IF….IF….IF…. 

 If demonic spirits did not actually exist, then why would the writers of this beloved book we call the bible, have so much to say about them - advising, warning, and instructing us as to how they operate and why we would do well NOT to ignore them? 

 Just consider for a moment that they indeed are real and ‘among us’. Peter refers to the devil as our ‘adversary/enemy who goes about like a roaring lion seeking to devour’. (1 Pet. 5:8) Would it not make sense for an enemy to operate undetected? I mean, why do militaries around the world spend so much money on radar detection and stealth technology? And enemy can be so much more effective if free to operate without being seen (or even acknowledged). 

 So when we read how the ‘god of this age blinds the minds of those who are perishing from seeing the light of the gospel’ (2 Cor. 4:3-4) it would make sense why our eyes ‘need to be opened, does it not? (Acts 26:18). And the quickest way to do that is to turn and run; and I mean Run…to Jesus with all your heart in order to have that ‘veil’ removed. (2 Cor. 3:16). There’s a good biblical reason as to why I advise that. Allow me to explain… 

 We read throughout the gospels how Jesus spent so much of his time going from town to town, visiting villages and cities, preaching to and teaching the multitudes followed up by healing the people of all their sicknesses and diseases and casting out unclean spirits. Jesus was often moved by compassion for these people as He likened them to lost and scattered sheep that had no shepherd. (Matt. 8:16; 9:35-36) It should be noted that it wasn’t all those ‘heathen Gentiles’ that Jesus was casting unclean spirits out of; it was. God’s own people…who had ‘been taken captive’. (Jer. 13:17). Are you familiar with that woman we read about in Luke 13:10-17 who had been ‘bent over…unable to straighten herself up for 18 years’? Jesus explained that not only was she a ‘daughter of Abraham’ but the source of her ‘infirmity’ was a demon spirit in which Jesus loosed her of. (12) Oh, and guess who was rather put out by all this? Yeah…the ruler of the synagogue. (14) 

 We are not told how or why she was in this condition; only that Jesus set her free of it. We also read where Jesus ‘rebuked fevers’ and ‘cast out deaf/dumb spirits’ that inflicted both adults and children. (Mark 9:25) Demon spirits have that kind of power and authority to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’. That is what they do. They are real, and they are no respecter of person. Something else we should be aware of is the fact that they are far stronger than us, empowered to control and dominate us as they operate through our sinful flesh nature. How else do you think they could control the whole world as John tells us they do. (1 John 5:19; Eph. 2:1-3) 

 We read in Mark’s gospel of a man who had quite a problem with them, these unclean spirits. They had so much control over him that he was quite the topic in one region known as the Gadarenes. This man, whom we have no idea how he ended up this way, ran wild and naked, living among the tombs. We are told that no man could tame him as he had broken loose of chains and shackles, breaking them in to pieces. (Mark 5:2-5). But Jesus sure knew about this afflicted soul and made His way across a stormy sea to reach him. Oh, and did I mention that he was a ‘cutter’, often cutting himself with sharp stones? (5) 

 Now here is the important part we need to see and understand – When Jesus got out of the boat and this tormented individual saw Him ‘from afar’, we read where “he ran and fell to his knees before Jesus’. (6) 

 Why is this so important? Easy – even as strong and controlling as these spirits are and can be when they have access in people’s lives, there is one thing and one thing alone they cannot do and that is keep anyone from running to Jesus with all their heart. We will learn in this story that this man was so possessed and controlled, that he actually had thousands…of spirits in him. I realize that is kind of hard to wrap our heads around to understand. But make no mistake about it, unclean, demonic spirits exist, there is no shortage of them and just as God told the Israelites that those Canaanite nations were far more superior to them as they (Israelites) were no match for them in their own strength and power, so are these entities that Jesus came to set us free from and then empower us to overcome. 

 Think about it for a moment, and please keep in mind what Paul taught us in Eph. 6:12 that it is not ‘flesh and blood we contend with, but spiritual wickedness and powers of darkness,’ etc. Surely you have heard stories in the news that tell of horrific atrocities that people have committed that defy human understanding. Deeds of darkness so detestable it goes without saying that something so dark and evil had to be working in those people to commit such things. How else could we even rationalize the source behind such acts. It’s one thing to point to ‘those people’ and clearly see ‘evil’ working ‘in them’. But what about you? 

