THE POWER OF DEMONS OVER THE HUMAN BODY They can cause DUMBNESS (Matt. 9:32-33), and BLINDNESS (Matt. 12:22), and INSANITY (Luke 8:26-28), and the SUICIDAL MANIA (Mark 9:22), and PERSONAL INJURIES (Mark 9:18), and impart SUPERNATURAL STRENGTH (Luke 8:29), and inflict PHYSICAL DEFECTS AND DEFORMITIES. Luke 13:11-13. Once they have got control over a human body they can come and go at will. Luke 11:24-26. The Devilish character of "Demons" is seen in the use they make of their victims. They use them as "instruments of unrighteousness, " (Rom. 6:13), for the proclamation of the "DOCTRINES OF DEVILS, " (1Tim. 4:1), and the teaching of "DAMNABLE HERESIES." 2Pet. 2:1. The effect of such use of the victim is not only unmoral, it is IMMORAL. It leads to vicious and inhuman conduct. The conduct of "demonized" men and women seems to indicate that the "Demon" takes possession of them for the purpose of physical sensual gratification, thus letting us into the secret of the cause of the wreck of the Pre-Adamite Earth, the SIN OF SENSUALITY. This accounts for the desire of the victim to live in a state of nudity; to have lustful and licentious thoughts. In these days of increasing tendency to yield to "Seducing Spirits" it may account for the immodesty of fashionable attire, and the craze of dancing.
The purpose of the "Demon" is often to alienate husband and wife, and break up homes by preaching the doctrine of "FREE LOVE." In short, the "Demon, " for personal gratification, has the power, once he is in control of his victim, to derange both mind and body, and wreck the victim's health, and if deliverance is not obtained by turning to Christ, who alone has power to cast out the Demon, the victim will be lost soul and body. Demon-possession must not be confounded with diseases, such as "Epilepsy, " which causes the victim to fall in convulsions, foam at the mouth and gnash the teeth, for the Scriptures make a clear distinction between them. "
And His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were POSSESSED WITH DEVILS (Demons-"daimonizomai, " demonized or demon possessed), and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them." Matt. 4:24. In 1Cor. 10:20-21 we read- "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they SACRIFICE TO DEVILS (Demons), and not to God; and I would not that ye should have FELLOWSHIP WITH DEVILS (Demons). Ye cannot drink the 'Cup of the Lord' (Communion Cup), and the 'Cup OF DEVILS'; ye cannot be partakers of the 'Lord's Table, ' and of the TABLE OF DEVILS (Demons)" This passage proves that behind all heathen worship there is the "Spirit of Demonism, " or "DEVIL WORSHIP, " and accounts for the "wild orgies" and voluptuous and licentious mode of worship of the heathen.
That the "Demons" have the power of "DIVINATION" is clearly revealed in the New Testament. "And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel POSSESSED WITH A SPIRIT OF DIVINATION met us, which brought her masters much gain by SOOTHSAYING. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the 'Most High God, ' which shew unto us the Way of Salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the 'SPIRIT’ (the Evil Spirit, or Demon), I command thee in the name of JESUS CHRIST to come out of her. And he came out the same hour." Acts 16:1618. It is clear from the context that this young woman was a MEDIUM, and that she performed her work through the instrumentality of an "Evil Spirit" or "Demon." This reveals the source of information of modern "Mediums." The information they furnish is given, not by the person they profess to call up, but by an "Evil Spirit" or "Demon, " who, for the purpose impersonates the person called for. If there ever was an exception to this method of communication between this and the world of departed spirits, it was the case of Samuel, recorded in 1Sam. 28:6-8. There is a diversity of opinion as to whether Samuel really appeared, or was impersonated by an "Evil Spirit." But the account is so circumstantial, and the evident and undisguised surprise of the Witch of Endor at the appearance of Samuel, whom she doubtless had known, and the conversation between Saul and Samuel without the aid of the Witch as a MEDIUM, seems conclusive evidence that Samuel did really appear. But the Witch did not bring him up. God sent him as a rebuke to Saul.
Thus the exception proves the rule. Some claim that because Samuel said-"Tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me, " that it was not Samuel that appeared, but an "Evil Spirit, " for Saul and his sons would not go to the same place in the other world as Samuel. But we must not forget from our study of the chapter on the "Spirit World, " that "Paradise" and "Hell" were at that time both in the heart of the earth, from which Samuel came up, but were separated by a "Great Gulf." So the words "Tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me, " meant that they should be with Samuel in the "Underworld, " but in separate compartments, separated by a "Great Gulf." And the fact that we are told that Saul's death was partly caused by his asking counsel of a "Familiar Spirit" (1Chron. 10:13), reveals God's displeasure with those who resort to Spiritism. The account of the Transfiguration, in which Moses and Elijah appeared on the Mount with Jesus, and in the presence of Peter, James and John (Matt. 17:1-3), is used by Spiritualists to prove that our departed ones can come back again to the earth. But we must not forget that Moses and Elijah were not in the state of the dead. Moses had been resurrected, and Elijah had never died, and the Transfiguration scene is a foreview of the condition of the dead after the
FIRST RESURRECTION, when those who are with Christ shall return to the region of the air to reign with Christ over the earth. In that day the saints will have communication with the earth, but not in this Dispensation. The story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-21) reveals the fact that communication with the spirits of our departed dead, is not only unnecessary, but is not permitted. It is not necessary, for we have Moses and the Prophets, that is, the Holy Scriptures, to give us all we need to know of the state of the dead. And it is not permitted, or Lazarus, or the rich man himself, would have been allowed to return to the earth and warn his brethren. The inevitable conclusion to be drawn from this story is, that the spirit of a good man MAY not, and the spirit of a bad man CANNOT return to this earth. If this be true then Spiritism is a fraud, and is one of the devices of Satan in these latter days to lead astray the unwary. Those who dabble in Spiritism are in great danger of having their "understanding darkened" (Eph. 4:17-19) and come under the power and control of Demons.
The Apostle John says-"Believe not every spirit, but TRY THE SPIRITS whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1John 4:1. The test is-"Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ IS COME IN THE FLESH is not of God." 1John 4:3. Ask the "spirit" that comes to you personally seeking entrance, or speaks to you through a "Medium, " if Jesus Christ IS COME IN THE FLESH, that is, was born of the Virgin, and is the "SON OF GOD " and if it says-YES ! that is the Holy Spirit, for no man can say that Jesus is the LORD, but by the Holy Spirit.
1Cor. 12:3. But if the "Spirit" gets angry, and denies the Deity of the Lord Jesus, and the authority of the Word of God, then it is clear that the "spirit" is an "Evil Spirit" or "Demon." The Holy Spirit will not teach anything contrary to the Scriptures, so a person to be able to "TEST THE SPIRITS" must be thoroughly conversant with the Word of God. Another of the "Signs of the Times" is the revival of what is called the "GIFT OF TONGUES, " in which the recipient claims that he is taken possession of by the "Spirit of God" and empowered to speak in an "unknown" or "foreign tongue." But the conduct of those thus possessed, in which they fall to the ground and writhe in contortions, causing disarrangement of the clothing and disgraceful scenes, is more a characteristic of "demon possession, " than a work of the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit does not lend Himself to such vile impersonations. From what has been said we see that we are living in "Perilous Times, " and that all about us are "Seducing Spirits, " and that they will become more active as the Dispensation draws to its close, and that we must exert the greatest care lest we be led astray by them. Dispensational Truth
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