(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

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And this guy is dwelling among the tombs, I mean, it's just like, like going out and living, who wants to go live in a cemetery? A possessed guy does. Okay, that's who. So this is what, and now look, we'll see this as we continue to look, not every person who's possessed with the devil lives in the graveyard. But this is one example, so, so what we need to do when we, when we look at this is see what are these different signs, what are the different things that we can see, and understand that just because someone doesn't exhibit all of these things, doesn't mean that they don't have a devil. Okay, but this is definitely a big thing that is common, people who love death, people who are into this stuff. Now, not everyone who's into this stuff is possessed, okay, just you understand that too, especially as we get into Halloween, there's a lot of people celebrating death, okay, and it's ungodly, and it's wicked, and it's wrong, and people putting up the skeletons, and the coffins, and all the dark stuff, and all the death, okay, it's not right, Christians ought not to be doing that, we're supposed to be all about life, and celebrating life, and preaching life, eternal life, not focused on the death, and the dark, and the spooky, and all that stuff, that's not of God. Fear, the only fear that's of God is, is fearing the Lord. It's a righteous fear of God, because we're instructed not to be afraid, so all this, this culture of propping up fear and death, it's not godly, it's not right, we have nothing to do with it, that's why we don't have a Halloween party here at church, we don't do trunk or treat either, ridiculous. Anyhow, let's, I've got a lot to get through, so let's keep going here, verse number three, who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no man could bind him, so he's also an unruly person, right, someone who's not governed, someone who doesn't want anyone telling them what to do, is a characteristic, but physically, even this, is talking about no one could literally bind him, no, not with chains, and it says that because he had been offed bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces, neither could any man tame him, so wild person, untamable, unruly, these chains are just broken by him, which also is exhibiting a little bit of unnatural strength, too, to have chains being broken. Now, we saw unnatural strength on the positive side when it came to Samson, so when Samson was filled with the spirit of God, right, God gave him extra superhuman strength to do things, well, apparently, God's not the only one who can allow people to have a superhuman type of a strength, because here we have someone who's possessed with devils, that when they bind him with chains, he's able to break them, like, that's pretty significant, that the Bible's even giving us this information, he's not able, fetters, chains, nothing can hold him, nothing can tame him, and I'll say this, too, this is also an extreme example, because as we get into this later, it's going to say he's got a legion, he's got, like, tons of devils dwelling inside of him, this is not, you know, we see other possession examples of, like, a devil possessing someone, this guy's just, like, God, he's full of them, right, so this is kind of an extreme example. Verse number five, more signs, though, and more symptoms that we can see, and always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying, now, crying there isn't weeping, he's just kind of yelling out, right, he's just out there yelling, screaming, right, probably saying all manner of weird things, whatever, and cutting himself with stones, and, you know, there's people that, one of the warning signs that someone might commit suicide is someone who cuts themselves, you've probably heard that before, right, and I think that one of the reasons for that is because people who are possessed with devils often will kill themselves, because of the affliction and the torture that they're dealing with with the demons is going to drive them to kill themselves, and they're not in the right mind oftentimes, and they do these things, and as we see here, this guy's possessed with devils, and he's cutting himself, so just another thing to consider, the Bible, again, the Bible doesn't tell us this information for no reason at all, right, like, if it really just had no impact, doesn't matter, then why is it even really in the story, it doesn't need to take up that space, it wouldn't need to be given to us unless there's a good, valuable reason for it, and the valuable reason is because these are all things that are indicative of someone who is possessed with devils. Verse number six, but when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him, worship means he fell down on his face before him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, what have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high God, I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not, so here's a tormentor, here's someone, you know, this spirit, these evil spirits, and he's saying, oh, no, you know, he's falling down, saying, don't torment me, and he says, well, I guess it's not here, but with other people saying, don't, you know, don't permit me before the time, see, these devils know that their time is coming, and we'll see that in another passage, but here he's just saying, like, don't, and notice how he knows who Jesus is right away, Jesus didn't have to introduce himself to him, he knew who Jesus was as soon as he saw him, why, because the devils have seen Jesus already before his birth, because Jesus has always existed, Jesus is from everlasting and to everlasting, his existence on his earth was not his