can be imagined there's a famous man named Bob Larson who has been on television used to be on the radio who has an entire ministry I don't know what he's doing now I actually hear he lives in town okay entire ministry dedicated to casting Devils out of Christians and the show is Grands let me tell you I actually called into a radio show once over 10 years ago where Bob Larson was on a local radio station I called in from a payphone tells you how long ago was waited for a while got on the radio with him and actually confronted he was going for a while I just talking about his ministry and casting out Devils telling stories and nobody was challenging him and it was getting under my skin and so I pulled the car over and dropped quarter in and called up got on the radio with him I started giving him Bible verses about Christians and our bodies being a temple the Holy Spirit and God indwelling us and what Accord is there with Satan and the devil and one Kingdom divided against itself and how does God share his building with the devil quoting scripture and he had no response they ended up disconnecting the phone line and then I turned the radio back on and it was glorious for the next half an hour to 45 minutes one Christian after the other was calling in and quoting the same Bible verses it was glorious you should know that we have authority over demons you ought not to fear the devil should you be serious about his presence yes should you equip yourself and put on the full armor of God yes should you play with fire no but do you have cause as Christians to fear an enemy that has already been defeated by God that has an eternal destination of torment and fire no and one tax you need to have in your toolbox as Christians is Luke chapter 10 verses 17 through 20 I want you to see it with me Jesus here verse 17 the 72 returned with joy saying Lord even the demons are subject to us in your name and he said to them I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven behold I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you nevertheless do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you but rejoice that your names are written in heaven Jesus is saying look you shouldn't be so obsessed with the fact that you as a believer as a child of God have authority over these spiritual forces of darkness you should actually be impressed with you should glory in the fact that your names are written in heaven that should be the source of your obsession your joy not the fact that you have power over the enemy there's actually a text in the book of Acts of people who actually were pretty impressed with the fact that Christians had authority over the demons and they try to do it themselves and it didn't work out so well for them Jesus is pointing people to their true source of joy not the power that comes from your fingertips or your mouth is the fact that you're known by God loved by God that's the truth now let's talk about demonic possession because it's right before is the Matthew chapter 8 important subject you've learned now about demons what they are you've learned about some of their aspects traits characteristics this is of course not exhaustive the third point is demonic possession consists of specific traits now by the way I'm going to say this before I start this be careful with this so many people in history have erred because they don't think about context they don't allow the whole story to come into play they don't think about the fact that Jesus has accomplished his mission and disarmed these spiritual forces of darkness so at times in history there have been good meaning well-meaning Christians that have seen people who have physical disabilities and they've actually attributed that physical disability to a devil so for example because Jesus is actually in the text cast a demon out of a mute person and then a person can speak again it does not mean that people who can't use their voices all are demonically possessed that's not what it means but there are some specific specific traits to look for demonic possession consists of specific traits one lack of control over the possessed person's body that's Luke chapter 11 verse 14 that example is with a mute person more examples can be provided but that's an example of demonic possession they have power over the possessed person's body next rate uncontrollable rage and anger uncontrollable rage and anger for this one I want you to keep a finger in Matthew chapter eight with me and go ahead and put another finger in mark chapter five and let's look at the fuller explanation that mark gives us same accounts here it is again from Matthew chapter 8 listen listen to it again Matthew chapter 8 it says this verse 28 and when he came to the other side of the country of the gadarenes two demon-possessed men met him coming out of the tombs so fierce that no one could pass that way so fierce now read mark chapter 5 starting in verse 1 they came to the other side of a sea to the country of the Gerasenes Garrison's and when Jesus had stepped out of the boat immediately there met him out of the tombs mark that out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirits he lived among the tombs and no one could bind him any more not even with a chain for he had often been bound with shackles and chains but he wrenched the chains apart and he broke the shackles and pieces no one had the strength to subdue him so you see there are these examples in scripture of demonic demonically possessed people they have uncontrollable rage and anger they also have unusual strength mark 5 3 they seem to be out of their minds read Luke 8 27 now keep your fingers now one in Matthew one in mark and now I want