Matthew 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation"..... 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? 28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?"......
This passage of scripture describes very graphically one of the integral processes in the true conversion of any human being, and it must be thoroughly understood in order that we may have some idea of the grave dangers we were in, and thus have a much deeper gratitude to Christ for what He has done, and what He continues to do in our behalf. The Bible speaks of the work of The Holy Spirit in the process of conversion, and how He brings conviction of sin to our hearts, thus triggering the appropriate response of confession and repentance, which are all spiritual gifts given to the penitent.
But the process described in the above passage has to do with the literal eviction of evil spirits from the hearts and minds of those who will be heirs of salvation, because in order for our conversion be complete, satan must be cast out literally from the heart, where he takes up residence in everyone who is born into this world. A lack of understanding, or a denial of this solemn truth causes many of us to think of ourselves as being independent, and many who refuse to become involved in the religion of Christ, erroneously think that they stand aloof from the possession of demons. The Bible utterly debunks such veins of thought, for the fact is that all who are now Christians were once possessed by satan, and the eviction process took place at some literal point in time in our conversion.
With some folk, this casting out of satan was more dramatic than in others, depending on the extent to which we had yielded to the temptations of the enemy in years gone by. But we should never be deceived into believing, that because we did not froth at the mouth, or yell and scream in convulsions, that Christ did not cast satan out from our hearts, for as stated before, this is one of the necessary processes which must take place in our conversion.
The words "Cast out" then mean that satan never leaves willingly, of his own volition, but just as the sheriff shows up with police officers to evict squatters from houses, just so Christ shows up to evict demons from those who accept Him as Lord and Savior. Furthermore, this stage of the conversion process is only accomplished by the use of force on the part of Christ. In other words, if Jesus were to ask in a kindly manner saying "Good morning gentlemen, we're asking you to vacate these premises", those devils on the inside would stubbornly refuse, for they loathe the very thought of being expelled. This sobering truth is also explained in the Bible. Let's read:
Mark 9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; 21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. 22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him"... 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. 27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Now, there are many scholars and professors who may scoff at this graphic account given in the scriptures, as being something that is relegated to the realm of a mental disorder, and there are many others who think themselves intelligent, who erroneously believe that this cannot be the case with themselves, since they presently work at decent jobs, drive nice cars, are happily married, and dress in suits and ties. But one day soon, when the restraining power of The Holy Ghost is withdrawn from the earth, we will see with our own two eyes, what Jesus has rescued us from, for the same devils who inhabited the mind of the child in Christ's day, will once again manifest themselves in very disturbing ways that will cause the "Intelligent" to think twice.
The pilot who flew the German wings aircraft at full throttle into the sides of the mountain, was immediately possessed by the same evil spirits, but when he was boarding the plane, he seemed to be pretty normal to most folk, for he was neatly dressed in his uniform, complete with perfume and neatly cut hair. Although many of us as Christians do not fully understand or appreciate, what Jesus does for us in the conversion process, yet the Bible states that it is an experience wherein the power of God is directly engaged to rescue us from the iron clutches of demons, and thus we owe our very existence and sanity to none other but Christ alone.
Let us therefore praise God often for His matchless kindness towards us in Christ Jesus, and may we ever treasure His inestimable gift of salvation as it occurs in the various stages of the conversion process. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which teaches us to be grateful of God's kindness to us, through the salvation that only Christ could bring. Let's read:
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth".... 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His word. "Good night" and God bless!