The Doctrine of Demons (Luke 4:33–37) | The Gospel of Luke (Part 35)

Transcript

JRNT 86
6/15/2025
The Doctrine of Demons (Luke 4:33-37) The Gospel of Luke (Part 35)
Luke 4:33-37
Jesse Randoplh

Well, good morning. Again, Happy Father’s Day to all the dads in the room. There’s always this debate going on among pastors as to whether you should preach a “special sermon” on holidays like Father’s Day or Mother’s Day. I don’t really have any strong convictions either way. I kind of go back and forth. I would like to keep you all guessing. But this year, I have to say, I looked at the preaching calendar, I keep a very meticulous calendar of the text I intend to preach, if the Lord wills, on certain days. I saw what I thought was a golden opportunity to entirely side-step the debate about weather or not to preach special sermons. Because when I looked at the preaching calendar for today, Father’s Day, I saw that we would be in Luke 5. Luke 5 begins with that scene where Jesus calls on a few fishermen to leave their nets behind to follow Him, and I thought perfect! I’ve got a built in Father’s Day illustration fishing, fishermen. If it were hunting or golf, it would be perfect, but fishing enough was going to get me out of the gate for the Father’s Day sermon.

Then, last Sunday happened. I took you on this fast-moving tour of the final fourteen verses of Luke 4, and you’ll recall in those verses, Luke is recording this single day, this 24-hour period where Jesus is in this small fishing village known as Capernaum and He takes on several major tasks on this single day. He is teaching in their synagogue, and they are amazed by His teaching. He’s casting out a demon from this demon possessed man. He’s traveling to the home of Peter’s mother-in-law to heal her of her “high fever.” He heads off to a secluded place to get away from the crowds and to pray. Then He prepares to fulfill His ultimate mission of proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. We crammed all of that into last Sunday’s message. We did so because those 14 verses do represent one scene, one day, one literary unit, so it did make sense, at the time, to keep it all together.

Well, I will say this. The day before I preached that sermon, so last Saturday. I came to the realization that my plans of getting to Luke 5 today, on Father’s Day, were not going to work. There definitely was this appeal to marching on in the narrative of Luke’s Gospel. But I ultimately decided that we need to go in a different direction. That we need to hit “pause” in our regularly scheduled programming. So that we can do a deeper dive into three topics that were mentioned oh so quickly last Sunday, at the end of Luke 4. What I’m going to do is, I’m going to pause us over the next three Sundays to do a deeper dive into these three topics. Because the way I’m seeing it, we’re going to spend many many months, if not years, marching our way through the Gospel of Luke. And to set us up for success in our on-going study of this book, I want us to go deeper into these three topics. Spending a week on each, before we resume in Luke 5.

So, what are those three topics? I’m so glad you asked. Over the next three Sunday mornings, we’re going to talk about and look at demons, it just happened to land on Father’s Day. Then we’re going to talk about healing. Then we’ll get into the kingdom of God. So, those will be the three topics we’ll dive deeply into over the next three Sundays. Demons and Demon possession. Healing. And the kingdom of God. This will all technically still be a part of our Gospel of Luke series. But the thought is going deep on these over the next three Sundays, will equip us as we go through the Gospel of Luke in the months and the years ahead with sharpened thoughts and prepared hearts.

The title of this morning’s message is: The Doctrine of Demons. Next Sunday will be: The Hermeneutics of Healing. Then the Sunday after will be: The Keys to the Kingdom. And then we’ll be ready to get back into our verse-by-verse exposition, picking it up in Luke 5:1.

So, with that, let’s go back briefly to our scene from last week, in Luke 4. Recall that Jesus had just been run out of His native Nazareth, in fulfillment of what He Himself had said in Luke 4:24, that “no prophet is welcome in his hometown.” Then we saw that Jeus has slipped through the net of some angry Nazarenes, who had run Him off to the city’s edge preparing to throw Him off a cliff. Leaving Nazareth, Luke 4:31 tells us, that Jesus “came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath.” And then verse 32 says, “they were amazed [those at Capernaum] at His teaching, for His message [was] with authority.” And then we come upon what will be our text for this morning. Really our starting point, our launching point as we get into the doctrine of demons. Luke 4:33-37. Let’s revisit it, God’s Word reads:

“And in the synagogue, there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Let us alone! What do we have to do with You, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are – the Holy One of God!’ But Jesus rebuked it, saying, ‘Be quiet and come out of him!’ And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, it came out of him without doing him any harm. And amazement came upon them all, and they were talking with one another saying, ‘What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.’ And the report about Him was spreading into every place in the surrounding district.”

Again, the title of this morning’s message is: “The Doctrine of Demons”
This will not be your typical verse-by-verse exposition of a single text. Instead, what we’re going to be doing this morning is going all over the scriptures to see what they reveal about demons. This class of fallen angels, who do Satan’s bidding. And who are found in various different places, as we’ll see in the Gospel of Luke. Again, keeping our focus intact, the goal this morning is to get our arms wrapped around what theologians call “demonology.” So that when we come across demons, later on in this study of Luke, we’ll be equipped and ready to deal with those texts as they come.