you to go to Luke chapter 8 verse 27 Luke 8 27 in Luke's account it says when Jesus had stepped out on land their men have a man from the city who had demons for a long time he had worn no clothes and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs here's a man not living in his home who is not wearing clothes who is not able to be bound he is a nutcase crazy person right it's amazing after church last week last week really really hungry to come down from the mountain from our leadership retreat I was having a hard time up here last week I didn't show you should be impressed my head was hurting really really bad God was God was good but afterwards I needed to get something to eat so I took the kids right away went across the street to Boston Market and go inside we order food and my daughter Imogen so wonderful we loved Imogen she decides out of the entire restaurants wonderful places to sit every table is wide open except for one person in the restaurant an Imogen decides out of the entire restaurant to go and sit at a table right next to the guy who is literally there talking to himself I went over to the fountain to get the drinks and I noticed this guy is over there in a rage talking to himself having a wonderful conversation and he's really upset with whoever he's talking to and I see Imogen sitting there and so I said very gently damaged and I said Imogen hey you want to come help me with the drink real fast and she's like nah right I'm trying to get this girl out of her seat so we can sit somewhere that might be a little safer you know what I'm talking about you ever been on a subway system a lot of demons right you ever been in a place where you have someone that's obviously out of their mind picture the story there's here is one person being identified in mark and Luke the one that they want to emphasize of the demon-possessed men in the story here's a person being emphasized he uncontrollable rage naked living in the cemetery no home can't bind them everyone's terrified of this guy crazy we've had a few people like that actually graced the halls of apologia Church over the year some of you guys know exactly what I'm talking about and you know what you think you're kind of worried for your own safety that's how they felt this is a person who obviously was out of their mind demonic possession has these kinds of traits again lack of control over the person's body uncontrollable rage and anger they have unusual strength it seemed to be out of their mind means they have an unusual fixation on death in these stories the synoptic stories together what do you see the domani acts are living in the tombs so there's obviously something there I think that's a hint to the unclean Ness of this man these demons but also there's something to that out of your mind unbelievable rage and strength naked living in the tombs in amongst the tombs of dead people but there's more the possessed person is fixated upon injuring themselves Matthew 17 14 through 21 account is this demonically possessed person is when this starts coming on this person is being thrown into the fire and the water self-injury is a trait of demonic possession but one point I want you to see because I think it's relevant mark 5:5 mark five five and Mark five five it says night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones there seems to be a trait that you can see consistently across the board a demonic possession is there is a fixation upon self-injury now I pointed you to at the beginning - you can't look at anyone of these things and say oh that person's demonically possessed but if you take these stories together and you actually start identifying some common themes you see these as characteristics traits of people who are actually possessed by demons okay couple points to make here oh one more thing sorry they have the ability to speak in Luke 8:30 final point on these characteristics Luke 8 verse 30 this is interesting as a story gets filled out it says Jesus then asked him what is your name and he said Legion for many demons had entered him and they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss I knew he was in his power and when Jesus spoke they had to answer but they spoke out of the man and identified themselves so demons have that ability to speak through the person they possess important point here they cannot possess Christians let me say that again so you can grab hold of it because it will dispel so many myths about demonic possession demons cannot cannot possess Christians there is no example in the entire Bible of a person who is regenerate who is a believer who is justified who has faith in Jesus who is possessed by a demon it does not happen it cannot happen and here's some text again not exhaustive but some important tax go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 this one is one of my one of my favorite verses actually 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 verses 14 through 16 here we go do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers in case you are wondering yep that's what it says do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers does that mean Christians can't date unbelievers yeah that's what it means now does that mean that God can't redeem a situation that he can't bring about salvation and grace and the situation that happened absolutely God is good he's good all the time and God redeems those you see salvation being brought in those contexts constantly but that doesn't mean that just because God can strike a straight blow with a crooked sticks that we should go about using crooked sticks all the time amen okay so can God redeemed those absolutely can he blast can he bring about