How to Deal With Demons-Luke 4:31-44

Luke 4:31-44;

Key Verse: 4:43

“But he said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’”

Last week we learned that we must fulfill God’s will for us just as Jesus fulfilled his will from God (4:21). Now today we’re going to talk about, “How to deal with demons”. There are so many movies out today that deal with ghosts or demons; “The Unborn”, “Friday the 13th”, and  “The Haunting in Connecticut” coming out on March 27th just to name a few. No one likes to think about demons because we think they’re too scary, or they’re a hoax, or we just don’t want to think about them. But we must be aware of them so that we’ll know how to deal with them when they come upon us. Let’s see how Jesus dealt with a man possessed with a demon. Let’s also see Jesus’ strategic plan to help those who are sick & wounded because of demons & evil spirits.

1st, Jesus’ way of solving problems (31,32). Verse 31 says, “Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people.” In this verse we learn how Jesus addressed the issues and problems of people. Everyone in this world has problems. No one is exempt. Even my 4 month old son has some problems.  What kind of problems might people have? Many single people might have problems of loneliness. And this problem is intensified when they see someone who looks absolutely stunning and gorgeous and that person is either taken or has no interest in them whatsoever. Many married couples are also very lonely because their spouse never fully understands them or satisfies them. So to overcome this loneliness, they try to find someone else who can fit their status quo. Judy Garland, the star actress in “The Wizard of Oz” had fame, fortune, and a beautiful voice. She had everything. But despite this, she was an extremely lonely person. She married 3 times and eventually died from overdosing on anti-depressants Sadly, 60% of marriages in America end in divorce. Because of countless lonely people, we have countless matching/dating websites, & countless pornographic websites. There are many other problems people have – financial problems, health problems, mental problems, relationship problems, family problems, and so on.

Life seems to be one big problem, followed by bigger problems. So how did Jesus help people who had all kinds of unending problems? Verse 31 says, “Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people.” According to this verse, Jesus taught them the Bible. Jesus taught them that God is their Creator (Ge 1:1). He wanted them to know that God is their Father in heaven who cares for them and loves them more than they can ever imagine. Jesus taught them that they suffer so much not because of their problems, but because they don’t realize how much they’re loved & treasured by their Father God. Jesus also taught them that their main problem is never what they think, but it’s really the problem of their sin, their fallen state (Ro 3:23). We live in a world of blaming others and not taking responsibility. We inherited this from Adam who blamed God and his wife for his failure and disobedience – “The woman you put here made me do it.” Usually when people blame us for something that we didn’t do, we get revenge or we make them our bitter enemy.  But despite man’s sin, God didn’t get revenge or abandon us, but instead he sent his one and only Son to save us from our sins (Jn 3:16). Jesus’ main point in all of his teachings is the good news of the kingdom of God (43). Mark 1:15 is Jesus’ opening statement & his declaration to the whole world: “‘The time has come,’ he said, ‘The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!’” People suffer so much because they think, make decisions, and live as though this world is everything. But Jesus taught them that only the good news of the kingdom of God is forever, while everything else perishes, spoils and fades away. Even someday our cute and young bodies will no longer be this way. The other day I was shocked to hear that Barbara Bush had heart surgery at the age of 83. When I saw a video of her walking with her ailing husband, former Pres. George H. Bush, I was disheartened by how fast time goes by. But thank God for God’s kingdom that never perishes, spoils, or fades away! 1 Peter 1:3-4 say, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you.” What was the result of Jesus’ teaching? Verse 32 says that the people “were amazed at his teaching because his message had authority” (32). What people want and need most is not money, better stock investments or even a future spouse, but  what they need most is the good news of the kingdom of God. It is because only the message of the kingdom of God can solve our problems.

2nd, the problem of demons (33). Verse 33 says, “In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice.” This verse is not just the description of one pitiful demon-possessed man, but it’s the true and sad description of all people. Of course, not everyone possessed by a demon is as expressive or vocal like this man. But rather, some have “quiet demons.” The Exorcist is the scariest movie ever made. But few think they’ll ever become like the girl possessed by the head turning,  split pea throwing up demon in this movie – which is probably true. But what exactly is demon possession? Demon possession is when one lives without God. It’s when one doesn’t have God’s word deeply rooted in his heart. When this happens,  that’s when demons can come in.

