Demon Possession: A Biblical Discussion

Let's start by saying this, that all of the professing Christian church, not only in this country, but in other countries as well, there is widespread belief in demon possession, which we can understand because demon possession is certainly a reality in the biblical material.

And in addition to this, we have many claims made to the casting out of demons. But the existence of claims and the reality of those claims are two different things. And so I'd like to lead you through a series of scriptures addressing this question. And I want us to begin with the two scriptures at the top here.

If you have 1 Thessalonians 5:21, let's read it, starting from verse 19.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things. Hold fast what is good.

Test all things.

Now turn to Revelation chapter 2, verse 2. I'm going to read verses 1 and 2 of Revelation 2. Revelation 2:1.

To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.

Obviously, I'm particularly interested in the last part of verse 2. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.

Supposing that one of these days a couple of men come and they tell us that they are apostles in the same sense in which Peter was an apostle or Paul was an apostle or John was an apostle. And they further tell us that they have done all the miracles that the apostles did. They've healed sick people and they've spoken prophecies and so on. Would we say, come in, welcome, we're glad to meet some apostles?

Or would we test their claims in some way?

Now, I want to begin with the proposition that one of the problems that exists in the Christian church today is what I would call, forgive me, we're naive, we're gullible. And if people come to us with religious claims, we have a tendency to accept those claims at face value. They wouldn't lie to us about that, would they?

I don't know what Victor Street would do, but I'm hoping that Victor Street would test the claims of anybody who made that sort of statement. And you will notice that the Lord Jesus Christ commends the church at Ephesus for doing that. You have tested those who say that they are apostles and are not, and you have discovered that they were liars. That's what you've found out. I commend you for this, says Jesus.

And then, of course, we have the sweeping statement that we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:21. Test all things. Hold fast what is good. So if we have a reason for doing what we're doing this afternoon, we're going to test the question of demon possession and the casting out of demons as that claim is made.

All right, now we're under the origin of demons in the first section of the outline. And let's begin by turning to Job chapter 1 and verse 6.

And there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

It would appear that the term sons of God here refers to the angels, gathering in the presence of God and Satan walking in among them. Chapter 2, verse 1.

Again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.

Turn back to Genesis chapter 6, verse 2. Let's begin in verse 1.

Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

Now, this passage has been variously interpreted by people, but in the early church and apparently in Judaism, there was a very strongly held opinion that the sons of God here referred to angels, as it does in Job chapter 1 and 2, and that this records a situation in which the angels got involved with human women and therefore left their proper role and station.

Now, before we say anything more about that, this seems to be confirmed in 2 Peter and Jude. Turn to 2 Peter, chapter 2, please. And we want verse 4 and 5.

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly.

You'll notice what is done here. There is mention of angels who sinned and who had been put directly into hell. And there is immediate mention after that of the days of the flood.

Now turn to Jude, verse 6.

And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own habitation, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

A close comparison of Jude with 2 Peter shows, I think, pretty clearly that Jude was aware of the book of 2 Peter. And this is apparently his take on the reference to the angels of 2 Peter chapter 2. Notice he says they did not keep their proper domain, but they left their own habitation. That sounds exactly like Genesis chapter 6, does it not? They came, they didn't stay in the angelic realm where they belonged. They came into human life and married human women.

So this tradition that one of the problems that preceded the flood was the intermarriage between angels, sinful angels, and human women, is apparently a tradition that gets support as far as we can tell from 2 Peter and Jude.

Now turn back to Genesis chapter 6. All right, now I'm going to read back starting with verse 1 and move on a couple more verses.

Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh. Yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Now, it's fairly obvious here, is it not, that as a result of the union between angels and human women, there were children born, but they were well beyond the ordinary, shall we say. They are here called giants. That's the English translation of the Hebrew word Nephilim, which only occurs here and in Numbers 13:33, where it appears to refer to the giants in the land of Canaan.

But the rabbis, at least some of them, interpret Nephilim because it comes from a Hebrew word meaning to fall. They interpret the Nephilim as the fallen ones.

Now, there existed a very distinct tradition that the children of this union between angels and women were killed by the flood and the spirits who came out of these children became the demons that worked their evil way with men. To show you that this, you can find this in the literature, you look for it, and for those who are interested, I have a quotation here which states this. I think we should read this quotation because it summarizes, apparently, a widespread opinion in the Jewish world.

The condition of the giants was quite special and cannot be applied to the ordinary sinners of the flood. The former, meaning the giants, were the offspring of the unnatural union between angels and women. They were punished with death, but from their bodies issued the evil spirits who were to plague mankind. These spirits are not to be identified with human souls. Their existence and activity is due precisely to their angelic origin.

