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Demonic Intelligence
No Match for the
Power of Jesus!
.
Even
though demons may have intelligence to speak and power to be able to put forth
superhuman strength, none of that helps them when they find themselves in the
presence of a believer exercising his authority by faith in the name of Jesus. That
sends them into shock, panic, and dismay. Figuratively, it causes the hair to
stand up on their necks. It terrifies them! As a believer, you have the Holy
Spirit living in you and you have the name of Jesus Christ to use at your
disposal. That means you are in a position to make demons tremble! You also
have the power to cast them out in Jesus’ name.
Rick Renner
“And the evil spirit answered…” — Acts 19:15
Yesterday we saw how seven exorcists attempted to add the name of Jesus to their repertoire of magical incantations.
As the story unfolds in Acts 19, we find
that the seven sons of Sceva had a major confrontation — an unsuccessful one —
with a demon-possessed man in Ephesus.
As noted earlier, these exorcists saw Paul
successfully using the name of Jesus to exercise authority over demons.
Hoping to expel demons from a man in
Ephesus, they added the name of Jesus to their list of magical names, even
though they had no personal relationship with Jesus.
According to Acts 19:15, their attempt was
futile.
In fact, the verse
says that the demon indwelling the man challenged them: “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know;
but who are ye?”
The actual
structure of the Greek text says, “And
answering, the evil spirit said…”
The Greek tense tells us this was not a
single answer; rather, the demon spirit that possessed the man verbally
responded to each attempt the seven exorcists made to drive it out.
This, of course, tells us that evil spirits
have intelligence and the ability to speak and even to converse.
This ability of evil spirits to speak is
evident in the four gospels and in the book of Acts. A study of the Scriptures
makes it clear that demon spirits are intelligent:
o They can possess
specific information about things, places, or people.
o They can know the
names of people.
o They have the
ability to indwell a human being and engage that person’s vocal apparatus to
terrorize others, to blaspheme, to challenge, to make requests, and to scream,
shriek, and cry out.
Vivid examples of evil spirits possessing
intelligence and having the ability to speak can be found in Matthew 8:29 and
Mark 5:7-12, where we read about the demoniac of Gadara.
This tortured man was indwelt by a legion
of demons that demonstrated both intelligence and the ability to speak.
Mark 1:23-25 relates another example of
this phenomenon.
In this instance, evil spirits in a man
spoke so freely that Jesus had to command them to stop talking and be silent.
Then in Mark 1:34, we are told that many
sick people and those possessed with demons gathered to be healed and delivered
by Jesus.
The evil spirits referred to in this verse
were so fluid in speech that Jesus actually had to forbid them to speak so they
wouldn’t reveal who He was before the time.
These are just a few New Testament examples
demonstrating that demons have both intelligence and the ability to use the
vocal organs of the person in whom they dwell.
Going back to Acts 19:15, we read that this
man had an “evil spirit.”
All demons are evil, but the word “evil” in this verse is the word poneros.
If used in connection with animals, the
word poneros
depicts ferocious, savage, and dangerous beasts.
Likewise, when this Greek word is used to
describe spirits that indwell people, these spirits are ferocious, savage,
dangerous, and malicious to those in whom they dwell and bring harm and danger
to those who are in close proximity to them.
First, the evil spirits often create
harmful and self-injuring behavior. The New Testament has many examples of such
savageness.
One example is found in Luke 9:37-39, where
Luke tells us of a boy who periodically experienced demonic attacks that were
injurious.
Luke described it
like this: “And, lo, a spirit taketh him,
and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and
bruising him hardly departeth from him” (verse 39).
Matthew related the same account in Matthew
17:14 and 15, adding that the evil spirit would hurl the boy into fire and
water.
This was ferocious, savage, dangerous, and
malicious treatment by the demon spirit against the one it possessed.
Another example is found in Mark 5:5, where
we find the demoniac of Gadara, who was continually wandering in the mountains
and among the tombs, crying out and “cutting
himself with stones.”
He continually wandered around that
isolated region, crying out in pain and agony while slicing his body with sharp
stones — and it was all the result of the “evil spirits” that indwelt him.
It is no wonder that these spirits are
called poneros in the Greek, for they truly are evil.
But this description of the destructive
impact of demonic control in a person’s life should not cause us any fear.
In my years of ministry, I have
occasionally found myself in a confrontation with a demonized person.
Just like the stories referred to in the
Bible, I have heard demons speak, and I have seen them exercise physical power
beyond human ability.
But in each case, I have also seen them
wilt and shrink when the name of Jesus is employed against them.
