Mark 3 v 8 - 12: "8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
9 And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. note
11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known."
Jesus Christ, Christ means Anointed One, had the power to draw people to Himself, especially those who were sick or possessed by demons. He had authority to heal the sick and drive out demons.
The unclean spirits, or demons, knew who Jesus was, but He commanded them not to reveal His identity. This belonged to His Father, who would reveal it to Peter at the right time.
Matthew 8 v 26 - 32: "And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29 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 the time?
30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
32 And he said unto them, 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 waters."
Jesus had authority over nature as well, He could calm the winds and seas in stormy weather. He restored peace and removed fear.
He went across the turbulent sea to set people free of such fierce demons that they were out of control and exceedingly violent. These demons also recognized Jesus and spoke to Him, questioning if He had come to torment them before the time. It was them crying out of these men, Jesus was no threat to the men, only to the demons.
They knew there was a specific time span and that He controlled it. Not them. They did not want to go back to Hell one minute before that time came. They begged to not be sent away. In order to spare the people being hurt by the demons as they were cast out, Jesus sent them into a herd of pigs which raced down a hill over a cliff and drowned in the sea.
The men were set free and in their right minds sitting calmly and peacefully, no longer possessed and tormented. That is the love of Jesus, the power and the glory. He will never share His Glory but He gave us authority to do as He has done.
I am reminded of a lady called Matilda. Early one morning the Lord impressed a verse of scripture upon me of Mary Magdalene possessed of seven demons. I was not sure why until I received a call from a fellow prayer warrior asking if she could bring her troubled friend, Matilda, to my house for prayer.
An hour later they arrived. My friend was elderly and a short, slight, woman. Matilda was also short and quite thin. I seated her on a table in the middle of the lounge. The last thing I remember was asking if her mother had rejected her......then we were flying through the air, all three of us!
Matilda landed on her back, my friend landed beside her on her right and I on her left. She was struggling furiously and screaming very loudly and continuously. I tried to move but she went for my throat, murderously, and my friend used all her strength to hold her left arm pinned down.
I was using all my strength on her right arm, but I want to put my right hand on her stomach to press those demons out. It was then that the verse of possessed by seven demons galloped into mind. I thought of the pigs and prayed that Jesus would send these demons into the pigs. After a while she calmed down and lay still.
We all got back on chairs, uninjured and relieved. Matilda said she felt wonderful. She told us that while we were struggling with her, Jesus was standing on her stomach pressing the demons out with His feet! She also saw a bunch of pigs run through the room and all the demons inside her ran into those pigs and all disappeared.
He gave us the power and He gets the glory. All we did was hold her down and call on His name. He did the rest and it was wonderful to see the shining result.
He has given His authority to everyone who is born again and baptised in water and the Holy Spirit. He has given us the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit which enable us to discern spirits so we know what we are doing.
Jesus broke the power of Satan and his demons when He died on the Cross. He did not go down to Hell for three days to be whipped by the Devil. He told the thief on the cross next to Him that "This day you will be with Me in Paradise."
Paradise is not Heaven. It's a part of Hell called Abraham's Bosom where the righteous dead waited for this time when Jesus would die and rise again.
He, in fact, gave the Devil a beating he will never forget.
Colossians 2 v 13 - 15: "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it."
Jesus spoiled satanic principalities and powers. He openly showed them who was boss and He triumphed over them, because they were and are defeated, for all time. Jesus has given us the ability to set the captives free of alcoholism, drugs, epilepsy, cancer, false religion, false angels, violence, sexual sins, insanity, witchcraft, the occult and every other disease and demon. In His name.
At the name of Jesus demons have to flee. Through the shed Blood of Jesus, Satan has no power over us and no place in us. They are all defeated, but because we have been deceived by them for so long He needs us to conquer them ourselves and know beyond a shadow of a doubt Who has the upper hand.
The modern world scoffs at the very existence of demons and this is their best con. If they are a figment of the imagination anyone dealing with them is delusional. Worthy of contempt and derision. So first there needs to be education to convince people they need deliverance or healing. People complain that there are doctors now so healing is redundant.
Many diseases are demon manifestations that cannot be healed. God says in Hosea, My people perish for lack of knowledge. My blog is to make sure everyone knows the truth about everything so that the Lord can set you all free too. This freedom Jesus gives is free indeed of compulsions, strange desires, fear, prejudice, and every thing that goes bump in the night.
We know now that Satan fears us because he and his demons know they cannot deceive us anymore. It's hard work and continuous but so worth the effort and it brings glory to Jesus. So in this week when we remember and celebrate His sacrifice and resurrection let us really use all that He gave us as there is still work to be done. Equip yourselves spiritually and fight the good fight. When we all get this message and overcome the enemy, He will be ready to return.
Prayer: Heavenly Father Thank You for Your love in sending Jesus to conquer death and Hell so we may live. Father we open our hearts and minds to the full truth and discard all contrary teachings that keep us bound and enslaved. We want the true freedom Jesus died to give us. Matilda was a Christian who needed to be set free. Bless her wherever she may be today. In Jesus' name. Amen.
