Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew

Shall We Cast Out Demons like in Early NT times?

Matthew 8:16-17 “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”

On the sixth day after God created the heavens and the earth God said it was all very good! (cf. Genesis 1:31) Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day at the climax of God’s sixth 24-hour day creation. However, at the start of Genesis 3 there was the serpent possessed by Satan himself who deceived Eve into sinning against God. Eve then gave the forbidden fruit to her husband Adam who also ate. When Adam sinned, their eyes were opened. They now possessed the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. This was evidenced by their shame as they tried to cover their nakedness using fig leaves.

What happened between Genesis 2 and Genesis 3? What happened is revealed to us in Isaiah 14:12-14 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Jesus Christ was present to witness Satan’s fall from heaven, for He said in Luke 10:18 “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Satan did not fall alone. One third of the angelic beings whom God created fell with him as they each chose to follow in his pride and sin against God. Revelation 12:4 “And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”

What did Satan and his minions, like the fallen angels or demons, do on the earth? Other than doing the will of Satan or the Devil, these minions can also possess fallen human beings and afflict them with diseases. Our focus is not to deal with all the deeds of the Devil but to see what he did to human beings through demon possession and how Christ healed them.

I. Demon Possession is real – After Satan and one third of the fallen angels were cast onto the earth, they began to do their evil deeds to deceive the world. They succeeded very well as evidenced by what we are seeing in the world today as well as past eras. Not a few passages of the Bible, especially in the New Testament, have recorded for us people who were possessed by demons. Mark 5:1-17 has the record of a demon possessed man who lived among the tombs in the Gadarenes. He was super strong as he could easily break the chains used to bind him. He would cry night and day among the tombs. He cut himself with stones and he was untameable. Mark 9:14-29 has an example of a man whose son was possessed by a demon that caused dumbness. The demon caused the boy to tear himself, foam at the mouth, gnash his teeth and pine away and fall onto the ground. Ofttimes the demon possessed boy would throw himself into the fire or water to try to kill himself. In Acts 16:16-18 we have a record of a damsel who was possessed with a demon that enabled her to be used by her masters to practise divination.

From these examples in the NT Scriptures we see that demon possession was present in the early days of the NT and the local church ministry. We also observe that the symptoms of a demon possessed person are very varied. One could exhibit great uncontrollable strength or could divine with no other outward symptoms of wild behaviour; another exhibited uncontrollable behaviour like foaming and self destruction. These varied symptoms tell us that it is near impossible to tell who was actually demon possessed unless the Bible says so through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. A person could exhibit the ability to divine and look normal and we would not know if it is from God or from the demon. The person foaming in the mouth and gnashing his teeth could either be demon possessed or suffering from epileptic fits. These observations tell us that even though we know that demon possession is real, we have to be extremely careful in making swift judgements that this or that person is demon possessed. The person could just be having some sickness that can be easily treated with simple medication.

II. Many methods were employed in the deliverance – What were some of the means used in the deliverance of individuals who were demon possessed as revealed in Scriptures? Below are a few examples of how deliverance occurred. Mark 1:23-28 “And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. 26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. 28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.” (cf. Luke 4:31-37) [Emphasis added] The Lord just commanded and the demon came out of the person immediately. However, it was very different in Mark 5:1-17 “And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. 10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. 14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. 15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. 16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. 17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.” (cf. Matthew 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-39) [Emphasis added] The Lord Jesus Christ allowed the demons (a legion of them) to have a conversation with Him. The demons asked to be cast into the swine and Jesus acceded to their request and did just that. Jesus asked for the name of the demons before He cast them out. The conclusion was the same . . . the legion of demons came out of the man at the command of Jesus.

A very different method was used in another incident in Mark 9:14-29 “And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. 15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. 16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? 17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. 19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. 20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. 21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. 28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? 29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” (cf. Matthew 17:14; Luke 9:37) [Emphasis added] The Lord said that it requires faith on the part of the father whose child was possessed by the demon. After he said to Christ that he believed, the Lord commanded the demon to come out of the child, and the demon came out immediately. The child was healed.

The next example demonstrates the casting out of a demon by the apostle Paul. It is found in Acts 16:16-18 “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: 17 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. 18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” [Emphasis added] The demon was disturbing the ministry of the apostle Paul wherever Paul went to minister the gospel of Christ. Even though the demon possessed girl spoke the truth about Paul, this was a hindrance to Paul’s ministry. The reason is that Paul did not want to be associated with the demon. The source of the “truth” from the damsel who was possessed was the devil; whereas Paul’s preaching of the truth came from the one living and true God. For this reason, Paul cast the demon out of the damsel in the Name of Christ.

