Devil Possession

I don’t care what you think about it, the Word of God plainly sets forth the possession of devils and the influence of the devil. If you are reckoning on life without the devil, you do not know yet what life is.

There are men now talking about flying across the sea. They are not leaving out the wind in their reckoning. They take the wind into consideration. They take storms into consideration and they are waiting until the weather clears up. They have sense enough to get a barometer because they know the effects of clouds and fogs and heavy atmospheres on a flying machine.

You may be a very bright fellow, not lacking in brains, and very bright in ideas; but you are a fellow who reckons outside of the forces that God says are real if you fail to recognize the power of the devil. He says: “The devil goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” The very desire of the devil and your own desires are along the same line. He does not work against you but works with you. Unless you reckon on this force, you are reckoning outside of the real things of life.

Now, Jesus said: “I am come to destroy the works of the devil.” Jesus came to get down to the root of the problem and to handle the same thing that has been handling your life and mine. Nobody can tame the devil but Jesus Christ, and you will have not deliverance and no help from the powers of hell and the devil but the power of Jesus Christ. And I can tell you it is the greatest joy in the world to be set free by Christ Jesus.

This man was dominated as other men are. I do not know how many devils may enter into a person, but I know that Jesus cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene. In fact, my friend, we talk about big houses, but we forget how this mansion is built that is on the inside of us. You have not put the proper estimate on the soul that you should. This man was possessed. They were living in his heart, in his spirit. How many spirits you can get together in one place I don’t know, but inside of the man mentioned in this Gospel was living a legion of demons. He said, “My name is Legion,” because he was possessed of so many devils.

I have seen men and you have seen men who are under some kind of a spell, and they have tried to shake it off, but it didn’t shake. I say to you, my friend, that today the devil is getting his way in so many ways, that it is nearly time somebody told what Jesus Christ can do to devils. Seven of them made their home in Mary Magdalene. There is something to it because we can see evidence of it in the bad tempers of men that are like hell itself.

Before Jesus Christ came into my heart, I had a temper, and I would hit a man before I knew it. All you had to do was to hit me and I would get you if I died. I would fight at the drop of the hat and would not know until I got through fighting that I had been doing it. I have thrown myself on my bed and cried about it. I cried to think that my temper had so gotten control of me. Oh, I am so glad I ever met Jesus. It is certainly glorious to be cleaned up.

I was speaking to one of the best specialists in America. “Mr. Rader,” he said, “I believe you know that I am handling insane people and have come to the conclusion that 90 percent are under a spell of some kind, or I do not understand psychology. In fact, I am quite sure that some of them are under the influence of demons or devils.

Now this man was under a legion of them. He cut himself. He tore himself; and no man could tame him, but Jesus came to him and said, “Come out.” What a wonderful thing to be able to do! He sent them into the swine and the swine ran down the hill and perished in the waters of the lake.

My friends, I do not think there would be a better picture in the world than that of this man, in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus. I know myself what it means to be delivered from the power of the devil and the power of my own wicked heart, and sit at the feet of Jesus, to feel the power of the Holy Ghost within myself. It is enough to make a fellow go all around town telling about it.

Don’t you want to know this Christ? Wouldn’t you like Him to drive out the power of hell and darkness and sin and all those things that are conquering you? He can calm every storm. He can conquer hell and death. Won’t you let Him conquer you?

(A noonday address delivered in Massey Hall, Toronto, on the Man Possessed with Devils, Matthew 8, and stenographically reported for the Evangelical Christian).