There is no doubt that we live in an age when occult practices and an interest in the occult has skyrocketed. One look at the cable television lineup and popular movies shows an unprecedented resurgence in the popularity of occult themes such as witchcraft and vampires and so forth. A couple of days ago I read an article from the New York Times called the Season of the Witch. I want to read a few excerpts from this article by a woman named Michelle Goldberg, just to illustrate the current popularity and acceptance by the culture of demonic practices today.

She says, “On a Wednesday evening last week, I sat in on a class called “Witchcraft 101: Curses, Hexes and Jinxes,” at Catland, a fashionable occult boutique in Bushwick, Brooklyn. More than a dozen people, most of them young women, sat in folding chairs in the store’s black-walled event space. The instructor was one of Catland’s co-owners, Dakota Bracciale, a charismatic, foul-mouthed 28-year-old former M.A.C. makeup artist dressed in flowing black, with a beard and long, lavender nails.

The author goes on to explain the well-documented resurgence of occultism among millennials. “Some of this vogue is about witch-as-metaphor, an icon that captures the boiling rage and determined independence of legions of nasty women. But some of it is a real, if eclectic, spiritual practice, adopted by people skeptical of organized religion but unfulfilled by atheism.

Bracciale, who uses the gender-neutral pronouns they and them, grew up in an evangelical household — somewhere “between ‘Jesus Camp’ and snake handlers” — and said that the new atheism of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens had a profound effect on their generation. But atheism wasn’t enough, said Bracciale: “It left this huge vacuum, and that vacuum had to be filled with something.” (so atheism produces a vacuum which has to be filled, and rather than filling that with God, they chose the devil).

The author goes on later in the article to give some of the history behind this resurgence of interest in the occult. “Theosophy, the mother of all new age movements, was founded in the 19th century as the discoveries of Charles Darwin undermined faith in Christian creation stories, which led some to abandon religion altogether but others to embrace new forms of mysticism. The rise of occultism among the counterculture of the 1960s and ’70s befuddled scholars who assumed that American society was moving toward ever-greater secularism.”End of quote.

I would agree with the writer that the origins of much of what we see today as an explosion of interest in the occult, and open practice of witchcraft and sorcery, found it’s origin in the 60’s and 70’s, when counter culteralists thought that they had become enlightened through drugs, and had discovered real truth. In fact, they had discovered nothing new, but rather through mind altering drugs rediscovered the occult practices and spiritism disguised as yoga, transcendental meditation, hypnotism, Wicka and other far eastern practices which were repackaged as New Age Spiritism.

But if I might demystify demonology for a moment, it is nothing more than the effect of sin and rebellion against God taken to it’s next level. And with the hippie revolution, sex, drugs and rock and roll became the vehicle of choice by which rebellion reached it’s apex, and demonic influence pervaded the culture en masse. The word in the Greek used in the Bible in places like Rev.9:21 which is translated as sorceries, is from the Greek word pharmakea. Its the root word from which we get our word pharmacy. And so we can understand from the Bible that drugs were used as a means of sorcery, of entering into a state where demons can work on the mind. And I firmly believe that this widespread use of drugs in our society today has opened up our culture to a new level of Satanic control.

While the news media reports that overt demonstrations of occultic influence are becoming ever more frequent in our society, the fact is that demons prefer to work in secrecy. The Bible says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. In fact, the Bible really doesn’t use the term demon possession. The idea expressed is more of someone being demonized. In other words, they are under the influence of Satan. The Bible teaches that to some degree or another, all the world that are unsaved are under the influence of the devil. Paul, speaking to Christians in Ephesus concerning their prior manner of life in Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

So note that Paul is saying that everyone who is unsaved is under the control of the prince of the air, that is Satan, and he is presently working in the sons of disobedience, which is to say all those who are unbelievers. Another reference is found in Colossians 1, and again Paul is speaking to believers, who, he says, were rescued from the domain of darkness. Unbelievers are enslaved in the domain of darkness, evil authorities in the spiritual realm, that’s what that means. And in vs 21 he goes on to say that in that state they “were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.“

So all those who are unsaved are under the domain, or authority of darkness, under the realm of the devil, and they are alienated in their minds from God, and engaged in evil deeds, and are hostile to God. But as I alluded to earlier, the hosts of darkness prefer to work in secret. They prefer to disguise lies as truth, to twist the truth into a lie, and by such practices cause men and women to be duped into captivity, while thinking themselves to be enlightened.