So, here’s the roadmap for this morning. These are the preaching points.
First, we’re going to look at: The Fascination with Demons
Second, we’ll look at: The Facts About Demons
Third, we’ll consider: The Force of Demons
Fourth and last, we’ll look at: The Fight Against Demons

Let’s start with: The Fascination with Demons – point one.
C.S. Lewis once made this, I would say, profound statement. He said,
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils.” And by “devils” there, he means “demons.” Continuing on, he said, “One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel and excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” Then, Lewis says, “They themselves . . .” meaning, the demons. “. . . are equally pleased by both errors . . .”

He was absolutely right. See, there are these two opposite tendencies that Christians, over the centuries, have tended to have as it relates to demons. On one end of the spectrum is this tendency to ignore the demonic realm entirely. It’s usually married up with the thought . . . “I’ve got Jesus.” “So, I don’t need to worry about the devil or demons anymore.” “My sin and Satan were defeated at the cross.” “My ticket has been punched to heaven.” “I got my Bible in my lap.” “That’s all that I need.” That’s one end. On the other end of the spectrum is what I can only express, this is sort of paraphrasing Lewis, as an unhealthy fascination with demons. This comes through in blaming demons for every trouble a person ever experiences in this life. Or believing that a Believer’s greatest need is to cast out or purge whatever demons they believe are possessing them. It’s out of this second camp, that this fascination with demons and demon oppression and demon possession . . . it’s out of this second camp that has spilled out a spate of books which publishers have categorized as “Christian” or “Spiritual.” Here are a few of the top sellers on Amazon right now. Yes, this totally has now skewed my Amazon search history.
How to Cast Out Demons: Everything You Need to Know About Deliverance
They Shall Expel Demon: What You Need to Know About Demons – Your Invisible Enemies
When Demon Surface: True Stories of Spiritual Warfare and What the Bible Says About Confronting the Darkness
Then here’s my favorite: When Pigs Move In: How to Sweep Clean the Demonic Influences Impacting Your Life and the Lives of Others
Now, those aren’t old books . . . those are new books. In fact, those titles I just read off for you are books published since 2020, over the last five years.

We go back a few decades, to the 80’s, the 90’s . . . back when Green Day wasn’t on the oldies channel. If you’re my age, you’ll get that reference. But we see that this fascination goes back 30 years, 40 years. Back then, there were men like C. Peter Wagner . . . who in addition to being big in the “church growth” movement of those days . . . was deeply involved in spiritual warfare-oriented ministry. He was heavily focused on demonic deliverance. Wagner would go on to really spearhead what is now known as the New Apostolic Reformation. It goes by the acronym, N-A-R. That’s behind ministries like Hillsong and Bethel and Elevation . . . which are known not only as producing a catalog of very catchy – albeit repetitive songs. But they’ve also produced a bunch of bad theology. Which isn’t grounded in the Word of God, or the true gospel of God. Instead, their theology is founded on “experience”. Things like prayer declarations and healings, and glory clouds, and fire funnels and other pagan practices that have been dressed up for church.

Going back even further than that, to the 60’s and the 70’s, I mean like way back when, right? There was another groundswell of spiritual warfare-oriented ministries which were taking off. The focus of those earlier ministries was on delivering Believers from demons. Now, none of these folks, whether now or in the 80’s or in the 60’s . . . they can never seem to carry out the ministry they say they’re performing, without trying to turn a profit. There’s always a book attached to this type of ministry. I did find some books from the 60’s and 70’s which are still in this vein of spiritual deliverance and demon possession and healing. The one I liked the most in terms of title, not in substance, is Pigs in the Parlor: A Practical Guide to Deliverance. Pigs in the Parlor was published in 1973; the book sold well over one million copies. Which means, conceivably, over 1,000,000 sets of eyes landed on thoughts like these, and the authors’ names are Frank and Ida Mae Hammond, a husband/wife team. They say that everyone without exception needs deliverance from demons. They are willing to concede that, “. . . we cannot put all the blame on Satan and His demons for our problems.” But they also say, “we can blame them for much more than we once thought.” Then they go on to give this list, the list covers three full pages of the different demons, they say, that Satan has assigned to various troubles and afflictions in a Believer’s life.
Such as:
The demon of resentment, or the demon of stubbornness, or the demon of bickering, or the demon of faultfinding, or the demon of envy, the demon of procrastination, the demon of self-righteousness, the demon of greed, the demon of gossip.
Their list continues:
The demon of shyness, a demon of daydreaming, you better not be daydreaming right now!
A demon of discouragement, a demon of forgetfulness, a demon of embarrassment, a demon of headaches.
Now amazingly, not on their list, is a demon of ignorance. Because if there were such a demon, they were certainly afflicted.

