09-27-23-ENG.

"When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives. "

Ephesians 4:8 
PRISONERS OF WAR

Read It: Mark 5:1-10
In Mark 5 we have a premier case of demon activity in the New Testament. We're introduced to a madman with an "unclean spirit" (v. 8). When these demonic unclean spirits do their thing, what do they do? Well, we are told in verse 2 that this man lived in the realm of death. He came out of the tombs. So his worldview was one of death, morbidity. ity. We learn from verse 3 that he possessed unusual strength. He was also suicidal and ran around without clothes (see v. 15). This is a stark picture ture of the degradation demons try to heap on human beings. So the man is demon-possessed. Now the demons know who Jesus is. That's consistent throughout the Gospels. Demons are always forced to recognize Jesus because He is God. But there seems to be a dual recognition nition going on here. The demons have to bow to Jesus, but they'd never plead for His help. The man also bowed before Jesus. He needed help, and he knew Jesus was the only One who could help him. You can see the totality of his possession even in the structure of the text, because there is no clear distinction between the man speaking and the demons speaking. ing. It's one of the saddest pictures of helpless humanity in the Bible. The man was in torment because of the demons. The demons were in torment when Jesus showed up. Why? Because Jesus was giving His word. Jesus was speaking. The word of Christ was producing the potential tial of torment.

If it's a spiritual issue, there will be spiritual crisis, because there is a war going on. I've never heard of a war where there wasn't conflict. "My name is Legion," the demon answered Jesus through the man when Jesus asked for his name. A legion in the Roman army was six thousand sand soldiers. This man needed the authority of Christ to-battle-an army. Now why didn't the demons want to be expelled from the man? Because demons only fulfill their reason for living when they are tormenting menting others. They exist to perpetuate and extend the agenda of hell. But when Jesus said go, they had to go! Think About It The power of Christ over demons is the power in which you can stand against the forces of hell.