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Dealing with Demons Msg 420 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: You who are part of our ministry, remember that we
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  Speaker 1: have been engaged in a study of the gospel. Bob Matthew.
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  Speaker 1: We find ourselves at the end of the eighth chapter.
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  Speaker 1: You have a Bible, please turn to Matthew chapter eight.
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  Speaker 1: I'll begin the reading at verse twenty eight down to
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  Speaker 1: the end of the chapter, and once you locate that,
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  Speaker 1: you might want to put the outline that you've received
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  Speaker 1: over at mark chapter five. Mark five one to twenty
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  Speaker 1: is a parallel passage more in detail the events that
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  Speaker 1: happen in Matthew eight. So we'll be turning back and forth.
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  Speaker 1: You might want to have that handy Mark five, and
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  Speaker 1: once you locate that, turn back to Matthew chapter eight,
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  Speaker 1: and I'll begin reading at verse you locate that. Let's
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  Speaker 1: stand together for the reading of the scriptures. I'm reading
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  Speaker 1: from the New Living Translation. When Jesus arrived on the
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  Speaker 1: other side of the lake, in the region of the Gatines,
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  Speaker 1: two men who were possessed by demons met him. They
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  Speaker 1: lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no
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  Speaker 1: one could go through that area. They began screaming at him,
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  Speaker 1: why are you interfering with us? Son of God? Have
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  Speaker 1: you come here to torture us before God's appointed time.
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  Speaker 1: There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding
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  Speaker 1: in the distance. So the demons begged, if you cast
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  Speaker 1: us out, send us into that herd of pigs. All right, go,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the
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  Speaker 1: men and entered into the pigs, and the whole herd
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  Speaker 1: plunged down the steep down the steep hillside into the
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  Speaker 1: lake and drowned in the water. The herdsman fled to
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  Speaker 1: the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon
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  Speaker 1: possessed men. Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.
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  Speaker 1: We don't hear much today, even from Pulpits about the
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  Speaker 1: demonic world. So when we come across a section like this,
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  Speaker 1: our interest is peace. In the time we have, we
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  Speaker 1: want to move into it to come to a little
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  Speaker 1: better understanding of what it involves, what it does and
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  Speaker 1: does not represent. As the teaching of Scripture is unfolded,
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  Speaker 1: you may be seated for a time of prayer. Together.
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  Speaker 1: We enter into this year not knowing what is before us,
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  Speaker 1: and it just may be that you have already started
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  Speaker 1: your worry list, which often is longer than a person's
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  Speaker 1: prayer list. So today let's reverse the order and let
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  Speaker 1: me have you bring before the Lord on your own
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  Speaker 1: what you would call your number one worry, that which
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  Speaker 1: presents to you an insurmountable situation. It may be someone
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  Speaker 1: you know and love whose situation seems hopeless. It may
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  Speaker 1: be a fear that you have on the horizon of
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  Speaker 1: your life. It may even be in the realm of
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  Speaker 1: the unknown, and it has you restless and uneasy. Let's
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  Speaker 1: cast our burden upon the Lord, being assured that he
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  Speaker 1: will sustain us. There's a great statement following those words.
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  Speaker 1: He will never suffer the righteous to be moved dislodged
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  Speaker 1: from our position in Christ. So, if you know the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: this is a great time for you to lay before
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  Speaker 1: him your burden that you brought with you this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Bow with me please as we turn to him a
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  Speaker 1: few moments of silence, and then I will lead us
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  Speaker 1: in prayer before the morning offering. Let's pray. We have
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  Speaker 1: been reminded already our Father of power, the power of
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  Speaker 1: the Cross, the power of the name of Jesus, the
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  Speaker 1: power of your presence, your word in the midst of
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  Speaker 1: a world that has lost its way. How easy for
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  Speaker 1: us to be focused on the things that are not right,
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  Speaker 1: things that disturb us, concerns that haunt us, people who
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  Speaker 1: break our hearts, situations that we are helpless to change.