his wholeness there and his beauty of course again but the text says do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers here we go for what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness or what Fellowship has light with darkness what Accord has Christ with Belial here's the point what Accord does Jesus have with the devil what does he have kind common with the devil what does he share with the devil if God is telling us as believers you don't be unequally yoked with an unbeliever and come together and be as one because what Accord does Jesus have with the devil if you're a child of God and this is a child of Wrath what Accord is there and how can we say that Christians can be indwelt by God's holy spirit be brought from death to spiritual life to have God's name on us to be saved by God loved by God God's children and at the same time we're being shared by the devil let's put it this way the way the doctor Walter Martin put it is that God is the owner of your building and he ain't looking for any more tenants he owns your body he owns your life he indwells you and Satan has no place there in your life another example is 1st Corinthians chapter 3 verses 16 through 17 Matthew 12 25 famous passage Jesus says what about a kingdom divided against itself what's it say it cannot stand no it is not possible for Christians to be indwelt by the devil so Christians this off' is a popular way of putting this you've probably heard this one Christians cannot be possessed by the devil or demons Christians however can be oppressed of course the Bible tells us plainly there is a spiritual battle going on we don't wrestle against flesh and blood that's not our warfare our warfare is against spiritual forces of wickedness our battle is against the demonic our battle is a spiritual battle and it's a real battle that actually takes place it's real so for Christians it's a real battle but you cannot be overtaken by the devil that's important they can oppress Christians again the tax to go there is Ephesians six 10 through 18 put on the full armor of God this is where your warfare is it's a spiritual battle gird up your loins right shield breastplate helmet of salvation you know that you know the text but it's a real fight they cannot possess you though they can only move in your life ready by permission that's what I love so much about dr. White's message to us as a church add so many components to us to it that should reach us right now in our lives I give an example he said that our life is hidden with Christ and God and he said what he said that that means that nothing that enters into my life enters in apart from a loving hand of our Father that means that even if there is demonic oppression in my life God is doing something he's going to show his victory over my enemies he's going to show me his glory in the fights do you see that only allowed by divine permission great taxes job chapter 1 God's bragging on job and Devils likewise because you give him everything you want right that's because he's everything's good he's not complaining he's fine and what does God do he says here's what I'm going to let you do you can do this but you can't do this and of course we know the end of the story and job after all the destruction and misery and all the questions and all the friction and chaos and all the disharmony and questions you see the very end of job what the glory of God the power of God the creator of all things the sustainer of all things the sovereign the almighty and then God restores to job all that was taken away and more but remember that the devil brings this in but at no point during that process did the devil have power over God's will he didn't fort God demons can only enter your life in the sense of oppression by divine permission they are on a leash okay so I don't I'm not obsessed with the demonic demons possession I'm not obsessed with it I know how dark that world is I know how difficult it is I've read the Satanic Bible it's ridiculous I've entered into this world and ministered to people who are here but I have had in my life points of contact with people and ministry I've talked to many people who've thought that they are demonically possessed or have been possessed or somehow being impacted by devil's the devil demons who just weren't they're just scared and there's no reason to fear and I've ministered to those people have asked certain questions I've asked questions that are related to the text that I brought to you today what have you experienced I don't tell them what to tell me I just asked them what have you experienced and when they tell me I try to filter through this content from Scripture are these things present because you see I don't think demonic possession is actually commonplace in our day with Jesus defeating and triumphing over these things with the devil actually now bound as the Bible says as to no longer deceive the nations and with the victory that Jesus has accomplished listen listen the war is over do you understand that it is over the rest of history is a mopping up project for the glory of Jesus Christ all that's happened now is ready the city itself has already been won there are some side battles still taking place skirmishes outside the city we got to mop those up that's history so the devil demonic possession I do not believe is normative for our experience but can it happen yes it can happen when I filter through these questions with people I ask them and if I don't see these traits I say no you need to think about the gospel are you saved do you know Jesus that's the most important thing because even if you were demonically possessed demon possessed you need to be saved I didn't