SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/26/2021 11:49 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Recognition by the Demons”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 8:29
Message of the verse: “29 And they cried
out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have
You come here to torment us before the time?’”
“What
business do we have with each other” is the question that these demons had for
Jesus as they then called Him “Son of God?”
The demons wanted to know why He was there at this time bothering them,
and as the recognized Jesus in calling Him Son of God they knew exactly who He
was. Let us look at Mark 5:6 “Seeing
Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him,” and this actually
happened before the demons began a conversation with Jesus. MacArthur writes “The word from which ‘bowed
down’ comes (proskuneo) is usally
translated ‘worship,’ because it represents the most common Near Eastern act of
adoration and reverence. The term
carries the idea of profound awe and respect.
Demons hat and loathe everything about God, yet they are powerless to do
anything but bow down before Him when in His presence—just as one day at His
name every knee will ‘bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under
the earth’ (Phil. 2:10).” So here is the
bottom line from this quote from Philippians, and that is that it is much
better to bow the knee to the Lord and ask Him into your heart as your Savior
and your Lord now while you are alive at this time than to do it later on when
it will be too late to do it.
Demons are fallen angels who when Satan fell these angels followed him, as he took one third of them with him, one third of how ever many the Lord created, and I have to believe that that was many millions, perhaps many billions of angels were created. Now these demons (fallen angels) had never seen Jesus in human form, they instantly recognized Jesus as the second person of the Godhead. I have to say that is more than many people who follow cults today do as they do not believe Jesus is God come in the flesh, nor believe in the trinity. As spirits these demons recognized His spirit. The demons knew without any doubt that they were standing in the presence of the “Son of God,” the “Son of the Most High God,” as Mark 5:7 and also Luke 8:28 report. In another encounter with Jesus from Luke 4:41 we read “Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.”
These
demons knew that Jesus had the full power and authority to destroy them as
well, and one may wonder why Jesus did not do this at this time. I remember when studying the gospel of Mark
that this question also came up. Jesus
could have destroyed all the demons and even Satan when He came the first time,
but that was not the reason that He came, as He came to die for the sins of the
world, to defeat the world system, the flesh, and the devil and although one
may not clearly see that He did this at this time it is true. Satan and these demons do not have the power
that they had before Jesus died on the cross.
Now
let us look at “Have you come here to torment us before the time?” This shows us that these demons knew eschatology,
the study of the end times as they knew when it would be that Satan, demons,
and unregenerate man will be judged and then punished in the lake of fire. I have to say again that they knew more than
many believers and unbelievers know at this time. MacArthur writes “Their eschatology, like the
rest of their theology, was factually correct.
As James tells us, ‘the demons also believe, and shudder’ (James
2:19). They shudder because their belief
is that of recognition but not acceptance, and they fully realize the
consequence of rejecting God.”
I
think it best that I also quote from the next paragraph from MacArthur’s
commentary on this subject as it may clear up some questions that people have
about this section of Scripture we are looking at. “In light of their knowledge about His divine
power and plan, it seems strange that Satan and his fallen hosts bothered to
tempt and attack Jesus. But the supreme
deceivers are also supremely self-deceived, and in their evil delusions they
somehow hoped to frustrate Christ in His humanity. By inducing Him to sin, perhaps they could
hoped to frustrate Christ in His humanity.
By inducing Him to sin, perhaps they could drag Him down to the lake of
fire with them when judgment came.
Perhaps they thought He was somehow less powerful and righteous on earth
than they knew Him to have been in heaven.
In any case, it is the nature of Satan and of those who belong to him to
oppose God, no matter what the consequences or prospects for success.”
When
we look at Matthew 16:16-17 we see the confession of Peter as to who Jesus was,
and that would be a long way from this section we are now looking at, so it
took the disciples that long to know what these demons already knew at this
point.
We
mentioned that the demons knew when they would be judged and sent into hell,
which is after the millennium, and yet at this time we see that Jesus will stop
what they were doing to these two men who would soon come to know who Jesus
really was.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: To know who Jesus is and to invite Him to be
my Savior and Lord was by far the very best thing that has ever happened to me
in my life. Life is not always easy but
life is impossible without know who I put my faith and trust in to guide me
through the storms of life.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trusting the Lord to pick up my spirits as I
continue to talk about and learn about revival.
4/26/2021 12:28 PM
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