Mt. 17:15 π Mk. 7:25 π Mk. 7:32 π Lk. 8:27 π Lk. 13:11
That believers - true, fully surrendered children of God - can be deceived, and then up to the degree of deception, "possessed" by deceiving spirits, we have seen in the preceding chapters. The primary cause must now be made clear, and the conditions for deception and possession resulting therefrom; apart from the possession which is the outcome of yielding to sins of the flesh, or any sin which gives evil spirits a hold in the fallen nature.
It is first important to define the meaning of the word "possession": for it is generally thought to cover only cases of possession in the acute, and fully developed degree of the cases given in the gospel records. But even then it is overlooked that many degrees of possession are referred to in the gospels, such as the woman with the "spirit of infirmity" ( Lk. 13:11 ); the man who was apparently only deaf and dumb ( Mk. 7:32 ); the little girl with the demon which terribly vexed her ( Mk. 7:25 ); the boy who gnashed with his teeth, and was sometimes thrown on the fire ( Mt. 17:15 ), and the man with the legion, so wholly mastered by the powers of evil that he dwelt outside the abodes of men. ( Lk. 8:27; top )
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