The Formidable, Yet Failing Foe
Luke • Sermon • Submitted
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31 And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
Warning-
Warning-
It is important for us to be educated about the power, strength and determination of enemies, not the least of which are Satan and his demons, but we should never encourage someone toward dabbling in Satanic things. We should not take these things lightly or haphazardly. This is serious stuff! Satan and his demons are a formidable foe.
However, we also need to be careful to not think that we see a demon around every corner. Not all sin is the direct result of the work of Satan and his demons.
Example: Perception is not always reality
1994 Swedish Defense ministry determined that a soviet submarine had violated Sweden’s territorial waters. Their high tech listening devices around Stockholm had picked up suspicious noises and so a search for the submarines ensued. This was a legitimate concern of the Swedes as a soviet submarine ran aground near one of their naval bases in 1981. However, in 1994, the submarines were never to be found, and later it was later confessed that the noises were minks and other mammals splashing in the water. Not nearly the enemy they had imagined.
But satan and his demons are not just something we imagine, they are real and dangerous/ formidable foes. In fact, we probably do not think about or realize the danger that they are.
The Formidable Foe
The Formidable Foe
In the section of Luke 4 that I read just a few moments ago we were able to see just one example of the danger of demons and we will we will briefly look at the other instances of Christ’s encounters with demons in the Gospel of Luke. From those few passages, we are able to get a little understanding of the havoc that they can bring upon a person and the people around them.
They cause imminent danger, distort a person’s health, behavior and personality.
Satan and his demons-
Earlier in the 4th chapter of Luke, we are told that Jesus was tempted by Satan and at the conclusion of that incident, we read:
13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Satan lost the battle, but he wasn’t finished just yet. The war wasn’t over.
Jesus faced many people who were controlled by a demon.
40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
27 When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.
Some refer to these situations as demon possession. Another way, possibly a more accurate way to describe it is that these people were experiencing a demon, dealing with a demon or “having” a demon like one has an illness.
Identifying & Understanding the Foe
Identifying & Understanding the Foe
We have been dealing with a global pandemic for the past 5 or 6 months, but one of the most difficult things about the battle is that there was little information about the virus. We can look at many examples of historical battles that were fought and the losing side, lost because they did not realize who their foe was (Trojan Horse, Gideon’s Men won a battle with trumpets and jars.
Known as the Father of lies, Full of Pride, wanted to be like God, deceiver,
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
supernatural being n. — any immaterial, supernatural entity that is self-aware with powers to affect the course of human events.
the word that is translated “demon” throughout the Gosepl of Luke is the same word as is used to describe the Holy Spirit-
Spirit/Breathe/Wind/
Tactics of Satan and demons
Tactics of Satan and demons
In the various accounts of Jesus’ & the disciples interaction with demons, we learn that they are able to control one’s thinking, speaking, feelings and actions. The demon is able to affect the person’s health. In Luke 4:40-41 we read that many people who were sick with various diseases and illnesses were brought to Jesus and demons came out of many of them.
We won’t take the time to dig deeply into Satan’s tactics, but just a few weeks ago, as we looked at the temptation Jesus faced in the wilderness, we saw, that deception, manipulation and contortion of the truth are all part of Satan’s m.o. His demons must operate under the same m.o. because they are by nature enemies of truth and enemies of God.
They made people sick, mentally and physically. Causing harm to those they were inflicting.
Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis
The Biblical Illustrator: St. Luke, Vol. I Vers. 33–37
Nevertheless these afflicted persons are constantly made a class by themselves. On what does this distinction rest? On this leading fact, that those who are simply sick enjoy their own personal consciousness, and are in possession of their own will; while in the possessed these faculties are, as it were, confiscated to a foreign power, with which the sick person identifies himself. How is this peculiar system to be explained?
Failing Foe:
Failing Foe:
Satan will not succeed nor will his angels prevail. They are limited in their ability, but evidently able to wreak havoc in persons’ lives when they are allowed by God to do so.
The demons are likely less powerful than God’s angels, since they are kept in “eternal chains” according to Jude 6 and the fact that Satan is required to ask God permission to do certain things as per Job 1:12, 2:6
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—
12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ 15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
Jesus has power over demons, we read of Him demonstrating that power, first in Luke 4: 31, 41, and also in Luke 8:2, 27-33; 11:14
Jesus grants the 12 disciples the power over demons Lk 9:1, 42, 49 as well as the 72 according to Lk 10:17.
At the presence of God and the name of Jesus, the demons tremble, because they know He will destroy them. They are expecting it . . . do we expect it too?
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
Tactics of the Lord’s army
Tactics of the Lord’s army
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”
27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
We invoke the name of Jesus.
We Prayer
We rightly divide the Word of God
We Love God and love our neighbors
We believe Truth
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TGkqjQfZyU
The Kingdom of God will prevail!
The Kingdom of God will prevail!
We have a defender in Christ
We have the power of God in Christ Jesus in US.
We have our prescribed tactics.
We are secured in Christ- a people of His choosing.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Close in Prayer.