Defeated Demons 0816304874

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DEFEATED DEmuns morris L. Uenden

Pacific Press Publishing Association

Boise, Idaho Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Copyright 1982 by Pacific Press Publishing Association Printed in United States of America All rights reserved 85 86 87 88 • 5 4 3 2

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Venden, Morris L. Defeated demons. 1. Demoniac possession-Biblical teaching 2. Exorcism-Biblical teaching. 3. Bible. N.T. Gospels-Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title BS2545 .D5V46 235' .4 82-7845 ISBN 0-8163-0487-4 AACR2

Defeated Demons by Morris L. Venden

The choir had just finished singing the morning's anthem. With a soft rustle of robes, the singers returned to their places in the choir loft and sat down. A slight stir ran through the congregation as people shifted in their seats, seeking the most comfortable position to sit out the sermon. The church was crowded that morning, and suppressed excitement was in the air, for the morning speaker had a reputation for being controversial. He wasn't often invited to express His views publicly, and rumors had it that one such service had actually ended in a near riot. The platform elder was understandably a bit nervous as he glanced toward the guest speaker and nodded slightly to indicate that the time had come for Him to begin. The speaker had scarcely reached the podium and opened His mouth to speak when the doors to the rear of the sanctuary crashed open. Shrieking and staggering up the center aisle, a demoniac hurled himself into the presence of Jesus. 3

You can read about it in Luke 4:33-36. "In the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil , and cried out with a loud voice." The description is a bit humorous-"an unclean devil." After all, how many clean devils are there? But at least we can assume that as devils go, this particular devil was a bad one. This demoniac "cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. " Notice the pronouns-they are very interesting. "Let us alone." "What have we to do with thee?" " Art thou come to destroy us ?" Evidently the demon began by speaking both for himself and for the man that he possessed. But then he ended with " I know thee ." Perhaps the man did not realize in whose presence he had been so violently placed. But the demon certainly recognized whom he was confronting. This must have been a rather nervy demon. Perhaps he felt especially adventurous that day when he decided to interrupt the church service where Jesus-the One who had created himwas holding forth. But nervy or not, he also must not have been particularly smart. He should have known better, because he ended up in defeat-as the demons always do in the presence of Jesus. For "Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil 4

had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out." In the Bible are seven recorded instances of Jesus' confrontations with the demons. Before we go on to consider the second occasion, please notice three things: (1) Jesus' contact and conversation with the demon was brief, (2) the demon was forced to leave his victim immediately, and (3) at least in this particular case , there was no intercessor present. No one was involved in bringing the afflicted man to Jesus or in seeking Jesus' help in his behalf. He came alone. In fact, he wasn't even capable of asking help for himself, for when he tried to speak, the demon spoke through him. Yet Jesus was still able to deliver and save him. The second case history, Matthew 9:32-34, is very short. ''As they went out, behold they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel." In this case, there was an intercession, for it says, "they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil." Once again, however, the encounter was brief. And the evidence is that the demons were forced to leave immediately at Jesus' word . 5

The people who brought this man to Jesus couldn't do anything to help him. But they knew enough to bring him to Jesus, and that's the right thing to do, don't you think? Apyone today who knows someone who is tormented or oppressesd or in trouble could follow the example of these people in bringing that one to Jesus. He is the only One who has the power to bring healing and restoration. At the time of this confrontation, the Pharisees dropped a seed of doubt. Notice verse 34: "The Pharisee said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils." This seed was to germinate and grow and do its ugly work in the minds of the people. We'll hear more about it later. But the Pharisees always did their best to discredit Jesus. Case history number three is found in Matthew 12. "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." The record continues with a dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees. But Jesus' actual encounter with the demons again was brief and again ended in their total defeat. This time also there was intercession-the m ~ n was brought to Jesus. The religious leaders