The Day the Demons Trembled, Part 2

Turn in your Bible to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4, we're going to continue our verse-by-verse study of this great gospel understanding Jesus Christ our Lord Having just come off Resurrection Sunday and realized that first John chapter 3 verse number 8 Tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ Appeared in order that he might destroy the works of the devil then we realize that in Luke chapter 4 we actually see This taking place while his ministry here was on earth If you have not been with us in our study of Luke You need to understand that Luke spends a great deal of time talking to us about the identity of the Messiah That's chapter 1 all the way through chapter 4 verse number 13 He wants us to understand who the Messiah is After he talks about his identity.

He talks about his ministry He picks that up in chapter 14 of verse number 4 to tell us that he'd go from city to city preaching the gospel He would go to the synagogue in Nazareth and tell them why he was there He was there to proclaim the good news. He was there to preach the gospel He was there to bring release to those who are captive And so we begin to understand the ministry of Jesus Christ that he had a very significant preaching ministry In fact in chapter 4 it says this in verse number 43 I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities for I was sent for this purpose So we begin to understand not only the identity of the Messiah and the ministry of the Messiah But now Luke embarks in teaching us about the authority of the Messiah That he is authority over the prince of darkness that he has authority over the demonic world And so Luke embarks on the very first miracle of Jesus Christ our Lord in his gospel It's not the first miracle he performed.

We know that was in Cana of Galilee in John chapter 2 but Luke records this one as his first miracle because it falls on the heel of Understanding the ministry of the Messiah to preach the gospel to show us the power of the spoken word To show us the power of what it means to preach the truth and how it affects those in the audience especially those who were demon-possessed and So we begin to understand that in Luke's gospel as he presents to us the very first miracle of our Lord in His gospel now you need to realize That our Lord is a deliverer We talked to you last time about this I know we've been out of Luke 4 for a number of weeks because of different things that have happened But you need to remember back in Exodus chapter 3 that our Lord has a memorial name and that memorial name centers around the fact That he is a delivering God.

He is the God who rescues his people. He told Moses in Exodus 3 I have seen the affliction of my people and I'm coming down and when God comes down he comes down for one or two reasons Retribution or redemption he was coming down to redeem his people. He tells Moses. This is my memorial name I want to be remembered by this name from generation to generation Because I am a deliverer. I am a Savior. I am a Rescuer and so when Jesus shows up on the scene and begins to preach in Luke chapter 4 He says I've come to preach the gospel because I'm here to deliver Captive souls I'm here to help people understand what it means to have new life in Jesus Christ because of the gospel the kingdom of God is at hand and I'm here to preach that kingdom And so in Luke chapter 4 Luke wants us to understand this Deliverer this rescuer this Savior this Redeemer of our souls Let me read to you once again the account in Luke 4 verse number 31 And he came down to Capernaum the city of Galilee He was teaching them on the Sabbath and they were amazed that his teaching for his message was with authority And there was a man in the synagogue Possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon and he cried out with a loud voice Ha what do we have to do with you Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God and Jesus rebuked him saying be quiet come out of him and when the demon had thrown him down in their midst he came out of him without doing him any harm and Amazement came upon them all and they began discussing with one another saying what is this message? for with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out and The report about him was getting out into every locality in the surrounding district now remember Last time we talked to you about the message that was preached.

This is the day the demons tremble and What is that day the demons tremble answer every single day? James 2 verse number 19 the demons believe and they tremble The demons live in a state of fear. Now.

Could you imagine living every day in? fear demons do They are absolutely scared to death of What's going to happen to them? They are fearful because of the preaching of the Word of God They are fearful because of the purposes of God they are fearful because of the purity of God and they are fearful because of the power of God and all that is in this text in Luke chapter 4 and we began talking to you last time about the message That was preached. We talked to you about the town. The town was Capernaum We talked to you about the time it was the Sabbath we talked to you about the topic it was the gospel It was the presentation of the truth Jesus came to preach the gospel So as he was in Nazareth sometime earlier, maybe it was the day before maybe it was two days before that Maybe it was last week.