Though the gospel accounts make it seem that demons or evil spirits were acting out all the time, the truth is that a study of the entire Bible shows very little demonic activity in the Old Testament, other than in Genesis 6 and the book of Job and a couple of other minor instances. And even those incidents are very sparsely described, interspersed over hundreds of years. Yet during the time of Christ there was a period when demonic influence was manifest to a great degree. But I would suggest that was because these evil spirits recognized the Spirit of Christ. Spirits recognize spirits. And so they became manifest when Jesus came around because they knew that He knew them and could not only reveal them, but disarm them because He had authority over them. And by extension, Jesus gave His apostles authority over demons, and I believe that had to include the ability to recognize demonic influence, and as such we see the activity of Satan manifested in the times of the apostles. But after that age passed, we see very little of that kind of activity.

Now speaking of that ability of Christ to recognize demons and have authority over them, we look at this passage before us as an extreme example of demonic control over a person. Jesus and the disciples have just landed on the other side of the Sea of Galilee after weathering an extremely violent, intense storm that may have served as a prologue to this event, going from a violent wind to a violent manifestation of evil in human form. But as I indicated, the demons recognize Jesus and the man in whom they reside runs down to Jesus and falls down before Him imploring Him not to send them out into the abyss.

Now this poor man who is presented here is really to be pitied more than anything else. It says the townspeople feared him, and I’m sure that they should have. He had superhuman strength, he was a wild person living in the tombs, screaming night and day, cutting himself with stones and running around naked according to Luke’s gospel. He was certainly a scary person. But I want you to notice that while the townspeople were scared of him, Jesus has compassion on him and goes to him, calling out the demons.

I want to emphasize that for a moment. I have seen people that I thought were very scary looking. I’ve seen people in San Diego or Los Angeles that were walking down the street screaming, smashing things, cursing people out. People that looked like they had been living in the tombs. People that were pierced and tatted who had altered their bodies in such a way as to be as hideous as possible. And it’s natural to be intimidated by such people and head the other way. And I’m not suggesting that we be ignorant or flippant of the supernatural powers that might be at work in such people. They can be dangerous. But at the same time, we need to be compassionate, and realize that we know the One who has authority over the demonic realm, and that He came to set the captives free. Jesus has compassion on this man. Others would have fled from him, but Jesus goes to him. Alienated, alone, hurting, out of control. And as I said, I have seen people such as this man. He is a tragic, caricature, an extreme illustration of a man apart from God and left to Satan’s destructive power.

I toyed with the idea of trying to introduce a 500 year old hymn by Martin Luther to you this morning, with the hope that we might be able to sing it. However, I didn’t think I could do it justice with the guitar at this point, so instead I will read the first few stanzas from “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” written hundreds of years ago by the great reformer who certainly had experience in dealing with demonic forces and which I think gives great insight into the way we should deal with them.

“A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe, does seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing. You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same; and he must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.”

Now while this demoniac in our text is an example of an extreme case of demonic control, I believe we can find several characteristics exhibited in this man that parallel a perhaps more subtle, if not hidden, demonic influence in people today. I hope that maybe a look at these characteristics may reveal that even some of us may have similar areas of our life that Satan has exerted his control over, in his continuing efforts to render us unfruitful for the kingdom. So I am going to give you six characteristics that we see in this demoniac, there are probably more, but let’s look at them in hopes of identifying common areas in which Satan operates in varying degrees in people today, albeit covertly.

The first word we see in reference to this poor man is “unclean” in vs.2. This demoniac was considered unclean because he lived among the dead. Such was against the law of God, and a person that touched a dead person was considered unclean. But remember the verse from Ephesians 2 which we referenced earlier which said, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…” Touching a dead person is not a sin, but having sin in your life is equated with being dead. And thus someone who harbors sin, who lives in sin, who doesn’t renounce their sin, is dead spiritually and they are unclean in the sight of God. Let me make something very, very clear. The person that harbors sin, that lives in sin in an unrepentant state, is opening up their mind and body to demons. And the devil will come in like a lion through the gate which you have opened up and take over completely. It’s a very dangerous thing for a person to live in defiant, open sin in rebellion against what the Bible has identified as sin. I can’t emphasize that enough. 1Samuel 15:23 says, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Even as a Christian, if you deliberately turn back to sin and don’t repent of it, you just took off your armor and invited Satan to come in an make himself at home. And it will have tragic consequences.

