One last thought to pass on regarding my message yesterday where we touched on the tragic story and ongoing trial of Lindsay Clancy, who could very well hear the jury’s verdict sometime this week. The labor & delivery nurse, and mother of three children, whom she admits to taking their lives… entered a plea of ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’. In simple terms, to be labeled ‘insane’ suggests a person is, or was not…in their ‘right mind’.

You may recall my recent lesson where we looked at the account found in Mark’s gospel when Jesus encountered a man who was in serious need of some ‘deliverance’, a term we associate with being freed from ‘unclean’ or ‘demon’ spirits. The man was sorely afflicted and in great torment as we learn that he could not be controlled or contained. He was known by the townspeople to run through graveyards at night, crying out, along with cutting himself with stones (Mark 5:2-5). In modern day terms, some people would label him as a ‘cutter’, among other things. But then this man had a personal experience with Jesus, and the demons were gone, as in ‘evicted’ or ‘cast out’ (6-14).

That is what Jesus was known to do during His three years of earthly ministry, set people free from spiritual bondage and oppression (Acts 26:18; Luke 4:18). The gospels are full of recorded incidents where He did this; and while this might make some folks uncomfortable to come to terms with…it wasn’t the ‘outsiders’ or ‘non-believers’ whom Jesus was busy setting free; it was the descendants of Abraham…children of the covenant. (Luke 13:10-17)

But going back to our story of the man from the Gadarenes in Mark 5. It’s important to make note that after his encounter with Jesus, the locals came out to investigate after hearing of some wild occurrence where some 2000 pigs ended up running off a cliff and into the sea, apparently driven by all those ‘spirits’ that were sent packing by Jesus. We are told the townsfolk found the man sitting up, fully clothed…and in his ‘right mind’.(13-15). The man was NOT in his ‘right mind’, or ‘sane’…until after the removal of these demon spirits.

I realize this kind of talk tends to make people uneasy, probably even more so today in our ‘enlightened’ and ‘educated’ society. But it also made the people back then ‘afraid’ as well, to the point where they begged Jesus to depart from their region (16-17). Isn’t that interesting, if not terribly sad?

As I like to ask from time to time…at what point in history did ‘unclean’ or ‘demon spirits’ cease from tormenting people? And even more importantly…when did Jesus stop delivering, or setting people free from them? The correct answer would be: they haven’t and He hasn’t.

Now where some well-meaning folks like to get defensive, if not argumentative, is to start insisting and reassuring fellow ‘believers’ that “Christians can’t have demons!” I suppose we could debate that until we are blue in the face; but if we were to go down that path, I’d probably want to start out with defining what a ‘Christian’ actually is. One thing is for sure though, ‘Christians’ who read and study their Bible ought to know they are admonished to “give no place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27). I don’t think you have to go to seminary to figure out that we can actually ‘give place’ or a ‘foothold’ to …demon spirits. Why else would that verse be in our Bible?

When Paul was wrapping up his second letter to the church at Corinth, he touched on this topic of ‘spiritual warfare’ …suggesting that it first begins with ‘bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ’ (2 Cor. 10:3-5). So here we are again talking about the ‘mind’ …because that is where ‘thoughts’ first enter. I bet he had good reason to remind and admonish us to ‘set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth’ (Col. 3:2). And why does Peter exhort us to be clear or sober ‘minded’? Because we have an ‘enemy’ whom he refers to as the ‘devil’, in 1 Peter 5:8…describing him as a ‘lion who roams about seeking to devour’.

And then there is that short lesson Jesus shared in Matt. 12:43-45, where He begins describing what happens when an ‘unclean spirit goes out of a man’. It seems it does a bit of ‘roaming about’… looking for a new ‘house’ to inhabit, and when unable to find a place to ‘rest’ he comes back to the ‘house from which it came’. Then, finding an ‘opening’, not only does he return, but he brings “seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there.” So what are we to make of that lesson told by Jesus?

This is where the discussion and/or debate can quickly get lost in the weeds, arguing over semantics, and trying to figure out which appropriate word to use when it comes to determining exactly what kind of ‘inhabitation’ we are talking about when it comes to such spirits. Can people (even Christian ones) be ‘possessed’ or ‘demonized’…again? Do those spirits just ‘swirl around them’ or rest on their ‘shoulders’ like we used to see in cartoons? Or do they really ‘get inside’ of people…again? I only say ‘again’ because if you look at Ephesians 2:1-3, where does it say these spirits ‘used’ to be before we were ‘made alive’ in Christ? (answer is found in vs. 2).

If you’ve made it this far in today’s lesson, you might very well still be ‘on the fence’ and a tad skeptical, which I totally understand. And like always, all I can do is ask you to examine scripture for yourself to see if what I’m sharing is based on truth. Don’t take my word for it…read for yourselves, like they did in Acts 17:11. But I would caution you not to be too quick to dismiss this topic either, lest you end up like many of God’s people and suffer needlessly due to a ‘lack of knowledge’, or worse: ‘unbelief’ (Hosea 4:6; Lamentations 1:10; 2:7;4:12’ Ps. 74:3-8).

Friends…this all ties back in to what Paul was making known in his opening letter to the Romans…that we are living in the time where the “wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against ALL ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…” (Rom. 1:18). So if we are told to ‘give no place to the devil’ or as some translations say…’foothold’, you might want to give serious thought to the implications here. (Eph. 4:27).

These ‘spirits’ can indeed ‘latch back on’ if we are not careful, or ignorant, and they will do much more damage and harm than a tick on a dog will do (John 10:10) Join me tomorrow and we look at that scenario, Lord willing.