creation, it was his transition from heaven to earth, two totally different things, right, so that that's why all the devils know him, as soon as they see him, they know, like, oh, man, it's, you know, like, they're going to go and worship him and be like, don't torment me, don't torture me, and it's only the devils doing that, of course, the angels, when they're in the presence, they're not falling down saying, don't torment me, because there's no reason for them to be tormented, right, they know that they're not cursed, these devils are cursed, verse 8 says, for he said unto him, come out of the man, thou unclean spirit, so Jesus is already commanding the devil to come out, and he asked him, what is thy name, and he answered saying, my name is Legion, for we are many, so there's one speaker here, but he's speaking for all the devils that are inside of that man, and he says, we are Legion, for we are many, and I'll tell you what, this is the they, them pronouns in the Bible, it's right here, so it does exist in scripture for all the people that want to talk about, oh, what God's word says, it does, it definitely references they, them, they, them is plural, okay, if you're referring to yourself as a they, them, you got some serious problems, I mean serious problems, very serious, like, this is a serious problem, and I'd be willing to bet a lot of those they, thems are possessed with devils, and it's not just, some of them are just like, they're just trying to be stupid or cool or whatever, both at the same time, just trying to go along and whatever, just continue the nonsense, right, because that seems to be the popular thing among that crowd, but there's definitely some people out there that I believe are they, them, and it's a real pronoun for them, because they just have devils inhabiting them, so it's like, yeah, they, are they all coming, and it's one person with a bunch of devils, it's a serious condition to be in, verse number 10, and he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country, neither was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding, and all the devils besought him, saying, send us into the swine that we may enter into them, and forthwith Jesus gave them leave, and the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and then a parenthetical statement here says they were about 2,000, that gives you an idea of how many unclean spirits were in this guy, that's a lot, right, I mean, first it says there's a legion, a legion, and I don't remember the numbers off the top of my head, a legion is a large number, right, you've got centurions that are over 100, you've got other officers and names for different amounts of troops in battle, right, and then a legion is a certain number, which is a lot, and I don't remember the exact name, and if I was better prepared, I would have thought about looking it up before I preach this morning, but we see here that there's about 2,000 of the swine that ran down the hill, just violently ran down and commit suicide into the water, which is kinda like, why did you wanna be even cast into anything anyways because all those swine now are just dead, who knows, can't understand the mind of a devil, right, and they were choked in the sea, verse 14, and they that fed the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country and they went out to see what it was that was done, and they come to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil and had the legion sitting and clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid, so they see, everyone knew who this guy was, they knew him, right, he couldn't be, but people tried to bind him, they tried to tame him, they tried to do things, no one could do anything for him and they just basically just stayed away from him, I mean, that dude's nuts, he's, just stay away from the cemetery at night or whatever, and like, you see this guy, you know, walk the other way, everyone knew who this guy was, but now they see him, one, he's sitting, right? He's calm, he's not, you know, causing a bunch of chaos and a big disturbance like it's normal for him, he's sitting, and he's clothed, and in another account of this passage in Luke 8, I'll just read this for you, stay in Mark, Luke 8, 27, it says, and when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man which had devils long time and wear no clothes, neither abode in any house but in the tombs. So that gospel gives us that little bit of information that the guy was naked, I mean, some naked guy in the cemetery crying and cutting himself, it's crazy, I mean, it's crazy, but then they see this guy, he's sitting, he's wearing clothing, and this is, I think, the biggest point, and in his right mind, he's got sound mind now, which is what he didn't have when he had all the devils in him. And, of course, we would consider this to be crazy, and even a lot of people today that you might look at and be like, that person's crazy, it's very likely that that person you think is crazy is possessed with devils. Now, I also wanna point this out, because this is important also. This man was delivered from those devils. We have no indication that this man was a reprobate. Reprobation and being possessed with devils are two different things. Bible teaches that Mary Magdalene had seven devils cast out of her. Is there any reason to believe that she wasn't saved? And as we see Jesus, and there's much more reference, like I said, I don't know how much time we're gonna have to get to all of them, but a lot of reference is, as Jesus is healing, he's healing the lame and the blind and the sick, and he's also casting out devils. So in addition to healing infirmities, he's casting out devils from people that are plaguing him. And I'll tell you this much too, devils are different than getting