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  Speaker 1: Some are caught in the grip of prief others troubled
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  Speaker 1: in relationships that simply will not be rectified. We come
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  Speaker 1: before you, the giver of all good things, the source
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  Speaker 1: of all power that can change the unchanging, that can
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  Speaker 1: alter the steps of those moving in the wrong direction,
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  Speaker 1: that can bring healing and hope, reassurance and confidence in
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  Speaker 1: place of fear, uneasiness, sleeplessness, and deep inner disturbance. Some
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  Speaker 1: are depressed, Some find themselves fearful of what lies for us.
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  Speaker 1: Some admittedly are in very dangerous places. We remember all
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  Speaker 1: today who are in such situations. I pray especially as
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  Speaker 1: well for those in their college years who face yet
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  Speaker 1: another semester, high schoolers, as well those in graduate work
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  Speaker 1: who pursue a degree. We realize as time passes, academics
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  Speaker 1: get old and the demands and the disciplines of pursuing
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  Speaker 1: an education hard to sustain. I pray that you would
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  Speaker 1: give extra strength and encouragement to them as they continue
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  Speaker 1: the pursuit. We all pray, our Father, for encouragement in
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  Speaker 1: our lives. We pray that you will remind us of
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  Speaker 1: our great position in Christ, of you and your sovereign
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  Speaker 1: control over life. That what may appear to be chaotic
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  Speaker 1: and out of control is in fact still operating under
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  Speaker 1: your all seeing eye and You're all powerful hand. We
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  Speaker 1: lay before you the months that are yet to unfold.
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  Speaker 1: We trust you for healing among those who were sick,
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  Speaker 1: strength for those who are weak, hope for those who
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  Speaker 1: are discouraged and despondent. And I pray for those who
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  Speaker 1: struggle in the realm of the dark forces, those who
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  Speaker 1: do battle in demonic realms. Spacial help. Today, as we
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  Speaker 1: unfold the scriptures, May we hear what you have written
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  Speaker 1: and what you have said for us who live today.
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  Speaker 1: Give us ears to hear and hearts to believe, and
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  Speaker 1: then give us wills to obey. Remind us, our Father,
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  Speaker 1: that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
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  Speaker 1: principalities and powers. Dark forces in the world beyond us
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  Speaker 1: and around us, the invisible, insidious forces of the enemy.
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  Speaker 1: We pray for victory, our Father, over these, that you
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  Speaker 1: would sustain us in the midst of the battle. Remind
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  Speaker 1: us as we enter this realm, we are entering a
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  Speaker 1: battle ground, not a playground. And may we take your
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  Speaker 1: words seriously that we we are equipped with the full
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  Speaker 1: armor of God, that we might be able to stand
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  Speaker 1: against the strategies of the evil one. Use these offerings.
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  Speaker 1: We pray in a special way, to sustain this ministry
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  Speaker 1: and to use it for your good purpose. And remind
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  Speaker 1: us again, Father that in the end you win, and
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  Speaker 1: we with you as well, are winners. We stand in
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  Speaker 1: that triumph today through Christ and the power of His Cross.
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  Speaker 1: We pray these things, and we give our gifts. And
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  Speaker 1: everyone said, amen. Demonism is neither funny nor phony. It
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  Speaker 1: is serious and it is real. As a result of
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  Speaker 1: we take to go to one of two extremes when
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  Speaker 1: we come to the subject of demons. Either total denial disbelief,
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  Speaker 1: thinking in our own minds that none of that is
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  Speaker 1: worth our time and energy wasted effort to concern ourselves
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  Speaker 1: with that unseen world it does not exist. And the
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  Speaker 1: other extreme is treated in a lighthearted way. After all,
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  Speaker 1: it may be there, but who really is that concerned
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  Speaker 1: about it. I think there is a third, if I
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  Speaker 1: might add this, there are those who are inordinately preoccupied
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  Speaker 1: with the subject, and they see demons in virtually everything.
