DO DEMONS POSSESS PEOPLE TODAY?
by Rod
Many believe that evil spirits,
called demons, can take over people’s bodies today. This was widely accepted in
The Bible clearly teaches that evil spirits exist (James
In the Bible, we learn that demons
entered into people and controlled them (Matthew
These demons also knew who Jesus
was. They knew why He had come into the
world (Luke
An account of Jesus’ casting out a demon is found in Mark 5:1-20. When Jesus came to the country of the Gadarenes, a man met him. He had an “unclean spirit” (demon). This demon possessed man lived in the tombs. He wore no clothes. He was not in his right mind. He cried day and night and cut himself with stones. He also had great strength. When others had bound him with chains, he broke them and escaped. The evil spirit in the man knew who Jesus was and begged Him not to torment him. Jesus asked the evil spirit, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” When Jesus commanded the demons to come out of the man, they begged him to send them into pigs who were feeding nearby. Jesus did so. The pigs ran to the cliff, fell into the sea, and drowned. When the people of the area came to Jesus, they saw this man “sitting, clothed, and in his right mind.” When the demon was cast out, the man was restored to health of body and mind.
Do demons still possess people even today? Zechariah, an Old Testament prophet, spoke of the time when Christ would come. He said: “In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” (Zechariah 13:1). This fountain was opened when Jesus shed His blood on the cross for the sins of the world. Zechariah then said: “It shall be in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall be no longer remembered. “I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirits to depart from the land (13:2). Following the time when the Lord would die for our sins, prophets (men who spoke by the Holy Spirit) and unclean spirits (demons) would no longer be in the land (earth). When did this happen?
We have learned that the apostles
could give to others the ability to work miracles. The purpose of these miracles was to confirm
(prove) God’s Word (Mark
God permitted demons to possess
certain people in the time of Christ and the apostles so that His power could
be seen. Not only did Christ have power
over nature, disease, and death, but He also had power over the spirit
world. The Devil and his demons were
proved to be powerless before the Son of God (Colossians
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