sick. It's not a devil that's like, oh, the devil of the cold and the devil of the cancer and the devil of these other illnesses, right? But look, there's churches out there that'll teach that stuff. And it's weird, and it's not right. I think, oh, what's that guy's name? I just saw something about him. Famous Baptist guy, that's a real big following online, and he just went nuts. He divorced his wife, and he's like just super crazy now. Locke, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that guy. That guy teaches this kind of stuff now with the spirits, and everything is just caused by a devil, like everything. Anything wrong in life is just a devil, it's a devil, it's a devil, it's a devil. It's like, that's stupid. We know that there's other problems that exist in this world. When Jesus went around and cast out devils, he didn't just cast out devils. He also healed people. There's also people who couldn't walk. There's also people who couldn't see. There's so many other problems that he was healing and dealing with, not just, oh, well, just got rid of all the devils, and now they're just perfectly fine. Stupid. And, in fact, in this story, as well, there's in a, I'll have you turn to Matthew 17. And just for my point there, too, just from the book of Acts in chapter eight, this isn't even Jesus, of course, the book of Acts, so the disciples were casting out unclean spirits, as well. Acts eight, seven says, for unclean spirits, crying with loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them. So there's a lot of people that had devils, by the way. I mean, there was many people that were possessed. And many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed. So there's also people who were taken with palsies, there's also people who were lame. He took care of all of that stuff. But in the book of Matthew, in the same story with the man that came out here with the legion of devils, there was actually two men that were, there's one other man with him. I'll read this verse for you, and it's not a contradiction in scripture, it's just that one scripture is giving you certain information. The more pertinent for that writer of the gospel, because Jesus dealt with one person primarily. So it didn't matter that there was another person there with him in the account that was given from the perspective of Mark, for example. But in Matthew, in that same story, verse 28 of chapter eight, it says, and when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two possessed with devils coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce so that no man might pass by that way. So the other little bit of information we get is that these guys are also contrary to other people. They're not just, you know, like anyone that wants to come by that way, it says they were fierce, so it means they're gonna be angry and trying to start fights with people and trying to come by that way and be like, you're not coming over here, right? Like really aggressive type of people there. And behold, they cried out, saying what have we to do with thee, Jesus, our son of God. And then the rest of that story doesn't really bring up the other person, but there were more than one person there with him. And then, yeah, Matthew 17, we're gonna see here that the evil spirits are capable of inflicting a lot of harm to people. Like they can harm you, right? This isn't, I mean, it's a spiritual thing, but the spiritual affects the physical, especially for someone who's possessed with a devil. It's not just something that you can't experience or feel. There's absolutely a lot of feel there. And in fact, I'm just gonna read for you from Acts 1038. The Bible says, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him. The devil brings oppression and the devils bring oppression. And people possessed with devils are definitely oppressed. They are being oppressed actively, people who are possessed of devils. And it might be kind of scary, and it might be something that you don't have anything to do with. But like I said before, remember that there's people, just because they're possessed with devils, it doesn't mean they're unable to get saved. Now, I'm sure there are also people out there who are already reprobated that also have devils, right? But you don't wanna make the assumption that, oh, because they have a devil, then they're just automatically reprobated, they can't be saved, there's no hope for them, right? Don't have that mindset because they're being oppressed and you don't necessarily know that, that they're beyond hope of redemption. Matthew 17, look at verse number 14, the Bible reads, and when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son for he is lunatic and sore vexed, for oft times he falleth into the fire and oft into the water. So this man is entreating for his son, he says his son is a lunatic. Now, we just know someone as a lunatic, as someone who's being crazy, but a lunatic is someone who, Luna coming from like lunar from the moon, and this would be more of a definition, I didn't get the definition written down here, but a lot of times you probably hear people kind of going more crazy on full moons and stuff, and that's where a lot of mythology comes from with werewolves and stuff like that. It comes from people who either they're into occultic things or whatever, the fascination with the moon and, you know, worshiping of false gods and weird stuff and satanic practices drives people to become like these lunatics. Now, a lunatic for us, modern day usage, is just someone who's nuts, someone who's crazy, right? But there's actually a little bit more meaning to that behind that word. But regardless, it is someone here who's saying he's sore vexed, so he's really troubled, and oftentimes he falls into the fire and off into the