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  Speaker 1: One writer put it, well, if Slayton cannot pull you down,
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  Speaker 1: he will just as happily push you overboard, so that
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  Speaker 1: no matter what, it's the devil. My brother, also in Ministry,
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  Speaker 1: tells of a man that he had been ministering to
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  Speaker 1: who believed he had the demon of nail biting. Not really,
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  Speaker 1: it's like the demon of over eating. It's not the devil.
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  Speaker 1: It's our desire for more food than we ought to
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  Speaker 1: be taking in. It's not about the enemy, it's about us.
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  Speaker 1: There's a whole lot of the wrong that happens that's
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  Speaker 1: our fault. I love the little story of the girl
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  Speaker 1: that had been mistreating her little brother and she'd pull
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  Speaker 1: his hair and kicked his shends, and finding the mother
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  Speaker 1: stopped her and said, why don't you let the devil
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  Speaker 1: do that through you? And she's well, the devil may
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  Speaker 1: have made me pull his hair, but kicking his shins
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  Speaker 1: was my idea. A lot of the stuff we do
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  Speaker 1: that's wrong is our idea. Is what we want but
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  Speaker 1: then there is the realm of the demonic. Whether you
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  Speaker 1: want to believe it or not, whether you want to
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  Speaker 1: make light of it or not, it exists. All of
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  Speaker 1: you and all of us who take the Bible literally,
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  Speaker 1: understand that demons appear in the scriptures a couple of
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  Speaker 1: times mentioned directly in the Old Testament, more often in
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  Speaker 1: the New Testament, seven times in Matthew, specifically four times
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  Speaker 1: in Mark, once in Luke, and once in John, and
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  Speaker 1: periodically in the Letters. And from a gathering of information
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  Speaker 1: we draw from the Bible, we can make several statements
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  Speaker 1: about demons. They are actively engaged in evil objectives. They
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  Speaker 1: are devious, they are insidious, they are aggressive, and they
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  Speaker 1: are relentless. Not being humans, they neither slumber nor sleep.
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  Speaker 1: They are forever at work, even when we are asleep.
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  Speaker 1: They are invisible. They are insidious, servants of Satan, their father.
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  Speaker 1: They have supernatural power, but they are not all powerful.
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  Speaker 1: They certainly have more strength than we. They operate under
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  Speaker 1: this mysterious We frequently refer to it as the permissive
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  Speaker 1: will of God. That means they bow to his authority,
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  Speaker 1: they obey his commands. They were never to Jesus. A
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  Speaker 1: source of great disturbance. They were more a nuisance, and
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  Speaker 1: it's clear from the way he dealt with them that
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  Speaker 1: it did not take a great deal of time or
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  Speaker 1: energy for him to dispel them. Martin Luther writes in
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  Speaker 1: his Great Hymn, and though this world, with devils filled,
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  Speaker 1: should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for
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  Speaker 1: God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The
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  Speaker 1: prince of darkness grim, We tremble not for him his rage,
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  Speaker 1: we can endure for low His doom is sure. And
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  Speaker 1: I've always loved this one line, one little word shall
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  Speaker 1: fell him. We forget that because we are uneasy around
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  Speaker 1: invisible forces, and because we know enough to know that
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  Speaker 1: we are not as strong as they physically, it is
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  Speaker 1: easy to think that they and all their strength, are
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  Speaker 1: able to take control of us. Not so. They may attack,
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  Speaker 1: and their attack may make us miserable because of the
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  Speaker 1: vileness and brutality of their nature. But they need not
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  Speaker 1: overwhelm us or overcome us. I failed to mention earlier
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  Speaker 1: something I should state. Demons are often the source of
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  Speaker 1: suicidal thoughts. They catch us in weak and despondent moments,
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  Speaker 1: when we find ourselves feeling hopeless, and they interject thoughts
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  Speaker 1: of suicide. There are those who play in the realm
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  Speaker 1: of demons thinking there's nothing to it, and I have
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  Speaker 1: determined throughout my ministry to warn all people against that.
