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POWER OVER DEMONS
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26
Mark 5:1-20

Deuteronomy 18:9-12

 

“…Come out of the man,

thou unclean spirit.”

 

POWER OVER DEMONS
 
The “unclean spirits” are demons. They can take possession of human bodies and dwell within them. We find here such a man who was possessed by an unclean spirit and had great physical strength (Mark 5:2-4).
 
How did he become this way? Likely through pagan and occultic activities, for Gadara where he came from was in Gentile territory full of witchcraft and idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:20 tells us that “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils.” If you invite the devil into your life, he will gladly come in. That was why God commanded the Israelites to cast out all the idolatries and dark practices from the land of Canaan (Deut 18:9-12).
 
When demons possess a man, they take control of him and make him their tool. The possessed man becomes a tool for deception and destruction. Remember how the devil possessed the serpent and used it to deceive Eve (2 Cor 11:3)? Satan deceives in order to destroy. “…He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). The Gadarene demoniac was such a victim. Look at how violent and destructive he had become—cutting himself with stones and beating up people who tried to restrain him (Mark 5:3-5).
 
How can a person free himself from demonic possession? The only way is through Jesus, the Son of the most high God (Mark 5:7). The demons are afraid of no one but Christ. The Lord Jesus here cast out the demons from the man, and the demons could not but obey Him. They left the man and entered into the pigs, and true to form, the pigs went mad and jumped off the cliff into the sea (Mark 5:13).
 
The man, once healed, regained soundness of mind and became an evangelist, testifying “how great things Jesus had done for him” (Mark 5:20). If a man wants to be delivered from demons, he must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Once Jesus comes in, the demons will quickly come out.
 
THOUGHT: Don’t play with the devil, or he will make you his playground.
PRAYER: (Thank God for how He has delivered you from Satan and from sin.)

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