![]() ![]() The rest of the fallen angels and Satan will one day be judged and thrown into the lake of fire as well. Some fallen angels have so disregarded the natural order and committed such abominations that God has seen fit to bind them there awaiting their final judgment and prevent them from influencing the world. Do not torment me! The Matthew account also includes their request not to be sent into the abyss.This is a reminder of the idea we talked about before that intellectual agreement with the facts about Jesus does not equal a saving faith. These demons understood who Jesus was.The idea is not to see how close to the line we should get (that attitude is often seen in the sentence, “the Bible doesn’t say I can’t do it, so it must be OK), but should rather see how far away from the line we can stay (that attitude is seen in the question, “Does this glorify God. We should avoid even the appearance of evil. Do not consider doing something bad for a good purpose, telling white lies, or compromising for the greater good. We should understand this and stay far away from evil. The two sides are diametrically opposed and there is no hope of compromise or reconciliation. What business do we have with each other? See 2 Corinthians 2:14-18.So why were they bowing? It could have been mocking him (like the Roman guards who put the purple robe on Jesus.) If not mocking him, they could have been patronizing him in an attempt to get mercy and have a more favorable outcome to this confrontation. Clearly these demons were not submitting themselves to Jesus’ Their words make this very clear.Follow the principles in God’s Word and pray for His help. How can we do this? We must be alert to temptations and always turn to the Lord through prayer and the Word. We have to rely on the Lord who is stronger than He is. He is stronger than we are and smarter than we are. Their own efforts and their own strength were not enough.Īpplication: We cannot hope to win the spiritual warfare against Satan and his demons by our own power. There is no evidence that they prayed or asked God for help. The problem was that people tried to subdue this man with their own strength. Except Samson’s strength came from the Lord and this man’s strength came from demons. Obviously people had tried many times to bind him, but every time he broke free. He was stronger than everyone else and therefore free to roam around causing turmoil. The demon-possessed man possessed uncanny strength. No one could subdue him. He knew that people would be out to discredit his ministry and therefore he always had people go into his hotel rooms to make sure no women were waiting there to entice him. That means being careful to avoid any potential temptations. He also doesn’t want us to tell others about the Lord or teach others about Him. Satan doesn’t want us to follow the Lord. They are actively working against God, against the church, and against believers.Īpplication: We should not be surprised to face opposition to following God. This is a very stark reminder that Satan and demons are very real and are active in this world. In that parable we saw that where the sower was spreading seed, Satan was also there opposing the work of the sower and taking the seed from people’s hearts. This fits with the parable of the soils in the last chapter. Satan and his dark spiritual forces clearly knew where Jesus was and were waiting to oppose him. ![]() These demons were seemingly sent to oppose Jesus’ work and cause disturbances and problems in hopes of preventing Jesus’ message from reaching the people. How did he know Jesus was coming? How did he know who Jesus was? What was his purpose? I believe this fact can give us some insight into the organizational ability and intel of Satan and his cohorts. This man met Jesus as soon as Jesus got out of the boats. Some questions immediately pop into my mind. Never give in and never give any foothold. James rightly said that we should resist the devil. He often makes big promises about the fun and pleasure people can have if they give in to his temptations, but such people are always disappointed and find themselves trapped and enslaved instead. ![]() Satan has always appeared as an angel of light. Demons seem to take delight in causing misery and torment to their hosts. Demons drove these people (Matthew 8:28 mentions two of them) to live in this horrific place. ![]() They were not allowed to touch touch bodies. A man from the tombs. For Jews, tombs were an unclean place. ![]()
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