Okay, so we kind of get this picture clear. There are three parties involved in this. First of all, there are the angels who left their proper habitation and married women. And according to 2 Peter and Jude, those angels were cast by God into hell. So we're not talking about them influencing people. They're down in chains of darkness waiting for their final judgment, according to 2 Peter and Jude.

But the offspring of the union between angels and women were the Nephilim, and they were killed by the waters of the flood. And according to this Jewish tradition, their spirits, which were not typical human spirits, they were the result of this union between angels and men. That would make them, I would presume, partly human and partly angelic. Their spirits become the evil spirits that plague mankind.

Is there any reason in the New Testament to believe that that tradition has the support of the New Testament? So far I've referred to it only as a tradition. It's not spelled out here in the Bible. I think there is reason to believe that it has New Testament support. And so I ask you now to turn to Matthew 12:43 to 45.

When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. And they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Also be with this wicked generation.

Now, this is a very revealing and suggestive little passage. An unclean spirit, which is the New Testament way most frequently referring to the demons, an unclean spirit goes out of a man whose body he has been possessing. Okay? And he goes through dry places. The Greek word here is more specific, in places without water and he's looking for rest.

Now, as far as it goes, that supports the tradition that I mentioned to you because if the spirits, the demons or the disembodied spirits of the giants, the giants were killed by water, right? They were drowned. And so this evil spirit leaves the man. And he's looking for rest and he's not going to look around water. And he doesn't find any, even out in the desert, wherever he is.

And this reveals something else about the demons, that they seem to crave a physical body. Why shouldn't they, if they were originally born into a physical body? So as far as this goes, it supports the idea that was present in Jewish tradition that the demons are the disembodied spirits of the giants who were born as a result of the union between angels and human women.

Now, one of the things that obviously the New Testament wants to tell us about the power of demons is that the power of our Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely supreme over the power of demons. That leads us to Romans 2 here, Christ's power over the demons. And one of the very best examples of this is the story found in Luke 8:26 to 39. Let's turn to that.

Let's read this story, and then we'll talk about it.

Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He had stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house, but in the tombs.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me. For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles. And he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.

Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he said, Legion, because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.

Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain, and they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.

When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened and came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.

Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear, and He got into the boat and returned. Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you. And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. So it was when Jesus returned that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.

Now, notice this remarkable story. A great multitude of demons have entered into a single individual. And they have managed to merge into what amounts to a single persona so that, when this story begins, it's one person speaking. And if Jesus says, what is your name? And this multiple persona says, Legion, because we are many.

But what is interesting here is that the demons are extremely fearful of Jesus. And they are begging Him all, every step of the way. They're worried about what He's going to do to them. You also notice that another factor is that since He has told them to come out of the physical body that they inhabit, they don't want to just be loose with no physical body to inhabit, right? So they asked for the swine. They asked for the pigs. That's better than nothing.

And the Lord Jesus Christ permits them to go into the pigs. And pigs go violently out of control. They rush down the slope of the mountain and they're drowned. Now, the irony of this is that if we understand the background of the tradition, this seems to fit the tradition perfectly. The demons get their bodies in the pigs, but are unable to control the pigs. And as a result, the thing they fear the worst happens to them again. They're drowned in the bodies of these pigs.

Now, you will notice that in Luke 8:28, he says, What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High? I beg You, do not torment me. Don't torture me. Apparently they anticipate punishment. Verse 31. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. Now, the word abyss, as I point out here on your outline, is used seven times in the book of Revelation, normally translated bottomless pit. And it is the place where Satan is put, you remember, for a thousand years? And so it is a place of, we would probably say it refers to Hades.

And the demons are afraid in as much as Jesus has told them to get out of the physical body in which they find themselves. They are afraid that He is going to consign them to hell immediately. And they say, please don't do that. Let us get into the pigs. So what is evident here, as fearful as the idea of demon possession seems to some people, is that the demons themselves are mortally afraid of God, mortally afraid of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and He has absolute power over them. Absolute power.

Now, it's also evident, this is under B of number 2, it's also evident that their own power is limited, is limited, is it not? They go into the swine. Apparently this catches them by surprise. They don't know how to operate swine. They go in and they lose control of the swine and get drowned again.

Now, this is also probably illustrating the limitations on demon's power by other passages. Look at Mark 5, verse 5. Now, this is the same story as told in the Gospel of Mark. But it adds a detail here that I think is interesting in connection with what we say. Verse five,

and always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

Now, the picture that we have of the demons here is that they want a house to live in, right? And if they lose this house, they want another house, however inferior. It does not fit that they are deliberately making this man cut himself. What if he cuts his throat? That's the end of their house. This suggests that even in the man, the demons did not have absolute control.