Secondly, notice he was living in isolation. He was living away from his community. He lived in the tombs, in the mountains. Listen, I don’t want to over stretch a metaphor here, but there is a tremendous danger to isolation. God designed us to live in fellowship with one another. And as Christians, that fellowship takes on even more importance. When a Christian lives in isolation from the rest of the body, that is the church, then they set themselves up for demonic attack and control. I was watching this cable show the other night with Susie about animals in the wild, and especially these wolves which were filmed while they were hunting. And their technique which is instinctive with them, is to separate one animal from the herd. They get them isolated from the herd and then they can conquer them. The same is true of the devil, who 1Peter 2:8 tells us goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And those in isolation are prime targets for the devil.

Third, he had supernatural strength. Let us be wary of seeking the supernatural, folks. There is a danger in seeking the supernatural. Many people have been led astray in the devil’s schemes by seeing some supernatural thing and finding it exciting, thrilling. They will even go so far as to attribute such things to God or the Holy Spirit, regardless of whether or not it agrees with scripture. God IS a God of supernatural power. But not everything supernatural is from God. Satan is able to counterfeit, just as Pharoah’s magicians counterfeited Moses’ miracles. Satan also has supernatural power. Beware of the supernatural. 1John 4:1 says, Test the spirits, because many spirits have gone out into the world, and not all are of God.

Fourth, he was in torment. Notice he is described as screaming day and night, and cutting himself with stones. There are obviously degrees of torment. At the one end there is a lack of peace, and a searching for peace using anything that they can to try to find it. Often today it involves alcohol or drugs, searching for that peace that can only come from the Lord. At the other end of the spectrum, instead of finding that peace through drugs or alcohol, they end up tormented by the demons of those drugs which rob them of their sanity. I can’t even begin to tell you about all the people that I know of who have lost their mind because of drugs. This demoniac had obviously ended up tormented to the point of losing his mind. He was out of control. And that is where sin always leads; to tormented souls who search for more and more and yet can find no peace. And a lot of times that leads to suicidal tendencies, as we see here with this man hurting himself. Satan is a destroyer, and that is his end game strategy for those he can control through sin.

Fifthly, there is the immediate recognition of the authority of Jesus Christ. This man comes to Jesus and bows down to Him as the Son of God, even as he is resisting and crying out. It’s amazing to me how so many people that manifest demonic influence in their lives come from some sort of so called Christian background. And their rejection of Christ as Lord spurs their further enslavement to the devil. Though these demons recognize Jesus as God, they do not recognize Him as their Lord. Notice the distinction in this passage. The demoniac under the influence of demons call Jesus the Son of the Most High God. Yet that recognition doesn’t save him. But at the end of the passage in vs19, Jesus says to tell your family what the Lord has done for you. James says that the demons believe and tremble, but they do not accept Jesus as Lord. That recognition of God yet rejection of Jesus as Lord of their life is a key component of demonic control. Refusing to surrender your will to the Lord.

Sixth, note that there is a duplicity or multiplicity of personalities exhibited by this man. And while his case may be extreme, there is often a sense of a Jekyll and Hyde personality in someone who is being influenced by the devil. One way I think that is common is a tendency to project one persona at church, or around other Christians, and yet live a different sort of life in secret, or out of sight of the church. I’m not talking about schizophrenia necessarily, but living a double life. And I think that is a lot more common than what it may appear. The scripture says as a man thinks in his heart so is he. It’s possible to put on a front in public, but live a completely different life in private. And furthermore, I have seen a number of instances where someone seemed sort of normal, and then one day this other side of them just erupts in a way that is nothing short of demonic. And when that happens it reveals that Satan has a foothold in that person that has reached a point where it is becoming manifest. Luke 12:2-3 “The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!” That’s a warning that surely your sins will find you out. They will become manifest.

The good news is that Jesus has compassion on such people, as illustrated towards that demoniac, obviously tormented by his sin and under the control of the devil. Jesus came to seek and to save those that are lost. And I would suggest that the text indicates that the only reason Jesus came to this region was to save this poor man. He went through a fierce storm, exhausted and robbed of his sleep, to come to this pagan region and deliver this man from Satan’s captivity. What a wonderful illustration of the compassion and mercy of God for lost sinners.

