The issue of demon possession
is sometimes a little perplexing to us. You know, a lot of times
in the ancient world, if someone had a mental illness, they automatically
assumed that it was demon possession. But here in Matthew 8 and verse
28, listen to this. It says, when Christ was come
to the other side of the country of the Gergesenes, there met
with him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, in other
words, they were living in a graveyard, basically, exceeding fierce,
so that no man might pass by that way. And behold, they cried
out, saying, what have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son
of God? Isn't that interesting? These
demons are crying out. because they knew who Jesus of
Nazareth really was. Man by nature doesn't know the
true and living God. And you remember Christ told
Peter when he asked him, who do men say that I am? And he
said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Christ
said, flesh and blood has not revealed that to you, but my
father, which is in heaven. The only way that a sinner is
going to know in faith that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah,
the Savior of sinners, is by revelation from God. But these
demons knew who he was. They didn't believe in him now.
They didn't have faith in him. But he says, what do we have
to do with thee? Jesus, thou Son of God, art thou
come hither to torment us before the time What do you suppose
they meant by that before the time? Well, they knew there was
a set time by the Lord God for all things to come to an end
and there be a judgment. They knew that. So this is just
such an interesting passage. You know, what most people think
of demons doesn't come from the Bible, it comes from Hollywood.
You've seen these movies like The Exorcist and all of that.
All that's fantasy, you know, and I'm not saying demon possession
is a fantasy now, because demons do possess people. I don't know
how much that goes on today, but I'll show you this. Turn
to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. One of the things that we need
to be aware of is that every person who is in a state of unbelief
is somewhat under the power of Satan. Now, would we call that
demon possession? Not necessarily. We have within
us by nature an evil spirit, and it's our spirit. It's not
someone else's spirit, it's ours. Because we fell in Adam, we're
born dead in trespasses and sins with a nature, a sin nature,
that is totally depraved. And that's what we are by nature.
And so we have an evil spirit. And of course, that's exactly
why we have to be born again. That's why we have to be literally
spiritually raised from the dead. And that's what happens when
the Holy Spirit brings us under the gospel and regenerates us
and converts us and brings us to faith in Christ and repentance
of dead works. He gives us a new spirit. You
remember Ezekiel talked about that. God said, I'll put within
them a new spirit. And that spirit, and of course,
from that time on, we have what we would call two spirits. Some
people call it the two natures. And I've always said about that
now. I don't necessarily like that
term. And the reason is because some people take it too far.
Like there's two different people within me, and they act on their
own. No, it's me. But we have the
flesh, we have the Holy Spirit who indwells us, and he's given
us a new spirit, a spirit of life. And we know that because
he's given us a new knowledge. We know Jesus, we know him. Like these demons say, we know
who you are. Well, we know who he is, but we know it because
he's revealed himself to us and brought us to believe in him
and to love him and to rest in him and to follow him. in obedience,
the obedience of faith. And so we have a battle within
ourselves. But look here in 2 Corinthians
chapter four and verse three. We've read these passages so
many times. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world,
now we know that the Lord God of heaven is ultimately the sovereign
God of this world. The God of the universe. But
this is, I believe this is referring to Satan, who has in himself
tried to usurp authority from God, but we know that the only
power Satan has, God allows him to have. One old preacher said,
Satan is on God's leash. You remember Satan had to come
to God and ask permission to touch Job, and all of that. But what he's talking about is
how Satan, in a sense, is the ruler of the unregenerate world
because he's deceived people, look at, to them that are lost,
verse four, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds
of them which believe not. Lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them. And of course the remedy for that is the Holy Spirit sent
forth from Christ to give us a new spirit, open our eyes,
give us eyes to see, ears to hear, new hearts, new minds,
all of that in the new birth. And that's what he says in verse
five. How do we know we're not still deceived by Satan under
his power? Now I'm not saying this is necessarily
what we call demon possession. But what my point is is that
we need to understand that if we're in a state of unbelief,
we are, in a sense, controlled by the darkness and the deception
that Satan promotes, okay? And so in the remedy, he says,
for we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. We don't preach salvation
conditioned on ourselves. We preach salvation conditioned
on Christ, and verse six, for God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Look over at 1 John chapter five. Now again, I want you to understand,
I'm not saying that this state of unbelief is necessarily what
we would call demon possession, like we're going to look at here
in Matthew chapter eight. But it does help us to understand
that unbelievers are under the control of the main demon, who
is Satan himself. Look at verse 18 of 1 John chapter
five. We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. Now the sinneth not there refers
to the specific sin of apostasy. If you're born again, you cannot
fall away from Christ totally. You can stray, and we all have,
and if we live longer, we'll probably do it again, but he
won't let us go. He's gonna keep his people. He
said, no one can pluck them out of my father's hand. But you
cannot, if you've been born again, born of God, born from above,
you cannot apostatize. You cannot ever be lost again.
