“Story Time”

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

I am a member of Christ's church (as was established in 33 AD).  I agree with all of the answers that you have given in this app, and I think it is a wonderful way of spreading God’s Word.  My question is one that was brought to me by a friend that I was studying with recently.  He is a sincere person and not a person that would make up stories that are false.  The story he told me put me in a bind because I have no clue how to explain that his imagination is getting the best of him without hurting his feelings.  He informed me that he had a dream that some voice said, "God has Satan by the snout."  He then woke up and felt as though someone was grabbing his face and pressing his head sideways, and he could not move his body.  He says that he whispered Christ's name, and the feeling went away, and he could once again move.  He is thoroughly convinced that he was physically attacked by a demon.  Please help me; I know what I believe on the subject but have no clue how to start explaining.  Most of all, I want to explain with God’s Word and as little of my own words as possible.

Sincerely,
In A Bind

Dear In A Bind,

It is always tricky to give an answer to someone who tells you, “I’m just sure I saw this or that!”… when you know it isn’t possible, but you don’t want to offend them.  We’ve been in the same predicament ourselves on many occasions, and ultimately, we try and do what you are doing – just point people toward the pertinent verses.  So here are some verses that you might bring up with your friend:

1. Jesus stopped the demons from having the ability to attack people or possess them.  In Matt 12:24-29, Jesus says that He came and “bound the strong man” (in reference to Satan) by casting out the demons.  When Jesus cast the demons out of people – He cast them out of people for good.  A good example of this is when Jesus cast the legion of demons out, and they begged to be cast into the pigs… this tells you Jesus not only cast demons out, He bound their future abilities at the same time (Mk 5:11-13).
2. When demons were cast out, it was considered a great victory over Satan.  Jesus gave seventy of His disciples authority to cast out demons, and when they returned to Him after visiting many cities, they rejoiced that they had cast many demons out (Lk 10:17).  Jesus answered their joy by telling them that Satan was falling because of their work (Lk 10:18).  In short, demon possession was becoming a thing of the past.
3. Regardless of how your friend feels about this particular incident, the key concept that you are trying to convey to him is that our faith needs to be based off of Scripture… not personal experience.  A key verse on this topic is Rom 10:17 – “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”.  Our salvation is dependent upon what the Bible says, not our own personal feelings and experiences which differ for each of us.

Hopefully, this is of some help to you.  You will have to decide when, where, and how to bring the topic up, but those verses are where we would start.

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