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  Speaker 1: You may see it as a game. They don't. You're
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  Speaker 1: in their field of battle, and in that field they
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  Speaker 1: are very much at home. You are not. I want
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  Speaker 1: to add this too, because I've been engaged in preaching
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  Speaker 1: against the enemy and the dark forces throughout these more
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  Speaker 1: than fifty years. I have rarely seen it fail that
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  Speaker 1: when I speak of demons and Satan himself, almost without exception,
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  Speaker 1: attacks come my way. Not only my way, but in
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  Speaker 1: the lives of those who listen and enter into it.
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  Speaker 1: I've experienced interruptions in worship services. I have been in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of situations that cannot be traced to any
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  Speaker 1: other source than the demonic realm. I was in a
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  Speaker 1: church service where the subject was introduced and we were
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  Speaker 1: moving through it, and some of the plaster fell off
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  Speaker 1: the wall. If you can believe it, so watch out.
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  Speaker 1: I doubt that's going to happen, but it did in
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  Speaker 1: that case. I've received letters and messages that from the
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  Speaker 1: strangest sources and later attacks in my own family. So
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  Speaker 1: I would add, without trying to be in any way sensationalistic,
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  Speaker 1: are dramatic. Be aware the enemy does not like to
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  Speaker 1: be exposed, and when the truth is proclaimed, he is
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  Speaker 1: especially hostile because he wants you to keep thinking he's
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  Speaker 1: not and that his forces really do not mean all
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  Speaker 1: that much in our day. There are multiple millions of
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  Speaker 1: them there. It were constantly in and around this cosmos,
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  Speaker 1: this wicked world. Let me clarify also, because there's a
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  Speaker 1: faulty thinking about it, the words demon possession are not
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  Speaker 1: biblical words. We have demon influence and demon oppression and
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  Speaker 1: demon obsession and demon possession almost as if there's a
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  Speaker 1: gradation of demonic activity. There may be. But the word
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  Speaker 1: in the scriptures is always demonized. Demon nisumi is the
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  Speaker 1: word demonized, and it has in mind the idea of
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  Speaker 1: the activity of demons in the lives of human beings.
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  Speaker 1: The word describes the control a demon has over an
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  Speaker 1: individual so that he or she could not successfully restrain
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  Speaker 1: or control the demon alone. Alex Kanya ko Nya has
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  Speaker 1: written a fascinating book, Demons, a biblically based perspective. In it,
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  Speaker 1: he writes this of Diamondizzami. It is the invasion of
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  Speaker 1: a victim's body by a demon or demons, in which
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  Speaker 1: the demon exercises living control over the victim which the
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  Speaker 1: victim cannot successfully resist. One is demonized when a demon
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  Speaker 1: or demons takes up residence in that person's body, resulting
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  Speaker 1: in degrees of derangement and the inability of the possessed
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  Speaker 1: to free himself or herself from the demonic control. Possession
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  Speaker 1: he refers to occurs when the demons go beyond exerting
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  Speaker 1: mere influence and actually, in dwell they're victims. That's what
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  Speaker 1: we find in Matthew eight, mark five, and also in
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  Speaker 1: Luke eight, which is another parallel passage of the same account,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus encounters a man who has demons. Now, the setting
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  Speaker 1: of this is very clearly arranged. In Matthew Chapter eight.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus is at Capernaum, verse five. It is and then
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  Speaker 1: Jesus visits the home of Peter, which is in that
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  Speaker 1: same village of Capernaum, located on the north northwest corner
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  Speaker 1: of the Sea of Galilee. In the passing of time.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus tells his disciples to get into the boat and
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  Speaker 1: be ready to go to the other side of the sea.
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  Speaker 1: A little later in the passage, Jesus gets in with
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  Speaker 1: them verse twenty three, and they together go through the
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  Speaker 1: storm and find their way to the Gatherine area or
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  Speaker 1: the Garricene area. There are cliffs there today that might
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  Speaker 1: very well represent the place where this occurred. As the
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  Speaker 1: crow flies, it's about a six mile sail from Capernaum
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  Speaker 1: to the Gattara area, across the northern part of the
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  Speaker 1: Sea of Galilee, and that's the journey they took, and
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  Speaker 1: what they are met with is a terrifying site. Terrifying.