And so he says, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself,
that's perseverance. And our keeping ourself is not
by our own power or our own goodness, it's by the power of God. Paul
said, I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day, and
that the wicked one toucheth him not. Now Satan can throw
his arrows of accusation at us, but they won't stick. Who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Verse 19, and we
know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness,
that is, in the wicked one, literally. So the whole world is under the
deception and darkness of Satan, the king demon, you might say.
The God of this world, as we read in 2 Corinthians 4. Now
go back to Matthew chapter 8. And read the, I've got them listed
in here, the parallel passages in Mark and Luke. There are some
differences, but no contradictions. Matthew says there's two men.
Mark and Luke, I think, says there's just one man. But they
didn't say there was only one. And the one that's speaking here,
or the demon that's speaking through this one, whose name
is Legion, we learn from the other. You know, Legion means
many. A Roman legion was made up of 6,000 soldiers, for example. So some commentators say, well,
maybe there were 6,000 demons here possessing this man. There
was a multitude. His name was Legion. So Mark
and Luke, they don't contradict Matthew, they just mention only
one person, the lead person, the one who does the speaking.
So understand that. So he says, verse 29, what have
we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? That's messianic
language. They knew he's the Messiah. Now
again, they didn't believe in him. They didn't rest in his
righteousness. They didn't want righteousness
at all. They're demons, you see. They're followers of their king,
Satan. And they said, have you, art
thou come to torment us before the time? The Bible says it is
appointed a man once to die and after that the judgment. Do you
know that applies to the demons? They're gonna be judged too.
Satan and his minions cast into the lake of fire. And that's
what's going on. Listen. This shows us how powerful, how
powerful our Lord is. Because it's going to show His
power to conquer demons. And one other thing that you
might take note of, you know, the gift of casting out demons
seems to be in the Bible as you look through it, seems to be
sometimes even given to unbelievers. You remember over in Matthew
7, back a page? Matthew 7, 21. He says, not everyone
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is
in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, haven't
we prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils? Now, some commentators say, well,
they didn't really cast out devils, they just thought they did. Well,
we don't have any reason to believe that. And he said, in thy name done
many wonderful works. The problem with those guys is
they were pleading the wrong thing as the ground of their
salvation. They were pleading something
other than the imputed righteousness of Christ. That was their problem. They may have done those things.
You know, the disciples had that power sometimes. You know, there
was a time they said, you know, when the demons confronted them,
said, we don't know who you are, but we know who Jesus is. And
then there was another time they came back and said, Lord, even
the devils obey us. So my point on this is this. It's useless to speculate on
those things because the Bible doesn't spell it out for us.
But here's what we know. Demons are real. They're real. They come in different forms
and different ways. Like, for example, in this one,
look at, in verse 28, it says, these men coming out of the tombs,
and boy, what a picture of us, living among the dead. And when
we're under the power of Satan, that's what we're doing, we're
living among the tombs, we're living among the dead, because
we're spiritually dead, and those around us are spiritually dead.