water, indicating the damage or the harm coming to him, I mean, falling into the fire, like this guy, this demon is causing this person who's possessed, basically trying, you know, like, you might look at it saying he's trying to kill himself, but he's got the devil inside of him kind of making him do these things or getting him to do these things or whatever. That's very dangerous. So we see another example here. We saw one guy cutting himself, and we see this guy, you know, getting cast into the fire and into the water, like these real dangerous situations, like deathly situations by being possessed of a devil. Verse 16 says, and I brought him to thy disciples and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, oh, faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. Now, I want to point out this too. Remember when Jesus sent them out, before this, this is Matthew 17, he's already endued them with power to cast out devils, and they're really happy about being able to do that, but here's a situation with someone that they weren't even able to cast out this devil. So even though they even had the power to do so, they weren't able to at this time. Now, of course, Jesus is all powerful, Jesus could do all things, and Jesus is able to heal this man. Verse 18 says, and Jesus rebuked the devil and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief, for verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, remove ends to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit, so he mentions, first of all, he's just like, look, you just need more faith. Like if you have faith, this can be done. He says, but this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting. So he brings up prayer and fasting, and if you wanna learn more about that, come back tonight, because I'm gonna be teaching about fasting this evening. So we'll see the power that comes from prayer and fasting, and he's saying, this devil needed some prayer and fasting, what does that tell you about Jesus? Jesus has already been practicing prayer and fasting, even up to that point, right? Like he's already involved with that. So whereas we might specifically call a fast, Jesus was kind of ready in that situation to be able to deal with that. But anyways, I'll go more into fasting tonight. Turn if you would to Luke chapter nine. Luke chapter nine. We're gonna see more about devils doing harm to people, right, like physical harm. Verse number 38, the Bible says there in Luke chapter nine, and behold, a man of the company cried out saying, master, I beseech thee, look upon my son, for he is mine only child. And lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out, and it teareth him that he fometh again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. So there's some foaming at the mouth going on. There's crying out and even getting bruises, right? Now, I'm gonna get into this in a little bit, but there's multiple ways in which people can be possessed with devils, I believe, and there's things that you can do that are gonna open up yourself more to being possessed with devils, and like I said, I'm gonna get into that more, but one of those ways, because I think this ties in more closely, is even through religion. So there's religion where people do a lot of weird practices, right, false god worship, and they'll get into these trance-like states, and they oftentimes will use music, and they'll use sometimes drugs, depending on the religion, right, and they'll use these different things to invoke this spiritual world, and then they start doing things outside of their control, and even to the point of foaming at the mouth and crying out and doing these things. Now, it doesn't ever say what's being said from these devils and these stories here. We don't know what's being said. I think sometimes it could be this really blasphemous or wicked things, but sometimes it could even be things that might sound good, and we'll see an example of one of those in just a minute. But people being possessed, people foaming at the mouth in this stuff, that's not of God. That is someone who's possessed with devil, and I think what we would more commonly see would be in a church like a Pentecostal church, where I believe the people who, and there's a pattern for how this works in those churches. They'll have the music playing and amping people up, and there'll be a lot of shouting out and the amens and the hallelujahs, and people are getting all worked up, and it's kind of this whole process of getting everyone worked up and dancing around and worked up, and then before you know it, you have people just go, oh, I'm aware, and just crying out with whatever type of sound or language, and you know what? It might sound like a real language, too. I mean, when people are spouting off this stuff, so a lot of times you'll see them flopping on the ground and convulsing like they're having a seizure, and then when you talk to the people, and I've seen the interviews with these people, they don't know oftentimes what even happened. Like, they can't explain. They just think, oh, the Spirit overcame me, and that's just God expressing whatever the Holy Spirit wanted to express. And that's how they explain it. But look, that's not of God. The Bible teaches that the Spirit of the prophets is subject unto the prophets. God is not the author of confusion. God does not just control your life and just take over and just make you do things. You have a will, and God respects that will. And He will instruct you. Now, He may use different methods of persuasion, like with Jonah, right? But Jonah had free will. Now, he kept choosing wrong, and God kept on punishing him for it. But he never forced, like took over Jonah's body and be like, well, if you're not gonna do it, you're just gonna do it anyways, and