expect this I wasn't looking for it I wasn't asking for it I wasn't seeking out an opportunity to pursue something like this it happened to me I didn't expect it in my own experience I note that in my ministry to drug and alcohol addicted people you do find a lot of demonic forces at work with people who pursue an alter state of mind in substance abuse you do see a lot of darkness and demonic forces at work in that area that is true more than normal so when I was at Calvary for many years I would have to confront issues at times where I thought that's a legitimate case of possible demonic possession this one is not I've run into two cases in my life of true I am certain demonic possession one case I was ministering to a girl about 26 years old really pretty girl young girl she'd walk through the hallways and every guy it the drug and alcohol rehab center was like following her around so I'm sitting down with her one day and this girl is a wreck she's wreck she looks a mess she has a life just lost in her eyes just honestly darkness overcome her she looks sick she looks weak she looks like she's had enough and so we're talking and I'm trying to get to the gospel and I'm giving her the gospel and I ask her first story and she tells me her story she says she was raised in a Christian home a strong Christian home with parents who always went to church took her to church she knew what aloneness was she did the whole thing when to youth group the whole thing when she was 18 years old her father abandoned the family and he went to go be with a woman a mistress he had been with left the mom left the kids left the whole family and she was so angry with him that she decided to get back at her dad to make him angry she would go and do all the things that he had preached against her whole life so early on in her life her father would tell her don't mess with Ouija boards don't get into tarot hard reading don't get into the alcohol don't do this don't do that and so what did she do she left into it full force and she did it to anger her father everything he said don't do cuz it open up things in your life that you do not want opened she decided to enter into she started taking drugs she started doing things to get into an altered state of consciousness she started taking drugs to communicate with demons and she got something that she wasn't looking for and didn't expect she noticed that after a time she started being able to communicate with demons she started getting overcome she started actually losing the ability to control her own body she would wake up in the middle of the night 3:00 in the morning and she was seized couldn't move she would be surrounded by fury and anger she's describing all this to me she had demons that spoke to her she's describing everything that you see in these passages in terms of this is the trait of somebody who is truly demon-possessed I had no anticipation in that moment of doing an exorcism she's telling me her story I'm listening and so I'm giving her the gospel she still looks a mess I had no at that moment really plan to do anything related to that I thought maybe that was her experience she's hearing out in front of me give her the gospel and so at the end of this meeting and she tells me your whole story I thought to myself this is true demonic possession but she didn't say it was a current experience in her life so I kind of left it aside gave her the gospel I said you mind if we pray real fast she says sure so I remember it just distinctly vividly in my mind I leaned over and I started to pray and I'm not just praying for her God please open her eyes to Jesus and all of a sudden all at once never experience experiences in my life I was overcome and overwhelmed with the thickest feeling of hatred I have ever experienced in my life you ever been in a situation with somebody who is extremely angry with you you ever been in a fight with somebody where you can sense their anger and your heart rate goes up you can almost feel the hatred and the anger you ever been in a situation like that I'm right in the middle of praying for this girl in her salvation and all of a sudden this feeling of hatred animosity anger literally comes down on me it wasn't me I wasn't angry I felt it and all of a sudden as I recognized it I started out pray for it father whatever right now is in this room whatever is happening right now Lord protect us God and in the name of Jesus God please surround us God with your protection and all of a sudden they've got worse and worse and it grew and it grew and the hairs were standing up on the back of my neck for a moment I was terrified and so I prayed father in the name of Jesus right now free this young woman from this demonic possession god I pray that you would please protect us God please show up God bring salvation god free her be his shield to me and all of a sudden it started to subside to subside and then it went away and I looked up she looked up she said nothing I said nothing I stood up and I couldn't believe what just happened I walked out of the room and I did what I think most people would do I I called my pastor buddy I called Luke I was like Luke you are not going to believe what just happened to me he'll tell you the story I call them immediately I said this is what just happened to me you need to pray for this girl and so for a period about two weeks afterwards I started to minister to this girl she comes to group I give her the gospel answer her questions and then the day that she left I met with her I sat down with her and she turned to Christ her face was different she had life in her eyes she was alive she was saved she's talking about out and how he saved her and she loves