Unclean Spirits; Supernatural Knowledge

June 8

(3 of 5)

Read: Mark 5:1-20

Unclean Spirits; Supernatural Knowledge

“And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” (v.7)

There are ideas that come from within us that are not our own… they have been “planted” within us. (For some of you maybe this reminds of the movie “Inception”) A great example of this is that “(God) he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecc. 3:11) We have never experienced eternity and nothing in this world is eternal, yet we have this concept that we discuss. Sometimes these ideas are actually scary or overwhelming. On many occasions my son has come down in the evening at bed time to tell me that he was thinking about heaven and eternity and confesses that he is a little scared because it is too much to take in. This is TRUE… it IS too much! The concept is not of human origin… it is spiritual.. it is from God; and it is DESIGNED to keep us guessing in a way - “so that man cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

The demon possessed man at the tomb runs up and identifies Jesus correctly… speaking what is cosmically true about Christ. Jesus has not yet been in this area doing ministry. Jesus has been seeking to keep it a secret regarding who he is and his miraculous works. How did this man “know” that Jesus was “Son of the Most High God”? The fact of the matter is that the presence of a spirit within us brings with it access to “spiritual things” … things that we could not know on our own… “supernatural knowledge”. A spirit within us can and will introduce to us ideas that have been planted within us… brought inside. This is true of ALL spirits… “unclean spirits” as well as THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Look at 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” This instructions demonstrates this very truth, that spirits within us will bring us knowledge that is not our own and needs to be tested. This scripture was written to believers, which indeed demonstrates that even God’s children must still test! The same holds true for when other people bring us knowledge that they CLAIM is coming from the Spirit within them (Prophecy): “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thess. 5:20) Our minds are in need of renewal and Romans 12 tells us as much: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom. 12:2) This is why God has entrusted us with spiritual tools (“Weapons”) to navigate this very task - “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…” (1 Cor. 10:4,5)

All of this is to say that, the presence of spirits comes with supernatural knowledge and the people of God must learn how to navigate this. Even more importantly, THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WITHIN US WILL LEAD TO KNOWLEDGE THAT COMES FORM BEYOND US. Life in the Holy Spirit will lead to moments of knowing and saying words and truths that come from beyond your natural wisdom, knowledge, and power. The Lord will work through to speak these truths and to live them out. The enemy seeks to intermingle his LIES within us as well. Thus the need for “renewed’ minds which test and the use of ”weapons” which dismantle and help to “take captive” these enemy thoughts within us that seek to destroy. When we come to the end of ourselves… the end of our knowledge… the end of our so called “wisdom” - as the children of God - we come to THE HOLY SPIRIT which gives us what we need which is beyond this.

It is worth pointing out that the knowledge of demons may be right sometimes. This man knew that Jesus was who he was because of these demons within him. Little did the demons know that this knowledge would be used against them! This man, now knowing that Jesus was the “son of the most high God”, ran to the Lord to be saved… and in the end HE WAS! The very FIRST WORK of the knowledge that comes from the Holy Spirit is the SAME… it leads us to run to Jesus to be healed of our sin and made new and whole! This is the spirit that is within us. God has entrusted this knowledge to you. He has put in you “everything that you need as it pertains to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) This is what has been implanted into the lives of God’s people. And “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5) In fact, it has already been given, you just need to be made aware of it… it has been given in the person of the Holy Spirit of God… that is what happens when a spirit is within you! Love you guys. - JDP