What do demons look like? Many demons are easy to recognize, such as the greed demon, the lust demon, the pleasure demon, the anger demon, the jealousy demon, the comparing with others and competing demon, the groundless pride demon, the self-pity demon, the sorrow demon, the blaming others demon, and so on. But today, I would like to talk about a very subtle demon that people rarely address. It’s what I’ll call the almost incognito “the demon of denial”.  This demon can come in many different forms.

First, in the form of flattery. Psalm 36:2 says, “For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.” Those with a demon of denial flatter themselves, saying, “I’m pretty good.” They don’t see themselves honestly. One young man once said to me, “My conscience tells me that God does not exist. Should I ignore what my conscience tells me?” In his eyes he thinks he’s okay and doesn’t need God because his conscience says he doesn’t Him. But really it’s a demon of flattery telling him this. Deep down inside, he’s suffering and dying because of his sins. Demons of denial are really quite sad, even tragic.

Second, in the form of spirituality. The spiritual demon of denial occurs in older Christians who have been studying the Bible and/or  going to church for many years. Because of their age, seniority or rank in the church, they think they’re more spiritual, wise and mature than younger Christians. So they demand respect and compliance from younger Christians, rather than loving them and embracing them and accepting them as they are. This spiritual demon of denial is what Tim Keller, in his book “The Prodigal God”, alludes to as the “older brother lostness” among Christians, which is a major reason why young Christians hate going to church. They feel that churches are filled with “older brother type Christians” who display this spiritual demon of denial called “senioritis.” But according to the Bible, in the kingdom of God, humility is everything, not seniority.

Third, in the form of finances. Those who have obvious financial issues, such as credit card debt, rarely regard it as a serious flaw in their thinking or even in their Christian faith. They have a financial demon of denial. They always think they can pay off their credit card debt anytime, while keeping up the minimum interest payments. In an extreme case, a woman accumulated 18 credit card debts over the years, whose interest payments eventually exceeded her $4,000 a month salary. Because of this, she had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. This demon is what has caused our financial crisis today.

Fourth, in the form of fantastic future fantasy. People tend to live in a dream world or a fantasy world without honestly facing the present reality. Many people have some vague notion that things will just suddenly improve and turn around. They think that their future will be bright and successful and better than their present hard situation. Such hopeful thinking is rooted in fantasy, for it denies reality. It also makes God to be a god of instant magic. They think, “I don’t have a problem with my future.”

There’s no easy human way to solve this very subtle yet prevalent demon of denial. So let’s see how Jesus handled this man who had a demon.

3rd, only Jesus has authority & power to drive out our demons (34-37). The man with the demon was very upset and disturbed by Jesus’ teaching that he started shouting and screaming at the top of his demonic voice (33), “Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (34) Though it was the man screaming and yelling, it was actually the demon who was speaking through him. So, Jesus did not address the man, for he was no longer himself. Instead, Jesus spoke directly to the demons. Verse 35 says, “‘Be quiet!’ Jesus said sternly. ‘Come out of him!’ Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.” In this verse we learn something about demons and about Jesus. First, demons always want to hurt their victim and scare others around them. Even though the demon had to leave the man before the authority of Jesus’ word, it still wanted to damage his victim to the very last moment. We learn here that we should never entertain demons because they’ll always find ways to hurt us. Second, we learn that only Jesus is able to drive out demons. Likely this man went to church for years. But whenever the religious leaders delivered their powerless messages, the demons in the man were so happy and smiled all the time because they knew they were safe and sound. So during the worship service, they slept soundly. But when Jesus taught the good news of the kingdom of God, they felt that their survival was in grave danger. They started screaming and shouting at the top of his voice.  But Jesus was not afraid or intimidated by their demonic voice or behavior and drove the demon out of the man by saying sternly, “Be quite! Come out of him!”  Jesus is the only one who has authority and power to drive out demons. May Jesus drive out all demons in this world.

Verses 36 and 37 say,  “All the people were amazed and said to each other, ‘What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!’ And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.” We learn here that real spiritual authority and power comes from teaching the good news of the kingdom of God.

