THE DEMONS BELIEVE AND TREMBLE

Two Men and a Legion of Demons

The power of the demons

See Revelation 12:1-9, 2 Kings 19:35, Daniel 10:1-14....

See Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39...

Luke 8:30 “Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him.”

From Mark and Luke’s accounts we see that these two men had been driven by the demons to live in the tombs and to wander in the desert and mountains with no clothes. They had often been bound with shackles and chains, but they would wrench the chains apart and break them in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue them. Day and night they would be among the tombs or on the mountains. They were always crying out and cutting themselves with stones.

The demons’ fear of Christ

In Mark’s and Luke’s accounts we learn that the demons begged Christ not to torment them or to send them into the abyss. How horrible must hell be for the demons to prefer to be inside of filthy pigs instead of there?

James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”

2 Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;”

The Power and Authority of Christ

Christ demonstrated that He has all power and authority over demons.

Mark 1:27 “And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.””

Daniel 4:35 “all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?””

See Matthew 4:10-11...

Very Different Responses to Christ

Fear

Luke 8:37 “Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.”

Faith

See Mark 5:18-20....

Indifference

Matthew 12:30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”