Dealing with Demons, Part 2

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll talks about dealing with demons. Do not live your life afraid of demonic influence. Do not fear the dark.

As a child of God, you are equipped with what you need to do battle against the enemy, these forces of darkness. They are there. They are real.

They are serious. Few of us have actually witnessed another person under possession by a demon. But make no mistake, the underworld is alive and active. Although his actions are often invisible, Satan and his minions are working overtime to weaken the resolve of God-fearing Christians. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll is teaching from Matthew chapter 8. This passage records a confrontation between Jesus and two demon-possessed men. Through this showdown, those who are Christ followers are compelled to get ready for spiritual battles that await Jesus.

Chuck titled today's message, Dealing with Demons, and we begin with prayer. We enter into this year not knowing what is before us, and it just may be that you have already started your worry list, which often is longer than a person's prayer list. So today, let's reverse the order and let me have you bring before the Lord on your own what you would call your number one worry, that which presents to you an insurmountable situation. It may be someone you know and love whose situation seems hopeless. It may be a fear that you have on the horizon of your life.

It may even be in the realm of the unknown, and it has you restless and uneasy. Let's cast our burden upon the Lord, being assured that He will sustain us. There's a great statement following those words, He will never suffer the righteous to be moved, dislodged from our position in Christ. So if you know the Lord, this is a great time for you to lay before Him your burden that you brought with you this morning. We have been reminded already, our Father, of power, the power of the cross, the power of the name of Jesus, the power of your presence, your word in the midst of a world that has lost its way.

How easy for us to be focused on the things that are not right, things that disturb us, concerns that haunt us, people who break our hearts, situations that we are helpless to change. Some are caught in the grip of grief, others troubled in relationships that simply will not be rectified. We come before you, the giver of all good things, the source of all power that can change the unchanging, that can alter the steps of those moving in the wrong direction, that can bring healing and hope, reassurance and confidence in place of fear, uneasiness, sleeplessness and deep inner disturbance.

Some are depressed, some find themselves fearful of what lies before us, some admittedly are in very dangerous places. We remember all today who are in such situations. I pray especially as well for those in their college years who face yet another semester, high schoolers as well, those in graduate work who pursue a degree.

We realize that as time passes, academics get old and the demands and the disciplines of pursuing an education hard to sustain. I pray that you would give extra strength and encouragement to them as they continue the pursuit. We all pray, our Father, for encouragement in our lives. We pray that you will remind us of our great position in Christ, of you and your sovereign control over life, that what may appear to be chaotic and out of control is in fact still operating under your all-seeing eye and your all-powerful hand.

We lay before you the months that are yet to unfold. We trust you for healing among those who are sick, strength for those who are weak, hope for those who are discouraged and despondent. And I pray for those who struggle in the realm of the dark forces, those who do battle in demonic realms. Give special help today as we unfold the Scriptures. May we hear what you have written and what you have said for us who live today. Give us ears to hear and hearts to believe.

And then give us wills to obey. Remind us, our Father, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, dark forces in the world beyond us and around us, the invisible, insidious forces of the enemy. We pray for victory, our Father, over these, that you would sustain us in the midst of the battle.

Remind us as we enter this realm, we are entering a battleground, not a playground. And may we take your word seriously that we are equipped with the full armor of God, that we might be able to stand against the strategies of the evil one. And remind us again, Father, that in the end, you win. And we with you as well are winners. We stand in that triumph today through Christ and the power of his cross. We pray these things and we give our gifts. And everyone said, Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living.

To study the book of Matthew with Chuck Swindoll, be sure to download his Searching the Scriptures studies by going to insightworld.org slash studies. And now the message from Chuck about dealing with demons. Be aware, the enemy does not like to be exposed. And when the truth is proclaimed, he is especially hostile because he wants you to keep thinking he's not there and that his forces really do not mean all that much in our day.

There are multiple millions of them. There it were constantly in and around this cosmos, this wicked world. Let me clarify also because there's a faulty thinking about it. The words demon possession are not biblical words. We have demon influence and demon oppression and demon obsession and demon possession almost as if there's a gradation of demonic activity. There may be, but the word in the scriptures is always demonized. One is demonized when a demon or demons takes up residence in that person's body, resulting in degrees of derangement and the inability of the possessed to free himself or herself from the demonic control.

Possession occurs when the demons go beyond exerting mere influence and actually indwell their victims. That's what we find in Matthew 8 and Mark 5 and also in Luke 8, which is another parallel passage of the same account. Jesus encounters a man who has demons. Now the setting of this is very clearly arranged in Matthew chapter 8. Jesus is at Capernaum, verse 5 it is, and then Jesus visits the home of Peter, which is in that same village of Capernaum located on the north-northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee. In the passing of time, Jesus tells his disciples to get into the boat and be ready to go to the other side of the sea. A little later in the passage, Jesus gets in with them, verse 23, and they together go through the storm and find their way to the Gadarene area or the Gerasene area. There are cliffs there today that might very well represent the place where this occurred.

As the crow flies, it's about a six-mile sail from Capernaum to the Gadarene area across the northern part of the Sea of Galilee, and that's the journey they took. And what they are met with is a terrifying sight. Terrifying. I've got my little ribbon from my Bible at Mark 5, and because it's a little more detailed there, I'm going to refer to that more often than I normally would, but Matthew 8 states that there were two men who were possessed by demons who met him, they lived in a cemetery, and they were so violent that no one could go through that area. The situation around the demonic individuals is savage-like.

So much so that children and adults alike were not safe being around these individuals. When you get to Mark's Gospel, one of the two is highlighted. It doesn't mean there was only one.

