Demon Defeater
I just finished my sermon for Sunday...and there is more good stuff than I can fit into the sermon. So here is some of the overflow.
The Biblical account of Jesus casting out a "legion" of demons in Mark 5:1-20 seems bizarre to our modern ears in a couple of ways. First, demon possession is today largely the fanciful imagination of Hollywood, which at best is a distortion of Biblically revealed truth. Many today would consider the Biblical record of demon possession to be a misdiagnosis of epilepsy or a pyschosis. Nevertheless, Jesus views and treats demons (or evil spirits or fallen angels, as the Bible refers to them) as real and a real threat to God's people and Kingdom.
Second, there is the odd request (which Jesus grants) of the army of evil angels to be removed from a man and cast into a heard of pigs, which then commit suicide by rushing down a steep bank and drowning in a lake. If nothing else, this made the event even more dramatic, public and note worthy.
Behind these bizarre components though, there is the grand good news that Jesus mercifully rescues an otherwise hopeless man from the clutches of Satan. Score another one for Jesus. I love that because, whenever I'm feeling hassled by spiritual influences, I've got the assurance that our Jesus is a Demon Defeater.
Amen. I agree and have
Amen. I agree and have noticed that today, what we know is really demon possession is being misdiagnosed as medical issues. The man who was called legion in the bible, had behavioral characteristics identical to what many people today are suffering from. I know, as you've described, that Jesus, the Demon Defeater, is the cure to much of what is being medicated with drugs in our generation.
There are MANY things to
There are MANY things to ponder in wonderment from this account for me. Such as;
The demons knew immediately that our Lord was in their presence & ran out to Him, identifying Him as 'the Son of God'. Though there were 'many' evil spirits (perhaps 2,000?; ref. that many pigs went into the lake) they showed servitude in the face of our one Holy Spirit.
It also demostrates that evil spirits can be in possession of animals. Would this also mean that the Holy Spirit might or would use animals to achieve His purposes?
The evil spirits begged not to be tortured. Does this fortell their knowledge of the coming judgement by the Son of God? Did they die with the pigs or move on to other victims? Did the fact that they ran into the lake suggest a baptism of these spirits?
With regard to the question
With regard to the question about God using animals to achieve His purposes, there is evidence of that, for example, in the account of Balaam's donkey in Numbers 22.
The evil spirits apparently were aware that the Judgment Day banishment and punishment in the lake of fire (Revelations 20:10) is their ultimate destiny. They apparently were concerned that Jesus would banish them there right away.
It is unclear whether the evil spirits moved on to other victims. They did not die, that is, cease to exist for their ultimate destiny is the lake of fire. Perhaps Jesus did send those evil spirits immediately to the lake of fire. Perhaps they roam the earth with the rest of Satan's hoard even today...though limited by God's power in what they can do...and destined for eternal punishment by Jesus crushing defeat of Satan in His death and resurrection. The Bible doesn't make this point clear.
I don't believe that baptism of the evil spirits is indicated by the drowning in the lake of the pigs.
According to the Biblical
According to the Biblical record, there was a high level of demonic activity at Jesus' first coming. That makes sense, since Satan would want to distract, derail and destroy God's plan of salvation embodied in Jesus mission of redemption.
But the Bible also makes it clear that prior to Jesus' second coming, there will also be a high level of demonic activity (Revelations 20:7) toward the goal of distracting, derailing and destroying the Christian Church, the rule of Christ in human hearts (Revelations 20:8-9). Thus, it shouldn't surprise us to see evidence of that today.
The good news is that "the gates of hell won't prevail" in totally destroying the Christian Church, the rule of Christ in human hearts (Matthew 16:18; Revelations 20:9)
Thank you Pastor Paul, for
Thank you Pastor Paul, for your clarifications and insights!
You were right to term this discussion as overflow...you're sermon today was indeed filled with "more good stuff"! I'll be chewin' on that one for awhile!! Excellent message - thank you.
Post new comment