Technology itself is wicked, but it is being used in a mighty way by Satan. He propagates his ideas and makes sin more visible. He tries to re-imagine the truth through movies that in no way tell the truth of the Bible. Here we find a man with many demons.
Luke 4 34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
Jesus was before the synagogue reading Old Testament scriptures. The written Word was spoken; the people were amazed at the power with which he spoke it. Now with his own voice he spoke to the demons. His voice carried as much authority as the written Word. Don’t rely on your own voice or opinion. Authority to silence the devil comes through the Word of God; his voice has the same power. This is the power over the devil.
Before Jesus spoke to the devil, the man stood and spoke. It was not of his free will. He was controlled of the devil. You can be challenged by others, but don’t take it personal. Don’t get mad back at someone. Remember who has clouded and deluded their mind. The power of darkness is behind the challenges. I said many a hateful thing to people before I was saved.
The first thing the demon said to Jesus was let us alone. Imagine the scene. How many times have you been told just leave me alone when you tried to talk to someone about the Lord or speak on issues of the day and the sinfulness of society. People have actually told me that. It was not just them but who was in their heart. Stop and pray. What made the devil agitated? If the truth agitates at that is anti-God, the devil doesn’t like it. I don’t care if the devil likes me or not. Do you? They wanted to keep working on this poor man so they wanted to be left alone. Thank God Jesus didn’t leave us alone. He doesn’t listen to the devil.
The second thing the demon said was what have we to do with thee. Have you had someone say what’s that got to do with me? Jesus had nothing in common with them. What business do we have? What he was really saying is that it’s none of your business. It is God’s business. The devil tries to make our lives his business. The lost may tell you to but out and mind your own business. The Lord in us can defeat the devil in the power of his prevailing voice. Notice that the devils spoke with a loud voice. Doesn’t the sin crowd get loud these days? People don’t hide it anymore. The devil tries to push his influence on us but doesn’t want ours.
The third thing the demon said was have you come to destroy us? They knew he could destroy them. They knew their time was coming. People act like the Christian is the bad guy. The devil tried to make Jesus out to be the bad guy, a destroyer. He is the destroyer of sin, but he is the Savior of the soul. The movie of Noah and Moses make Jesus out to be a destroyer. Christianity is the bad thing among religions of the world.
The fourth thing they said was I know who you are. With each statement they got more agitated. The hardest time you’ll have with someone is right before he or she gets saved. Why did it go like this—we, us, I? Leave us alone. What have we to do? I know who you are. Why the shift? The demons called on the Calvary. Satan showed up. The very devil who doesn’t want us to know God knows who he is. If he knows, why in the world would we doubt it? The devil can’t be saved. When we admit it by faith we can be.
Lucifer knew who Jesus was. He and one-third of the angels made a conscious decision to willingly turn against God. Lucifer denounced God. There is no redemption for him. Knowing who Jesus is does him no good. We know by faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. The devil has people convinced not to believe in God. The world is under the control of the devil and he’s laughing about it. The devil spoke five times—POW, POW, POW—loud and overbearing, intimidatingly. One solitary man, Jesus of Nazareth, looked at that demon in the man. He didn’t have five things to say. He said hold thy peace, and come out of him. In our way of saying it, it would be shut up and get out! I’d like to say that to the devil, but I can’t. Jesus can! The devil won’t listen to me, but when I pray he does listen to Jesus. We can only be devil free when we call on Jesus. The Bible tells us to resist the devil and draw nigh to God. Jesus will give us the words to say in the hour we need them.
There was one time that the devil’s voice prevailed over the voice of Jesus. Luke 23:21-25 states but they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.
Why didn’t Jesus speak? It had to be done. He remained silent so we could have a Savior. He allowed the devil to have the upper hand. He destroyed all the devil thought he had on Easter morning. Jesus got the last word after all. When he comes again, it will be to put the devil in the Lake of Fire for good. Thank God.
Keep trusting Jesus. When confronted by the devil, refer him to Jesus and his prevailing voice.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 