4th, lay your hands on each person (38-42). Verses 38 and 39 say, “Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.” Mother’s-in-law are often portrayed as scary people. Perhaps Simon’s mother-in-law was not happy with him for spending more time with Jesus than with her daughter. So maybe Jesus went to Simon’s home to console her and reassure her that her son-in-law is a wonderful husband, good father, and a future great man of God. Here we learn that Jesus did not ignore an older feverish woman, but took care of her until her fever left her. Because of the graciousness of Jesus, Simon’s mother-in-law recovered not just from her fever, but also was strengthened spiritually to serve Jesus and his band of disciples. Thank God that Jesus is the Savior of the whole world, as well as the Savior of one seemingly unknown old woman.

Verses 40 and 41 say, “When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.” Jesus could have been the most famous mass evangelist of all time, even greater than George Whitfield,  Charles Spurgeon, and Billy Graham, because wherever Jesus went crowds of people came flocking to him. But how did Jesus handle such a huge demanding crowd with each person having their own sickness & demands? Verse 40b says, “laying his hands on each one, he healed them.” Sometimes it’s a lot easier to preach to a crowd of people than it is to pay specific attention to one person. But Jesus’ heart always goes out to one person. What happened when Jesus paid attention to each person? Not only were the people healed, but their demons came out as well. The best way to help someone with their demons is through a personal hands-on friendship and relationship. Before becoming a Christian, I had multitudes of demons living within me. To overcome them, I would join group Bible studies, prayer meetings, and would go to church. But ironically, my demons never left me. Instead, they got worse. It wasn’t until I met my personal Bible study teacher, Missionary Grace Sun Lee, when my demons finally left.  Missionary Grace become my second mother. She would teach me the Bible, buy me groceries, feed my wonderful Korean meals and would give me the leftovers to take home. She even once allowed me to stay in her home all by myself for two weeks while she and her family were away. Through this personal 1 on 1 friendship and relationship, my demons finally decided they could no longer take it, so they left.  I pray that God may help you to come to Jesus for healing. May God also give you courageous faith to touch even one person until they can experience Jesus’ power and healing from heaven.

5th, 1 thing every Christian must do (43-44). What did Jesus do when the people tried to keep Jesus from leaving them. Verse  43 says, “But he said, ‘I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’” In this world people may try to stay in one place in order to build up a name for themselves. If Jesus had just stayed in one place, he could have easily become a king in that place. In fact, after the feeding of the 5,000, the people wanted to make him king by force (Jn 6:15). But Jesus had no desire to be the top dog. Jesus had only one consuming passion and desire. He said in verse 43, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” Many Christians have at least two desires: one desire for God and one desire for something else. However Jesus did not have two desires, but only one desire. It was to preach the kingdom of God. So that’s what Jesus did. Verse 44 says, “And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.” Every Christian must preach the good news of the kingdom of God.

In this passage, Jesus taught the Bible to people who had many problems (31-32). Then he healed a man in the synagogue who was possessed by a demon (33-37). After that, he healed Simons’ mother-in-law and later than evening he drove out many demons from people who came to him, just by laying his hands on them (38-41). Demons are a fact of life. But demons are so crafty that they cause us to deny their existence and  believe the lies they feed us. Demons most accurate name is LIAR (Jn 8:44). But demons do not just make us lie to others. Their lies are so effective that they make us lie even to ourselves without our awareness. No one who lives a lie can ever be happy. If you’re a nasty person but you think that you’re God’s gift to people, how can you be happy? If you’re dirt poor but you lie to yourself that you have no money problems, will you ever be happy? If you’re hell bound but you lie to yourself that you’re going to heaven, are you happy? The last lie is the most tragic lie that demons cause men to believe. Demons always lie, saying, “There’s no hell. There’s no judgment. God is love. Even if there’s hell, God won’t send you to hell forever.” In this life, Satan is the prince of this world and the prince of demons (Jn 12:31). So he always lies to us everyday to make us his slave. He doesn’t want us to belong to God, but he wants us t belong to him. What can we do? Nothing! But praise and thank God that He gave us his one and only Son Jesus Christ, who came to destroy the devil’s work (1 Jn 3:8). Only Jesus can free us from the devil’s lies. Only Jesus can drive out all lying demons within you. Only the word of God and the good news of the kingdom of God delivers us from demons. May God give you God’s authority over demons like our Lord Jesus Christ.