Jesus now and a life is transformed she feels free she looked alive we hadn't talked about what happened that day didn't say a word until she was leaving that day I said to her I said can I ask you a question she's like yeah I said do you remember when you came here a couple weeks ago and we prayed at the end and all of a sudden her countenance changed she said yes she looked afraid I said do you remember did you feel anything when we prayed at the end of that and then she started crying she said oh my gosh I thought that I was crazy I thought I was the only one did you feel that too I said I have never experienced anything like that in my life she I said tell me tell me this what did you experience when I started praying for you and she said hatred pure hatred I was like that was an amazing experience not so much because of the story and the experience it was amazing because the moment I started to pray against what was going on in the name of Jesus freedom not only protection for me and her but also ultimately her own salvation she turned to Christ here was a woman who got into the occult was a dancer in adult clubs was in adult films now redeemed loving Jesus life transforms God has power over the enemy so let's let's go a little further today to talk about what these demons say just quickly I want you to notice something look at Matthew 8 go there real fast this is pretty cool you guys are going to love this Matthew chapter 8 the two demon-possessed men met him coming out of the tombs so fierce that no one could pass that way and behold they cried out what have you to do with us o son of God quickly literally says get this it literally says what is it to us and to you if you read into the Greek it says what is it to us and to you it sounds like it makes no sense Jesus what is it to us to you you're like what's that mean it's an idiom it's an idiom that means we have nothing in common it's an idiom that means leave us alone we've got nothing in common now depending on the context of that idiom it can either be offensive or it can be kind of gracious do you know who else said this word for word if you read John chapter 2 Jesus mom the scene with Jesus mom Jesus says it to Mary when she tells him what to do he says this idiom what is it to us and to you it's a way of saying what do we have in common right now like what like what would we be doing here like you got to leave me alone about this now the demons aren't doing it in that way they're saying what do we have in common Jesus what are you doing here leave me alone so the demons now say something they say have you come here to torment us before the time do you notice that their theology is actually pretty decent what do they know they know who Jesus is they know his power and they know there's going to be a day of final judgment and they were a little surprised to see him right in front of them right they know where they're going here's what they know Messiah is coming to bring salvation to the ends of the earth and they kind of expected well when he comes he's going to bring his kingdom and then sort of like obliterate everything they were a little surprised that the Messiah showed up and brought his kingdom and it wasn't what they expected they were expecting like the king to arrive full obliteration final judgment the demons were actually premillennialists I'm just saying what they were a little shocked by was that he actually brought this kingdom he had arrived and they were saying I've you come here to torment us before the time the final judgment so what they say is they begged him look send us into the herd of pigs don't send us into the abyss don't destroy us now send us away into this herd of pigs that they're in a Gentile area obviously why there ain't no Jewish person with a pig farm this is a pig farm if you read the other accounts what do you see there's about two thousand pigs pig farm no Jewish person in those days is actually going to own a pig farm unclean animals there ain't no way they're doing it so Jesus does something interesting here he actually goes into Gentile territory you might be thinking well I thought salvation was for the Jews and the other first come to the Jews yes he did but he also had these little marks in his life where he ministers to the Gentiles and he gives them a little foreshadowing of what's coming he enters into Gentile territory and he does something with the unclean animals they say beg him Jesus please don't destroy us send us into the pigs and then Jesus with a word says go and these demons go into the herd of pigs they go down this hill and they perish in the water and they are so terrified of Jesus in his power that they run off into the town and what happens they run off into the town the town comes back and sees what Jesus has done and you know what they want the demons want to be sent away they beg same word demons begged Jesus let us go into the pigs these townspeople are so in love with the way things are that they begged Jesus to go the demons want to go into the pigs people come back and they say you go they are actually hostile to Jesus he goes to the Gentile territory he delivers them from their demons and then what they say you get out you get out something you should note and read the text later if you go to matthew chapter 12 verses 38 through 45 five when Jesus is talking about his generation and the judgment that's about to come he talks about when a demon is actually cast out he leaves that place clean it's swept in order and if it is not ultimately filled it comes back with seven demons stronger than itself and he says and that's what this generation is like here's Jesus casting out demons casting out demons he's