Dear beloved: The classic example of a person being demon possessed is in Mark chapter 5, where Jesus encounters the man who was living in the tombs, in the country of the Gerasenes. verse 5 And constantly night and day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and gashing himself with stones. v6 And seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; v7 and crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me! v8 for He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" It is interesting to note here that the demon in the man Legion who was speaking to Jesus was begging Jesus not to torment him; the spirit knew without any introduction who Jesus was and that He had the power to cast him out and send him out of the man. The demon also swore by God in verse 7, as if he knew that that highest power he could call upon was the Most High God. We know that this is true because the demons all once resided in heaven with Jesus and God, and they were thrown down when Satan led the rebellion to take over the throne of God.
Then in verse 9, And He was asking him, "what is your name?" and he said to Him, "My name is Legion, for we are many." v10 And he began to entreat Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. v11 Now there was a big herd of swine feeding there on the mountain. v12 And the demons entreated Him saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter them." We know from the rest of the story that Jesus did send the spirits into the swine, and 2000 of them went rushing into the sea. Then verse 15 is the climax of the scene, as we see the man delivered and set free of his shackles and chains. v15 And they came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had the legion; and they became frightened. V17 And they began to entreat Him to depart from their region. We can learn several points from these scriptures. First, demons do not like to be sent from their own region, or country, they are territorial (principalities); second, they will inhabit animals (swine are unclean to the Jews) if they have no other abode; and third, that the villagers of the city and country would rather maintain the status quo and have the man demon-possessed, than to see him set free and face the prospect of having their own demons dealt with, because they asked Jesus to leave the country. I have been asked in relation to this story, Did the demons drown with the swine? The answer is no, they did not drown, they just hang around that region until they can find some more people who are willing to take them in, which judging by the attitude of the villagers, it would not have been too hard to find some willing hosts.
I once had a deliverance session with a lady who had spirits of alcohol and drug addiction that she had been carrying for many years. After an hour or so of intense prayer, she came at me with cat like shrieks and claws outstretched to scratch my face and eyes out. She got right up in my face and was ready to claw me, but I just kept praying the blood of Jesus over her and kept my eyes fixed on hers, casting out all those demonic entities in the name of Jesus. Finally, she shrunk back and collapsed onto the floor without having laid a hand on me. I was relieved but not nearly as much as she; I have seen her often since that night and she is still free and doing well.
We know that the man from the Gerasenes went on to become an evangelist, walking into his divine destiny. Mark 5:20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone marveled. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness, sets the captives free, and declares release to the prisoners. Start praying for your family, friends, and anyone else that God sends your way, and declare the demons to go in the name of Jesus, and bless them with a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting, a planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.(Isaiah 61:3) May God bless you this day as you go forward in victory! in Christ, Jim
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