Luke 8:30 – And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.

Hello readers, many devils were entered into him. This is what the Bible said of the man possessed of Legion. And today its a phrase from the Bible worth thinking upon. We are in Luke 8 today and it is best as always to read it for yourself to understand what’s going on in this story. Why do people behave the way they do? Why do they say what they say? Why do they think how they think? Why do people follow certain things? Often we tend to neglect the spiritual element to things. The spiritual world is more real than the physical world. Even though we cannot directly see it, we see it’s evidence. What could make someone murder someone else in cold blood without mercy or guilt or remorse? What could make someone rape a defenseless victim? As fallen creatures we all have the nature to sin, but there is always a huge spiritual dynamic to our behavior, and your spiritual condition, what’s really going on inside you, what spirit you have manifests itself as you think, walk, talk and do in this world.

The spiritual winds of this world blow… and many people follow this world’s course. Spiritually they are of the world. You see man has a spirit, but it is fallen, and unless you are born again, which is when you get the Holy Spirit… your spirit is not truly alive because it is separated from God, dead. Being born again is being quickened, that is made alive. But spiritually many people are dead, it’s why they do what they do. And then there are many devils, like which possessed this man, which influence and possess people and cause them to behave in such a way. This man was not free. He was a slave, he was bound. Many people are not, and do not want to be free spiritually. Free to follow God, free to no longer be a slave of sin. But it takes the Holy Spirit of God. What spirit d o you have? The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, if you are not born again, you are not in, and hence you think so differently to the way a born again Bible believing person thinks. The kingdom of God on earth at the moment only exists as far as being in the hearts of believers around the world, and that manifests itself as being salt and light in a dark world. It is why Jesus said the kingdom of God is within you. One day Jesus Christ will possess the kingdoms of this world but for now they are Satan’s domain. He is the prince of this world. This world is his spiritually, and it shows. Look how the world thinks, operates, does, what it is full of… and that is why the Bible says the whole world lies in wickedness.

We tend to think the spiritual world isn’t as real as the Bible says it is. Jesus Christ had a lot of encounters with devils… and they haven’t ceased to exist since his day. They’re still around. The Bible makes it clear the spiritual world is more real than the physical world. Ephesians 6:12 –  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. The believer doesn’t have to be controlled by devils, and can have victory through Jesus Christ, but it’s recognizing in many cases the spiritual element behind the warfare in this world. Know your enemy. Know what you’re dealing with. This world hates Jesus Christ, it hates truth, and it hates you if you are saved. It does because behind it all is a spirit that is against God. Ephesians 2:2 – Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience… you don’t have to be on team Satan or dance to his tune, but you will, you cannot not if you are not saved.

This blog is not to spook you, or scare you, or whatever.. but today we live in a generation that many devils have entered into. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft the Bible says. You rebel against God and it brings you under the power of the devil. Today’s generation has rebelled against God, and look at how devilish it behaves. It explains how people can be so unimaginably cruel, so unimaginably evil, do such unspeakable things, think such unspeakable thoughts. This doesn’t absolve personal responsibility, but it is just a fact. Man is a sinner, a fallen being. He has a predisposition, a nature to sin. This can be overcome through getting saved. You don’t have to be completely swallowed up by Satan. You see, he is after you to devour you. How many people’s lives and future and blessing and purpose have been devoured by the devil. Men that have fallen into adultery. Men in prison because they got mad and killed someone. Lives ruined. Like this man! This man didn’t even have a name. His identity was completely possessed by Legion. Look how he was living. Look how he was behaving. A life completely devoured. Many people are marked by the thing that possesses them. Helpless to resist. You see a life sold to sin will actually lose your identity, lose your freedom. That’s the sad truth of all this liberty and freedom movement even in Christianity, they cry grace and love, but their lives show they are entirely destitute of the grace of God. 2 Peter 2:19 – While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

You see this man possessed by devils… he was a slave. Today’s generation has been promised freedom, the sexual revolution, the emancipation of women, enlightenment and so on… which seem good right… yet they’ve produced slaves. What the devil promises is never true. He comes as an angel of light, but he’s here to ruin your life. He is the father of lies. You can be a slave of lust. A slave of alcohol. A slave of drugs. A slave of fear. A slave of unbelief. A slave of addiction. He wants to enslave you. Down in Egypt when Joseph was there, Jacob and his sons prospered in Egypt. Yet somehow their descendants ended up being slaves. Satan may not have you lock, stock and barrel at the moment… but he will work tirelessly to get you there. You will end up being a slave. Why do you think Exodus is about slaves getting out of Egypt… it’s a picture of salvation. You are a slave of sin. The devil will own you. He owned this man. Pharaoh treated the Israelites like dirt, and he also ruined his own people… the devil hates Christians, but he also hates his own, if you are unsaved, you will wake up in hell to realize so. Sin itself is a betrayer. For instance adultery. It seems great at the time, a thrill like no other… but the end result will be a ruined marriage, a broken home and a burnt life, and a reputation when people find out. David’s sin with Bathsheba brought a moment’s pleasure, and a lifetime of regret, and a legacy even now when we think of him we go ugh if only he didn’t do that, how could he do that?

