My Daughter And Son-In-Law Once Lived In ...

My daughter and son-in-law once lived in Parramatta in Sydney, Australia, quite near an old cemetery. It had historic significance for Sydney and was protected, I think, by the national trust. It angered me when it was vandalised. A part of our history destroyed! I could take the broken bottles and rubbish around the site and the neglect of the years, but not the vandalism - broken headstones and graffiti. It just didn't seem right that a gang of youths perhaps had damaged property of such historical value. The people of the Gadarenes had similar problems.

Matthew 8:28 (NLT) says "When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no one could go through that area."

Imagine trying to conduct a graveside funeral with these guys around. They would scare the crowd to death. You would need police guard just to conduct it with some kind of dignity. The other gospels say that the townspeople tried to restrain them in a staightjacket made of chains. THE CHAINS WEREN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO HOLD THEM! You may think you can control demonic power but you cannot.

Today we have other methods of restraint - drugs, psychotherapy, isolation, shock treatment but it seems to me that no-one can adequately help a demonised person by trying to restrain him or drug him or shock him. Only Jesus can help someone who has opened themselves up to demonic influence.

THE DESIRE FOR POWER IS OFTEN THE DOORWAY FOR THE DEMONIC. People involved in the martial arts are encouraged to seek the inner power of Chee. I believe that seeking that power can expose them to the demonic. I am willing to hear your thoughts on this. These men couldn't be bound by chains but they were certainly bound by Satan. They were almost completely under the control of Satan, enslaved to him.

When Jesus controls someone He enriches their lives and enables them to be all God intended. When demons control someone's life their personality is sucked dry and they are left wanting.