We don't know the timetable, but we know that he was in the synagogue in Capernaum He left Nazareth. He went down to Capernaum. He was in that synagogue He was preaching there were people listening to him and he was preaching to them the same thing He preached in Nazareth because he was a preacher of the gospel He came to bring release to the captives. He came to bring sight to the blind He came to relieve the oppressed and that was his ministry And so in the synagogue in Capernaum, he was doing the same thing he did in Nazareth We also learned about the testimony of the people They were amazed at what he said and they are amazed at how he said it because he preached with great authority And you know what whenever you preach the gospel You preach with authority and you know what in a day and age where people don't like those who are authoritative They don't like that The gospel is very authoritative And when you preach the gospel Because the gospel is black and white one thing I like about the Bible.

There are no gray areas in the Bible It's black and white It's either yes or no. They're the Saints and the ain'ts. It's just very clear And so when you come out and preach the gospel You have to preach it authoritatively Because that's what it is. That's why Paul told Titus reprove Rebuke Exhort with great authority Why? because it's the gospel and God's Word is authoritative and in a day and age where people want to live in the realm of tolerance and don't want to have Somebody telling them what to do, especially God They have a problem with authority If you got a problem with authority, you're gonna have a problem with God because God's very authoritative and so his words authoritative And so when Christ began to preach they were utterly amazed at the authority twice It says in our text he spoke and worked with authority This is the authority of the Messiah And so they would listen to this message.

They would listen to this preacher and they were absolutely dumbfounded We'll see this to our second point.

That's where we're at in our outline this morning. And that is the man Possessed we go for the message preached to the man possessed to the miracle performed the man Possessed the Bible is very clear. It says and there was a man in the synagogue verse number 33 Possessed by the spirit of an unclean Demon now that doesn't mean that there are clean demons It just means that this demon is unclean that you need to understand the filth in the immorality of this demon He was wicked. He is wretched. Okay, the emphasis is on his uncleanness and There was this man in the audience who was demon-possessed.

I want you to notice three things about the man possessed the demon his dread and his declaration The demon his dread and his declaration This man in the synagogue was demon Possessed now, let me just say a few words about that for a second because I'm grieved by the amount of confusion in the church about demon possession and Demonology, I mean you can go to a bookstore and you can read a myriad of books about the occult and the satanic world and Spiritual warfare and demon possession and for the most part when you read it You're pretty much confused when you're all done and that's because people write these books that do not echo what the Bible says You see God is a deliverer Someone needs to write a book about deliverance.

Our God is a deliverer. We got books about justification Got to have those books about redemption regeneration conversion repentance, you know Glorification those are all great all part of it. But in Intertwined in that is the whole aspect of deliverance Let me give you an example turn to Colossians 1 for a moment Colossians chapter 1 Listen to this verse number 13 For he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son When you are regenerated two things happen.

There is a deliverance and there is a transference You need to understand that we are delivered from the kingdom of darkness the word delivered means to be rescued We are in bondage The Bible says in 2nd Timothy 2 25 that we have been taken captive by Satan to do his will The unbeliever is captive by Satan to do as well.

It doesn't mean that every Unbeliever is demon-possessed. It just means that he is in the domain of darkness. He is captivated by Satan he's in that realm and In the ministry of Christ is to rescue us is to deliver us from that domain and Transfer us into another kingdom From the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light That's very important. And so we begin to understand that at new birth. There is something that Immediately takes place and that is a deliverance This is why the believer can never be demon-possessed There are some good Bible teachers out there that have made some great errors in this in this whole area The believer can never be demon-possessed.

How do we know that? We know that because your body's no longer your own It's the temple of the Spirit of God. That's first Corinthians chapter 6 We've been made one with Jesus Christ We also know that The Bible is very clear in terms of moving us from one realm to another realm and Satan and the demons listen are afraid of you Because in you dwells the Lord God of the universe Who is holy who is righteous who is true in demons are fearful of holiness righteousness and truth So don't be thinking that that that the demons are out to get you and and and they're not afraid they are They're scared Spitless of you.

