Bible Questions Answered:
“....some friends do not believe satan can come into anyone.”
Raul/ Manila, Philippines
Bible Answer:
It would be very had indeed, to read the New Testament, and not believe that “evil spirits,” can and do possess the bodies of sinful men and women!
Matthew 4:24 KJV
And His fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them.
Matthew 9:32,33 KJV
32 As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a dumb man possessed with a devil.
33 And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.
Matthew 12:22,43-45 KJV
22 Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first..."
Mark 1:23-27,34 KJV
23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.
27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth He even the unclean spirits, and they do obey Him.
34 And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him.
Mark 5:1-17 KJV
1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
2 And when He was come out of the ship, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped Him,
7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
8 For He said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
9 And He asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion*: for we are many.
10 And he besought Him much that He would not send them away out of the country.
11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
12 And all the devils besought Him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.
15 And they come to Jesus, and see Him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
17 And they began to pray Him to depart out of their coasts.
*Legion-Greek-Legion (Leg-eh-ohn): A Roman regiment, a legion.
(Legion: The chief subdivision of the Roman army, with as many as 6,000 infantry. )
Mark 7:25-30 KJV
25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet:
26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought Him that He would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.
28 And she answered and said unto Him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
29 And He said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.
30 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.
Mark 9:17-26 KJV
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto Me.
20 And they brought him unto Him: and when He saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
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: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
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.
Mark 16:9 KJV
Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils.
Acts 5:16 KJV
There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
Acts 8:7 KJV
For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
Acts 16:16-18 KJV
16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
Acts 19:12-16 KJV
12 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
At the last supper is another example.
John 13:21-27 NLT
21 Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and He exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray Me!”
22 The disciples looked at each other, wondering whom He could mean.
23 The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table.
24 Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s He talking about?”
25 So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when He had dipped it, He gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.
27 When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.”
James 2:19 KJV
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Revelation 16:13,14 NLT
13 And I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.
14 They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty.
How is it some fall prey to possession of tormenting “evil spirits?”
Proverbs 5:22 KJV
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
Romans 6:16 NLT
Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.
I Timothy 4:1 KJV
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
When a person lives in open rebellion to God, he opens a door to another dimension, one that is the antithesis to all that is good and light, one of darkness and spiritual evil, and to all those who abide there.
There is hope for those in bondage!
Isaiah 42:7,8 KJV
7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images.
Isaiah 58:6 KJV
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Isaiah 61:1 KJV
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Staying Free:
John 5:14 KJV
Afterward Jesus findeth him (The impotent/lame man-verse 7) in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Ephesians 4:21-32 KJV
21 If so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27 Neither give place to the devil.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 6:11,12 KJV
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
I Timothy 6:10-12 KJV
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called..."
II Timothy 2:3,4 KJV
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
Casting out evil spirits:
Matthew 10:1,7,8 KJV
1 And when he had called unto him His twelve disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Mark 3:14,15 KJV
14 And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach,
15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
Mark 6:7,12,13 KJV
7 And He called unto Him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
Mark 9:29 KJV
And He said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
Mark 16;15-18 KJV
15 And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them (Explanation:
Kept By The Power Of God ); they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Luke 4:16-24 KJV
16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him.
21 And He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
22 And all bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth..."
Luke 10:19,20 KJV
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and
over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
Luke 24:49-53 KJV
49 And, behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with Power from on High (Pentecost-Acts 2).
50 And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them.
51 And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
53 And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.
Salvation Prayer