And that the presence of the demons produced a kind of a violent self, you know, like a man kind of submerged in ether. And he's, he, something's wrong with me. I mean, he cuts himself and tries to break somehow free. I mean, he's been totally suppressed by these demons.

Notice also in verse 13, there were about two thousand swine. So when the demons come out individually, there must have been two thousand of them in this man. That's more than this man can handle. And they don't completely handle him.

Turn to Mark 9. Now let's read from verse 14, if you don't mind. Mark 9:14.

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them and scribes disputing with them. Immediately when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. And He asked the scribes, What are you discussing with them?

Then one from the multitude answered and said, Teacher, I brought you my son who has a mute spirit. And whenever he seizes him, he throws him down. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples that they should cast him out, but they could not.

He answered and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me. So they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him. And he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

So He asked his father, How long has this been happening to him? And he said, From childhood. And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.

Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. When Jesus saw the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more.

Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

Now, this is also an interesting story. And from the father's perspective, the demon inside of his child is trying to destroy the child. But in the light of what we have seen so far, that may not have been what was actually happening. From the observational point of view, this guy has seizures, and he falls into the fire or into the water.

Nothing we have seen so far suggests that the demons want to put a body into water, right? Or even when they're out of the body, they don't want to go near water. So what this suggests, in fact, is that with this child, the demon, while possessing him, does not have perfect control of the child. And things happen to the child which are probably not the intent of the demon, but they are a result.

In other words, the child has some difficulty controlling the child even as they had complete difficulty controlling the swine. And so the demon's power here, it is evident, is very much less than we sometimes think of it as being. Even though they are able to affect this kind of possession, it is not the totally scary thing that some people have made it out to be. And in any case, the Lord Jesus Christ has complete and perfect control.

Now, having said all that, that brings us to the last of the sections here. Are demons cast out today? That's the sixty-four thousand dollar question, I guess. I don't look for me to pay off if you get the answer right.

The first thing I want to call your attention to is in the New Testament that people who did cast out demons are very few in number. They are very few in number. I think I've got everybody here. If anybody thinks that I've missed someone, I would appreciate knowing it. Obviously, Christ. And the twelve, He sent out the twelve, for example, gave them power over demons.

There's a man referred to in Mark 9:38. John comes to Jesus and said, we saw a man casting out demons in Your name and he doesn't follow us. And we told him, stop. And Jesus said, don't tell him, stop.

Philip, the evangelist in Acts 8:7, casts out demons. And there are two cases where Paul does. The most famous one is in the great salvation chapter, Acts 16. Remember the little demon-possessed fortune teller that followed Paul? And finally he turns around and tells the demon to come out of her.

And then the other case is when Paul is in Ephesus in Acts 19. And here there is an interesting story. Remember the story that there were seven sons of Sceva who saw that Paul could cast out demons in the name of Jesus. So they said to themselves, if he can do it, we can do it. And they go to a demon-possessed man and they tell him to come out in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.

And the demon-possessed man says, Jesus I know and Paul I know, but who are you? And he jumps on them, and they flee, wounded, stripped of their clothing out of his house. Not a very effective session of exorcism there.

But what I want to stress is that when all is said and done, that ain't very many people. Don't you agree? Now, even granted, we've got the case of the man in Mark 9:38, and even granted that there were more people than are named in the Bible. It is surprising that that's, as far as I know, this is it.

Now there's a second fact. This is not original with me. A friend of mine on the curricular board was the first to point this out to me.

If you ask the question, how many cases of casting out demons are there in the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi? The answer is zero.

If you ask the question, how many references are there to demon possession in the New Testament epistles? The twelve epistles of Paul, the epistle of the writer of Hebrews, the epistles of Peter, the epistles of John, how many references to demon possession? Answer, zero.

If you ask me, is there any reference to demon possession in the book of Revelation with all of the miraculous things that are in the book of Revelation? The heyday of Satan's miraculous power. Is any reference to demon possession? The answer is, again, zero.

If demon possession were something that has been going on since the flood, since after the flood, throughout the Old Testament period, and if it went on indefinitely in the New Testament period, this is strange. This is very, very strange. Nobody that I've mentioned this to has yet offered me a very good reason for it, except the one that we're going to mention in a moment.

Now, I don't have the references down here. There are references to demons in the Old Testament. Leviticus 17:7, Deuteronomy 32:17, 2 Chronicles 11:15, Psalm 106:37. But no mention of demon possession in the Old Testament, in the New Testament epistles, in the book of Revelation.

What does that mean? It means that it's only mentioned in the Gospels and Acts. The Gospels and Acts. Now, we may also rule out which Gospel that doesn't mention it? John. So now we're only talking about Matthew, Mark, and Luke and Acts.