It just probably means one of the two was more prominent, and the spokesman for the two. So when we read that Jesus, I'm in Mark 5 now, verse 2, climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out of a cemetery to meet him. The man lived among the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Notice how strong the demon makes this individual. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles, as he often was, he snapped the chains from his wrist and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Chances are good that most of you have never witnessed a demonized individual, or if you did, you didn't realize the source. It is obvious in this case that the man is beyond himself in strength, and there is a source of strength within him. Please observe the relentlessness of the terror.

Day and night, he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. We read further in Mark 5, verse 6, when Jesus was still some distance away. Now watch closely. The man saw him and ran to meet him and bowed low before him. Remember, there is one in greatest authority over all existence, and that would be the Son of God himself. So this demonized individual reaches the presence of Jesus and he bows.

And now notice the response. The demon speaks through the vocal cords of the human being. Demons have no vocal cords. They are spirit beings without bodies.

When they are in bodies, they're able to use things within that human body, in this case, the throat. With a shriek, he screamed, why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Interesting, he knows him. Every demon knows the Son of God, and every demon knows that his days are numbered. Satan will ultimately be cast into the lake of fire, which has been, remember the line, prepared for the devil and his angels. I literally believe in the lake of fire. I believe it is eternal, and I believe it was originally created for the devil and the demons.

They know they are living on borrowed time, which explains some of the relentlessness of their style. And so this one screams the name of Jesus and says, I beg you, don't torture me. For Jesus had already said to the Spirit, come out of the man, you evil spirit. Then Jesus demanded, what is your name? He replied, my name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.

The demon is speaking through the throat of the human being who is the victim. And he states the name Legion. We don't have that term in our military ranks today, but in the days of the Romans, there was the Legion. 6,000 foot soldiers, 120 on horseback. And aside from that, there were many other technical personnel who made up the Legion.

A.T. Robertson, a reliable Baptist scholar who taught in Louisville for years, writes in his work on the New Testament that the Roman Legion numbered 6,826 men. I quote that simply because he says it as an authority. I would not know that to be true, but I quote him in that.

It's almost impossible for us to imagine such an existence. They live their lives, those who are demonized under the domination of evil powers, shameless, brutal, vile, and constantly in the misery of that control. Chet Hughes, in his excellent work on Mark, writes these words to describe the scene. The man lived in the tombs, rock-hewn caverns, furnished with dead men's bones and carpeted with filth and vermin. The local townspeople had attempted to restrain him, but with terrifying Herculean strength. He had broken the fetters which bound him. He was uncontrollable and dangerous. Inside, he was totally wretched.

At intervals during the night and the day, he would let out a preternatural howl, then gash himself with jagged rocks in an obvious attempt to drive out the evil spirits. This poor, naked man, I failed to mention, he lived his life without clothing. He's wandering in the tombs, naked, and in what we would call totally insane. He is a mass of bleeding lacerations, scabs, infections, and scar tissue, living in a delirium of pain and masochistic pleasure. The man was running wild, naked, unkempt, and ill, and as a result, all were against him. Little children fled at his approach. In his lucid moments, he surely realized how repulsive and unloved and unwelcome he was.

What unutterable misery. Hughes adds these words, we need the theological wisdom and honesty to deal with such situations. The demons do drive men and women to the depths of degradation because Satan and his minions hate the living God. Here is a situation that people were not able to control, they simply left him to himself. And now he encounters the only one who has power over him, and he says to Jesus, do not torture us. I'm impressed with the way Jesus responds, and in fact, I love the way we read in Matthew 8, where the demons say, if you must cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs. The Greek includes following that the word of Jesus, go. Don't you love that? There's no fight, there's no negotiation, there's no bargaining, there's no wrestling.

There's simply the word go. Gives new meaning to the line from Luther's hymn, one little word shall fill them. Do not live your life afraid of demonic influence. Do not fear the dark. As a child of God, you are equipped, as I will show toward the end of this message, you are equipped with what you need to do battle against the enemy, these forces of darkness.

They are there, they are real, they are serious. I know of no other way to describe how terrorism has taken the turn that it has taken. Without adding to it, I'm convinced the presence of demonic activity.

How else could individuals who call themselves human be so brutal, so unconscionably brutal as to carry out beheadings, bombings, and at random acts of violence among people who are innocent in their presence? The last days had come, there's no question in my mind, and part of the proof of it is the wickedness of our times. Now when you come to Matthew again, chapter eight, Jesus commanded them, go, and the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. Given the uprising of cruelty and bloodshed around the world, it truly appears that we are living in the last days. As Chuck Swindoll said, nothing provides greater evidence than the wickedness of our times.

You're listening to Insight for Living, and to learn more about this ministry, please visit us online at insightworld.org. We've come to a dramatic point in our study of Matthew chapter 8, and we urge you to listen when Chuck resumes this strange story about a herd of pigs overtaken by demons. And if Chuck's verse-by-verse study through the book of Matthew has ignited your curiosity and you're ready to learn more, then I'll encourage you to add Swindoll's Living Insights Commentary to your personal collection of study tools. The edition for Matthew comes in two large volumes, both are hardbound.

Printed in a user-friendly format, the commentary contains practical insight from Chuck, including maps, photos, and articles as well. It's a must-have for pastors, teachers, and really anyone who wants to know more about the Bible. To purchase Swindoll's Living Insights Commentary on Matthew, call us.

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To learn more, call 1-888-447-0444. Just imagine walking along those sacred sites and seeing the Bible come to life before your very eyes. Mark your calendar for March 6th through 17th, 2022. And make your reservation by calling 1-888-447-0444 or go to insight.org slash events. Insight for Living Ministries' tour to Israel is paid for and made possible by only those who choose to attend. Tomorrow, Chuck Swindoll continues to describe the dramatic moment when Jesus dealt with demons. Listen Thursday to Insight for Living. The preceding message, Dealing with Demons, was copyrighted in 2016 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.