____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ November 10, 1996 ____________________________________________________ Do Demons Possess People Today? by Edward O. Bragwell, Jr. Occasionally, I run into those who want to know whether or not demons possess people today. Sometimes we see accounts of supposed demon possessions in newspapers, in magazines, or on television shows. Demon possession has also been a favorite subject in Hollywood, with such moves as ``The Exorcist'' and ``The Omen.'' With so much fanciful material bombarding our lives, it is no wonder that we run into people who have questions concerning this. Let's then, look at what the Bible says about it. First of all, one who examines the Bible will have to immediately admit that demons or unclean spirits did possess people in the days of Christ. There are numerous examples. There was the man in the synagogue (Mark 1:23-28). There were two men of the Gergesenes (Matt. 8:28-34). There was Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9). There were others as well. Jesus demonstrated His power by casting out these demons, and was even wrongly accused of using Satan's power to cast them out (Matt. 12:24). The power to cast out these demons was also given to His disciples (Matt. 10:1; Luke 10:17). So no one can deny the fact that demon possession did occur at one time. The question that we want to address, however, is whether or not demons still possess people today. Let me say from the outset that I believe that the Bible strongly indicates that people ceased to be possessed by demons after the days of the New Testament. There are several things that causes one to come to this conclusion. First, the ability to cast out demons was usually connected with the ability to speak in tongues, heal people of diseases, and to prophesy (Mark 16:17,18; Matt. 10:1; cf. Matt. 7;22). We know from I Corinthians 13 that the ability to prophesy and the ability to speak in tongues ceased with the coming of the complete revelation of God. We realize that, in general, the miraculous spiritual gifts that the early disciples possessed were given to them in order to confirm the word that was being revealed at the time (Mark 16:20). When the complete revelation had come, there was no more need for them. These spiritual gifts then ceased from the earth upon the completion of God's revelation, and one would assume that the ability to cast out demons ceased with the ability to speak in tongues and prophesy and heal the sick and so on. If the ability to cast out demons has ceased, then it would follow that the possibility to be possessed by demons no longer exists. It would be ridiculous to think that God would allow us to be possessed by demons with no way out of it. I'm sure, however, that there may be some reading this who will say, ``All right, I realize that the ability to prophesy and speak in tongues have ceased, because they are specifically mentioned as things that would pass away. But demon possession is not so mentioned, so how can you be so sure that it ceased at the same time?'' I think that we can turn to Old Testament prophesy for that answer. Several Messianic prophesies tell us about what will take place during the time that the Messiah's kingdom is established. One such prophesy is found in Zechariah 13:1-4. Here Zechariah talks of a day when ``a fountain shall be opened'' to his people ``for sin and uncleanness.'' This is clearly a reference to the time when the blood of Christ would be made available to take away sins. The prophesy goes on to say that three other things would happen ``in that day.'' He says that the name of idols would be cut off from the land--a reference to the fact that those in God's kingdom do not worship idols but the true God. He goes on to say that the prophet and the unclean spirit would be caused to depart from the land. As we have already seen, eventually prophesy ceased in the kingdom; it was done away with. Now if one claims to be a prophet we know that he is a liar, as Zechariah says, ``if anyone still prophesies,'' he will be told, ``You have spoken lies.'' It is impossible for one to speak prophesies when prophesies have ceased; and if one does, you know he is a false prophet. But notice that at the same time the prophets were to depart from the land, the unclean spirit was to depart from the land. So just as surely as prophesies have ceased, people have ceased to be possessed by unclean spirits or demons. Homer Hailey makes the following comment concerning this prophesy: ``In the conquest of Christ over Satan and his forces, unclean spirits have ceased to control men as they did in the time of the ministry of Christ and the apostles'' (A Commentary On The Minor Prophets, p. 392). While demons do not possess men today, we need to realize that it is possible for us to allow Satan himself to control our lives. It is him that we need to be concerned with today and not some demons that might possess us. While the demons of Christ's day came in and took control of someone against their will, Satan can only control our lives if we allow him to do so. So we need to be diligent in our efforts to keep him from controlling our lives (I Pet. 5:8,9). We need to turn to Jesus and let him control our lives. -- Via The Reflector (at least 10 years ago) ___________________________________________ Do You Need Glasses? ``Wouldn't you hate to wear spectacles all the time?'' asked a small boy of his playmate. ``No-o-o,'' the other boy answered slowly, ``not if I had the kind grandma wears. You see, she sees how to fix a lot of things, and she sees lots of nice things to do on rainy days, and she sees when folks are tired and sorry, and what will make them feel better, and she always sees what you meant to do, even if you haven't got things just right. I asked her one day how she could see that way all the time, and she said it was the way