just like caused him to walk into Nineveh and just preach the Word of God. He doesn't do that. And we have no example of that in Scripture ever of anybody doing anything like that from God, from the Holy Spirit. Everyone always has the choice to do. But when it comes to demon possession, devil possession, people don't have a choice. That devil's controlling, possessing that person and controlling them and plaguing and vexing them. And hey, they might think it's, oh, this is all great, this is all of God, but it's not. Similar to other people saying, oh, that's a psychological problem, or some mental, you know, like, no, it's a spiritual problem. There's misidentification going on. So here we see the foaming at the mouth, bruising him, verse 40. And I besought thy disciples to cast them out, and they could not. And Jesus answering, said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down and tear him. So I mean, a guy just like threw him down and just kind of like ripped out of him. Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child and delivered him again to his father. So that's another account of that same story. Now turn, if you would, to Acts chapter 16. Acts chapter 16, I want to show you that the spirits, first of all, they know things. They know things, because they've been around for a really long time. And people who get into occult practices, really wicked stuff, they may be able to receive some type of information or some type of knowledge or some things that you would consider to be, hey, how could anyone possibly know that? Well, a normal person might not be able to know that, but a devil could. A devil has knowledge and access to information because they've been around for a really long time. Because they're in the spiritual world. And if they start communicating with people, right? Then you can look at that person and be like, wow, this person's really special or whatever. And not every devil, we're going to see this here, not everyone is going to act the same way towards the person they're possessing. And this is a perfect example of this. Acts 16, look at verse number 16. Bible says, and it came to pass as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us. Now, divination is not a good thing when people are going to the diviners. And we're going to see that in the law of God in just a minute. The spirit and being possessed is also not, no one is ever, ever, a believer is never possessed of the Holy Ghost. We're indwelled or filled with the Holy Ghost, but no one's ever possessed. That word possessed is always a negative term. Someone's being possessed. It means you're being controlled, okay? Possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her master's much gain by soothsaying. Again, soothsayers, not a good thing, right? Read the Old Testament, bad, not good. You don't want to go to the soothsayer. But people come to this woman like they would go to a psychic, like they would go to a tarot card reader to get information, to learn, you know, to know more about whatever it is they want to know. And this person is possessed with a spirit of divination. So she's possessed with a devil. And this devil is giving out whatever information it gives out, whether it's true or not, it doesn't even matter, it's just giving out, it's possessing this person and doing as it pleases with her. Verse 17, the same followed Paul and us and cried, saying, these men are the servants of the most high God which show unto us the way of salvation. Now look, that's a true statement. They are servants of the most high God and they are showing the way of salvation. But she's just going before them and oh, these are the, you know. And we see what happens here. Now, we don't see this woman getting torn or cutting herself or doing any of those other things, right? But she's just having this soothsaying going on. And in verse 18, it says, and this did she many days, but Paul being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her and he came out the same hour. So she lost that spirit of divination that was possessing her and was driven out of her. And he cast her out. Now, she didn't experience all of the same things that the other story showed, but she was still possessed with a devil. And this is why it's important not to get involved in the witchcraft and in the magic. God told us, you don't have to understand every aspect about it. He just says, don't do it. And he says, thou shalt not suffer a witch to live in his law in the Old Testament. And he tells us, you know, all these, let's just go there real quick. Cause go to Deuteronomy chapter 18. Deuteronomy chapter 18. I just wanna spell this out here and show it in the law. You know, a lot of people treat this stuff like it's not a big deal. They'll make a big game out of it or a laugh of it. And you know, they may not take it seriously and be like, hey, let's go to the psychic and see what the psychic has to say. You know, whatever they go there, do their thing and they leave. But then there's other people who really take that stuff very seriously, very seriously. And it's wicked and it's wrong, but you know what? Even the people who don't take it seriously, you just shouldn't have anything to do with it whatsoever. Cause what you're doing, and I believe this, there's also a lot of charlatans out there who literally, all they are is just a total fake and a fraud and they know how to gain information about people and they know how to say things in a way that's just real common and can apply to 98% of the people or whatever. They know statistics on things, they know what to say, they know how to con people. There's a lot of con people out there in that business. Absolutely, no doubt about it. They just want the money and they're just gonna deceive people into giving