the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Possessed of the Devil
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
or We meet with many instances of this in the days of our Lord. Indeed, as the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil, it should seem that at that time the great enemy of souls had permission exert a more than usual power, that in his being cast out the Lord Jesus might be manifested thereby. But that the influence of the evil spirit is not now wholly restrained, is too evident to be denied. The general term made use of in our courts of justice in the indictment of criminals, is plain in proof for the running phrase is, that such an one, not having the fear of God before his eyes, and being moved by the instigation of the devil, did such and such things. But while the fact itself is undeniable, it is a blessed relief to the minds of God's people to know that the influence of the devil is not according to his wishes, but according to the Lord's permission; not whom he will, but whom he may. And it is still more blessed, the conviction that all his temptations, however differently intended by him, must produce good in the result to the people of God. From the first moment the arch fiend entered the garden of Eden, through all the exercises of the faithful, he is only accomplishing the gracious purposes of God. Never would he have been allowed to bruise the heel of the Lord's chosen, but that finally the Lord might bruise his head. The whole powers of darkness in their exercises of possessions, plots, contrivances, imprisonments, temptations, and the like, over the Lord's Israel, are only hastening on the ruin of their own kingdom. "The God of peace will bruise Satan under the feet of his people shortly." (Romans 16:20)
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Hawker, Robert D.D. Entry for 'Possessed of the Devil'. Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/pmd/p/possessed-of-the-devil.html. London. 1828.
