A.M. Sermon
Spring Hill, TN
3/25/07 a.m.
Series: “Discovering the Spiritual Realm” (Pt.9)
Text(s): Luke 11:14-26 (and Matthew 12:43-45)
Summary: In PART 9, we explore the spiritual beings known as demons. From the biblical doctrine of demons the applicable question is asked, “What possesses you?”
“Demons are Real”
Introduction:
A. The Loss of Wonder
A. Henrietta Hay, a regular columnist for The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, Colorado wrote an article in July 1996 titled, “Keep a sense of wonder till you are a very old child.”
“Yesterday morning I watched a mother hummingbird feed her baby. Last night I looked at pictures taken by the Hubble telescope of the still-expanding remnants of a star that exploded more than 900 years ago…I have come, in my late years, to believe that the sense of awe and wonder is a luxury indulged in chiefly by children and old people. In the in-between-years, most of us are too busy surviving and procreating to have time to wonder.
B. Neil Postman in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death discuses how that the age of television and almost instantaneous information exchange has caused us to loose our sense of wonder.
C. Nothing seems to surprise or astonish us anymore.
D. With the information age, everything is exposed we realize all that is about us, we hear about it all.
E. We have become de-sensitized through over exposure.
F. When we loose our sense of wonder, we seem to also loose our sense of God’s presence. And without a God’s presence we experience a spiritual emptiness that nothing else can fill.
B. Demon Possession
A. Our lesson text: Luke 11:14-26. We are going to discuss something that caused people in the first century to “wonder.”
B. The title of our lesson is “Demon Possession: What Possesses You?” We will explore three points:
(1) The Wonder of Demons
(2) The Wonderful Savior
(3) A Wonder Filled Life
I. The “Wonder” of Demons (vs. 14-16)
A. The Devil and Demon Possession
1. Verse 14 – “And he was casting out a demon (that was) dumb. And it came to pass, when the demon was gone out, the dumb man spake;
2. The King James Version incorrectly renders “devil” here. The Greek word for devil is “diabolos,” and is not used here. (Jackson 1).
3. When the KJV translates “devils” this is a different word entirely than the word translated “Devil.”
4. “There is only one devil, but many demons” (Jackson).
5. This verse explains to us that the demon caused the man to be dumb (and possibly blind as well if Matthew 12:22 is a parallel account). We know this because the dumb man could speak when the demon was gone (Boles 233).
6. “Critics of the Bible…allege that this is an example of the gross superstition that characterizes the ancient volume” (Jackson 1)
7. Claim: Demon accounts are not true stories—they are simply superstitious beliefs of an ancient culture.
8. Claim: What we now know to be diseases and sickness—attributed to demons
9. Answer: Jesus had conversations with demon possessed people (Luke 8—Legion).
10. Answer: A clear distinction made between demon possession and being sick. “Demon possession could produce illness, but not all illness was attributed to the indwelling of evil spirits.” (Mark 1:32—“And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him [Jesus] all that were sick, and them that were possessed with demons.”)
B. The Fascination with Demons
1. “…and the multitudes marveled” (ASV).
2. In 1970 the book The Exorcist by William P. Blattly sold millions of copies and became the best selling paperback in American publishing history (Edwards 131).
3. In 1973 the movie based upon the book premiered, and has just recently been re-released.
4. Unfortunately, fictional books and movies like this have been ingrained within our minds as to what demons are all about. The Bible, the true source for demons, paints a very different picture.
5. Perhaps the most significant fact of the New Testament on demons is that it “provides no materials for a discussion of the nature and characteristics of demons” (ISBE).
6. There is a curious absence of any imaginative details in the Bible concerning demons (ibid.).
C. The Sphere of Demon Operation
1. Exorcism—an elaborate almost magical ritual for removing demons from a possessed person.
2. This is foreign to NT. Jesus and apostles simply commanded the demons with a spoken word in the name of God to leave.
3. Babylonian belief—demons are everywhere; under beds, in closets, creeping under doors
4. The NT presents intense restrictions upon the sphere of demon operation.
5. Babylonians—demons were grotesque, disgusting, hideous creature. This is foreign to NT.
6. Babylonians—demons were ascribed things like toothaches, headaches, broken bones, outbursts of anger, diseases, etc. No hint in NT of such morbid ideas
7. Verse 15—“But some of them said, By Beelzebub the prince of the demons casteth he out demons.”.
8. There are apparently two kinds of people who do not recognize the power of God when they see it (Interpreter’s Bible).
9. The first are prejudiced and think they know it all despite the facts that are at hand (ibid.).
10. If Jesus were an agent of Satan he would have left the demon inside of the man to keep control of Him, this is obvious (Boles 234).
11. Jesus explains this in verses 17-22
II. The Wonderful Savior (Verses 20-22)
A. Sudden Appearance of Demons in NT
1. Demons are rarely mentioned in the Old Testament, in fact it is confined to five or less passages (ISBE).
2. One example: Deut. 32:17—“They sacrificed to demons, (which were) no God, to gods they knew not….”
3. Demons seem to be identified in the Bible “as the ‘dynamic behind’ the idol statues through which they attempted to get ‘men to worship to them instead of God” (Edwards 132).