them money. But there are people in that business that are dealing with the things, with the dark things, with the spirits, with the devils, that is real. And I believe that 100%. Otherwise, why would there be so much of a warning against this? Look at Deuteronomy 18, verse number 10. The Bible says, there shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, and remember, that lady was divining, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consultor with familiar spirits. And that's something you'll see oftentimes throughout the Old Testament as well, someone who consults with familiar spirits. That's who Saul went to see when God wasn't speaking to him. He went to the witch at Endor and was looking for some advice and he wanted her to call up Samuel and he's dealing with someone who consulted with familiar spirits. Familiar spirits are a real thing. They're devils, okay? And there are people that consult with the devils, that communicate and commune and have seances or whatever and all this wicked stuff. And look, don't have anything to do with that. God says that none of that's allowed in the land and should be gone. He says, or a wizard or necromancer, right? All of this stuff have nothing to do with it. That, I mean, getting around those people and bringing that stuff in, I think that's one way that you're gonna introduce devils into your life. And I know someone personally that's had that experience of being able to see things because there's another person in their life that was really involved in this stuff. And that's just inviting, opening up the door and saying, hey, devils, come on in. Messing around with the Ouija boards and stuff like that, oh, it's Parker Brothers, oh, it's just a game or whatever. Like, look, don't mess with that stuff. Don't mess with that stuff. I mean, this is serious. You get afflicted and tormented by a devil, man, you don't want that. You don't want that. Because back in the day when there was these signs where Jesus empowered his disciples to be able to heal and be able to do this stuff with these signs and wonders, those things aren't around today. Now, I'm not saying God's not possible to heal. I'm not saying God's not possible to cast out devils. I'm not saying God's not possible to do any of those things specifically. But you don't have people endued with that power just from on high to just go out and do all this stuff like the disciples were back in the day. And that's kind of another sermon going into why that is. Okay, but God's word being confirmed going forward with the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ after the resurrection of Christ, God wanted that confirmation of the truth going forward, which is why he did that. So that's the short answer. But people can be delivered still today, but you don't want to be messing around with that because you find yourself in a, and don't worry, we're getting into an area where I don't believe it's possible for believers to be possessed of devils, okay? But we're getting to that. Turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 12. But you still don't mess with these things. You have nothing to do with them. Verse number 22, the Bible reads in Matthew 12, 22. Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed and said, is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devil. So Jesus is casting out devils, right? He does it here to another particular instance. And then the Pharisees are like, he's not of God. The only reason he's able to cast out devils is because he's working for Satan, basically. He's just a child of the devil, which is why he has his power to cast out these devils. So they're trying to justify it because they will not accept that he's of God or the son of God. And then he answers them here. And this, by the way, this is where that unforgivable sin comes from, okay? I'm not gonna get into that today. I decided against getting into that because there's too much else. But let's keep reading his response, verse 25. And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation in every city or house. Divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. So he's saying, first of all, if I'm working for the devil, it's not doing any good to cast out the devil, right? Like it's stupid, right? It doesn't make any sense. How is he even gonna get his kingdom achieved or do any work if he's fighting against himself? You can't have inner fighting within that. So trying to accuse me of working for the devil to cast out and heal people of the devil makes no sense. It's like a believer trying to get someone to become a child of the devil. Like, what? They're two opposite things, sort of not even close, it doesn't make sense, it doesn't mix. And then he's also saying, okay, well, look, if I'm casting them out by Beelzebub, what about your sons? You know, they're casting them out, so are they working for the devil too? Verse 28, but if I cast out devils by the spirit of God then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Now, verse 29, or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods except he first bind the strong man and then he will spoil his house? Now, this is an important verse here explaining the possession itself. It's a parable, right? Because he's talking about someone just going into someone's house, right? So you just think about their physical house. Some thief wants to come in and take his stuff. Well, it's not gonna work unless he takes care of the house owner first, right? So there's a guy living in his house, someone comes in, he wants to rob him. Well, the guy whose house isn't just gonna be like, all right, go ahead, just take whatever you want. I'll just kick back, you know, like, no, he's gonna put up a fight and a resistance. So in order to spoil his