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  Speaker 1: I've got my little ribbon from my Bible at mark five,
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  Speaker 1: and because it's a little more in detail there, I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to refer to that more often than I normally would.
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  Speaker 1: But Matthew eight states that there were two men who
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  Speaker 1: were possessed by demons who met him. They lived in
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  Speaker 1: a cemetery, and they were so violent that no one
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  Speaker 1: could go through that area. Interesting term a rare Greek
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  Speaker 1: term translated violent, used in Paul's words to Timothy toward
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  Speaker 1: the end of Paul's life, where he refers to the
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  Speaker 1: end times as being a time of great violence here
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  Speaker 1: and there as well. It has in mind a treacherous situation.
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  Speaker 1: One of my mentors used to render it savage times.
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  Speaker 1: The situation around the demonic individuals is savage like, so
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  Speaker 1: much so that children and adults alike were not safe
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  Speaker 1: being around these individuals. When you get to Mark's gospel,
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  Speaker 1: one of the two is highlighted. Doesn't mean there was
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  Speaker 1: only one, just probably means one of the two was
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  Speaker 1: more prominent and the spokesman for the two. So when
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  Speaker 1: we read that Jesus I'm in Mark five now verse
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  Speaker 1: two climbed out of the boot, a man possessed by
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  Speaker 1: an evil spirit came out of a cemetery to meet him.
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  Speaker 1: The man lived among the burial caves and could no
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  Speaker 1: longer be restrained even with a chain. Notice how strong
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  Speaker 1: the demon makes this individual. Whenever he was put into
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  Speaker 1: chains and shackles, as he often was, he snapped the
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  Speaker 1: chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one
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  Speaker 1: was strong enough to subdue him. Chances are good that
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  Speaker 1: most of you have never witnessed a demonized individual, or
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  Speaker 1: if you did, you didn't realize the sores. It is
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  Speaker 1: obvious in this case that the man is beyond himself
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  Speaker 1: in strength, and there is a source of strength within him.
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  Speaker 1: Please observe the relentlessness of the terror. Day and night
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  Speaker 1: he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills,
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  Speaker 1: howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. Should have mentioned
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  Speaker 1: that a characteristic of demonism is this massochism that accompanies it,
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  Speaker 1: the tendency to hurt one's self, as if to get
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  Speaker 1: rid of the evil within. And the man is literally
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  Speaker 1: slicing at himself with these sharp stones. We read further
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  Speaker 1: in Mark five, verse six. When Jesus was still some
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  Speaker 1: distance away, now watched closely. The man saw him and
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  Speaker 1: ran to meet him and bowed low before him. Remember
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  Speaker 1: there is one in greatest authority over all existence, and
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  Speaker 1: that would be the Son of God himself. So this
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  Speaker 1: demonized individual reaches of the presence of Jesus and he bows.
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  Speaker 1: And now notice the response. The demon speaks through the
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  Speaker 1: vocal chords of a human being. Demons have no vocal chords.
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  Speaker 1: They are spirit beings without bodies. When they are in bodies,
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  Speaker 1: they're able to use things within that human body, in
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  Speaker 1: this case the throat. With a shriek. He screamed, why
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  Speaker 1: are you interfering with me? Jesus Son of the most
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  Speaker 1: High God. Interesting he knows him. Every demon knows the
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  Speaker 1: Son of God, and every demon knows that his days
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  Speaker 1: are numbered. Satan will ultimately be cast into the Lake
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  Speaker 1: of Fire, which has been remembered the line prepared for
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  Speaker 1: the devil and his angels. I literally believe in the
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  Speaker 1: Lake of Fire. I believe it is eternal, and I
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  Speaker 1: believe it was originally created for the devil and the demons.