Back to the C.S. Lewis quote, he was absolutely right. “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” So, on the one hand, we do have that suppressed, anti-supernaturalistic crowd. Right? That’s the crowd that is living in the world where we have remote start vehicles. We have smart phones, we have Starlink. And they can’t think how it could even be possible or relevant to have demons existing in a world like that, anymore. But then you have the other side. Christians and churches who have this unhealthy obsession with the demonic. Who view virtually anything that goes wrong in their life as being attributable to demonic activity. And who think that what they need most is some sort of manifestation from God. Some sort of “power encounter”, some sort of extraordinary experience, something sensational – if not necessarily scriptural to help them overcome their demonic oppressors.

Well, as with anything, as followers of Jesus Christ. We need to take every thought captive that we have . . . whether about demons – or the demonic realm – or about Satan . . . captive. We need to take it all captive to the Word of God. God’s Word is our only reliable source of truth about Satan, demons, the demonic realm, and frankly, anything else.

That takes us to our second point this morning. We’ve looked at The Fascination with Demons. Now, we want to look at:

The Facts About Demons
That’s our second point. What does the Bible reveal about demons? What do we need to know about demons, as we as a church, embark deeper into our study of Luke’s Gospel? Well, to begin with, to get a feel for how often demons are mentioned in Luke’s Gospel, I want us to do a quick survey of this Gospel. To reveal what it says about Jesus’ encounters with the demonic. After that, we’ll go more wide-angle and consider more of what all of the Gospel’s say about demons and demon possessions.

Get those page-turning fingers ready. We’re going to start looking through the Gospel of Luke at rapid fire pace; to consider what it says about demons and demon possession. We’ll start right where we began, Luke 4:31-44, which again, is reporting on Jesus’ very full day at Capernaum. He encounters this man, in this synagogue, in Capernaum. Who has been possessed by this demon. And then Jesus rebukes the demon. Look at Luke 4:35, it says the demon eventually “came out of him, without doing him any harm,” that’s one.

Now we turn over to Luke 8, this is still in the context of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. Recall the Galilean ministry of our Lord goes all the way through Luke 9:50. It’s in Luke 9:51 that He sets His face to go to Jerusalem. But Luke 8 is where we’re going to look. Luke 8:1-2 says, “And it happened that soon afterward He was going around from one city and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, and some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses.” Now, look at the description of one of these women in verse 2. “Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out . . .” We’ll just stop right there and note that this is telling us that Mary Magdalene had experienced demon possession at some point. But she’d also been delivered and freed.

Go and turn with me to Luke 9:1, the context here now, is Jesus gathering and sending the twelve to go preach the message He had charged them to preach. Luke 9:1, “And calling the twelve together, He gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them [verse 2] out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Now, I just want to note there, we have all three of our topics wrapped up into that passage. We have demons, healing, the kingdom of God; this is framing up the next three Sundays. Down the page, Luke 10:17, those same disciples who had been charged to go out and to heal and to cast out and to preach . . . come back rejoicing. Luke 10:17, and they say, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

So, these disciples had been given authority by Jesus to cast demons out. And using their delegated authority, that’s what they did. Luke 11 is our next one. Luke 11, we’ll start in verse 14. This is speaking of Jesus now, and it says:
“And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. Now it happened that when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds marveled. But some of them said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.’ And others, testing Him, were seeking from Him a sign from heaven. But He knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house divided against itself falls. But if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.’”

One more, for now. Luke 13. Look at Luke 13:31, this is where Jesus is going to now refer to casting out demons as being a key characteristic, a key aspect of His ministry. Luke 13:31 says:
“Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, ‘Leave and go from here, for Herod wants to kill You.’ And He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish.”

So, just a survey, and a quick survey, we’re not going to go through these passages in depth this morning. But I just wanted to give you a sense of the number and the types of encounters that Jesus had with demons, laid out all throughout the Gospel of Luke. I just want to give you a feel for what is coming up in our study. And now, what we want to do though, is get broad. That was kind of the quick lay of the land in Luke. Now, what I want to do is a broader survey of all the Gospels, all four Gospels, and what they say about demons. So, here’s a list, I don’t even know how many facts I’m going to give you here. Eight, nine, something like that. A list of things we know from the scriptures, about demons, their identity, their purpose, their works.

Number one: Demons are Fallen Angels
We say two weeks ago, in the sermon on the sin of pride. That Satan is a fallen angel. And I build that case for you about Satan being a fallen angel from Isaiah 14, and more so, Ezekiel 28. Well, in Matthew 12:24, Satan, through the lips of the Pharisees . . . is identified as “Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” So, Satan, in other words, is the chief of demons. The demons report to him. And because Satan is an angel, albeit a fallen angel, and evil angel, it follows that he rules over the demons, likewise are fallen and evil angels. The very angels who initially rebelled and fell with him. So, demons are angels.

