EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
9/26/2026 8:10 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The
Destructive Power of Demons”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
8:26-28, 20b
Message of the verses: “Then they sailed to the country of
the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city
who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long
time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before
Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other,
Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg
You, do not torment me.”…For it had seized him many times; and he was bound
with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds
and be driven by the demon into the desert.”
I will
continue to quote from MacArthur’s commentary and add the verse references that
he references.
“As those
terms make clear and the present passage demonstrates, demon possession
involves demons indwelling their victims and taking control of their minds,
bodies, and voices. How the man in this
story became demon possessed is not known, but all unbelievers are part of
Satan’s kingdom of darkness and hence vulnerable. Since this man was a Gentile, perhaps his
idolatrous religion provided the entry point for the demons to enter him.
“Having seized control of him, the
demons compelled the man to behave in a bizarre manner. First, he had not put on any clothing for
a long time. Shame has been associated
with nakedness ever since the fall (Gen. 3:7; cf. Rev. 3:18; 16:15).”
(Gen. 3:7; cf. Rev. 3:18; 16:15)
“7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they
knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made
themselves loincloths.”
“18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by
fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe
yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint
your eyes, so that you may see.”
“15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed
is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about
naked and be seen exposed!”)
“Nakedness
is also used in the Old Testament as a metaphor for sexual sin (Lev. 18:6-19;
20:11, 17-21).”
(Lev. 18:6-19; 20:11, 17-21)
“6 ¶ "None of you shall approach any one of
his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD. 7 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your
father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall
not uncover her nakedness. 8 You shall
not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.
9 You shall not uncover the nakedness of
your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought
up in the family or in another home. 10
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your
daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s
wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister.
12 You shall not uncover the nakedness
of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your
mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your
father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.
15 You shall not uncover the nakedness
of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her
nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the
nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman
and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her
daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is
depravity. 18 And you shall not take a
woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister
is still alive. 19 ¶ "You shall not
approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual
uncleanness.”
“11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has
uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death;
their blood is upon them.”
“17 "If a man takes his sister, a daughter
of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees
his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of the
children of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness, and he shall
bear his iniquity. 18 If a man lies with
a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has made
naked her fountain, and she has uncovered the fountain of her blood. Both of
them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your
mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for that is to make naked one’s
relative; they shall bear their iniquity. 20
If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s
nakedness; they shall bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is
impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness; they shall be childless.”
“But not
only was nakedness aberrant behavior, it was also physical torment for the man,
who was exposed to all the extremes of weather and other dangers. Adding to the macabre nature of his
existence, he was not living in a house, but in the tombs. He was so completely under the demons’
dominion that he was more at home among the dead than the living. Furthermore he was a danger to himself. Mark 5:5 reveals that he was constantly
gashing his body with sharp stones.
“That violence was also directed toward
others (Matt. 8:28) on an ongoing basis, as Luke’s note that the demons had
seized him many times indicates.”
(Matt. 8:28)
“28 ¶ And when he came to the other side, to the
country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the
tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.”
“He was
such a threat that the people who lived nearby had done what they could to
restrain him and his companion; he was bound with chains and shackles and
kept under guard. And yet despite
their best efforts, time and again his maniacal, demonic strength would cause
him to break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. The end result was that ‘no one was able
to bind him anymore, even with a chain…and no one was strong enough to subdue
him’ (Mark 5:3-4). The man and his
partner remained a constant danger to the region.”
(Mark 5:3-4).
“3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could
bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4
for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched
the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength
to subdue him.”
9/26/2026
8:30 PM
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