house, you need to bind. You need to, you know, tie that guy up, make sure he's not gonna be a problem for you. This isn't just out of left field. He's talking about this because this is what happens then when people are being possessed, you gotta take care of the person in order for the demon to be able to do whatever he wants to do, right? To have his way in the house of the body, right? Our body is the housing for our soul, for our spirit. So this is our house. There's many places where the Bible refers to our bodies being our house, right? Our body is the tabernacle, the temple, the Holy Ghost, right, the Bible talks about that. And with fornication, you're sinning against your own body and it's the temple of God and all this stuff, right? So there's a lot of other areas we can look at that will explain this, but let's jump down to verse number 43. We're gonna skip over where he talks about the unforgivable sin. Verse 43, it's still in the context of this passage though. Check it out later if you want. Verse 43, when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out. And when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven other spirits, more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also under this wicked generation. Now, what's being described here is a devil, an unclean spirit going out of a man. So someone who's possessed, the devil departs, and then walks through dry places seeking rest and findeth none. So he's out and about, looking for somewhere to inhabit, looking for rest, not finding anywhere for him to go. So then he's like, well, I'm gonna go back to where I was before. He says, I will return into my house. Now, it's not talking about a physical house, it's talking about the body that he previously inhabited. That's his house, because that's where he dwells. That's where that devil wants to live. He's like, I'm gonna go back to my house. And it says, from whence I came out, and when he has come, he findeth it empty. There's nothing there. Swept and garnished, right? It's all cleaned up, ready to go, because the devil's gone, but it's empty. And this is the big problem, okay? If you were born again, your house is not empty. You've got the Holy Ghost residing there. Now, a devil may be able to overcome and overpower you and bind you, right? But he's not gonna bind the Holy Ghost. And a strong man that tries to come in, uh-uh, because you've got a guardian dwelling inside of your house, inside of your tabernacle, inside of your body that won't allow that to happen. But if the spirit departs from someone, they start to feel better, oh man, things are going great for me, I'm on the right track, but they're not saved, they don't got the Holy Spirit. And oftentimes you see some people can clean up their life and maybe a devil departs, but then they don't end up getting saved, and then that devil comes back. And then when that devil comes back, it says here, well, now he's taken seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter. So you've got eight devils residing inside of this guy. Which is way worse than having one. And of course, he's applying this to the Pharisees and how they're, you know, and everything they're doing here, but just looking at it on a surface value here, what he's talking about, this is a good reason why I believe that it's impossible for someone who has the Spirit of God, someone who's born again, to ever be possessed of a devil. And why it's so important that when people are possessed, it's not just good enough to get that devil departed, they need to get saved then. People need to get saved. And I think sometimes there's people who have a false assurance of salvation, maybe they didn't know something before, they thought they were saved, and then this happens, and it could even get worse than afterwards. Let's keep going here, I've got a few more verses I want to cover. Turn, if you would, to 33 Ephesians chapter six. I'm gonna try to close it out on, there's so much information. When Judas betrayed Jesus, we saw in Luke 22, verse three, the Bible says, then entered Satan into Judas, surname Iscariot being of the number of the 12. So Judas we know wasn't ever saved. Jesus already said he was a devil, basically from the beginning, he knew that Judas wasn't saved, he was chosen because he was a traitor and the prophecy needed to be fulfilled. So he knew that from the very beginning, we knew that Satan was a thief, he didn't care about any of this stuff, but he faked it, he put on a front, he put on a mask to try to let everyone else think that he was a believer when he wasn't. And he was open then for Satan to literally enter into him when he went then and betrayed Jesus Christ. So that's the possession, Satan enters into a person and not just Satan, it could be any of the devils, right? The Bible also teaches us that, and you're in Ephesians six, just stay there. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse number 20, the Bible reads, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils, you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. So this is instruction being like, look, have nothing to do with the food that's offered and sacrifice and idols and everything else, but if people are offering things and sacrifice to devils, and if people are involved in the table of devils and stuff like that, that's not something anyone should be involved with. I think, again, if people are unsaved, it's probably opening up the door for devils to come in because you're now being partaker. And unfortunately, a lot of people are unwittingly doing this, they just don't know. There's instances where people get into drugs, I already mentioned that, and get heavily into drugs that kind of opens up the door, lowers your defenses, makes you easier to bind in your house. You