Here’s our next one – Demons are Spirits
Demons are not just angels, they are spirits, albeit unclean spirits. Turn with me over to Luke 10. I had you look at this just a few moments ago, as we were surveying Luke. But again, this scene here in Luke 10, is Jesus sending out the seventy disciples, in pairs, to proclaim that “the kingdom of God is at hand.”
Well, the seventy go out; they go out with some success. Again, here’s Luke 10:17:
“Now the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.’ . . .”
There is Jesus affirming that Satan did in fact fall from heaven. Now, verse 19, these are still the words of Jesus:
“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.’”
Now, that word in verse 20, “spirits” . . . is linked directly back to the words of the disciples in verse 17, where they speak of the demons, “even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
So, there’s a connection there that’s being made between demons being spirit beings.

So, demons are angelic beings, fallen angelic beings. Demons are spirit beings, unclean spirits. That makes sense in light of Ephesians 6:12, that “. . . our struggle is . . . against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Well, in addition to demons being angels and spirit beings.

Next, we’re going to see Demons Have Marks of Personality.
Now, demons aren’t humans; they’re not image bearers, like you and I are. But they do have marks of personality. Their marks of personality enable them to relate to us, albeit in very wicked, nefarious, dangerous ways. For instance, demons have intelligence. They have the capacity to know things and to believe things. We know from James 2:19, that demons believe that “God is one.” So, they are monotheistic in their religious beliefs. But even that belief causes them, it says, to “shudder.”
We know that while Jesus walked the earth, the demons knew who He was. In fact, we saw that last week, in Luke 4:34, in that instance of the demon possessed man, where the demon inside him says, “Let us alone! What do we have to do with you, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are; the Holy One of God.”

So, demons know that God is one. Demons know that Jesus is the Holy One of God. Here’s another thing demons know: They Know That Their Fate is Sealed. Here’s how Matthew records that truth, in Matthew 8:29, this is that incident involving the Gadarene demoniac, where it says in Matthew 8:29, “What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” What that language signifies is that demons know that a time is coming when they will be cast into the lake of fire and tormented in its flames forever.

Demons also, as a function of their intelligence, are able to develop and promote systems of false teaching and doctrine. What Paul calls the “doctrines of demons” in I Timothy 4:1 By which they lead people astray from the truth and the light of God’s Word. Like their ruler, Satan, who we know from II Corinthians 11:14, “disguises himself as an angel of light.” So do the demons. Like their ruler, Satan they are anti-Christ; meaning, they are against Christ and His purpose of saving souls. And so, through their, really devilish deception, the demons persuade people, unregenerate people to deny the truth, I John 4:2, that Jesus actually did come in the flesh. By doing so, those individuals deny an essential aspect of what it means to truly know the Lord. So, in other words, though they are intelligent, demons’ intelligence is corrupted, its wicked, its vile. Everything about them is twisted.

Demons demonstrate their personality through their intelligence. Another way they demonstrate their personality is through emotion. They have emotion. I read it already, but James 2:19 says that demons do have the knowledge that God is One, and that knowledge, it says, causes them to “shudder”. They experience fear in light of their knowledge.
Or turn with me over to Luke 8:26, it says: “Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He came out onto the land, a man from the city met Him, one who was possessed with demons and had not put on any garment for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Now seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, ‘What do I have to do with You, Jesus Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do no torment me.’ For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles, being kept under guard. And yet, breaking his bonds, he was driven by the demons to the desolate regions.” But note these emotions. He’s crying out . . . he’s begging . . . he’s falling at the Lord’s feet. This is an example of demons experiencing emotion, as a function of their personality.

Demons demonstrate intelligence, albeit in wicked ways. Demons are capable of demonstrating emotion. The next way that they evidence their personality is through their wills through their exercise of volition. Still in Luke 8:32, it says:
“Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons pleaded with Him to permit them to enter the swine.”
Even those few words there, “plead[ing] with Him to permit them” that’s an expression of their will. The demons willed, they desired, to be allowed to enter the swine. So, they plead with the Lord for permission to do so.

So, demons are angels. Demons are spirits. Demons have marks of personality. Let’s work through a few more of these facts about demons that are given to us in the pages of scripture. Here’s one, demons have strength. Luke 8:29, we’re told that the demon-possessed man in the region of the Gerasenes, “. . . was bound with chains and shackles, being kept under guard.” But in that same verse, that says he was “. . . breaking his bonds, he was driven by the demon into the desolate regions.” So, on account of the demon who had occupied him, this man was displaying superhuman strength. Your average human male isn’t breaking chains and shackles. It’s the demon, in that case, who empowered him to do so demonstrating that demons have strength that exceeds that of humans.

