Listen:  149.7

Let’s consider some examples from the Bible where people were demon-possessed:

Mark 5:2-5 reads, “And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones” (NKJV). From this passage, we learn that some demon-possessed people: 1) Like to be alone; 2) Can’t be controlled; 3) Have super-human strength; 4) Cry out; and 5) Hurt themselves. After Jesus cast out the demons we read in verse 15 that he was “sitting and clothed and in his right mind.” From this we see that demon-possessed people: 1) Are restless; 2) Like to be naked; and 3) Are not in their right mind.

Mark 9:17-18 says, “Then one of the crowd answered and said, ‘Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid.” Verse 20 goes on to say, “Then they brought him to Him. And when He saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell to the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.” Unlike the demon-possessed person in Mark 5, this boy could not speak; and he experienced epileptic symptoms.

Acts 16:16 states, “Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.” It some cases, those possessed may have the ability to seem to “foretell future events.”

Acts 19:13-16 gives us the account of seven Jewish exorcists seeking to cast a spirit out of a man and in verse 16 we read, “The man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” Here again we see “super-human strength” in a demon-possessed man.

Are there demon-possessed people today? I believe there are. Missionaries in third-world countries have described such things where “spiritism” and other “occult practices” are practiced by primitive peoples. And I believe there is demon-possession in so-called civilized countries as well, though oftentimes when people demonstrate the symptoms we have seen it is passed off as “insanity” or some other “psychological disorder.” But these do NOT explain away some of the signs that we have seen, such as “super-human strength.”

In closing, I would like to quote the words of another. “A word to the wise: some people develop an unhealthy fascination with the occult and demonic activity. This is ill-advised to say the least. If we pursue God with our lives and we are clothing ourselves with His armor and relying upon His strength (Ephesians 6:10-18), we have nothing to fear from the evil ones, for God rules over all! When we are in Christ, and He in us, we have nothing to fear from the evil one because “He who is in you is greater than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).  (149.7)  (DO)