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  Speaker 1: They know they are living on borrowed time, which explains
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  Speaker 1: some of the relentlessness of their style. And so this
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  Speaker 1: one screams the name of Jesus and says, I beg,
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  Speaker 1: you don't torture me, for Jesus had already said to
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  Speaker 1: the spirit, come out of the man, you evil spirit.
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  Speaker 1: Then Jesus demanded, what is your name? He replied, my
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  Speaker 1: name is Legion, because there are many of us inside
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  Speaker 1: this man. The demon is speaking through the throat of
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  Speaker 1: the human being who is the victim, and he states
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  Speaker 1: the name Legion. We don't have that term in our
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  Speaker 1: military ranks today, but in the days of the Romans
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  Speaker 1: there was the Legion six thousand foot soldiers, one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and twenty on horseback. And aside from that, there were
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  Speaker 1: many other technical personnels who made up the legion. At Robertson,
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  Speaker 1: a reliable Baptist scholar taught in Louisville for years, writes
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  Speaker 1: in his work on the New Testament that the Roman
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  Speaker 1: Legion numbered sixty eight hundred and twenty six men. I
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: quote that simply because he says it as an authority.
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  Speaker 1: I would not know that to be true, but I
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: quote him in that it's almost impossible for us to
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  Speaker 1: imagine such an existence. They live their lives those who
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: are demonized under the domination of evil powers, shameless, brutal,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: and constantly in the misery of that control. Kent Hughes,
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  Speaker 1: in his excellent work on Mark, writes these words to
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: describe the scene. The man lived in the tombs, rock
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: hewn caverns, furnished with dead men's bones, and carpeted with
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: filth and vermin. The local townspeople had attempted to restrain him,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: but with terrifying herculean strength, he had broken the fetters
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: which bound him. He was uncontrollable and dangerous. Inside, he
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: was totally wretched. At intervals during the night and the day,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: he would let out a preternatural howl, then gash himself
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: with jagged rocks in an obvious attempt to drive out
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: the evil spirits. This poor naked man I failed to
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: mention he lived his life without clothing. He's wandering in
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: the tombs naked and in what we would call totally insane.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: He is a mass of bleeding lacerations, scabs, infections, and
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: scar tissue, living in a delirium of pain and masochistic pleasure.
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: The man was running wild, naked, unkempt, and ill, and
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: as a result, all were against him. Little children fled
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: at his approach. In his lucid moments, he surely realized
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: how repulsive and unloved and unwelcome he was. What unutterable misery.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Hughes adds these words, we need the theological wisdom and
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  Speaker 1: honesty to deal with such situations. The demons do drive
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: men and women to the depths of degradation because Satan
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: and his minions hate the living God. Here is the
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: situation that people were not able to control. They simply
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: left him to himself. And now he encounters the only
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: one who has power over him, and he says to Jesus,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: do not torture us. I'm impressed with the way Jesus responds,
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: and in fact I love the way we read and
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: matthew ate where the deal hman say, if you must
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: The Greek includes following that the word of Jesus go.