Demons also can afflict. Demons are capable of bringing about physical affliction of all sorts. Go down to Luke 9:37, it says:
“Now it happened on the next day, that when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. And behold, a man from the crowd shouted, saying, ‘Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only one, and behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth, and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.’ And Jesus answered and said, ‘You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.’ Now while he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all astonished at the majesty of God.”
You see some of the ways that the demon was afflicting that boy, in that scene. In Mark 5:5, you don’t have to turn there but this is another account of the Gerasene demoniac. We’re told that he was “gash[ing] himself with stones” on account of the demons possessing him. In Matthew 9:32, we’re told that a “mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him [Jesus].” In Matthew 12:22, we’re told that “a demon-possessed man who was [both] blind and mute was brought to Jesus.” So, putting all these accounts together, we’re seeing demons causing: seizures and screaming and convulsing and foaming at the mouth, and self-mutilation, and blindness and muteness. In other words, demons aren’t just causing people to be sort of bummed out. They are causing great physical, violent affliction.

Now, today’s spiritual warfare gurus, those who are writing the books that are making the bestseller lists and rocketing off the shelves. They’re going to be quick to say that any physical and mental afflictions that people went through back in Jesus’ day. And any physical and mental afflictions that we, even as Christians go through today. Those must be on account of being possessed by a demon. But what these modern-day spiritual warfare types fail to recognize, is that even in Jesus’ day, that connection wasn’t so immediately drawn between being sick and diseased and ailing and being demon possessed.
In fact, go with me over to Matthew’s Gospel, to Matthew 4:24, we’re going to see these words, “And the news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.”
Did you catch that? The “Demoniacs” here are listed as a separate category from those who are suffering from various other afflictions. And I bring this up, because if all suffering in those days was thought of as being on account of demon possession, then Matthew wouldn’t have listed those out separately, rather he would have collapsed them all into one category.

There are a few other places where the Gospel authors make that distinction between being ill and being demon possessed. In fact, you can just jot these down. Mark 1:32 says, “When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon -possessed.” Mark 1:34, “And He healed many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many demons.” Then there’s this language, Luke 7:21, “At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits.” And then finally, Luke 9:1 says, “After calling the twelve together, he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.” Now, those last two from Luke’s Gospel – are especially important when we consider and remember that Luke was a – what? A doctor. Luke, our beloved physician, Colossians 4:14. Luke would have been able to distinguish between demon-induced diseases and illnesses caused by more natural or events or occasions.

Alright, one more Fact About Demons. We’re still under point two which is this: Demons serve a purpose. Not only do demons serve Satan. But especially as we see in our Lord’s earthly ministry in the Gospels. We see that, as He cast out demons from various individuals, there was a purpose in Him doing so. As the demons themselves would testify Jesus was, and He is the “Holy One of God.” The demons themselves would testify that Jesus was and is the “Son of God.” The demons would testify that Jesus was and is the Messiah of Israel. When people brought their sick and afflicted and diseased and demon-possessed to Him and when He would cure their sickness or cast out those demons. He did so, not to highlight the fact that He was capable of curing. Or that He was capable of casting out. He didn’t perform signs and wonders for the sake of performing signs and wonders. He didn’t leave the glories of eternal trinitarian fellowship with God the Father and God the Spirit, to perform a few miracles, in a few small towns in ancient Galilee. No. He performed these signs and wonders for the purpose of authenticating to His people. To those who were watching Him perform these miracles that He was truly sent from God, the Messiah, the One who would one day set up His physical kingdom on earth.

It was that claim that He was their Messiah that He was the King of the Jews that’s what would lead to His head-on collision with the Jewish religious leaders of the day. The scribes, the Pharisees. Because they knew that if His claims were proven to be true. And if His miraculous works, including casting out demons. Those would buttress the claim that He was making, to be the Messiah. To be the King of the Jews. They knew if that were all proven to be true, their days as the religious leaders of the land were few. They were numbered. So, the scribes and the Pharisees did what power-hungry people who are desperate to hold onto their positions do, they lied. They witnessed Jesus perform these various miracles. They witnessed Him casting out demons. They witnessed Him healing. And they witnessed Him doing so claiming to be the Messiah. So, what they had to do to hold onto and clutch their power, was say well this power and authority couldn’t come from the place of Him being actually God. Instead, this must be on account of some deal He had brokered with the Devil.

It all came to a head in Matthew 12. In fact, go with me over to Matthew 12 where Jesus delivers a demon-possesssed man. We’ll pick up the account in verse 22. Matthew 12:22 says, “Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.”
Now, look at verse 23, where we see that the response of the crowd who was there to witness this miracle was that of amazement. And this is important, their amazement was rooted in their Messianic hope. Verse 23, and all the crowds were astounded and were saying can this man really be the Son of David? Well, when the scribes and the Pharisees heard that, that was too much for them. Because it was evident now that the people were connecting the dots. And they were connecting the dots that Jesus’ exorcism or purging of demons, casting out of demons from these individuals was showing, proving that He was the “Son of David”, the Messiah.” And that was too much. So, they accused Jesus of being in league with Satan in verse 24, “But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, ‘This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.’”
Now verses 26-29, this is really Jesus refuting the logic of the charge that they were asserting against Him, as He shows it to be false. Then He gives us a warning about blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, the unpardonable sin. That sin whereby a person attributes the work of the Spirit to the work of Satan.
Verses 30-32, “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be a forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”
We don’t have time today to go into that massive topic about blasphemy of the Spirit and the unforgivable sin. Because really our point here this morning is to highlight the idea that the mention of demons in the Gospel accounts, whether in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, they serve a purpose. Namely, when Jesus, or His disciples, acting under His authority, cast out demons. The purpose for doing so was to certify His claim that He truly was the Messiah. Truly was and is the Son of God. Truly was and is the Holy One of God.