They are they live in fear every single day That's what the Bible says and they live in fear because of the power of God in your life Folks, this is so important Your body is owned by God God dwells in there in 2nd Corinthians 6 says what fellowship has light with darkness?

There is no fellowship with light and darkness Why because the Spirit of God rules and reigns in your life And Paul says very clearly for he delivered us he rescued us he saved us from the domain or the authority or the jurisdiction of Darkness now turn over to Luke 22 for a second Luke chapter 22 this same phrase is used by our Lord in the garden of Gethsemane on the evening of his betrayal It says this Verse 52 and Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders who had come against them now understand the scene Christ has gone to To meet them at the garden entry and here are some 600 soldiers some 200 temple police The chief priests the scribes the elders these guys are here along with Judas They are here to to get our Lord and listen to what our Lord says Have you come out with swords and clubs as against a robber?

While I was with you daily in the temple You did not lay hands on me but this hour and the power of darkness are yours or in in proper translation the Jurisdiction or authority of darkness is yours. This is Satan's hour This is your hour. This is the hour of darkness Here it is. It was only a temporary time Because Satan would openly be crushed at Calvary but it was all part of the plan and purpose of God and Christ says through the pen of the Apostle Paul.

What I've come to do is to deliver you from that jurisdiction of authority That domain that that squelches your life I've come to deliver you from that and in so doing I will transfer you into a Another kingdom and that is the kingdom of light the kingdom of my beloved Son Now folks, let me tell you something.

That is an amazing amazing thing Because God puts us in his domain puts us in his kingdom Now, we don't we don't understand necessarily all that the kingdom entails because the king is not ruling here on earth one day He will but we have crowned Christ King and now we are children of the kingdom of God And the Bible says in Romans chapter 14 verse number 17 for the kingdom of God is not food and drink But righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit so in the kingdom of light in the kingdom of God in the kingdom of his beloved Son is the characteristic of righteousness Joy and peace No fear in that kingdom No fear in that kingdom why because Satan doesn't dwell in that kingdom Demons are afraid of that kingdom, but in that kingdom realm is righteousness is joy and peace Because that's what the king gives And our responsibility as children of that kingdom Hebrews 12 says wherefore receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved That kingdom of righteousness that kingdom of God's dear son that kingdom of light cannot be moved In other words, it can't be altered.

You can't get out of that kingdom. It's a verse of eternal security Cannot be moved. Let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably With reverence and godly fear for our God is the consuming fire You see what happens when you're transferred into a new kingdom The kingdom of light is that you want to serve your God because you've recognized your deliverance You've recognized your transference and you've recognized your inheritance. That is you you have inherited Eternal life you've been granted something you do not deserve You've been given something that you cannot earn you have been given the greatest of all gifts eternal life the eternal bliss of Jesus Christ our Lord taking up residence in your life and Taking you into eternal glory with him forever folks.

That's salvation and that's what happens when you're born again so there's that deliverance you see and And and when we are delivered out of the kingdom of darkness the kingdom of darkness cannot invade the kingdom of light Cannot You cannot be demon-possessed Can Satan accuse you? Oh, yeah, he can accuse you. Can he condemn you? No Romans 8 says he can't Revelation 12 10 says that he accuses the brethren day and night before the throne of God, right? So we know that Satan has a job and that is to accuse you But we have an advocate who is the Lord Jesus Christ who stands as our great defense attorney Because his blood has washed away all of our sin And boy, I tell you I sure I'm glad that Jesus is my advocate Because Satan cannot condemn me.

He can accuse me all he wants, but he has no grounds. No power. No authority in my life Folks, that's freedom. That's deliverance That's transference All that to say is you got this man in the audience who's demon possessed He's filled with an unclean Demon and You know, I want you to notice that you know, the Bible gives no formulas for exorcisms.