freeing them he's freeing the way he's showing who he is and Jesus warning them this generations like this that demons will be cast out but because it's swept clean and ultimately not filled with God more demons are going to come back and ravage that house and that's what this generation is like and that's precisely what took place what happened Jesus cast out demons then what he dies and rises again by the end of that generation they were so filled with Devils and false teaching and evil and malice and wickedness that God came and he destroyed them that's what happened that generation final word here on how amazing this story is final word if you read Matthew eight mark five Luke his account eight Matt mark and Luke tell you something interesting about the story I told you the Synoptics actually tell you details right one person has emphases here one more emphasis here mark and Luke actually tell you about salvation the guy who's naked living among the tombs in the cemetery who's cutting his body who's full of rage and hatred who's uncontrolled when Jesus casts out this devil he comes to Christ it sounds people come back the count says they come back and they see the same guy this naked freak that they couldn't control this guy they were all terrified of this guy they wanted to sit in the other seat in the restaurant this guy they see him doing what now clothed and in his right mind saved that's what Jesus does to people by the way he takes us for a place of darkness brings us to life and he puts us in our right state of mind couldn't believe that this man was no longer now in a state of uncontrollable rage now he looks normal Jesus fixed him that's what Jesus does right he saves people like you and me who may not have been the people that were among the tombs cutting our bodies in an uncontrollable rage without a home we may not have been there but you know what each and every single one of us have had our own Devils to fight with in a sense our own sins our own death and Jesus comes into our lives and with a word he says rise we come to life a word Jesus speaks he says to a person with leprosy be clean he says to a person over here who's close to dying be healed stand up he says to the waves in the storm be still and he says to demons go and they go salvation the story in Colossians 2 it's powerful talks about us Christians you're alive now you're forgiven he talks about the devil and demons and he says that God has disarmed them and made a public spectacle of them people that freak out over demons they're scared of demons terrified of demons you know what the Bible says about demons and the devil it says that God has disrobed them disarmed them put them in their spiritual underpants and made us public spectacle of them that's what it means God saying I took their undies off their clothes off and now we're laughing at them Jesus death on the cross has crushed the head of the serpent Jesus is the victorious one not the devil he is an enemy to be confronted that we have power over he only gets in by divine permission but he is not God's actual powerful foe he's a defeated enemy he is some tool ultimately in God's hands to bring about God's own glory that's the power of Jesus Christ in the gospel let me share something with you that I shared with my wife many many years ago there was a time after my drug addiction where our home was kind of overwhelmed with this lingering sense of demonic presence that's true I had so invested in this world of drug addiction was so involved in it was so out of my mind for so long had let so much into my house that when I came to Christ there seemed to be this kind of lingering kind of cloud over our house we couldn't really put our finger on it we felt free we were forgiven but there was something my wife had these moments of fear where she said I just feel like there's like a presence in this house that can't shake and there was a verse that I quoted to my wife I'll never forgive it giving it to her greater is He Who is in me than he who is in the world reminding one another of our ultimate victory in Jesus and our power over darkness is what we ought to be upset obsessed with that's our obsession he's our obsession he's our salvation he's our victory the rest of history is God displaying just how awesome he is you have nothing to fear you have no fear and death you have no fear and persecution and trial you have no fear over the enemy you are alive in Jesus Christ you are forgiven if you don't know Jesus today you need to repent of your sin and trust in Jesus Christ come to Christ for life he died and rose again come to him for life in faith amen was this helpful praise God let's pray father thank you so much for blessing us today I pray that you would use this message for your glory thank you Lord for teaching us thank you Lord for giving us your word and thank you most of all for salvation and your son thank you God for giving us power over the enemy but God as you said to us we don't rejoice so much God in our power over the enemy we rejoice that our names are written in heaven it's in your name we pray amen we're going to come to the table of the Lord now

Channel: Apologia Studios

Views: 170,946

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Keywords: jeff durbin, best sermon, shocking youth sermon, paul washer, john macarthur, matt chandler, john piper, Joel osteen sermon, t.d. jakes sermon, joyce meyer sermon, paula white sermon, apologia church, Apologia radio, Best sermon ever, demonic possession, exorcist movie, exorcism, the conjuring, the rite, satanist, demons, devil, satan

Id: fXIsJXqdt1k

Length: 75min 16sec (4516 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 12 2016