We’ve looked at The Fascination with Demons. We’ve looked at The Facts About Demons. Now we’re going to get really practical, as we carry this over to the present day. Here’s our third point:

The Force of Demons
What we’re going to do now is work through the question, a question I’m sure many of you have asked or been asked at some point. Which is, what power do demons have over Christians today? It’s probably been even said more specifically or in a more focused way than that: Can a Christian be demon possessed?
I’ve already mentioned that there are many books which have been written on this topic. Those books assume that a Christian can be demon possessed. They assume that the Christian’s greatest need in their walk with Christ in their sanctification, is to have that demon removed, to be delivered from the demonic. But the question we must ask ourselves is what does the scripture say? That’s the question that must be front and center in this conversation. What does the scripture say? We’re not called to exegete our feelings, or our hunches, or our experiences, or experiences of other people. No. We are to go to what the Bible says. God hasn’t given us permission to cook up our own thoughts about how we think demon possession might work. Instead, His Word is our standard on this subject, as it is with all subjects. And we are required to humble ourselves before it. So, that being said. I’m going to stake out a position this morning. A position backed up by the scripture that Christians cannot be demon possessed.

I’m going to make that argument, I’m going to stand it on a few different legs.
The first argument is a grammatical argument. There are two Greek terms given us in the New Testament. One is a verb. One is a noun. And both together, they describe the basic idea of being “demon possessed.” Together those two terms, the noun form and the verb form are used 21 times in total in the New Testament. All 21 of those usages, in the New Testament, are found in the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. That alone tells us something. Because the Gospels record a very narrow sliver of time in world history. Namely, the years that Jesus Christ our Lord lived and ministered among His people in Judea.

Now, here’s another important grammatical point. Those two terms, those 21 words, noun form, verb form, that describe the idea of “demon possession.” They carry with them the idea of individual having a demon dwelling inside of them. Being housed within them. Not temporarily afflicting them but permanently taking up residence inside of them. I appreciate this definition from Merrill Unger on demon possession. I don’t agree with everything he says about demon possession, but I appreciate this definition. He says:
“Demon possession is a condition in which one or more evil spirits or demons inhabit the body of a human being and can take complete control of their victim at will. By blotting out his consciousness, they can speak and act through him as their complete slave and tool. The inhabiting demon (or demons) comes and goes much like the proprietor of a house who may or may not be ‘at home.’ When the demon is ‘at home’ he may precipitate an attack. In these attacks the victim passes from his normal state, in which he acts like other people, to the abnormal state of possession.”
That’s really important, that emphasis, because it’s supported by the Greek grammar of residence, inhabitation, possession. One who is “demon possessed” is someone who has a demon dwelling within them. Again, they’re not merely being influenced by a demon, or tempted by a demon, or accused by a demon. They’re being occupied by a demon. Inwardly controlled by a demon.

We’re still in Matthew 12. If you’re still there with me, look at Matthew 12:28-29, where we have a solid example of this concept of demon possession being about occupation, about indwelling.
Matthew 12:28 says:
“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, [these are Jesus’ words] then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house [look at that word of inhabitation there] and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.”
Again, words of occupation, dwelling. Now go further down the page to verse 43, Matthew 12:43:
“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and does not find it. [now look at these words of inhabitation again] Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” Jesus here is picturing the one who has been “possessed” as a house in which demons dwell. And the process of casting out those demons is compared to throwing out the inhabitants of the house. I’ll get to that more in just a moment.

But for now, there are some basic grammatical considerations. “Demon possession,” by definition involves evil – unclean – spirits, another word for demons, indwelling an individual. The idea is one of occupation and control. So that’s the grammatical argument. Now, I want to lay down some theological arguments. These will still be grounded in scripture. But theological arguments for why a Christian cannot be demon possessed.
Let’s start with this truth. The Bible clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit indwells each and every follower of Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary [temple] of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God ?” That text says it so plainly. The Holy Spirit lives inside every single person who knows Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He is “in” us. He dwells in us. In our sanctuary, in our temple in our house. Now, I want us to couple that language with another familiar statement from I John 4:4, “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” And the simple way to say this, as we put those two truths together, is that a demon is incapable of entering and taking control of a Believer because the Holy Spirit is already there. And He, the Holy Spirit, I John 4:4 is “greater” than anyone else including a demon who would seek to enter the follower of Jesus Christ.

We might picture it this way. Since the Holy Spirit already occupies the “house” of the Believer, every time the demon knocks on the door, so to speak, the Holy Spirit slams that door shut. Since God the Spirit is stronger than any demonic being, including Satan himself, well then, no demon or evil spirit could actually enter. The Holy Spirit says ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ It’s that simple.