Did you ever notice that? No formula for exorcisms. In fact, there are to be no exorcisms That's not biblical Me you can watch the movies and read books on them But it's not biblical Why because people who are demon-possessed need deliverance? That's what they need we'll read at the end of our time this morning about somebody who might have been Exorcised but the demons come right back again because there wasn't a deliverance Deliverance is what you need. You don't need the demons Exorcised out of your life.

You need to be delivered from the kingdom of darkness And when Christ does the delivering here There are no incantations. There is no prayer. There's just a simple rebuke Be gone be quiet get out of here you're done Because that's the power of the Word of God. It's the power of the gospel Now this man Was demon-possessed The Bible says 16 times in the New Testament the phrase having a demon or tormented Indwelt or controlled another 13 times.

You have people who are demonized and oh, by the way, by the way In the Bible when there has been someone who has been delivered from demonic possession There is never a discussion about the forgiveness of sins Now when Christ healed many people there were many people who were healed of diseases and The forgiveness of sins was a part of what was taking place and a part of the discussion but there's not one instance in the New Testament where there was a person delivered from a demonic influence and the forgiveness of sins discussed Why?

Because it's not about the person Who has been released from the demon possession. It's about the power and the authority of Christ who has Jurisdiction over Satan in all of his minions. It's about Christ in his authority It's about Christ in his Credentials as the Messiah to prove himself The greater power over Satan that's important to understand But notice this I want you to notice the demons dread his dread the Bible says in verse 34 Ha It's a word of terror.

It's not like he's laughing at Christ. It's it's a word of of terror. Let me alone Now this is the classic listen, this is the classic illustration of knowing that this sermon is for me Think about it Here is this man in the audience who's demon possessed.

No one knows he's demon possessed. He's there and This demon knows that this sermon is specifically for him And he can't contain it he can't hold it in he's been confronted with the gospel and And there there's a war going on. It's called a holy war between Christ and the demonic world and He understands that there's going to be a problem. You see that's why you need to understand that whenever someone a demon speaks He always speaks Rationally always speaks intelligently Demons always do that The person they have possessed might be engaged in some bizarre behavior and we find that in scripture on different occasions but not always and You realize that but when the demons speak they speak with rationality because they know the demon knows who Christ is and The demon knows his time is near He wants to know if this is the time because he knows that something's going to happen So he knows what's going on Demons are are very intelligent because they know their end they know their doom and the dreaded reality is The lake of fire the dreaded reality is The fact that they will be in the lake of fire forever That's why he says what do we have to do with you Jesus of Nazareth have you come to destroy us is This the time So they know their doom They know their destiny They know that Jesus has all authority.

They know that so you say then what are they doing? Why do they do what they do? Well number one they're desperate They're absolutely Desperate and they're hoping without any Legitimate reason for hope but they're hoping to postpone the inevitable You also need to understand that demons are wicked they can't do anything else but be wicked that's who they are and demons are Spiritual beings therefore they're tireless.

They are never tired of of what they are doing But I want you to notice something that it was the preaching of the gospel that caused this demon to be more terrorized It was the preaching of the gospel the preaching the message that caused this individual this individual demon to go ballistic Because that's what the preaching of the gospel does and so now you you look at our churches today across America across the world and the weak insipid trivial sermons that are given 15 minutes here 10 minutes there lots of stories lots of anecdotes lots of jokes people laughing But they have absolutely no effect on the soul of a man none Why all they affect your emotions they make you laugh they make you cry They make you feel good But they have no effect on the soul because only God's Word does that and if you don't open the Word of God and preach God's Word then there is no effect on the soul of a man God's Word affects the soul it affects the inner part of a man And so when Christ came to preach he preached the gospel and this demon couldn't stand it any longer Because Christ and the gospel confronts the domain of Satan if he comes to bring Release to the captives as he says earlier in Luke 4 when his preaching in Nazareth if he's gonna release the captive if he's gonna set the prisoner free The gospel must be preached and when the gospel is preached Satan goes bonkers Why?