And it says, exceeding fierce, like wild men, And I don't know
how to view this other than just leave it where it is. No man might pass that way. Mark
adds that no man could bind them. They couldn't tie them up. So
they must have had extra strength. Neither could any man tame them. So you couldn't tame them. And I think about that, I think
about us by nature. The only way that we're going
to be brought to where we submit and be docile, let's say, peaceful
in Christ is when the Holy Spirit brings us to submit to Christ
as the Lord, our righteousness. Because before that, we're exceeding
fierce against it. We hate it, you see. That's the
natural man. So these demons, these demon-possessed
men are kind of pictures of us, you know, in a way, by nature,
in our unbelief. But all of these, and again,
emphasize, that shows what it takes to save a sinner. You know,
I've often said, and I was thinking about this in preparing for next
week's lesson, the two things that, well, I'll say the three
things that have to happen. for a sinner to enter heaven,
to enter glory. Number one, we have to be born
again by the spirit, brought to faith in Christ under the
gospel. And we have to be brought to submit to him as the Lord,
our righteousness. And number two, we have to be
kept. We have to be preserved by the
power and goodness of God. because we're still sinners saved
by grace. And number three, Christ has
to come again and catch us up and bring us into his glory.
And that's what it takes. Well, look at verse 29. He says,
and behold, they cried out, saying, what have we to do with thee?
Jesus, thou son of God, art thou come hither to torment us before
our time? Mark tells us that the man saw
Jesus afar off, and he ran and worshiped him. in Mark chapter
five and verse six, but this was not the worship of a true
child and servant of God, a sinner saved by grace. It was the worship
of an enemy who knew he could not overcome his conqueror. It
was forced. I mean, this is how much they
knew that it was up for them. This demon or these demons, this
legion, he knew that Christ had the power to do with him as he
will, but he still remained an enemy of Christ. Isn't that something? When you think about that. And
I've got in your lesson, every devil and every unconverted person
will someday bow before the Lord and confess that he's Lord of
all. But it won't be the bowing of faith and love and adoration. It'll be a conquered enemy who
resents his conqueror. You understand that, the difference?
When God brings us to bow, but boy don't we love it. Thank God
he brought me into the dust. brought me down off my high horse
and put me in the dust where I belong, and raised me up in
glory to see His glory, His power, the power of His blood to forgive
my sins, the power of His righteousness to justify me. Don't you thank
God for that? That He brought you to submit
But this demon's not gonna be thanking God for that. Their
submission will be out of fear of divine retribution. And that's
what he says, art thou come hither to torment us before the time.
They knew there was gonna be a time and judgment was coming
and that judgment is based on righteousness. God hath appointed
a day. He'll judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained Christ. And so, You know, one
of the things that I'm convinced that unbelievers are fearful of more than anything
else is the reality of a judgment. And so what they do, and I know
this because we all did it, we set a standard of the judgment
in our own minds that we can pass. Well, when I stand before
God in judgment, I know I'm not perfect. I know I'm not as good
as I should be. But somehow we reason in our
minds, well, we're good enough. And what is good enough? Righteousness,
perfection, that can only be found in Christ. I'm convinced
that's why a lot of people are atheists, because they just don't
want to face the issue of judgment. They deny the reality of nature
and reason to say there is no God. But the demons don't go
that far. Even the demons know the Lord
exists, and they know their time's coming. Satan knows his time's
coming. Now granted, he's trying to get as many people with him
as he can, but he knows his time is going to be up. And so, listen
to what he says, look at verse 30, he says, it says, and there
was a good way off from them a herd of many swine feeding,
pigs, pig farming in Israel. Can you imagine? Didn't the law
of Moses say it's unlawful to eat pork because it was an unclean
animal? Well, The law of Moses did say
that, and you might ask the question, well, what would a Jew be doing
raising swine? Well, this part of the country
was full of Jews and Gentiles. And it could have been Jews raising
swine, there was no law against that in the law of Moses, and
selling it to the Romans and whoever was there. It could have
been Gentiles raising them, all we know is they were there. And
they were unclean animals, so just leave it at that. Now if
there were any Jews eating that pork, they were breaking the
law, that's true. But it says in verse 31, now this proves
what I was saying about how the devils know. And they hate it,
but they know that their time is coming. And it says in verse
