Leave The Devil Alone
Today, we begin our study of Mark 5 and another of Jesus’ miracles in which He showed God’s power over the supernatural powers of darkness. The apostle Paul spoke of this power in Ephesians 6 warning us that the Christian life is one in which we fight against a non-human enemy. We fight against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places. These enemies and this warfare are not imaginary. They are as real as flesh and blood as if we could see it and touch it. We are to take the warning seriously, but at the same time, we must be cautious how we engage it and careful about the misinformation spawned by these evil powers. They disguise themselves and hide their activities in places we do not expect to find them. What is their favorite hiding place? Look for demons in houses of worship.
Incorrect teaching about demons is common among those who believe they have special insight into and powers to deal with demons. When people become overly interested in the spiritual world, their minds are ripe for plundering and deception. An example is the charismatic churches who believe in speaking in tongues, healings, and surprisingly, the power to cast out demons. Erroneously, they teach there are demons of special sins like fear, alcohol, tobacco, depression—or anything you have trouble dealing with and cannot get rid of. The special powers of the one who exorcises these demons drives them out, and when they go out, there is a physical expression of their leaving. The late R.C. Sproul wrote: “Others say we can recognize the departure of a demon from a human soul by a manifest sign that is linked to the particular point of bondage. I have listened to recorded talks from well-known deliverance ministers (whose names I will not mention, to protect the guilty) in which they teach the signs of departure of the demon. A sigh, for example, indicates the departure of the demon of tobacco. Since the tobacco demon enters with the inhalation of smoke, he leaves with an audible exhale. Likewise, vomiting may be the sign of departure of the demon of alcohol. There are demons for every conceivable sin. Not only must each one of these demons be exorcized, but there are necessary procedures to keep them from returning on a daily basis.” I agree with Sproul who also wrote: “I have no polite way to respond to this kind of teaching. It is unmitigated nonsense.” This is true of much of charismatic teachings.
Without doubt, the doctrinal underpinning of the charismatic churches is the belief in tongues which they call a spiritual angelic language. The worst forms of it—beyond those who parrot or are faking or have hyped-up imaginations—are truly demon possessed. False teachers sometimes fool Christians and they mix them up with charismatic doctrines. Although fooled, a demon cannot inhabit them. The demon possessed are not Christians looking for deliverance but Satan’s plants to confuse and obfuscate truth.
Many, if not all the insistent proponent teachers of this wickedness fall into this category. Careful observation yields a mesmerizing spirit of demonic powers. Twisting the word of God with most unholy blasphemy is their teaching about the Holy Spirit, about prosperity, and being able to control demons, is the demon himself disguising his activities.
In today’s study, I will only scrape the surface of this problem as we look at Jesus’ encounter with the maniac of Gadara. I will introduce the subject by explaining demons. In no sense do I encourage you to do anything more than look at the biblical record. The world has nothing to offer on this but confusion and experiences that are unhealthy, unspiritual—quite frankly—demonic.
Thank God the true Christian has protection. We can learn truth without fear that the devil can shake us away from our faith. Best advice—leave the devil alone. Fight him when you must but otherwise let him and his followers continue to self-deceive. God will deal with them in His time.
Pastor V. Mark Smith