Because you see he's trying to hold on to the few he's got Doesn't want to let him go and that's why the Bible says over in Matthew 11 that the kingdom of God suffers violently in Luke 16 says that everyone is Forcing his way into the kingdom You see when you get saved, let me tell you something when you get saved you are actually forcing your way into the kingdom Not that you're doing something but there is a battle going on because the kingdom of God suffers violence because the kingdom of darkness is working against it and Satan is trying to hold on to your soul and when the gospel is preached The kingdom of darkness is doing all it can to contain you and the gospel is seeking to release you from your captivity And there's violence that takes place in the heart and soul of an individual who's born again And that's why when someone's born again, they Understand that they have been delivered.

They understand that they have been transferred. They understand new birth They understand regeneration. They understand what they have been saved from they understand what they've been rescued from Now, you know why there's lots of people who say they're saved and not Because they don't get that Folks if you don't get that you've probably never been delivered Because the result of deliverance is praise and honor and glory to God himself If you've been delivered, there's a life change because you're now in the kingdom of light no longer in the kingdom of darkness There's been a life change because now you're in the realm of joy not sadness and depression now you're in the realm of peace not fear See that We need to preach the truth and we need to help you understand what the gospel does so they can be delivered from that domain of darkness and experience the greatness of Almighty God The demons know their end Revelation 20 speaks very clearly about this and I saw an angel coming down from heaven having the keys of the abyss and a great chain in his hand and he laid hold of the dragon the serpent of old who was the devil and Satan and bound him for a Thousand years and threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him so that he should not deceive the nations any longer Until the thousand years were completed after these things he must be released for a short time You know people ask why is there a millennial reign of Christ?

Why is there a literal? 1,000 year reign of Christ in the city of Jerusalem on the throne of his father David Why does that literally have to happen it does because you see Satan is going to be bound and all of his demons are going To be bound for a thousand years There's not going to be any demonic activity for a thousand years on the earth and people are still going to sin. I Could just read the Bible They're still gonna sin And they can't blame Satan for their sin they can't blame Satan for their temptation and Christ is going to show that even when he's on the throne in ruling and reigning and Man left to his own and unwilling to submit to his glory Will fall in the sin without any influence from the demonic world Satan is bound for a thousand years at the end in Revelation 20.

He's released again Let me read that to you That's a revelation 20 verse number 7 and when the thousand years are completed Satan will be released from his prison and will come out To deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth Gog and Magog to gather them together for the war the number of them is like the sand of the seashore and they come up on the broad Plain of the earth and surround the camp of the Saints and the beloved city Which by the way is Jerusalem and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

It's a quick war it's over in like a couple seconds and The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone Where the beast and the false prophet are also and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever Satan presently is not in hell He is not in the lake of fire revelation 1210 says he's in heaven before the throne of God accusing you and me day and night That's where he's at But one day he will occupy Hell he is the chief resident of hell he will be there one day and that is after the millennial reign of Christ when he devours those nations that come against him after his millennial reign and throws Satan Into the lake of fire.

He will be tormented forever and ever and ever so that the demons know this See, they know it's all coming to an end They can't get around it have you come to destroy us now He's all he can't handle it. Oh, no, you're here already I just got in this guy and now you're here and now you're gonna destroy is this the time you're gonna destroy us is now the time I Know who you are. I Know who you are. You're Jesus of Nazareth the Holy One of God That's his declaration right That's his declaration the demons believe in God They know who God is.

They know Jesus is the Holy One of God same thing said same thing said of The angel Gabriel to Mary when she was going to conceive Jesus Christ our Lord that this is the Holy One of God See the demons know they make this declaration and this helps us understand two things We've already seen that the preaching of God terrorizes them the purposes of God terrorizes them because they know their end That is the lake of fire, but the purity of God also terrorizes them, right? You're the Holy One of God.