she learned to look at things as she grew older. So it must be her spectacles.'' -- Selected ___________________________________________ The Strength of Meekness by Don Truex ``Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth'' (Matthew 5:5). Can that be right? ``Blessed are the meek?'' What about spiritual pride, self-sufficiency, external pomp and glory? They must go...completely. To climb the ladder of success in the kingdom, Jesus says you must first take three giant steps down: Poverty of spirit which leads to mourning which leads to meekness. It is sad that our word ``meek'' sounds so similar to the word ``weak,'' for the two have absolutely nothing in common. The meek Christian is not one who is morally indifferent, passive regarding his value, or who conforms to the world's mold in his life. Meekness is not exemplified in the teenager who relents to peer pressure and talks filth and behaves ungodly; or the businessman who is dishonest because it is ``expected''; or the Christian who is a moral chameleon, i.e., able to adapt his behavior to any given circumstance. No, meekness is far more noble than that. Behind meekness there is strength and stability. The word originally referred to an animal that had been tamed, e.g., a horse once wild but now obedient to the bridle and bit and, thus, of service and value to its master. So, too, we have been tamed to the yoke of Christ (Matthew 11:29), not to do away with our energy and spirit, but to channel them into productive service for the Master of our souls. Have you ever prayed for God to help make you meek? For Him to make you meek after the fashion of His Son or Moses? For Him to make you strong and committed to His controlling influence in your life? Perhaps it is time. -- Via The Southside Reminder, February 11, 1987 ___________________________________________ NEWS & NOTES -- Obituary -- Otis Caudill, Darrell Lykins's great uncle, was buried Saturday before last; and Darrell's uncle, Eugene Caudill, from Morehead, Kentucky, passed away the following day. As mentioned in last week's bulletin, another of Darrell's uncles--Doug Lykins--had died the week before. Let us be praying for the family and friends. Also on the obituary list is the mother of Richard Priddy of Louisville. (His wife's mother, as mentioned in a previous bulletin, preceded her in death by one month and a day.) Maurice Estes, who had been working with the West Anaheim church, passed away recently in southern California. Bob Walton also passed away last month. He had been working with the church in Denham Springs, LA, for about 10 years. Let us remember the family and friends of all these deceased. -- Sick List -- Christine Stambaugh will be undergoing surgery November 13 and would appreciate our prayers. She is the mother of Barbara Withrow. Fifteen-month old Dillon Sluss of Chattanooga is recovering well from a recent 6-hour heart surgery at Vanderbilt. Let us also be praying for a quick recovery--and great success--for Jim Gibbon's surgery. ___________________________________________ Two Contributions Next Sunday!! by J. F. Dancer, Jr. While reading a bulletin I regularly receive from a church in Nashville, Tennessee, I saw the following statement: ``Sunday we will take two contributions at our morning service. The first will be our ordinary one. The second will be to help fund the effort to keep pari-mutual gambling out of our city.'' Now, I can turn to 1 Cor. 16:1,2 and find a reason to take one contribution, but I find no authority for taking a second. Some brethren have been taking two on some Sundays for years so they could send one of them to some child care institution. But this is the first time I know of any who took a second contribution to FIGHT GAMBLING! In all fairness to the church involved, the statement continued and pointed out the money given could not be given through the church treasury and was not a tax deductible gift. The writer continued, ``My personal plea to each of you is that you consider making your two donations in equal (and generous) amounts.'' What could be EQUAL to the work the Lord gave his church to do? Is opposition to pari-mutual gambling that important? I am opposed to gambling (pari-mutual or otherwise) but cannot find any authority to encourage people to give as much to that opposition as they do to the Lord's church. To them it may seem as some glorified social club where one is involved in spiritual activities AND (just as important) community affairs. That is NOT the way I view the church for which Jesus died. When we depart the scripture for one practice, we will come to justify (or do without any effort at justification) whatever other practice we want to conduct. Many brethren thought they could justify two contributions on one Sunday each month when one of them went to a child care agency. Now, we have a second contribution for opposition to gambling. Next will we have a second contribution to use in opposing legal sale of alcoholic beverages? Or, maybe one to get money to oppose abortion? Or, one to fight the problem of AIDS? And then we could take some for positive causes: Boy & Girl Scouts, Cancer Society, Red Cross, etc. And who can say these are wrong? No one if they uphold the second contribution for any reason where there is no scripture for it. We need to encourage saints to involve themselves in community, social and political activities (and organizations) without involving the assembly of the saints (the church). It may seem hard-hearted and narrow-minded but WE NEED BIBLE AUTHORITY FOR ALL WE DO. Don't we (1 Pet. 4:11)?? ___________________________________________ "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers" (Psalm 1:1-3). ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 713 13th Street, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@wwd.net Tom.Edwards@juno.com ________________________________________