GADARENES DEMONIAC
By Rev. Dr. Jerry Schmoyer
INTRODUCTION
Before God created the world He created angels.
He made them perfect, to serve Him
But one of the angels didn’t want to do that, he wanted to be worshiped instead
He wasn’t able to defeat God so God cast him out of heaven.
½ of the angels followed him
We call him Satan, the fallen angels demons
Their whole purpose is to oppose God and get attention from God
He isn’t a god like God, just an angel
He is more powerful than us, but not more powerful than God
He wants to keep people from following God.
He blinds people to the truth and keeps them in sin
The only people he doesn’t control are Christians
He hates Christians because we aren’t under His control
And because we bring light into darkness
We have a greater power than his kingdom
So for Satan’s kingdom to grow they must stop the church
In order to stop the church, which Christians do you think they must stop first? PASTORS
PASTORS are the ones they would like to destroy
God is greater, but we must know how to have victory in Him.
We want to look at an example of God’s power over demons – Mark 5:1-6
JESUS GOES TO GADERENES – Mark 5:1-6
Jesus left everyone He was with to take a boat across the lake.
He wanted to go help a man who couldn’t come to Him.
Satan didn’t want Him to go free that man so he sent a storm to sink the boat.
Jesus spoke to the storm and got safely to the other side.
Read MARK 5:1-6
When he got there there was a man with an evil spirit
Luke and Mt said he was demon possessed
He had many demons that were living in him.
When we look at this man’s life we can see some of the things demons do to people
SYMPTOMS OF DEMONIZING
1. DARKNESS & DEATH
Mark 5:3 This man lived in the tombs,
Mark 5:5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills
Luke 8:29b he had been driven by the demons into solitary places.
Where did this man live? Graveyard
That isn’t natural, living with dead bodies
Satan loves death and darkness
God is light and life, Satan is death and darkness
They will do anything to avoid the light
Demons love to bring pain and suffering
2. ANGER & VIOLENCE
Mark 5:3b-4 and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
Luke 8:29b Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains
Matt 8:28b They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
This man was violent
He loved to bring pain and destruction
If anyone came near he would chase them and badly harm them
They hadn’t done anything, he just had hate and anger inside
There are people like that today – they are cruel and enjoy seeing others suffer
They go out of their way to hurt people, animals or children
Some men beat their wives or children
This man was like that.
They tried to chain him to stop him, but the demons were so strong they broke the chains.
3. OUT OF CONTROL
Mark 1:5b he would cry out
The man had no control over himself.
He was continually doing evil things
There are people today who have lost control
They are into sins and they can’t stop
It just keeps getting worse and worse and worse
Demons want to cause pain any way they can
4. PAIN & SELF-DESTRUCTION
Mark 5:5c and cut himself with stones.
They even make this man hurt himself
Demons make people want to hurt and destroy themselves
They cause them to do things that aren’t natural
Like want to kill themselves
5. SENSUALITY, SEXUAL PERVERSION
Luke 8:27 For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house,
Luke tells us this man didn’t wear clothing – that isn’t natural either
Some people get into sexual sins and they just get worse and worse and worse
6. THOUGHTS INTO MIND
This man had many sins because he had many demons
We see the results of what they did
They start by putting the thought of an awful sin in a persons mind
The thought keeps coming back and back
The person doesn’t want that thought but it keeps coming
Its not a thought God would give him
So if it’s not from the man and not from God it must be from Satan
The thought leads them to do awful sins
It could be anger and violence
It could be fear and worry
Sometimes the thoughts are blasphemous thoughts about God
The person keeps getting the thought that Jesus is not God, they won’t go to heaven,
It could be thoughts against Jesus, doubting our salvation
Or it could be thoughts of lying or stealing
The demons keep repeating the thoughts until the person acts on them
THEY CAN DO THAT IN CHRISTIANS AS WELL AS UNBELIEVERS
When we become a Christian we receive a new nature, Holy Spirit lives in us
But we still have our Old Nature from before
In our sin nature we can still sin as much as we did before salvation
We don’t HAVE to sin any more for we have a greater power
But we still CAN sin as we did before salvation
Its in that area of our old nature that demons work
HOW CAN WE TELL IF IT IS A DEMON OR OUR SIN NATURE?