know, getting into the false religions, getting into the wrong music even, there's a power that comes through that that you need to be aware of and stay away from. But Ephesians chapter six, where is my last page? Huh. We're gonna start reading there in verse number 11. This is the instruction about the whole armor of God, about being strong against the devil, against the works of the devil. Verse 11 reads, put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. When you're armed with the helmet of salvation, that's gonna protect you from the most brutal attacks, and the shield of faith. Those are the two most important defensive pieces that you can have. Salvation and faith, to ward off all the wickedness, all of the evil, all of the wiles of the devil in the spiritual battle that we face. We need to be able to recognize the spiritual fight in order to help with the spiritual battle too, and identify it. And when you have things like, and I didn't even, I forgot to bring this up, I guess, but things that are indicative of being possessed with the devil, this is why people hear voices. Because you have a devil that's able to speak. I mean, the devil is speaking, these devils are speaking to Jesus saying, hey, torment me not. They're speaking. But you know what, they're also able to speak to the person that they're possessing inaudibly as well. People who are possessed with devils are able to hear them speaking. And it can drive you nuts. And it puts people out of being in a sound mind by having that type of oppression going on. And we need to be aware of this and not get fearful and freaked out about it. If you ever come across these people, because oftentimes you'll see homeless people or whatever that could have these issues, look, still love them and try to help them. I'm not saying that we necessarily are given the power to just be like, you know, devil be gone. Okay, that'd be awesome. But it doesn't mean that those devils can't also still be cast out, right? And some, it might take prayer and fasting, and you know what, we pray for people, I love them, and try to show them the gospel and just because there's devils there doesn't mean that the other person isn't still there too. Right, so if the person can hear and receive the gospel, that will cast out those devils, because once the Holy Spirit moves in, those devils are going bye-bye. They're moving out. They must move out. Because no one can bind the Holy Ghost. So just remember that. Please, don't write off people that seem nuts. You know, help, try to help deal with the problem. Of course, everyone, it's still up to everyone individually to make their own choice, right? So it doesn't mean, but the best way to help someone like that is going to be to show them how to be saved. I had some more notes in here, but we're gonna call it a day for now. Just remember we're in this battle, and I'll just read this one verse for you from Acts 26, verse 18. Says to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God. Satan has power in this world. There is a power of Satan. The Bible says that Satan was given the power of death that's already been overcome through Jesus Christ. But these satanic forces are at work in our world today. They need to recognize it. Don't let people make fun of you because you believe in that. Hey, look, this is what the Bible says. This is truth. And you're gonna be able to help someone out way more than someone who doesn't understand these things because when you recognize a problem for what it really is, then you can get to the root cause or the solution to the problem. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we love you. Thank you so much for giving us a great wisdom from the scripture. I pray that you would please help us to be able to help those in need of this. I pray that you would please help us to reach more people at the gospel so that less people could be afflicted with these devils and these demons, Lord. And I pray that you would please just give us the wisdom in dealing with these situations and guide us, dear Lord. And I pray that you would please just bless our church, bless everyone here today, dear Lord, and help us all to serve you better and to reach people this afternoon. We love you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. All right, we're gonna sing one last song before we're dismissed for the morning. Brother Peter, will you please lead us? Yes, sir. All right, church, if you can pick up your hymnals. Song number 360. Song 360, pray about everything. All right, church, let's sing this out in the first. Once I was burning, when man he appeared, promised to harp for my great soul to bend, then in God's word came a message so clear, pray about everything. Then in God's word came a message so clear, pray about everything. Prayer's a wonderful treasure. Prayer's a wonderful thing. Bless you, Lord, without measure. So pray about everything. Ask of your Father, we love him to peace. Unlock his treasure, he gives us the keys. Pray we can promise not to drop to my knees. Pray about everything. Prayer's a wonderful treasure. Prayer's a wonderful thing. Bless you, Lord, without measure. So pray about everything. Praying and fretting can only bring shame. Hurry and fear will dishonor his name. Look to your Savior, his promise to fame. Pray about everything. Prayer's a wonderful treasure. Prayer's a wonderful thing. Messing all odds with the measure. So pray about everything. Raise His name, Jesus, abundant and free. He's in our world for whatever it be. God's more than asking, this only is we. Pray about everything. Prayer's a wonderful treasure. Prayer's a wonderful thing. Messing all odds with the measure. So pray about everything. Amen, church. Great singing. Thank you so much for coming, you guys. God bless you.