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Absolute
Master Over Demon Powers
Jesus Is Waiting to
Set You Free
by Pastor John Hamel
"And they
arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is
over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land,
there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time,
and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud
voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high?
I beseech thee, torment me not. (For he had commanded the unclean
spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was
kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake
the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
“And Jesus asked
him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils
were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not
command them to go out into the deep. And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they
besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered
them.
“Then went the
devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were
choked. When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and
went and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out
to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the
devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his
right mind: and they were afraid. They also which saw it told them by
what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.
“Then the whole
multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round
about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great
fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again. Now the
man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with
him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine
own house, and shew how great things God hath
done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole
city how great things Jesus had done unto him. And it came to pass,
that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they
were all waiting for him. (Luke 8:26-40)
You can just imagine the absolute terror in
which this community was living. This man was so demon-possessed that
apparently certain members of the community would have to go up and bind
him with chains and fetters when the unclean spirits “caught him” or
“overtook him”. These spirits gave him such supernatural strength
that he was actually able to break the iron chains and fetters.
Let’s look at some interesting things being
revealed in this narrative.
This
Man Was Absolutely Demon-Possessed
These multiple demon spirits forced this
man to live naked, filthy and in the cemetery amongst the dead. When
Jesus asked the ruling spirit within the man what his name was, the spirit
answered, “Legion.” The word “legion” means “a Roman regiment” which
consisted of 2000 men. This ruling spirit actually opened the door
for 1,999 lesser spirits who were subservient to him. Notice
something that the Apostle Paul said about demonic government.
“For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against PRINCIPALITIES, against POWERS,
against the RULERS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12)
In his book, “I Believe In Visions”, Dr.
Kenneth Hagin shares how Jesus appeared to him
and taught him about demonic government. Jesus explained to Dr. Hagin that it is the “rulers of the darkness of this
world” who are over the powers that, in turn, are over the principalities
(lesser spirits).
Apparently this ruling spirit named
“Legion” allowed all the other lesser spirits into this man’s life.
The man became so possessed that he was no longer calling his own
shots. He hated everything and everyone. He was quite possibly
the most hopeless man ever encountered by Jesus. He was a filthy,
violent, perverted, mental, spiritual and physical walking nightmare.
There is no sense pretending when someone’s life is out of control.
The
Spirit "Legion" Was Absolutely No Match for Jesus
Jesus Christ is Master over all demon
powers. No case is too hard for
the demon Master. The greatest concentration of evil in
existence is powerless before Jesus. There is no such person as the
person who Jesus does not love or will not help, no matter how demon
obsessed, oppressed or possessed.
“For the Son of man is not come to
destroy men's lives, but to save them …” (Luke 9:56)
Religion will
tell you that it was God who was tormenting this demon-possessed man
because he did something to tick God off. But that is not what the
Bible says. The Bibles says Satan came to kill, steal and
destroy. (John 10:10) Jesus came to deliver
humanity from Satan’s power. (1John 3:8) Jesus did
not put those spirits in that man to punish
him. Satan did that. Jesus cast the spirits out of that man to
demonstrate God’s love for him.
Once those spirits were cast out of that
man, they sought further expression in a bunch of pigs. That’s what
demon spirits do. They look to inhabit any type of a body, human or
animal.
Please keep in mind, Jesus did not give them permission to go
into the pigs, either. The Bible says He “suffered” or “allowed” them
to do so.
The reason He allowed them to go into the
pigs is because those pigs were being raised illegally, against Jewish
law. Jesus was not going to tell the demons to go into the pigs or to
not go into the pigs. His one and only concern was that the demons
come out of the man.
He did not involve Himself in whether the demons
went into the pigs or not. He was not about to punish the illegal pig
breeders. Nor was He about to protect them. People wrongly
accuse Jesus of destroying the livelihood of “innocent” people by sending
the demons into the pigs. He did not do so.
His one and only
concern was setting that man free.
Even pigs have enough sense to realize that
being filled with Satanic power is no way to live. So down the hill
they went, into the water and ending it all. No wonder this man was
so sick, tormented and self-destructive. He was chock full of Satanic
beings and powers.