We must remember
that Jesus taught, “And these signs shall
follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils…” (Mark 16:17).
If you really know Jesus as your Lord and
Savior — if you are in Christ — you can be sure that you have authority over
demonic powers in the power of His name.
Unlike the exorcists who used magic and
incantations to manipulate the spirit realm and failed, you are empowered by
the Holy Spirit, and you are given the name of Jesus to take authority over and
to cast out demons.
You are empowered by the Spirit of God and
have real God-given authority in the spirit realm!
I am so thankful that the Bible clearly
shows us that demonic powers shrink back at the name of Jesus.
In fact, spirits are so fearful of that
name that James 2:19 says demons “tremble”
in the presence of faith and the name of Jesus.
The word “tremble” is the Greek word phrisso, which means to bristle, as
when the hairs stand up on a person’s neck when he is suddenly “spooked” or
startled by an unexpected noise, etc.
This means that even though demons may have
intelligence to speak and power to be able to put forth superhuman strength,
none of that helps them when they find themselves in the presence of a believer
exercising his authority by faith in the name of Jesus.
That prospect sends them into shock, panic,
and dismay. Figuratively, it causes the hair to stand up on their necks. It
terrifies them!
As a believer, you have the Holy Spirit
living in you and you have the name of Jesus Christ to use at your disposal.
That means you are in a position to make
demons tremble! And it doesn’t stop there.
You also have the power to cast them out in
Jesus’ name, just as promised by Christ in Mark 16:17.
So the next time you find yourself in the
presence of evil, don’t you shrink back in fear.
Release your faith and lift your voice to
take authority over the devil’s strategies in the name of Jesus — and as you
do, you’ll send those evil, malevolent powers scurrying away in terror!
Then as you release the peace and the love
of God in Jesus’ name, His power will go into operation to calm those who had
been adversely affected by that demonic oppression and turn that situation
completely around according to God’s purposes and to His glory!
MY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
Father, I am inspired and thankful to learn I have
authority that is given to me because of my relationship with Jesus Christ and
His matchless name that He has entrusted to me.
When I encounter situations where demonic power is
present, I thank You for giving me the boldness to take authority and to expel
those powers in Jesus’ name!
I pray this in Jesus’ name!
MY
CONFESSION FOR TODAY
I
confess that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. The
devil is minor compared to the awesome power of Christ that indwells me.
When
I speak the name of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the spirit-realm
listens and obeys.
I am
in Christ, and Christ is in me. When I speak in Jesus’ name against demon
powers, it is like Christ is speaking through me!
I
declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!
QUESTIONS
FOR YOU TO CONSIDER
Have you ever had an experience with
demonic intelligence like Acts 19:15 depicts?
When was that experience, and what
happened?
What did you learn from today’s Sparkling
Gem that you never knew about demons and our authority over them?
This is a very important subject for
Christians, so we need to know what the Bible teaches (see Ephesians
6:10-18)!
Have you ever had an experience binding or
casting out a demon spirit?
When did that happen?
What was the result?
OUR
VISION is to take the Gospel both to our nearby world and to the ends of
the earth, proclaiming Christ, and warning and teaching every man with all
wisdom, in order that we may present every person fully mature in Christ Jesus.
– Colossians 1:28
Rick
and Denise met when they were each on an individual quest to wholeheartedly
follow God’s plan for their lives. Rick was a college student, studying
Journalism and Greek while also growing in his teaching ministry. Denise was a
talented vocalist but chose not to pursue a career performing with the
Metropolitan Opera. Instead, she pursued a relationship with Rick to fulfill
her heart’s desire and enter into full-time ministry. God told her, “You will
sing for Me.”
Rick
and Denise’s friendship has led to a lifelong love and a powerful partnership
in building the Kingdom of God. After a decade of ministry, first as pastors
and then as itinerant ministers, Rick and Denise Renner embarked on an
adventure of a lifetime. In January 1991, the Renners and their sons — Paul
(then 8), Philip (then 6), and Joel (then 2) — left behind all they knew in the
United States to relocate their family to Latvia to serve the region that only
weeks earlier had become the former Soviet Union.
Rick and Denise remember kneeling together as a family and kissing the pavement when they arrived at the airport in Riga, Latvia, on that cold January day. In that moment, they all committed their lives to the will of God and to the people of their new homeland. The following year, Rick moved forward to launch and establish the first of its kind — and eventually the largest — Christian television network in that region of the world.
https://renner.org/devotionals/demonic-intelligence-no-match-for-the-power-of-jesus/
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