When it is our sin nature we can have victory by confessing it and growing
God helps us to gradually have victory over it
But when there is a demon trying harder doesn’t help
There was a young man in my church who was a fine Christian man. He studied the bible and spoke to everyone about Jesus. He even wanted to be a pastor. But after awhile he would stop coming. He get back into a terrible sin he had done in the past. I would try to talk to him and pray for him but nothing helped. After awhile he would come back and confess his sin. He’d repent, cry, and promise to never do that again. He really wanted to change. For awhile things would be good but then he’d be gone again, back into the sin. This kept happening over and over. That was hard for me as his pastor. I’d pray for him and talk to him. But all I could tell him was “try harder,” “try harder”. I knew he was trying as hard as he could. There was a demon drawing him back into that sin.
So if a person can’t have victory through prayer and following Jesus it probably is a demon
That’s what was happening to this man in the graveyard.
You couldn’t go up to this man and say “try harder” for demons take control.
WHY DO DEMONS AFFECT SOME PEOPLE MORE THAN OTHERS?
We don’t know why this man was affected but the Bible does give us reasons why demons can enter
Demons look for a reason to move into a persons life, a door that is open for them to enter
SIN IN OUR LIFE
If a person turns to another power other than God, a demon will come in and be that power
If someone worships idols the Bible says there are demons behind the idols that receive the worship
Then they become that person’s god and control them
A demon will use any sin where you give control over to another power
When you give up your control, even if you don’t know it is a demon, the demon will use that
(bindi dot)
SIN IN OUR FAMILY LINE
When a person opens themselves to a demon the demon claims everything in the persons life
When they have children the demons claims the children and does the same work in them
When they have children and they have children, demons moves down family line
That is why in some families you see the children committing the same sin the parents commit
If you struggle with a sin your parents or grandparents struggled with, that may be why
It could be through your father or mothers family
LOCATION
PASTOR IN INDIA:
Satan has his demons organized like an army
Some are assigned to different groups, countries, churches or family
They are very powerful and thy know how to keep their area under control
There are many strong demons keeping India in darkness for years
They do all they can to keep the light out of India
When you become a Christian and have God’s light they will try to destroy you
They don’t want you or your church to live for Jesus
They claim India and want to keep it in darkness.
Because you are a pastor in India they are committed to stopping you any way they can
LAND HOME OR CHURCH ARE ON
Some parts of India are really under their control
When I go near a shrine or land that has been dedicated to demons I can feel the darkness
Any land that has been used for worship of idols or another power is claimed by demons
They claim the land and if anyone later lives there or builds a church there they will attack
If something was done on that land that opens it to demons they will continue to claim it
If you live there or have a church there awful things can happen:
Sickness, poverty, fighting among family members, confusion, anger, sin, etc.
Church will have problems, not be able to grow
Demons claim that land and have strength to oppose you
CURSES AGAINST US OR CHURCH
If someone puts a curse on you or your church demons see that as a prayer to answer
It might be a person that doesn’t like that you or your church are Christians
They say “I hope that man/church fails” – demons take that as a prayer to answer!
There are many ways we can be attacked by demons:
Sin in our past or family line
Because a pastor in India
Because of land home or church is on
Course someone put on you or church
Before we are done today we will pray and break all that.
Before we do that I want to finish my story.
The story reminds us that Jesus is greater than any other powers
JESUS DEFEATS THE DEMONS
When Jesus landed the man knelt before Him.
The demons couldn’t stop him
The demons also knew that Jesus is God
Jesus is greater than any number of demons
Read I John 4:4
This is a good verse to memorize and use for spiritual warfare
It reminds us that Jesus is greater than any power of Satan’s
There were many demons in this man
The demon who was the leader is the one who spoke for all of them
You know what he said his name was? Legion = 5,000 or 6,000 soldiers!
This demon telling Jesus there are thousands of them
But Jesus is greater than thousands of demons
They couldn’t resist Him
They had to leave when He told them.
They wanted to go in some pigs nearby
If demons can’t indwell a person they want to indwell an animal
Jesus let them go into the pigs.
What happened to the pigs when the demons entered them?
When a demon comes in he brings destrouction
Even pigs felt that and wanted to kill themselves!
How many pigs were there? 2,000 – so at least 2,000 demons
What happened to this man when they left? V. 15
Man now dressed and in right mind
He is completely changed
It isn’t because he tried harder
It was because when the demons were gone he was himself!
(CHANGING SILK MAGIC TRICK)
That’s what God did for him
That’s what God will do for us
THE PEOPLE WANT JESUS TO GO
He could have done it for the other people there
People came from everywhere to see what had happened
They came from every where – they knew what this man had been like, they saw how he changed
You would think they would want Jesus to do that for them as well but they didn’t.
