Revelation 12

The Four Beasts of Revelation

#1.   The Great Red Dragon

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The Bible says “yes!”

 

1 Peter 5:8   Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

 

1 Peter 5:9   Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering.

 

James 4:7   Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

 

James 4:8   Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

 

Think about this:   The Bible teaches that the devil and his demons can take control of people. Jesus cast demons out of many people. Perhaps the best known story is this one:

 

Luke 8:26   They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.

 

Luke 8:27   When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.

 

Luke 8:28   When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!”

 

Luke 8:29   For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

 

Luke 8:30   Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.

 

Luke 8:31   And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. 

 

Luke 8:32   A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission.

 

Luke 8:33   When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

 

Luke 8:34   When those tending the pigs saw what happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside,

 

Luke 8:35   and the people went out to see what happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

 

Once a person is demon-possessed, they cannot set themselves free. Demon possessed people do not have control of themselves – they cannot exercise their power of choice. They are prisoners of Lucifer until or unless they are set free by divine power! No amount of medicine, no amount of counseling, no amount of therapy can set a demon-possessed free.

 

There is only one way out of demonic possession. Deliverance comes only through divine power. This is important to know because a growing number of people are demon-possessed. Demonic possession is often diagnosed as different forms of mental illness or insanity!

 

Listen carefully: There is a difference between insanity and demonic possession and it can be very difficult to differentiate between them because demonic possession can mimic insanity!

 

In the criminal justice system, insanity is defined as a degree of mental malfunctioning sufficient to relieve the accused of legal responsibility for the act committed.

 

In terms of mental health, insanity is a grave, often prolonged condition that prevents a person from being held legally responsible for his or her actions.

 

1.   Lunacy is generally defined as a mental derangement relieved intermittently by periods of clear-mindedness.

 

2.   Madness is defined as the violent aspect of a mental illness.  

 

3.   Mania generally refers to the excited phase of a bipolar disorder.

 

4.   And dementia is a mental deterioration brought on by an organic brain disorder such as Alzheimer’s. 

 

Demonic possession can go undetected and undiagnosed for a while. Mental health experts do not have a classification of demonic possession because:

 

(a) The spiritual dimension of man is poorly understood by most medical practitioners. It appears that theologians and medical doctors parted company shortly after medical insurance was created. 

 

(b) Mental health experts can’t quantify the symptoms of demonic possession. There are to many deviations and inconsistencies.

 

Unlike mental illness, demonic possession is a supernatural power controlling a human being. The symptoms can come and go, as the demon wants. The manifestations of demonic possession can be different at different times. There’s no rhyme or reason with demonic possession and this makes a clear diagnosis very difficult.

 

So how is demon possession detected?

 

I apply a simple test. When I hear about a great tragedy, and the person causing the tragedy suddenly “snaps” and surprises everyone by doing something very evil, I suspect demon possession. For example, do you remember the case of Charles Roberts? He’s the 32-year-old man that entered the Amish school in Pennsylvania in October 2006, and killed five young girls before killing himself.

 

I would agree, based on the evidence of his premeditated planning (the cruel things that he planned to do), that he had to be demon possessed. If my assessment is correct, then the demons found a way to gain control of Charles Roberts – perhaps they found entrance through pornography – but once they gained control of him, his passion for sex became insatiable and he carried out their demonic desire.

 

Think about this: If a human being can be filled with the Holy Spirit and through the power of the Spirit overcome evil, doesn’t it make sense that a human being can be filled with a demonic spirit and be overcome with evil?

 

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit can transform the carnal heart into a noble character of love and service and it is interesting that while doing this, the Holy Spirit leaves the saint’s freedom of choice intact! In other words, a saint can drop out of the sanctification process anytime if he wants to! (And many do, even while regularly attending church!)

 

There is a serious consequence for doing this: When a person turns from their sin to follow the Lord and then backslides, that person is in real trouble:

 

Luke 11:24   “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, “I will return to the house that I left.’

 

Luke 11:25   When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

 

Luke 11:26   Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of the man is worse than the first.”

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