Listen Unholiness cannot stand the brightness of holiness Can't stand it Cannot even comprehend it does not even want to be a part of it and this individual demon realizes that Jesus Christ truly is the Holy One of God See, this is why listen Demons fear you Let me read it to you first Peter 2 verse number 9 you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation as A Christian you become a holy nation why a People for God's own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness Into his marvelous light see that that that's what believers do They are a holy nation Demons are unclean.

They're unholy. They cannot stand to dwell in holiness and Galatians 2 20 tells us that what Christ lives in me. I got a holy God in me. Who's made me a holy person Let me tell you something Satan can't get in there and demons fear you because of your holiness because of God's residence in your life that's powerful and this declaration by this demon is right on He realizes the purity of God remember Isaiah Isaiah chapter 6 when Isaiah saw God And he shook uncontrollably he feared greatly and Isaiah was a great prophet of God You have John on the island Patmos who was an apostle of God and when he came face to face with the glorified Son of God He feared greatly and fell down at his feet like a dead man Listen if John the Apostle did that if Isaiah the Prophet did that what do you think demons do?

when they come face to face and Encounter the Living God They fear Tremendously, they're scared They know their doom is right around the corner and they shake Uncontrollably Which leads us to our third point and that is the miracle performed two things the Lord's rebuke and the Lord's reputation Listen to what it says and Jesus rebuked him saying be quiet Come out of him.

Now. Can you imagine this whole setting, you know when you go to Israel? You can actually go to this location Stand on the location of this synagogue and realize that 2,000 years ago there was this individual in this synagogue who was sitting here demon-possessed and Jesus shows up to preach and you got all these people in the audience. They don't know this guy is demon-possessed They don't know that and why don't they know that because demons for the most part do not want to blow their cover, right?

They want to work in a very subtle way. That's why they're called Satan's called an angel of light They don't want to be discovered. They want to work in a very subtle Deceptive deceitful kind of way and so that that tells you why there are no record in the Old Testament of any person being demon-possessed and there is no record after the The book of Acts of anybody being demon-possessed until you get to the book of Revelation but in the Gospels you see a lot of people who are demon-possessed and in the book of Revelation you see demons all over the place and the Reason for that is is because during that earthly ministry of Christ the Holy Son of God as he walked on this earth The demons couldn't stand it They were they had to manifest themselves.

They had to come out They couldn't hide themselves any longer and in the book of Revelation when literally all hell breaks loose upon the earth That means all of Satan's minions are actively at work during that tribulational period when right before our Lord returns Because he is the Holy One of Israel and So we begin to realize as we study the text that our Lord just says, you know what? You just need to be quiet and you got to come out of him It's always got to say Why because he's the Son of God His word is is all Powerful You see there's no case in Scripture where every anybody ever went around chasing demons Looking for people who were demon-possessed and in casting demons out of them We're working at a very large church in Southern California as an associate and our women's director came in one day And she she came in and sat down in my office because oh man, it's been a long day I said really how come it's been so long.

She said well, we just we just got done casting 17 demons out of one of the members of our congregation. I Said really How'd you know there were 17? She said well, we counted them. I said, oh Okay, she goes then we have four more to go. I Said well, how can we didn't do it all at once Jesus did If you got the power of Jesus, how can we didn't do it all at once? And why are you so tired? Jesus wasn't tired when he cast out demons. Why are you tired? Well You know, we what the demon somebody wrote a book about the demon of post nasal drip once You know everything's associated with demons, you know, you know it's all because of the of the demon of alcohol or the or the demon of of lust or or the demon of bitterness or that Come on, folks Let's be real Quit blaming Satan on things.

It's not his fault Believe me It's your fault when those things begin to happen and And yet I was talking this individual. I said, you know, what does the Bible say about? Demon possession. What does the Bible say about resisting Satan and he flees Where does it say you're to bind Satan I thought I said I got news for you. There's only one person who binds Satan and then ain't you And I know it's not me Okay, and if it ain't me, I know it's not you. Okay, the bottom line is it's Jesus Christ our Lord in Revelation 20 He's the one who binds Satan.

