09-28-23-ENG.

"When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them. " 

Colossians 2:15
THE REAL DEAL 

Read It: Mark 5:11-20 
Did you know that God also uses demons for His purposes? He's so sovereign that He not only uses the good angels to do His work, but He uses the bad angels too. You really see that in today's conclusion of the story of the demon-possessed possessed man. When Jesus ordered the demons out of the man, they wanted to enter the pigs. Now pigs were unclean animals in Scripture, so these unclean spirits wanted to inhabit unclean animals. They are messing with my pork chops here. Jesus granted them permission-to teach an object lesson. This man was written off as insane. Jesus wanted to point out, "That's not true. Let me show you the real deal here." So He let the demons enter the pigs. The pigs then immediately committed suicide. This was also an object lesson of what evil spirits can do. You can be grazing one minute, having a good time, and the next minute go downhill so fast that your life isn't worth a nickel. That's what demons can do. Only Jesus can do something about that. See, no matter what counsel you get for your problems, unless you are getting it together with Jesus Christ, you are going to plunge downhill and be drowned in the circumstances of life. You say, "Tony, that's all well and good. I hear you. But what do I do? I am not Jesus. Jesus could speak, and the demons would leave. How do I have power over the demons today? That was back in the first century. What do I do in the twentieth century?" Well, Jesus told His disciples in Luke 10:19-20, "

Don't get excited because you have authority over demons. Get excited that your name is written in the Lamb's book of life in heaven." What was Jesus saying? He was saying, "Get excited about what your salvation has done for you." You don't need to go around looking for an exorcist. You need to understand who you are in Christ. In Christ you have authority. In Christ you are equipped for spiritual warfare. In Christ you don't need to drown in your circumstances. That's the real deal. Think About It Jesus Christ has to be your authority, because the forces of hell are involved in spiritual warfare, and He defeated them on the Cross.