Daily Devotional, Year 3 – April 1 (The Devil Made Me Do It! Part 6: “A Demon-Possessed World!?”)
By admin On February 11th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 3 – April 1
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The Devil Made Me Do It!
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Part 6:
“A Demon-Possessed World!?”
to read part, click here…October 13th “Devil Made Me Do It”
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“Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”
Ephesians 2:2
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This above verse reveals a truth that practically nobody realizes nor accepts! It is perhaps the most egregious truth in all of the Bible!
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And to admit that the entire world’s inhabitants are filled with this evil spirit is more than anybody is willing to accept, much less admit!
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Satan presiding at the Infernal Council – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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“MY NAME IS LEGION!”
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Do you remember the story of the demon-possessed man who lived in the caves in the region of the Gadarenes, on the far side of the Sea of Galilee?
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Listen to this account from Mark 5:2, 7-9…“And when He (Jesus) was come out of the ship, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit…And He asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, My name is Legion: for we are many.
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Here is the account of a man who was possessed by, not just one, but by thousands of evil spirits!
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My name is Legion – James Tissot – Brooklyn Museum – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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A DEMON-POSSESSED WORLD
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Well, would you believe that this is the spiritual condition of the unsaved?
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Oh no, most people do not live in caves, nor walk around naked, wearing chains.
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Or do they?
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You see, the Bible is a spiritual book. And each story of the Bible is an allegorical picture of some aspect of the Gospel.
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And so, each detail of this story must be compared with similar details found elsewhere in the Bible before this story begins to truly makes sense.
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TWO SPIRITS IN THE WORLD
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But even without deciphering each little detail, it is manifest that every unsaved member of the human family has a spirit within. And there are only two spirits in the world: the “Spirit of Christ” and the “spirit of Antichrist”.
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Oh yes, there are a myriad of angels in the world, both good and evil. But these countless spirits are either from one camp or from the other camp: some are of Heaven, and the rest are of Hell.
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And the Bible reveals these two spirits in 1st John as, “spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” 1st John 4:6
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And so, each and every one of us possesses one of these two spirits.
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Or better be it said, we humans are indwelt by one or the other of these two spirits.
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Anti-Christian rally in Chicago – cropped image – Wikimedia
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MANKIND: PRISONERS OF SATAN
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But the Apostle, Paul commented regarding those who are prisoners of Satan…“And that they
(the unsaved) may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. ” 2nd Timothy 2:26
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Here we see that the unsaved of the world are prisoners and captives of Satan, “the god of this world” (see 2nd Corinthians 4:4)
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And so, it is made evident in Scripture, that we are the captives of one master or the other.
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Therefore, those who are indwelt by the spirit of error, that spirit “that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”, in a very real sense are possessed by that “prince of the power of the air”, the evil spirit known as the Devil and Satan.
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Gustave Dore – Paradise Lost illustration – Lucifer becomes Satan – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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BIBLE MUST BE SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED
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Where all the confusion comes in, is because the Bible always describes a demon-possessed individual in rather unpleasant terms, just like this man with a legion of evil spirits who lived in the tombs and caves and was bound by chains.
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Not a very nice description, wouldn’t you agree?
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But once we get past the literal, and are able to decipher the spiritual, it becomes evident that these accounts are speaking of the people of the world.
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Shoppers in Toronto – cropped image – Wikimedia – share-alike license
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CHAINS OF DARKNESS
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For instance, this man with a legion was bound with chains.
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Well, a word-study on “chains” reveals…“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He (God) hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 1:6
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So there are “chains of darkness” spoken of in Scripture. And so, to properly understand the Bible, these earthly things must be spiritually interpreted.
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Oh no, we cannot merely assign any old thing to the Bible.
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But by careful study, aligning various related passages, and comparing spiritual things with spiritual, the proper meaning of these earthly objects can be correctly interpreted.
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Anger during a protest – by David Shankbone – cropped image – Wikimedia – Share-alike-License
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PROUD PHARISEES POSSESSED BY 7 EVIL SPIRITS
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But back to this concept of being possessed by evil spirits, listen to this next quote by Jesus…
“When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man,
he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none…
Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself;
and they enter in, and dwell there:
and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
Luke 11:24-26
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Jesus was speaking this parable to the religious group called “Pharisees”. And even though Jesus did not point the accusing finger at them, He nevertheless was speaking this parable about them.