Jesus
Absolutely Relieved This Man of Satan's Control
In one split second of time, with one all-powerful voice command, “Come out of him,” this
man was instantaneously and effortlessly set free.
Jesus did not dig
into his past, looking for who abused him as a child, nor did He hypnotize
him. He simply commanded the man to be free and the demons just had
no choice.
For the first time in a long time this man
stopped foaming at the mouth, realized he was naked and covered
himself. He began speaking intelligently, thinking, acting and even
looking like a brand-new creation.
Everyone who knew him was absolutely overcome and awestricken by what they
were witnessing.
How could Jesus love such a wretched,
stinking, poor excuse for a human being?
The answer? Jesus
simply recognized that it was Satan bearing down
on this man, causing him to do things that he hated to do.
Jesus looked beyond the outward man to what was happening inside of
him.
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8)
Jesus Christ is still Master over demon
powers today.
The same demon spirits
that were in the Earth when Jesus was in the Earth are in the Earth
today. Those same 2000 spirits that Jesus cast out of that man
operate in this Earth even as you are reading this. Those 2000 plus
many, many, many more. They will remain here until Revelation chapter
20 is fulfilled, when the angel comes to lock them in the pit.
The
very same spirits that Jesus cast out of individuals, His disciples now
must cast out of individuals.
“Behold, I GIVE
UNTO YOU POWER to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power
of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)
The serpents and scorpions referred to here
are symbolic of Satan and demon spirits. Jesus has given His
followers in every generation power over all the power of the enemy.
We do not run from
demon spirits. We walk toward them and tell them to “come out in
Jesus’ Name.”
Jesus in us will set the captives free even as He set
this man free.
The
Man Absolutely Loved Jesus for Helping Him
When absolutely no one else cared enough to
love this man, Jesus loved him. When everyone else stepped out of his
life, Jesus stepped into his life.
We see in our narrative that the man fell
so in love with Jesus that he actually pleaded to be made a member of His
entourage. He loved Jesus so much for giving his life back to him, he just wanted to give that life wholly to
Jesus.
As much as I am sure Jesus would have loved having this new
creation around, Jesus told him to go home. Jesus knew that this new
man could do more for the Kingdom by going back to the people who had
written him off and minister to them supernaturally. He had a
testimony now. He had come in contact with the power of God.
Jesus anointed him and commissioned him to go back to the city of
Decapolis (meaning “ten
cities”) and tell everyone what happened.
I do not doubt for one moment that this man went back as an Evangelist to
those ten cities, casting out unclean spirits, healing the sick, raising up churches
and appointing Pastors over
them. His is such an awe-inspiring testimony that when I get to Heaven, he is going to be on the top of my “Honey do”
list. I am going to find him and ask him how Jesus used him during
his remaining years on the Earth.
Jesus is as
powerful today as He was when He supernaturally changed that man.
He
is still looking for lost, sick, sinful, down and out rejects.
I
ought to know.
When He found me in 1981, I was addicted to drugs and
alcohol, hateful, confused and had been reduced to your basic blight on
society.
I heard an Evangelist preaching on television that Jesus was
not mad at drug addicts, but rather He loved them and wanted to set them
free.
I said, “Jesus, if that’s true, if You’ll set me free, I’ll
give you my life.”
Shortly after
praying that prayer, I felt a giant hand rest
itself on my head three times and I “fell out” under the power of God for
nearly three full days in my living room.
When I came back to this
world from wherever I had been, I was no longer craving dope or
alcohol.
Rather I was craving to tell anyone who would listen what
Jesus had done for me.
No one is too mean, too sick, too desperate,
too hopeless, too far-gone or too demon-possessed for Jesus. He is
the absolute Master over all demon powers.
You don’t have to
be ashamed, either. He knows all about you, but still He chooses to
love you.
He promises, if you’ll come to Him, seeking His help,
there is no way in the world He will tell you “No.”
“All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6:37)
If you’ve not yet
made Jesus the Master over demon powers Lord of your
life, you can take care of that right now.
Just say, “Jesus, You’re my choice.” (Romans 10:13)
That’s when the
demons go out and Jesus comes in.
Be Blessed … John and Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
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