31, so the devils besought him saying, if thou cast us out,
suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. They knew that
if Christ cast them out, they had to go. They didn't stand
up there and say, I dare you to try to cast me out. You know,
just like these silly movies where these Catholic priests
come, you know, they got their holy water and their crosses,
and they stand up and they chant, you know, trying to force the
demon out. These demons knew, the legion knew, if the son of
man says go, they're gone. And so they ask him for a favor. Well, if we can't stay in this
guy or these guys, put us in those pigs over there. And I
believe they really thought that they could rest comfortably in
the pigs. They'd be okay. And they besought him. That means
they begged him. They're beggars. It's amazing to me that man by
nature thinks of Christ as a beggar. Doesn't he? A lot of people,
Christ, God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, and
he's just begging you to accept him, begging you to open the
door and let him into your heart. Our Lord is no beggar. He doesn't beg anybody. He acts
as a sovereign power, omnipotent. He says, all that the Father
giveth to me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. He said, if I be lifted up, I
will draw all unto me. Somebody said, well, he drags
you against your will. No, he doesn't. He makes you
willing in the day of his power. He gives you a new will to submit
to him. But these demons, They know who
they were looking at. They knew who they were talking
to. And they begged, let us go into those pigs. If we can't
live here, let us live in the pigs. Isn't that something? Oh, this is Christ's power over
the demonic world, friend. Make no mistake about it. Well, look at verse 32. And he
said unto them, go. That's all he had to do. And when they were coming, he
didn't say, he didn't chant. He didn't throw holy water. He
didn't hold up a cross. Go. Two letters in one word. Go! And they went, didn't they? They didn't argue. They didn't
fight. They didn't cuss. They didn't
throw up pea soup or anything like that. Go! And when they were come out,
they went into the herd of swine and behold, the whole herd of
swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea and perished
in the water. Now, it says in verse 33, and
they that kept them fled. The pig herders, pig farmers,
they fled. Now, did the demons perish? I
don't know, probably. I don't know how that all works
out. The Bible doesn't tell us. But here's the point. Our Lord
has power that cannot be resisted. And don't you thank God for that?
Don't you thank God? You know, when I first began
to hear the gospel, I resisted it. I sure did. And that's because God left me
in my state of death. But then, at a given time, He
sent the Holy Spirit from Christ and convinced me of sin and of
righteousness and of judgment and I could resist no longer.
Think about this. We all have friends and family
who are lost. If God did not keep us, What do you think it would take
for us to resist this message of truth and go back to the old
way? Wouldn't take anything, would
it? If not for the Lord, who has power over demons and over
us. He brought you to a point you
could resist no longer, didn't he? You couldn't say no. And now, as I always say, you
can't ignore it, you can't deny it, and you can't leave it. And why is that? It's because
of the power of Christ over our demons and over ourselves. Look
at these last two verses, verse 33 and 34. And they that kept
them and went their ways into the city and told everything
and was befallen to the possessed of the devils, And behold, the
whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they besought
him that he would, save him? No. That he would depart out
of their coast. Would you leave? Think about
that. Unregenerate people fear what
they don't understand. And they feared this man who
had power over demons and they wanted him to leave. They weren't
like those who said, well, we want to hear more. We want to
hear more about you. No, they said leave. And the
Lord didn't beg them. He didn't say, oh, please let
me into your hearts. Please accept me as your personal
savior. Oh, he didn't cry and fret. He just simply let them have
what they wanted. And He left them in their ignorance and unbelief.
Oh, God, don't leave us in our ignorance and unbelief. Don't
do that. Even now, as a sinner saved by
grace, I pray that. The demons that I have, if you
want to call them that, the sin that I have, oh, God, don't let
me fall in submission to it. Let me be a fighter. Let me war
against the flesh. That's what I need to do. I don't
need to give in to it. And I know if God doesn't work
in His power, that that's exactly what I'll do. Isn't that right? Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? Oh, wretched man that I am. You know he came over to this
side of the Sea of Galilee seeking his sheep, and it was his sovereign
purpose to do that. He'll do his will, but we're
gonna see in the next lesson how he goes back over to Capernaum.
That's where he made his headquarters, and we'll talk about that next
week, but Lord bless his word to our hearts. Okay.