Jesus fulfills the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 of the promised One who will crush the serpent’s head, and He was demonstrating His power over the kingdom of darkness. You remember 1 John 3:8 says, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

Now let’s look briefly how Jesus accomplished this deliverance. Note first of all that Jesus asked “what is your name?” Many people mistakenly take this as an indication that we should go around asking demons for their name as a means of binding them. It is silly if not downright dangerous for people to think they can tell demons what to do -binding demons here, or binding Satan here. You don’t have that authority, they’re laughing at you like they laughed at the sons of Sceva and say, “Jesus we know, and Paul, we know, but who are you?” And if you remember those sons of Sceva ran out wounded and naked because they had no authority. Such people are as those described in Jude vs10 “But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.”
I think that Jesus asks him “what is your name?” for our sake, not for HIs sake. Jesus knew their name, just as He knows your name. He asked him so that we might know that there were thousands of demons in this poor soul, so that we might know the extent of Christ’s power and authority over the demonic realm. So they answered “Legion, for we are many.” A legion was up to 6000 soldiers in the Roman army. Some think that since the number of pigs were two thousand, then there were 2000 demons. Or perhaps there were three demons per pig. I don’t know. All I know is there were thousands of demons. And yet Christ Jesus is victorious over thousands of evil spirits.

Next, notice that they ask not to be cast out of the country. Luke 8:31 tells us that the demons begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. I am not a Greek expert, but I found it interesting that the word translated as country is a derivative of a word that means an empty expanse. And Strong’s concordance defines it as the space lying between two places or limits. So there is really no conflict between the two terms. I think they are speaking of the pit, or the abyss where 2 Peter 2:4 says the angels who were disobedient during the days of Noah were put under chains until the judgment.

Now these evil spirits know what God did to those disobedient fallen angels, and so they do not want that fate for themselves, they want to be free to roam the earth, particularly in this pagan country. And for these demons to have their greatest expression, they need to have a body to live in. So lacking anywhere else to go, they ask to be cast into a herd of swine. I want to point out something here. They ask Jesus for permission to enter the swine. Just as Satan asked permission to sift Peter like wheat. Or Satan asked permission of God to afflict Job. Satan has no authority, no power that God does not first give him.

So Jesus gave permission to the demons to enter the pigs. Now I don’t look for animals to be possessed by demons. I don’t think you have to worry that one day your little pooch could turn into Cujo or something. I think this passage indicates that the demons needed special permission to go into the pigs. And I think that is born out by the result, which undoubtedly came as a surprise to the demons, which was that the pigs committed suicide. If they had any experience with animals before, they would not have asked to be cast into the pigs.

Well, the herdsmen run away and report it to the townspeople. And the result is that the entire town comes out to see the former demoniac sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And this is the really crazy part. You would think that they would have bowed themselves down and worshipped the Lord as a result of seeing this man delivered from the power of darkness. But instead, it says that they were frightened.

It’s interesting to note that the disciples were afraid during the storm, but they became even more afraid when Jesus stilled the storm. And in this incident, the townspeople were afraid of the demoniac, but they became even more afraid of Jesus who cast out the demons.

Most of us would like to believe that that kind of miracle would cause a revival. But instead they tell Jesus to go away. They’re more comfortable with living in darkness than they are living in the light. They love their sin more than holiness. Such is the nature of depravity, that’s the nature of sin. It is more comfortable to be in the presence of evil than to be in the presence of righteousness. That’s one of the reasons that the world hates Christians. The forces of evil are more welcome than the mighty power of God. How often do we find it pleasant to talk about things of the world, but uncomfortable when the conversation turns to things of God?

Well, as we see in this passage, sometimes the judgment of God is to give people what they want. And so Jesus gets in the boat to leave, and as far as we know, He never came back to that region. The people get to continue in their sin and reject Jesus. And God’s judgment is that they get what they want. And I think that carnal interest on the part of the townspeople is indicated by the request of the demons. They say don’t cast us out of the country. They knew that this pagan country of the Gerasenes was a ripe area for their controlling influence because they had no interest in righteousness.

But the man who had been delivered comes to Jesus in the boat and is begging to go with them. But Jesus tells him to stay there and be a witness. Prior to his deliverance, he bore witness to the destructive power of Satan. After his deliverance, he bore witness to the transforming power of God. And so Jesus does not leave the area without a witness. You know, that is what we are called to be; witnesses. Some people misunderstand what a witness is. They think that it’s a well contrived plan of evangelism. Maybe some of that can be incorporated into being a witness. But really it was pretty simple mission for this guy. He had been a Christian just a few hours. He didn’t know all the do’s and don’ts of evangelism. He didn’t have all the answers. He certainly hadn’t taken any classes in evangelizing. But he could be a powerful witness to the saving power of the gospel of Christ. He could tell all his friends and neighbors who knew what he had been, what he had now become by the power of Christ. His life was a witness to the transforming power of salvation. He was forgiven, he was a new creation in Christ. He could tell them that.

Listen, Jesus wants you to be a witness today as well. I am going to leave you with the same commandment that Jesus left with the demoniac; “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”