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: Don't you love that. There's no fight, there's no negotiation,
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: there's no bargaining, there's no wrestling, there's simply the word go.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: Gives new meaning to the line from Luther's him one
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: little word shall fill them. Do not live your life
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: afraid of demonic influence. Do not fear the dark. As
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: a child of God, you are equipped, as I will
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: show toward the end of this message, you are equipped
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: with what you need to do battle against the enemy.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: These forces of darkness, they are there, They are real,
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: they are serious. I know of no other way to
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: describe how terrorism has taken the turn its head it
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: has taken the turn that it has taken without adding
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: to it. I'm convinced the presence of demonic activity. How
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: else could individuals who call themselves human be so brutal,
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: so unconsciounably brutal, just to carry out beheadings, bombings and
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: at random acts of violence among people who are innocent
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: in their presence. The last days had come, There's no
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: question in my mind, and part of the proof of
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: it is the wickedness of our times. Now, when you
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: come to Matthew again Chapter eight, Jesus commanded them go,
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: and the demons came out of the men and entered
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. If
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: I were preaching to a politically correct audience, thankfully I'm not,
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: you'd be more concerned about what happened to the pigs
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: than you would about the condition of this man. Are
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: these men who are relieved? Interesting, we care more about
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: pigs than we do about unborn children in our day.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: Again a sign of the last days? Who cares about
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: the pigs? These demons leave? They are filling these pigs,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: and interesting, the first thing to do is take their lives.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: Now the herdsmen realized they've lost their source of income,
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: and so we read that they fled to the nearby
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: town and told everyone what happened to the demonized men.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: they begged him to go away and leave them alone.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: Isn't that something? Not one word of gratitude that the
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: man or the men who have been demonized are now relieved,
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: Not one word of gratitude that they are now safe
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: because of the casting out of the demon. Back to
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Mark chapter five. There's something here that doesn't appear in
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: Matthew's account. After Jesus gave them permission, and after the
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: herdsman had fled to the town, please observe in verse fifteen,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: a crowd soon gathered around Jesus. They saw the man
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: who had been possessed by the legion of demons and
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: noticed the difference. Before he was in this manic condition, constantly,
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: relentlessly engaged in his activities, and now he's sitting he's
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: under control. He's sitting there. Before he was naked, Now
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: he is fully clothed. Before there was this deranged activity.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: Now he is perfectly seen. And we read they were
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: all afraid. Those who had seen what happened told the
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: others about the demonized man and the pigs, and the
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: them alone. Remarkable, Uh, You would think at least a
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: few would say thank you for doing what none of
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: us was able to do, for taking control over a
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: man who has lost control with himself. But there is
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: one who is very grateful. He's the victim that has
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: now been relieved. Look at verse eighteen. As Jesus was
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: getting into the boat, the man who had been demonized
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: begged to go with him, but Jesus said, no, listen
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: to the words. Go home to your family, tell them
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: everything the Lord has done for you, how merciful he
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: has been. So the man started off to visit the
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: ten towns of that region and began to proclaim the
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: great things that Jesus had done for him, And everyone
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: was amazed at what he told him. You know what
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: I thought of when I read this, I thought of
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: the unique people God uses to spread his message. Another
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: one was Jonah, who came out of the belly of
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: a fish and hit the ground running. After that amphibious landing,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: made his way to Nineveh and proclaimed it bore all
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: the marks of having been in that fish for all
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: those days. And there are many today who say that
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: whole story as a hoax. I've always loved Billy Graham's
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: response when asked, do you really believe that the whale
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: swallowed Jonah. I'd believe it if the Bible said Jonah
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: swallowed the whale. Wouldn't bother me if it says it,
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: I believe it. Spend your time trying to unravel the
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: truth of scripture rather than looking for ways to deny it,
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: because you will find yourself one miserable soul if you
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: spend your days doubting what scripture teaches, even though it's
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: unfamiliar territory for you. Jesus says to the man, go
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: and let him know what's happened to you, which is
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: the great message of a testimony. You who have been
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: born into the family of God. We who know the
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ, have a story to tell. It certainly
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: is not as dramatic as that man's story, but I
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: have a feeling he had no trouble getting an audience
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: and gathering a crowd as he told of where he
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: had been and what had transformed his life. I've said
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: this before, and I'll repeat it. If we could see
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: visibly the presence of evil about us, it would take
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: our breath away. Turn from here to Ephesian six, and
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: let me wrap it up with some practical words for
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: us today. Further into the New Testament, go to Ephesians
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: chapter six, which is a great chapter that ends in
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: victorious instruction. Ephesian six beginning in verse ten a final word,
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: be strong in the Lord, and in the power of
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: his and in his mighty power. Put on all of
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: God's armors, so that you will be able to stand
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: firm against all the strategies of the devil. And now
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: he explains it, for we're not fighting against flesh and blood,
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world,
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: and against evil spirits in the heavenness, in the world
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: beyond us and the realm. Outside our familiar world, there
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: is the unseen world, where there is the planning and
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: the strategizing of evil forces under the direction of their
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: leader Satan. And when we are engaged in battles against evil,
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: we don't think about it often, but frequently the strength
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: of that evil comes from the evil forces and the
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: dark world that is invisible. So what do we do?
