Today in the dispensation of the grace
of God, are people still being possessed by devils?
The
answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ Today we live in the dispensation of grace. I assume that you are referring to the type
of devil possession in the nation of Israel during the Lord’s earthly ministry
(Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and in Acts), when one of the miracles that was
performed by the Lord and the apostles and disciples (to whom he delegated
authority) was to cast out devils.
Mark 1:39
And he [Jesus] preached
in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.
Luke 9:1
Then he called his
twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils,
and to cure diseases.
This
will also happen in the future, after this dispensation has ended. Casting out devils will be part and parcel of
God’s plan and purpose for the nation of Israel (Matt. 12:45).
Not
all in Israel were possessed by devils during Christ’s earthly ministry; and by
the way, no believer then or now can
be possessed by devils. If you are ‘in
Christ’ (a member of the church the body of Christ) because you have trusted in
the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as payment for your sins and in him as
your Saviour (1 Cor. 15:1, 3-4), no devil can possess you because God possesses
you. God the Spirit is in you.
1
Corinthians 3:16
Know ye not that ye are
the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
You
have been given the Holy Ghost.
Romans 5:5
And hope maketh not
ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us.
It
is not possible for you to be possessed by devils.
Colossians
1:13
Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of
his dear Son:
But
let’s talk about lost people. First of
all, every lost person is influenced by Satan and his angels. That is who they worship.
Revelation
9:20
And the rest of the men
which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their
hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver,
and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor
walk:
You
are worshipping devils if you are not worshipping the God of the bible, and you
can only do that through the Lord Jesus Christ as a believer today in the body
of Christ.
1
Corinthians 8:4-6
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that
are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the
world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods,
whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the
Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
The
lost are worshipping devils/fallen angels/evil spirits.
1 Corinthians
10:20
But I say, that the
things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to
God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
But
they don’t necessarily have to be possessed by them. The only way a person can be possessed by a
devil is by allowing it to come in and take them over. Mankind still has free will. You have to allow another power to possess
you. Even the stories about vampires [a
type of devil/fallen angel] say that they cannot come into a house unless they
are invited in.
We
believers allow God the Spirit to come in and possess us. We make that choice when we trust
Christ. When we, by our own volition,
decide to trust Jesus Christ as our Saviour, one of the things that God does is
to come live inside us by his Spirit.
That is our new life in Christ.
Romans 6:4
Therefore we are buried
with him by baptism [by the Holy Spirit 1 Cor. 12:13] into death: that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life.
But
if people desire it, they can be possessed by devils [i.e., Shamans calling
demons into their chests]. As we get
closer and closer to the end of our dispensation of the grace of God (at the
Rapture) when the Prophecy program will resume, the powers of darkness will
become more prevalent.
One
of the things the powers of darkness can do is possess people. There are YouTube videos that show two women
in England running out into traffic and being hit by trucks and cars. They are knocked down and then get up and run
away. I also saw a guy who was run over
by a big roller that construction workers use smooth out pavement. It rolled up to his neck and back and then he
jumped up. There was glass under him
that broke, but his body didn’t break.
We
also see a lot of black magic, magicians, witches, guys who can float in the
air. They are either possessed by devils
or they are definitely being influenced by them. All magic is evil.
Exodus
7:11
Then Pharaoh also
called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of
Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
You
can’t see the possession, but you can see the results of it. One of the things you can see is that people
who are possessed by fallen angels have supernatural strength.
Mark 5:1-5
And they came over unto
the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship,
immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not
with chains: Because that he had
been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked
asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame
him. And always, night and day, he
was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with
stones.
When
we see things that are not humanly possible to do or to endure, when you see
someone get hit on the expressway by an 18-wheeler and then get up and run
away, it is certainly possible they are possessed by a devil.
Satan
is the god of this world.
2
Corinthians 4:4
In whom the god of
this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them.
Satan
and his fallen angels run this world.
Colossians
1:16
For by him were all
things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
The
only people who they can’t have dominion over are believers in Christ. But, you can be a believer today and work
with Satan with doctrines of devils.
1 Timothy
4:1
Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
But
every lost person is run by Satan and his angels, whether physically possessed
by a devil or not.
Ephesians
2
And you hath he
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince [Satan]
of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh
and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even
as others.
Ephesians
6:12
For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places [Satan and his fallen angels/devils
to whom he has delegated authority].
So in a way you can say that every
lost person is possessed by a devil because they are run by devils.
John 8:44
Ye are of your father
the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it.
Neither the devils nor God the
Spirit can just come in and take over a person.
They must be invited in by a person’s free will. God limits what Satan can do with humanity. Satan would like to kill every human being. But Satan and his angels can have an effect on believers.
Romans
12:2
And be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2
Corinthians 11:3-4
But I fear, lest by any
means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your
minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another
Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit,
which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not
accepted, ye might well bear with him.
Satan will bring another gospel,
another Jesus, another spirit – a spirit of law and not of grace.
Galatians
1:6-8
I marvel that ye are so
soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would
pervert the gospel of Christ. But though
we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Ephesians
5:6
Let no man deceive
you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience.
The mindset of the course of this
world is satanic; so in that sense the children of disobedience are
possessed. But there are people who want Satan to live in them and control
them. They worship him in the Church of
Satan.
Devils do not want to be disembodied;
they have an affinity towards the physical.
Matthew
12:43-45
When the unclean spirit
is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house
from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and
garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh
with himself 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.
Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
Matthew
8:31
So the devils besought
him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of
swine.
Every lost person is influenced by
Satan.
John 13:2
And supper being ended,
the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,
to betray him;
Another passage says:
Luke 22:3
Then entered Satan
into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.
Satan entered Judas, and he also put
it into his heart to betray Jesus. Could
the thought have been put into his heart before he entered Judas? Sure.
Satan can possess someone by a mindset, i.e., a thought process.
2 Timothy
2:26
And that they may
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will.
Satan can take believers
captive. Not in your physical body; but
in your mind.
Genesis
6:5
And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually.
Romans 8:5
For they that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the
Spirit the things of the Spirit.
2
Corinthians 10:5
Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Philippians
4:8
Finally, brethren,
whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are
just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever
things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think
on these things.
Hopefully this helps!
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