The multiple different ways of casting out demons by Christ teach us that Christ did not want us to do as He did in this regard. If He wanted us to do likewise, He would have used only one way to cast out the demon possessed people. Every way Christ used has a lesson for us. For example, in the case of the Mark 9:14-19, Jesus was teaching the importance of faith (cf. verse 23). In the case of Mark 1:23-28 Jesus was teaching the authority He has over these demons, attesting that He is God, for only God has authority over these fallen demons. The examples of casting out demons in the New Testament are descriptive rather than prescriptive. They were recorded for us to learn the power of Christ and were not meant for us to imitate Christ in the way that He revealed Himself as the Messiah!

III. Christ alone can deliver – Matthew 10:1 “And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” At the beginning of the disciples’ ministry, they needed to learn the most important lesson in life as Christians serving and witnessing for Christ. The lesson was: all that a believer needs in life for faithful service is to understand all sufficiency in Christ alone. Jesus sent the disciples out two by two (for mutual encouragement) and He told them to take nothing with them except what clothing they had on. Matthew 10:5-10 “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.” They must trust in the LORD alone. God gave them freely all that they needed for victory in service and they must also give freely to all who need God through Christ. In this way the disciples learned the lesson of all sufficiency in Christ. However, later on, before Christ went to the cross to die for them, Christ gave them permission to take whatever they needed for the ministry. Luke 22:35-36 “And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. 36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.” Once the lesson of leaning on the sufficiency of Christ was learned, the disciples were permitted to take whatever they needed in ministry. The importance of knowing Christ as the Son of God and the Son of Man and trusting in Him alone for life and service is the message from God to sinful man. The disciples cast out demons as well as healed many who were sick in Christ’s Name alone!

Christ demonstrated His claim that He is the Son of God by casting out all demon possessed individuals. He had power over them and they obeyed Him. When the disciples cast out demons at the start of their ministry and into the birth of the local church witness, they did so in the Name of Christ and never their own. They wanted the early church to know that they were sent by Christ to continue His ministry and to write Holy Scriptures for the well being and growth of the church. Once the church accepted their authority as being sent by Christ, there was no longer a need for them to cast out demons or perform miracles. This is easily seen in the later chapters of the book of Acts where no miracles were recorded, but the importance of the Word of God was emphasized. By the end of the book of Acts, nearly half of the NT Scriptures were already written. The power for the people of God today is not in miracles but in the Word of God. Peter attested to this when he said in 2 Peter 1:16-21 “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The age of miracles ended long before the Bible was completed in around 95 AD, which was after the completion of the Book of Revelation.

IV. How do we help a sinner who is demon possessed today? – We know that demon possession still exists today. We clearly cannot do what Christ did and what the apostles did as they had their respective purposes commissioned to them by God. Christ did His miracles including casting out demons to attest to His claim that He is God incarnate. He demonstrated the power of God to prove that He is the Messiah. The apostles needed to do miracles including casting out demons to demonstrate that they were sent by Christ to continue His work and to begin the ministry of the church witness and to write Holy Scriptures. Once the church was established and the believers accepted them as Christ’s legitimate authorized Apostles and Disciples, there was no more need for miracles. The moment the Bible was completed, the age of biblical miracles ended as well. How then can we help someone who is demon possessed today?

We know that when a person is demon possessed, he has moments of lucidity. He can still communicate and understand. In these moments of lucidity, the demon possessed person must be given the gospel of Christ. Once he accepts Christ as Lord and Saviour, the demon will leave him because a child of God cannot be demon possessed. This is clearly taught in 1 John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” [Emphasis added] The moment a person becomes a believer he is baptized with the Holy Spirit by Christ. When that happens, the demon will depart because he is now a child of God. In this way we can say that Christ has cast the demon out. Christ will get all the glory.

Casting out demons is not a game. There have been pastors who foolishly dabbled in casting out demons. The time that they could have spent studying the Bible and preparing for Bible Studies and messages to feed the flock became wasted time dabbling in something that Christ did not give anyone permission to do. These pastors had fallen prey to the wiles of the Devil. They were gullibly side-tracked by the evil one and also deceived many others who were not discerning enough to follow. There is an account in the Bible that is a warning to all who want to “play” with the Devil. Take note of what happened in Acts 19:13-20 “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. 19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.”[Emphasis added] Notice the growth of the Word of God and how it prevailed. Do not “play” with the Devil. Study God’s Word, for therein lies the true power of God. Amen.