He's the one who has the authority to do that. You don't have that authority I don't have authority what we to do are to obey the Word of God resist him He will flee and Peter says you resist him steadfast in The faith the Word of God being strong in the Word of God, that's the answer and that's the only answer so our Lord Rebuked him in a real Child like bratty kind of way and when the demon had thrown him down not not that Christ did it that way But the demon did and when the demon had thrown him down in the midst he came out of him without doing him any harm Demon kind of threw the man down in in the midst of the people because he was he was so angry He had to come out.

He didn't want to come out, but he had to come out because he couldn't resist the power of God see look at the Lord's reputation and the amazement came upon them all They began discussing with one another saying what is this message?

for with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out and The report about him was getting out into every locality in the surrounding district His authority was unmatched unequaled Unparalleled it was amazing Because he spoke the truth He spoke the Word of God Listen We don't need to know Whether or not you can conquer the kingdom of darkness Because Jesus has already done that And let me add this If you can do it It depreciates what God has already done God does those things Our job is to live in obedience to his Word Let me close with this Over in Matthew chapter 12 Verse 43 Christ is now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man It passes through waterless places seeking rest and doesn't find it Then it says I will return to my house from which I came and when it comes it finds it unoccupied swept and put in order Then it goes and takes along with its seven other spirits more wicked than itself and they go in and live there and the last State of that man becomes worse than the first and that is the way it will also be with this evil generation Christ gives us an illustration of of what takes place in the life of an individual Who who?

Who gets religious Who somehow gets religion in their lives He gives an illustration of of a demon see demons come and go and come and go as they as they choose and this demon Evidently had come into this individual individuals life and left and was seeking some other place to occupy himself But could not find anything so he returns back to the same individual That he had left earlier and when he comes back lo and behold this guy has got religion I mean, he's back in church. He's he's cleaned up his act.

He swept out the house. He stopped drinking. He stopped smoking He stopped doing things. He shouldn't be doing he's got he's going to church He's carrying about things that really happened in his life And the demon evidently can get back into the person's life because he hasn't been delivered See from the kingdom of that domain or the jurisdiction of satanic authority So When the demon comes back and occupies himself He brings with him seven more demons that are more wicked than him Why because when a person gets religious it's a lot better for a demon to conceal himself in that realm than any other realm because he wants to disguise himself as an Emissary of light or as an angel of light so he comes back and finds himself Having more of his demonic friends in him in crisis.

This is the way it is in the evil generation In other words, he says this this is the way it is unless you've been delivered You have no control over Satan. You have no authority over the Satan. You cannot defend yourself against demonic influence why because you are Susceptible to that every single moment of every single day because there has been no deliverance of your life Until there's deliverance you're at Satan's disposal and That's why it's so important for you to understand the gospel That's why it's so important for you to come to Christ If you're here today and you've never given your life to Christ Let me tell you my friend you are very susceptible to what Christ says in Matthew chapter 12 about some demon coming in and occupying your life and bringing seven more wicked ones with them because you're religious and And that's why you hear more about demonic activity in idolatrous nations than any other place because Satan loves to disguise himself and loves to be a part of those kind of atmospheres and So we need to realize that if you're here today never given your life to Christ never been delivered from the domain of darkness Today's the day you better do that because the evil generation Wasn't just during the time of Christ the evil generation is the whole generation of an individual who lives without Christ in his life and the the great thing about deliverance is that Satan has no Domain no authority at all in you none Because that's the way Christ wants it and that's the way he's designed it and we praise him for that Because it frees us Why the message was preached?

When the message was preached we believed and we experienced the holiness of God Because he made us a holy nation he takes up residence in our lives and we become servants of him and we begin to preach the gospel and The power of God begins to permeate our lives as Christians because we submit ourselves to his authority and the demons Tremble at that and that's the day The demon trembles, let's pray Father we thank you for the authority of your word and the opportunity we had to study it we do ask Lord that if there be one person among us who does not know Christ as Their Lord and Savior that today would be the day of their salvation in Jesus name Amen