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: Verse thirteen tells us we put on every piece of
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: God's armor so that you will be able to resist
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: the enemy in the time of evil. Let me give
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: you four simple practical suggestions worth remembering. Number one is this,
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: Expect struggles with unseen forces in these wicked days. Expect
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: battles that you cannot explain in any other term. Don't
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: waste your time trying to look for or find human
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: reasons for the sources of evil. Often it cannot be
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: traced to human sources. Expect struggles with unseen forces. Second,
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: stand firm in the full armor of God verse eleven.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: Put on all of God's armor. I call it wearing
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: the divine equipment. If you're going to do the battle
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: with confidence, you must wear the armor that's provided, and
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: you will read of it right down verse thirteen and
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: following in this same chapter. Third, hold up the faith
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: shield and pray in the spirit. When you feel you
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: are being a when you are in the presence of
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: evil forces that you cannot otherwise explain, stand in faith
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: and pray in the spirit. I love the words of
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: the missionary now gone Jim Elliot. The saint who advances
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: on his knees never retreats. You go into the situation
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: that is evil and out of control in a spirit
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: of prayer. You are surrounded by a power that is
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: far beyond any power you will encounter. Don't underestimate the
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: power of prayer. Fourth, and finally, never forget. We are
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: on the winning side. I love that, and I often
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: call it to mind. In the end, God wins, and
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: being children of God, we in his stead win as well.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: No one knows that better than the devil and his demons.
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: Charles Wesley's words aptly apply. He breaks the power of
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free. I love this.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: His blood can make the foulest clean. His blood availed
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: for me. I go one step further before I hang
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: a clothes on this message. It may very well be
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: that you have become addicting. The addiction may have simply
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: come about through your own acts, your own habits. But
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: the enemy loves to find addicts because you're already weakened
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: by this habit that continues on, and you've already convinced
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: yourself it can't be overcome. You can't do battle with
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: it any further. You're a victim of it, and the
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: enemy takes advantage of that. So when I read the
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: words that his blood can make the foulest clean, his
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: blood availed from me. I think of you who are addicted.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: The addiction may be in the realm of lust, It
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: may be in the realm of alcohol, may be drugs.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: It may be anger, a rage that takes over that
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: you cannot control. And I'm here today to say you
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: vision six ten through eighteen or verses for you to clean.
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: I would plead with you to do so. These are
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: powerful forces, but they are not more powerful than the
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: one we worship, the Living God and his son, Jesus Christ.
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: Close your bibles and vow with me for the next
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: few moments. Will you do that? Please? Have you entered
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: into the Lord's death? Have you truly trusted in Jesus
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: Christ as your Master, your savior, your Lord, the one
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: to who forgives your sins and cleanses you from all unrighteousness.
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: If not, this is the moment for you. If you
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: know the Lord or Jesus, make sure that your life
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: is a life filled with walking in the light as
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: He is in the light. Thank you, Father for not
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: leaving us as orphans, providing us not only with your spirit,
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: but with your power made possible through a relationship with you.
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: That is the greatest power on the planet. Deliver us
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: from living our lives in the fear of darkness and
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: dark forces. Remind us that You are greater than all,
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: and as we are in you, we are a part
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: of that greatness. We trust you to guide us through
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: this year as we walk in the spirit, rather than
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Maybe know the joy
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: of Christ at work within us. In the name of
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: your son Jesus, who loved us and gave himself for us,
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: we pray Amen.
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Dealing with Demons was copyrighted in twenty
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: sixteen and twenty twenty one, and the sound recording was
• 51:30
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in twenty twenty one by Charles Rswindall, Inc. All
• 51:34
  Speaker 2: rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial
• 51:39
  Speaker 2: use is strictly prohibited