Many devils were entered into him. Maybe your life is like that. You’ve rebelled against God, living a life of sin. And you are full of devils. You are possessed by those things you thought you had control of. People don’t plan to become alcoholics, they don’t plan to sleep around, bash their wife and kids, and be a slave to the bottle it is their refuge, their escape, their comfort, their confidence. Whereas you were once in control, now it is in control. Maybe this man thought he could get by, but what he was in control of now controlled him. Maybe he thought it would never happen to him, after all we all have this exception to the rule mentality. A little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump.  Many hundreds of years before the tribe of God had chosen their lot, they were satisfied with the land before Jordan. This man came from a people that didn’t go all the way with God, who settled for less, and it was a country that wanted Jesus to get out of there. They were upset about their pigs being destroyed, they weren’t so excited about this man being restored spiritually. Talk about messed up when you care more for pigs than an eternal human soul! It matters the legacy you leave your children, it matters what you leave behind. None could help him, and none could fix him… all they did was try restraining this bloke. It’s the problem with modern Christianity… none of it really helps, it’s about modifying existing behavior, it’s about never dealing with the real issue. You can’t control sin, sin must be acknowledged and repented of. People must be pointed to Jesus Christ, he is the solution. Human ways and means did not help this man.

He had devils a long time, have you been the way you are a long time? I’m sure this man thought it could and would never change. Satan will have you for a long time, he ain’t interested in letting you go. He doesn’t want you to scent freedom, or to even think it. In Egypt, when Moses came to tell Israel we’re getting out of here, Pharaoh instructed the taskmasters to make Israel work even harder so they wouldn’t be able to think about freedom, so they wouldn’t have time. Satan will load you up so much you won’t ever stop and really think about the gospel. You won’t ever truly consider your ways. You are all choked up and choked out. This man was fully possessed, there were MANY devils in him. This man was naked, and sin will strip you, it will strip you of self respect and respect for others, it will strip you of honour, of dignity, of purity, of cleanness, of morality. These things are all missing from someone possessed by the devil. He was in the tombs, because his life was deadness, you live a life in sin, it is a fruitless, barren, unproductive, unfulfilled, vain life. To be dead in your sins is to be dead in your sins. We did surely die as God warned in the garden of Eden, and many people are happy to abide in death. In the death of lust, and pride, and bitterness, and envy, and self, and lies… whatever it is.

It was Jesus Christ that cast these devils out. He said go, and they went. Jesus Christ’s claim to a soul trumps the devils. He is God after all. If you feel like you’re hopelessly lost, or you’ve sold yourself… well that is a lie. Jesus Christ can set you free. His blood shed for you has paid the price for your freedom. It is a legal transaction, we all have a sin debt, but Jesus paid it in full. The Judge is satisfied in what his Son did on the cross. And rising from the dead shows his sacrifice was accepted, and it shows he was won the victory over sin and death. Death only exists because of sin, Jesus did no sin, death has no hold on him. You go your own way in life, and you think you’ve got it in had, you think you’re having fun, you don’t know how you will end up. You may not end up like this bloke physically, you may not be as disintegrated or deranged, but you can be just as full of unclean spirits. Maybe your life only produces sin. Maybe it is full only of wicked thoughts and actions. Maybe you are as dark as this man inside. All you’ve got is unclean… you are unclean.

The Bible says in Job 14:4 – Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. We are all unclean, and it takes Jesus Christ to forgive us, save us, cleanse us and create a new heart in us to get out of the clutches of the devil. He wants to take over your life and swallow it up. This man believed on Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ cast the devils out of him. And next thing he was sitting, clothed, in his right mind, and the feet of Jesus. God can turn it around for you. Maybe you’re in darkness, in sin, a life utterly consumed by Satan, but Jesus can forgive you, you can have a new master, one that loves you so much he died for you and freely forgives and saves. Luke 8:39 says that And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him. What a changed life. Many devils were entered into him… but they all went out when Jesus said go. You can be buried under MANY sins, MANY mistakes, MANY things which are controlling and undermining and defining your life, but Jesus can deal with them. Jesus died for you, he can forgive you, and he will save you readily. John 6:37 – All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

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