4. In fact Paul seems to attribute false doctrine to the underlying work of demons (see 1 Timothy 4:1).
5. While demons are mentioned less than five times in all 39 books of the Old Testament, the curious beings are introduced again at the very start of the New Testament.
6. Matthew 4:24 – “And the report of him [Jesus] went forth into all Syria: and they brought unto him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments, possessed with demons, and epilectic, and palsied; and he healed them” (ASV).
7. From this point forward, the New Testament speaks directly of demons over 60 times (Jackson 1).
8. Beginning with Matthew through the book of Revelation there seems to be a dramatic surge in the record of demonic activity.
B. Speculation as to the Origin of Demons
1. While the Bible is somewhat silent upon the origin of demons, with the evidence that we do have in Scripture, scholars have speculated as the demon’s origin (Jackson 2).
2. Two theories of conservative scholars (Edwards 133).
3. “Departed spirits of wicked men.”
(1) Alexander Campbell, J.W. McGarvey took this position.
(2) Good scholars, but seems weak in that no where does Bible say spirits of evil men allowed to return with extraordinary power (Mark 5:4).
4. “Wicked angels that are in some way active on earth as servants of Satan”
(1) Seems more reasonable but we can’t be dogmatic.
(2) Luke 8:31—cast into the “abyss”
(3) Romans 10:7—“abyss”=Hades (?)
(4) Revelation—“abyss” (“bottomless pit” KJV)=Hades (?)
(5) II Peter 2:4—“angels that sinned cast down to Hades”
(6) Tartarus (Greek) “deepest abyss of Hades”
(7) At least both (wicked angels and demons) have same abode if not same beings.
C. Demonstrating God’s Power
1. The NT clearly shows that demons were under the control of divine authority.
2. There are six cases of where Jesus expelled demons in the gospel accounts (ibid 5-6).
3. Jesus at times commanded demons to be quiet (Mark 1:34).
4. “Since it is the case that demons could do nothing except by divine permission, the intriguing question is: Why did God allow these malevolent beings to enter into people?” (Jackson 4).
5. The Bible does not give a specific answer.
6. A reasonable case can be built upon the facts we have:
(1) If Jesus Christ’s mission on earth as the Son of God were to be effective, His absolute authority had to be established. No stone could be left unturned (Jackson 4).
(2) Power over diseases and physical ailments (John 4:46-54—Nobleman’s son healed)
(3) Authority over material objects (Matthew 14:15-21 –five thousand fed)
(4) Control over His own body; suspending gravity while walking on Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14:22-23)
(5) Control over dead people (John 11:1-45; Lazarus raised from the dead)
(6) Finally, Jesus must show His control over the spiritual realm (Luke 10:17-18; “…even the demons are subject to us in thy name…I beheld Satan falling as lightening from heaven.” This display of Jesus authority is but a preview of the ultimate fall of the devil.)
(7) In Verses 20-22, Jesus clearly says that this event of the demoniac man shows His power and authority over Satan.
D. Demon Possession Today?
1. We can confidently affirm demon possession does not happen today (Jackson 6).
2. This position can be argued from a twofold basis (ibid.).
3. First, a thoughtful study of the details concerning reported demon possession today bears no resemblance to instances of demon possession in the New Testament (ibid.).
4. These stories are very similar to stories today of modern day miracle healers. When one investigates them the evidence is never convincing (Edwards 134).
5. Dr. Earl Edward posed this interesting question: “If we have demon-possessed people today, why in my travels in over forty countries of the world have I never seen a person who is so strong that you can’t bind him with chains (cf. Mark 5:3)?” (135).
6. Second, a consideration of certain facts of the NT leads us to the conclusion that demon possession was a first-century experience; allowed for a specific reason (Jackson 6).
7. “If we are expected to cast out demons do we claim to have the miraculous power which is required to do it?” (Edwards 135).
8. In Luke 10:1-20 the 70 disciples were sent to preach and were given the power to cast out demons, a power that they did not previously have (ibid.).
9. Do we have these powers today? Neither Scripture nor personal experience would indicate that we do (ibid.).
10. The NT is clear that miracles would one day cease (I Cor. 13:8 ff).
11. “…does it stand to reason that God would allow demons to supernaturally assault people today, thus granting Satan an undue advantage” over us? (Jackson 8).
12. It does not seem that He would.
Conclusion: “A Wonder Filled Life”
A. Are You Filled with Jesus?
1. Verse 23—“He that is not with me is against me….”.
2. Jesus declares that there is no middle ground. You are either with Him or you are against Him.
3. “Either we serve God or we are in bondage to some spirit. There is no middle ground (Interpreter’s Bible)
B. Something will fill the void in your soul (vs. 24-26)
1. Carl Jung said we all have a hole in our soul.
2. The void inside needs to be filled.
3. If it is not, pain builds up inside.
4. The pain develops into anger (chip on shoulder)
5. The anger turns into rage.
6. The rage erupts into violence (all of the things we hear of on evening news).
7. Many try to fill this void with:
a. The Friday night party crowd
b. Material things (new car, stereo, clothes)
c. Illicit sexual activity
d. Drinking and drugs
8. God has made us with a void within that seeks to be filled by Him. “The hole in our soul is cross shaped.”
9. Will you let these things “possess” your life? Or will you fill your life with the LORD and his word?
10. What “possesses” you?
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