Now, back to Matthew 12:43. Jesus here, the context is the conversation between the scribes and the Pharisees and He’s giving them this illustration of demon possession. To make His broader point about the lack of repentance in this evil generation. Specifically, these religious illuminati. He describes this demon, as He’s making this point, searching for a new home because he’s already been cast out of the individual that he once occupied. It says: “Now when the unclean spirit [verse 43] goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and does not find it.” So, the mission was not accomplished. This demon is now homeless. It has no place to go. No place to dwell. But now, look at verse 44, “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.” What’s being said here is that the demon can only enter the “house”, meaning the person if that house is empty, if that house is unoccupied. Demons, in other words, are squatters. They’re only capable of entering empty houses, vacant houses, meaning, unbelievers.

But in the case of a Believe, a follower of Jesus Christ, who already has the Spirit of God living inside of them. That “house” is already occupied. And Jesus’ victory over Satan and over the demonic realm at the cross. That victory was so great and so powerful that Satan and his angels are incapable of coming back to repossess the house. It’s already been bought.
In His prayer to the Father in John 17:15, Jesus said: “I do not ask You to take them [Believers] out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” And God has made good on that promise. He protects His children from the evil one. That includes protecting us against the possibility of being demon possessed. Listen to these words from I John 5:18, “He who was begotten of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.” Or these words, by Paul, II Thessalonians 3:3, “But the Lord is faithful, who will strengthen and guard you from the evil one.” Those words are clear. They are rooted in our identity in Christ the One who was “begotten” I John 5:18 and are rooted in the faithfulness of God. “The Lord is faithful.”

So, we’ve looked at some grammatical arguments for why a Christian cannot be demon possessed. We’ve look at some theological arguments for why a Christian cannot be demon possessed. Now, I want to consider what I’m calling the contextual argument.
As I mentioned already, the Greek words which communicate the concept of demon possession, they appear only in the Gospels . . . Matthen, Mark, Luke, John and that’s significant. See, where good men can go wrong here is in misunderstanding the genre of the Gospels and the purpose that the Gospels were designed to serve. While the Gospels were truly given to us by God. II Timothy 3:16, “all scripture has been breathed out by God.” While the Gospels do perfectly and accurately record the events which are unfolded on their pages. The Gospels, in many cases, are not prescriptive. Instead, in many cases, they are descriptive. Like all of God’s Word, the Gospel accounts are profitable for us. And we, of course, should read them. And we should preach from them. And learn from them. And draw principles from them. But the Gospels don’t tell us as Believers living in the church age that we’re to model and replicate our lives on every single truth that they record.

Let me just give you a couple of simple illustrations to make that point. In the Gospels we have examples of Jewish people commemorating the Passover. So, because the Gospels record that fact, are we as Christians today to keep the Passover? The Gospels record the fact that Jesus washed His disciple’s feet. Does that mean, and does that mandate that is now a church ordinance that must be practiced? No. In a similar vein that there were demon-possessed individuals in Jesus’ day before Pentecost. Before the Spirit was sent, before the church age began. That doesn’t mean the same phenomenon occurs in Believers today. It’s a false equivalency. And that Jesus had a ministry of healing. That Jesus had a ministry of casting out demons. That doesn’t mean that we will. In other words, we need to consider the context in which these instances of demon possession were given to us. They weren’t given to us in the New Testament epistles. They weren’t given to us in Ephesians and Galatians and James. Or in Romans and Philippians, and Titus. Those letters give us clear instructions as how we, as Believers in the church age, are to live and function as new creatures in Christ. No. They were given to us, these instances of demon possession, in the Gospel accounts. The accounts of Jesus’ life, His ministry. Which, again, are not in all cases prescriptive and in many cases, they are not prescriptive. In other words, they are not giving us the things we must do as opposed to being a historical account, descriptive of what our Lord went through.

So, can demon possession happen to a Christian? Answer . . . No. As we’ve just seen, Biblically, demons are only capable of occupying empty houses. As Christians, we are not empty houses. We have already been indwelt, indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. And the Holy Spirit of God does not accept roommates. There’s a no vacancy sign already hung up on the door.

So, the Bible does not support the teaching that a Christian can be possessed or indwelt by a demon. What the Bible does teach, though is that Christians can be influenced by demonic forces, by demonic influences. There’s a distinction there. The Christian cannot be internally controlled by a demon. But the Christian can be externally influenced by dark forces of evil.