BUT THEY DIDN’T WANT JESUS TO STAY
They were afraid
-of upsetting the demons
Demons use fear to control people
Their power isn’t as great as they want us to think
So they try to use fear to have us think they can do more than God allows
Some people are afraid they will hurt them or take their life,
But if they could do that they would have done it already
JOB: Satan must have God’s permission to act
Demons can’t do anything without God’s permission
He only allows it for our growth and His glory
People here didn’t want the light, they wanted to stay in darkness
There are lots of people like that today
You tell them what Jesus can do to set them free but they don’t want to be free
They prefer to stay in the darkness
Jesus didn’t force Himself on these people
They didn’t want Him so He left
THE MAN STAYS TO TESTIFY
But He did keep a missionary there
That was one of the reasons He went there in the first place, to give them a witness to the light
You think He would have chosen someone popular, well educated
But look at the man He chose!
Sometimes we think, god how can you use me?
I have this awful sin in my past
I don’t have any education, I’m no influential
But those are the very people God chooses to use
He has an important job for this man
The man wanted to leave and travel with Jesus
It seems strange Jesus wouldn’t let Him
Jesus wanted Him to stay right where He was
He knew the people and the people knew him
God put you right where you are to minister.
Jesus told Him to tell the people what happened.
He had never been to Bible school
All he knew is what Jesus did in his life?
Has Jesus done anything in your life?
God wants you to tell others what He has done for you.
Jesus wants you to be a witness for Him
In a court of law a witness tells what he knows
There are lawyers in a court of law as well
What is the difference between a lawyer and a witness?
A lawyer tries to convince other people he is right, he tries to argue with people
A witness just tells what he saw, what he knows
Does Jesus want us to be a lawyer or a witness? – a witness
This man stayed and told everyone what Jesus had done for him
Jesus went back to his country and continued teaching
A little while later He was crucified and then ascended to heaven
The early church started growing in Jerusalem
As they grew they started sending out missionaries
Most of the missionaries had a hard time witnessing to the people
But when Philip came to the area where this man was there was a great revival
Many turned to Jesus
Do you know why? This man had been faithfully telling what Jesus had done for him
This man had faithfully prepared the soil
He had been planting seeds in peoples hearts for many years
So when Philip came he could harvest the crop
This man didn’t see the harvest, he may not have been alive any more
But he kept faithfully telling what Jesus had done.
God has called many of you to a ministry just like that man
You are in a place of darkness and are sowing the seed for the first time
Its hard, you don’t see many results.
But stay faithful and keep telling people about Jesus
One day God will use that to bring a great harvest where you are.
You may not bring in the harvest, you may not even be here any more
But God will use what you started to bring great results.
Don’t get discouraged, stay faithful.
Don’t think there is something wrong with you as a pastor because you don’t see lots of results
It’s a special privilege God gives you to start the soil in a place
You’ll be blessed and rewarded for the harvest the same as the man who brings it in
Some of you have big growing ministries
Don’t think that means you are a better pastor than these who are struggling
That just means god is giving you the privilege of reaping where someone has sowed before you
Thank Him for that privilege but don’t take credit for that yourself
Do all you can to encourage and help your brothers who are struggling.
CONCLUSION
Jesus used this man for His glory and His kingdom
His power is greater, He completely freed him
He wants to do that for us as well.
He wants to free us from our bondage to sin and Satan.
GROUP PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE
Dear Jesus, we thank you for the salvation you give us in Jesus.
We know you are greater than Satan and His demons
We know you have power and authority over them
We know you have given us that power and authority in Jesus’ name.
In Jesus name I forbid any demons to work against me or my family or my church
In Jesus name I close the door to any reason they think they can work against me.
If I have committed any sin that they use to work against me I put it under the blood of Jesus.
In Jesus’ name I forbid them to work and to be gone.
In Jesus’ name I break any claim that comes down through my family line.
I am a new creation in God’s family.
I forbid any claim against me through my name or family line.
In Jesus’ name I dedicate the land where my home and church are to God.
I ask for His presence only to fill and use those places.
In Jesus’ name I break any claim demons may make through those places.
In Jesus’ name I break any curses any one has made against me, my family or my church.
Jesus has taken all my curse on the cross.
His power has broken any power of the enemy against me
So in Jesus’ name I forbid any demons to work against me or my family or my church.
I commit myself and my family and my church only to God.
Fill me with Your Holy Spirit
Surround me with Your angels
Use me for Your glory.
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