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You see, in their moral correctness, these proud men thought that they were pretty good people, and assumed that God was proud of them. But Jesus was telling them just the opposite, howbeit in veiled allegorical language.
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Brooklyn Museum – The Pharisees Question Jesus – James Tissot – US Public Domain – Wikimedia
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DRUNKARD Vs. PHARISEE
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And so, the whole point to this little parable was that a mere drunkard may indeed be the prisoner of Satan.
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But these Pharisees were possessed by eight spirits: the one unclean spirit which returned, plus bringing back with him, seven other more wicked spirits.
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In other words, using the number “seven” Jesus was intimating that these moralistic Pharisees were filled with a counterfeit, satanic religion, symbolized by the “seven evil spirits”: “seven” being the number of “spiritual rest”.
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Yet, in their case, their so-called “spiritual rest” was a counterfeit rest!
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Highbrow drunkard – cropped image – Wikimedia – Share-Alike License
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DAY OF THE LORD UPON ALL THE PROUD ONES!
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So, what is the conclusion to all this?
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Simple! There are many proud people in the world who think they are very moral. And yet, they are no better than the Pharisees of old.
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Yes, they are religious.
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Yes, they live a seemingly moral life.
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And yes, they have a form of godliness as spoken of in 2nd Timothy 3:5!
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But the proud moralistic people of the world do not understand that they are in just as much spiritual darkness and bondage to Satan as other unfortunate individuals, who are held in slavish bondage to drugs, to alcohol, and to every other form of debauchery!
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We are held fast in our bonds of selfishness!
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Tissot – the pharisees and the Herodians conspire against Jesus – www.joyfulheart.com – Pub Domain
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STILL TIME TO TURN!
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Well, the very Good News is that today is still the day of Salvation!
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And those who still have “an ear to hear”, can begin to cry out to God, and not cease to cry out until the day that God releases them from the hard bondage to, “the god of this world”
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And as already mentioned, there is a wonderful prize just waiting for those who choose to begin the Heavenward journey!
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Eternal life!
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Eternal love!
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And an everlasting joy in a world without the sickness and sorrow and wretchedness which pervades this current hopeless world of sin and selfishness!
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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TO READ PART 8 (no part 7), GO HERE…
April 24 (The Devil Made Me Do It! Part 8: “Loving The Devil’s World”)
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to be wise as a serpent regarding this very deceptive world. Let me not be ignorant of Satan’s devices, nor of his power over this world…
Starry Night at La Silla – Wikimedia – Share-Alike license
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… November 23 (The Two Spirits In The World) or you can also read this shorter article…“March 13th (Planet Earth: Devil’s Island!)”
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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7 HEADS, 10 HORNS, & 7 CROWNS OF THE DRAGON
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“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” Revelation 12:3
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In Revelation, the Dragon of Revelation 12 is described as having seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns. However, the Dragon Constellation up in the night sky does not.
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But God has faithfully created the wave of water, in such a way, as to illustrate this same concept of the seven heads, ten horns, and seven crowns. Because this wave of water is basically composed of ten stars.
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The main body of the wave has seven stars (#‘s, 1 thru 7). And the tip of the crest of the wave has the other three stars (#’s, 8, 9 & 10). So we have this 7 and 10 numbering. And this gives us a great clue, as to where in the Bible we should look, to find out the riddle as to just what or who do these 7 heads, 10 crowns, and 7 horns represent. Because, the Bible speaks very much about floods and waters as being associated with Satan (the Dragon).
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… Flood Waters of Satan-Introduction
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
April 2 (Habakkuk Says “Run!”, Part 10: “Television, Swifter Than Leopards!”)
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Berlin neukoelln – TV satellite dishes – Wikimedia – C.C. Share-alike License
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90-MINUTE OPEN FORUM
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ALL‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO LISTEN TO THIS 90-MINUTE OPEN FORUM
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The Open Forum Harold Camping April 2, 2002 (youtube.com)
above picture: Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.org – Public Domain