That takes us to our fourth and final point this morning. Where we’re going to consider how, as Believers, we are to think about the demonic realm and how we are called to fight against Satan and his angels – the demons. Here’s our fourth and final point:

The Fight Against Demons
Though we, as Christians, cannot be possessed by a demon that doesn’t mean that we can’t be subject to demonic influence. I’m sure that there were folks this past weekend, who call themselves Christians who attended the Star City Pride festival on the other side of town. I would say that they were under demonic influence. There are, without a doubt, individuals who call themselves Christians who consume pornography on a regular basis. The world would call it an “addiction”, what it actually is demonic influence.
There are marriages between professed Believers in Jesus Christ, where husbands and wives are living practically separate existences. They will say things like “we’ve just drifted.” “We prefer it this way.” “This works better for us.” “He’s up there, she’s down here.” That may be so what it is though is on account of demonic influence. Now, this doesn’t mean that those individuals I’ve just given you in those illustrations are demon possessed. I mean, think about it, wouldn’t that be a great excuse? The devil made me do it. But it does mean that they’ve been demonically influenced.
Turn with me over to Ephesians 6. I’ve referenced it already, but let’s get our eyes on Ephesians 6, we’ll start in verse 12:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
What this passage is pointing to is the very real possibility of demonic influence in a Believer’s life. Note the context, this is important, this is battlefield language. Christians are called to fight against the temptations which the enemy and his angels throw our way. We do so, as we see here, by deploying the full armor of God. Look at Ephesians 6:10-11, right before:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”
Each of the pieces of “armor” is laid out, starting in verse 13:
“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having guarded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. In addition to all, having taken up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, also receive the helmet of, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times with all prayer and petition in the Spirit, and to this end, being on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, as well as on my behalf, that words may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel – for which I am an ambassador in chains – so that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”

See, the Christian isn’t some helpless, vacant, passive, excuse-ridden sack of sin. No. The Christian is a blood-bought, redeemed, equipped, indwelt, empowered soldier. And we’re in a battle. When we get saved, we are saved into a “struggle.” A struggle involving the One whose light we bear the Lord Jesus Christ and the forces of darkness.
Look at verse 12 again:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Our solution, then, is not to say, ‘the devil made me do it.” Or to seek to exorcise our demons. Or to go buy another best-selling book. We don’t need power encounters. Or more dreams and visions. No. As the Lord’s foot soldiers, God has given us His orders in the scriptures. As it relates to the demonic to the devil and his angels the command that God has given us in His Word, is so simple and so straightforward. It’s found in James 4:7, “Resist the devil.” That’s our command. “Resist the devil.” That includes the devil’s angels, the demons. And how do we do that?

Well, I’ll give you a few suggestions:
By first of all remembering and rejoicing in your settled and final position in Christ. But by trusting in His Word. By following His commands, which are not burdensome. That includes the truth of Romans 12:2, that we are called to be “transformed by the renewing of [our] mind.” That happens as we engage with Him through His Word. That includes following what it says in II Corinthians 10:5, to take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
That includes living out Philippians 4:8, “whatever is true, whatever is dignified, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, consider[ing] these things.”
When we, with the Spirit’s help, follow that command of James 4:7, “resist the devil.” We’re given a promise that follows right after that, it says – “and he will flee from you.”

Amen.

And so will the demons that He rules over. They won’t possess you. They can’t possess you. Instead, they’re going to see that your “house” is already occupied. That it’s already occupied by the Holy Spirit. They’re going to see that you are already armed with the promises of God. You are armed and dangerous, in every sense of the term. And they will flee.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the message, this has been just a minor detour in our series in Luke. At the same time, though, I think it fits perfectly with our series, and it will set us up for a more successful study of the Gospel as a whole.

But just to summarize, as I close.
Are demonic encounters mentioned frequently in Luke’s Gospel? Answer: Yes
Do demons live and function today? Answer: Yes
Can Christians be influenced by demonic forces? Answer: Yes
Can Christians be possessed – overtaken – by demons? Answer: No
Must we subject every thought that we have about demons every experience we think we have had with demons to the Word of God? Answer: Yes

That’s it for today. That’s the Doctrine of Demons. Next week, we’ll get into another highly-charged topic – healing.

Let’s pray.
Father, thank You so much for this time in Your Word this morning. Thank You for its clarity. Thank You for its truth. Thank You that we can go to it with confidence, because You are behind it. You are the God of truth. God, I thank You for the truth of I John 4:4, “that greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world.” I pray that we would remember that truth this week. I pray that we would walk confidently in that truth this week. That we would fight the battle valiantly and faithfully, as we are called to do, as we saw this morning in Ephesians 6. At the same time, God, I do pray that if there is somebody here who does not know You as Savior and Lord. If they’ve not put their faith in Jesus Christ, I pray that You would rattle them this morning. That they would see that they are in fact, the empty house. The one who is vulnerable and susceptible to demonic attack. The one who is given over to the ways of this world, which is ruled over by the evil one. And what they need to do to make sure that they don’t face the same fate that he will, in the lake of fire that will burn forever . . . is put there their faith in the Savior, the world’s One Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that they would fall to their knees in repentance and faith, come to the end of themselves. See that they are bankrupt morally and spiritually. And that only the finished work of Christ, only in trusting in the finished work of Christ, may a soul be saved. I pray that that would happen today. In Jesus’ name. Amen