Silenced by Jesus

Mark 5:2-13 (NKJV)  2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”
8 For He (Jesus) said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” 9 Then He asked him, “What is your name?”
And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”
11 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. 12 So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” 13 And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.
 
A legion of demons versus a word from the Lord. And every demon obeys, down to the last one—every demon.

And this submission to Jesus is dramatically proven by two thousand pigs floating like bath toys in the Sea of Galilee. You know those bath toys you squeeze, and the water comes out? Squeak! Squeak! Two thousand of those! Why? It’s the same reason the storm was stilled – to prove the absolute power of Jesus Christ over the demonic realm.

That’s the point I pray you would grab hold of today – that if Jesus is your Lord, your Lord has absolute power and authority over every spiritual battle you will ever face! And most of them you don’t even know you’re in, and he’s fighting them for you. But, when you know you’re in one, know this: Jesus Christ has absolute, total, and undeniable power and authority over the demonic realm – over your spiritual enemy, the one that wants to destroy your life.

You have a Lord who has power over that enemy – absolute power. And when you face them (should you face them) or know that you’re facing them, remember this point. Your Lord has absolute, total, undeniable power and authority over the demonic realm. And he will exercise that power and that authority on your behalf if you will trust him completely and surrender to him completely and call on his name. That’s what we see in this man.

And just as the power of the storm was silenced by a word from Jesus, so the demonic battle in your life will be silenced by Jesus – by a word. By a word. He will step in and deal with it. He will silence the enemy’s attack in your life the same way we saw in last week’s message that he silenced the storm, because he has the same power over it.

How do you apply this? How do you appropriate that victory? The same way this man did. This is so crucial – grasp this, please. This man fought through an incredible internal struggle with the demonic realm to reach Jesus. Every one of those demons did not want that man to reach Jesus, hit his knees, and bow before him. And he fought through them to do that.

And if you do the same thing, Jesus will respond the same way. In complete trust, fighting through that battle, surrendering completely to the Lord, and trusting him to deal with the spiritual warfare in your life, you will experience victory just as this man experienced it.

Journal: Re-read the verses in Mark 5:1-20 for the entire story. Now that you've meditated on them, take some time and go through the Apply section. How do these verses apply to your life today, in a personal and specific way? Write your answer in the space provided. And then, a crucial part of this journaling process is the Response section. Based on these verses, based on how this applies to your life, what action will you take today in response to the truth revealed to you today? Just get real with God, and write down your response. And then, wrap up your time alone with God in prayer, writing that down in the Pray area of your journal. You can pray something like this, or pour out your own heart to God.

Prayer: Jesus, we acknowledge you are Lord of our life, and we want to know you better and better.  Lord, we pray that as we trust you and come to you calling upon your name, you will smash the plans of Satan and his demons formed against any and every part of ourselves and bring absolute victory over the spiritual darkness in our lives. And so, Lord, we do come to you in submission now, trusting that you will, in your power and authority, destroy the enemy's work in our lives with just a word. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. In your powerful, almighty name we pray, Jesus, amen.

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Watch this entire message from our Mark series titled Power Over The Spiritual Enemy.