 Why do so many people admit to struggling with various sins and addictions that they seem incapable of overcoming? Driven and controlled by various compulsions that can affect all areas of our lives, many sincere Christians will make repeated trips to an altar (literal or figurative) in tears begging God for forgiveness, once again for failing Him in a particular area. Maybe it’s anger issues or sexual lusts and compulsions. Spirits of rage and fury have been responsible for tearing apart many homes, lives, and families. What causes a seemingly sane person to just ‘lose their mind’ and run off and abandon a spouse and family to pursue that ‘other person’ that offers them so much more ‘happiness’? 

 Why do people continually do things they know that hurt others, even the ones they should love most, maybe wielding an ‘untamable tongue’ that says things to cut people down, find fault , berate and criticize them, without even thinking. Sadly…instead of running to Jesus with all our heart and seeking true freedom from Him, we just ‘learn to live with our sin’. We learn to ‘cope’ with our issues instead of being set free from them. It’s one thing to have secular therapist to teach us to manage our ‘issues’; but it’s a tragedy when church leaders tell us we will always have those issues until we get to heaven. “Just sing louder” and try better next time as you express thanks to God that He is faithful to forgive a wretched sinner like you. Whatever happened to declaring truth that God’s people might be ‘set free and be free indeed’. (John 8:32-36) 

 That man who had thousands of demons controlling him found tree freedom and deliverance after his encounter with Jesus. As much as those spirits controlled his life, they were not able to prevent him from surrendering totally to Jesus as we read there in that account. But you should know that this man did more than just walk an aisle and utter a casual prayer. I cannot overstate enough the importance of seeing the power of God unleashed in your life requires total surrender of all. When he ran to Jesus and bowed before Him, this was a sign of total surrender; a final ‘last desperate act’ to find peace. 

 Anything short will lead you down a path of walking in a ‘form of godliness’ and tragically…following ‘another Jesus’. I cite that passage from 2 Cor. 11:2-4 often, about Paul’s concerns that many would end up taking in ‘another gospel and receiving another Jesus’. But have you ever noticed third point he mentions that people end up receiving? – “A different spirit”. I’m guessing he was not talking about a ‘spirit’ that came from God. 

 I have no doubt many a ‘believer’ has seen their own heart harden over the years after repeated attempts to overcome a particular weakness or sin in their life. Let’s be honest, the more we fail in defeat, the less passionate our pleas of repentance sound when we circle back to God and admit once again…our wretched condition. Tragically, as one continues down this path of repeated failure, not only does our heart become harden, but our conscience becomes ‘seared’ as Paul wrote. (1 Tim. 4:2) You get to a place where you don’t even see certain acts of the flesh as being ‘sinful’. You know…we shrug and tell ourselves ‘nobody is perfect’, or ‘it’s just flesh’ and that ‘someday when we get to heaven we will be free of it.’ ….sigh…. 

 I believe I can offer up one reason why many have not had certain prayers answered for freedom. It was an act of ‘mercy’ on God’s part. God wants us to not only be set free, but He want us to ‘stay free’. And this is where bad teaching or ‘lack of knowledge’ has led to much suffering in God’s people. (Hosea 4:6). And I only point to a very short exchange of dialogue Jesus had with some folks in Matt. 12:43-45. I would ask you that as you read this story, why would Jesus have even told it if demon spirits were merely poetic language to explain in ambiguous ways what man’s problems are rooted in? 

 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came. Returning he finds it empty…swept, and put in order (yet still empty). Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” 

 If people have not been taught the true source of their problems and sins, and how to truly overcome them, it stands to reason that while God could answer a desperate prayer and remove or ‘cast out’ that source of struggle, ignorance on how to ‘keep them out’ would only lead to the eventual downfall of that person where they would end up in a worse condition. And stop trying to figure out if this person is ‘saved or not’. That is a distraction. Getting set free is what matters here. 

 God blamed the false prophets back in the day for the reason His people were led into captivity. They did not deal with people’s sins. (Lamentations 2:14 Ezek. 22). There was no shortage of teachers who had much to say…but it just wasn’t what God was wanting said. (Jer. 23:16-28). That is probably why Jesus warned of false teachers who would be ‘dressed like sheep but inwardly were ravenous wolves’.(Matt. 7:15-20). I don’t think He was referring to those four-legged beasts either. You might go mark 2 Cor. 11:14-15 in your bible for an explanation to that. 

 If all this talk of evil spirits was simply nothing other than ‘fodder for movies made in Hollywood’, then why…would our bibles have so much to say about them? Join me tomorrow?