The question that may be raised, therefore, is this. Is the phenomenon that we know as demon possession a phenomenon that God permitted to occur during the age of Christ and the apostles in order to furnish a background for displaying the mighty power of the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of those who truly functioned in His name? That's the obvious question.

Is there any hint of this in the New Testament? There may be. Turn to Matthew 12:29. Now, to get the context of this right, let's read from Matthew 12:24, shall we?

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. So the Pharisees say the only way he casts out demons is with the power of Satan. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or else, how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

Now turn to the parallel passage in Mark 3:27.

No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

Luke 11:21.

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoils.

Now, it's fairly evident here in the context of each of these statements, although the statements are a little differently recorded in the three Gospels, that the strong man is Satan, and the stronger man is Jesus Christ, and that as long as Satan doesn't encounter someone stronger than him, his goods are safe.

But what are his goods? Well, in the context, it sounds like his goods are the people he possesses through demons. But what does the stronger man do? He comes, ties up the strong man. I would say cleans him out.

Now, this falls short. I want to emphasize this. This falls short of demonstrating that Satan no longer has the power to possess human beings through evil spirits. Because it would be possible to interpret the verses that I've just referred to somewhat differently without drawing that conclusion from them. And there is no direct statement of Scripture that says there is no more demon possession. It's the silence of Scripture, really, but that has only a limited value. It may well be that we can't push that very far. It's an argument from silence.

But as far as it goes, it raises a very serious question about whether what is called demon possession today and what is called exorcism, the casting out of demons, is a valid act of spiritual power.

That's going to lead me to the last verse in our discussion today. I said there was no reference to demon possession in the book of Revelation. There is not. But there's one reference to demon possession that belongs to the future. However, this is a surprise. I can assure you, you haven't realized that this is the only reference to demon possession that pertains to the future. Notice I'm using the word reference to. I didn't say case of, right? I said reference to. Matthew 7:21.

Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.

Try to get the impact of this passage, if you will. This is obviously the day of judgment. And people who are standing before Jesus are not people who are now continuing to repeat the lies that they fooled human beings with, right? This is a desperate situation for them. They need to get some consideration from the judge who is before them.

So there are many who will say to the Lord Jesus Christ on the day of judgment, Lord, haven't we spoken prophecies in Your name? Haven't we cast out demons? Haven't we done miracles in Your name?

And notice that Jesus doesn't say, no, you haven't. You know, you haven't done that. Neither does he say, yes, you have. You've done that. But what does Jesus say? He says, I don't know you. You don't know me. We're strangers. Notice that Jesus does not deny their claims. Jesus does not admit the truth of their claims. They obviously think these things are true. Otherwise, they wouldn't mention it.

Let me try to drive the impact of this home. I want you to think of a TV preacher. It doesn't matter who you think of. You don't have to think of a specific one. And he utters prophecies. And he casts out demons on TV. And he performs miracles on TV.

And he stands before the Lord Jesus Christ someday. And Jesus says, I don't know you. I never knew you. The problem that we face in American society and in Christian world in general is, as I said at the very beginning, our gullibility.

And we do not do what the scriptures tell us we should do, and that is to test all things. You say, how do you test a TV preacher? I have no idea. I don't have the means to test most of them. So I don't have the means of verifying what they claim or disallowing what they claim. I have the right to doubt it. Okay?

But I do not have the right to accept it at face value without support. Now, one of the ways in which I would test the genuineness of a TV preacher is when I hear him on the subject of the gospel. How does a person get into heaven? What do they have to do to get into heaven? If you lined a dozen TV preachers up in front of you and asked them that question, you'd probably get a dozen different answers. They'd all contain the word believe, but there would be all sorts of other fluff connected with it.

And if a TV preacher, I don't care what he claims to do, if a TV preacher does not understand how to get saved, he isn't saved. And when he stands before the Lord Jesus Christ, he hasn't done the one thing that God wants people to do to get saved, and that's to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. And he won't make it.

So I am asking you as a result of our study this afternoon to heighten your awareness of the multitude of religious voices that is all around you and not to accept claims that you cannot verify.

Now, I can tell you stories of situations where people have attempted to verify some of these claims and have come up empty-handed. The greatest example I know of, and apparently a doctor set out one time to find if she had really healed anybody, and he couldn't find a single case. Maybe he missed the ones she healed, I don't know. But he was unable to test her adequately to make her message acceptable.

I heard her on TV one time being interviewed, and she danced around the subject of the deity of Christ with considerable skill, without confessing it. Does demon possession occur today? I don't know.

If it does, are there real Christians who cast out demons? I don't know.

And if I come into a situation where I have to try and find out, I'll do my best to find out, but I'm not going to accept a multitude of stories. I'm not going to accept a series of claims. And I'm always going to ask, what do you believe is the way to heaven?

And that'll be a good starting point, it seems to me.