Down to the Pit

“And they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is across from Galilee.  And when He stepped out onto the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but among the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!  For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demons into the wilderness.  Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he said, Legion, because many demons had entered him.  And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.  Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.”  Luke 8:26-33

 

We are going to take a look at an interesting aspect and turn it into a little lesson here that any individual reading this might ponder, regarding their own lives. 

 

In verse 31 of Luke chapter 8, you have the demons begging Jesus that ‘He would not command them to go out into the abyss.’  The King James version says the ‘deep’, instead of abyss. 

 

Now the Strong’s concordance gives the following definition:

 

abyss

 

ἄβυσσος

abussos

ab’-us-sos

From G1 (as a negative particle) and a variation of G1037; depthless, that is, (specifically), (infernal) “abyss”: – deep, (bottomless) pit.

 

Now consider the following verse:

 

“Even the demons believe, and shudder.”  Jacob (James) 2:19b

 

That man from the article ‘I Aint Worried About it Dawg’ wasn’t concerned and neither are the people who you pass by on a regular basis. 

 

Certainly there are times that even the most hardened will stop and ponder their ways (2 Peter 3:9) and mankind would do good to consider the following:

 

“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.  But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has done, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall live life; he shall not die.  None of the transgressions which he has done shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.  Do I delight with pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord Jehovah, and not that he should turn back from his ways and live?  But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the treachery of his unfaithfulness, and the sin which he has sinned, in them he shall die.  Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not fair. Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair.  When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is for the iniquity which he has done that he dies.  Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he has done, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive.  Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he has done, he shall live life; he shall not die.”  Ezekiel 18:20-28

 

Certainly God does not leave men without warning:

 

“For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is clearly recognized by them, for God has revealed it to them.  For ever since the creation of the world the unseen things of Him are clearly perceived, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they know God, they do not glorify Him as God, nor are thankful, but become vain in their reasonings, and their stupid hearts are darkened.”  Romans 1:18-21

 

The job of Believers, pastors, preachers, evangelist and any other who is truly Saved is to do the great work of God (Matthew 28:19-20), through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. 

 

We are to warn men, but understandably most will not listen (Matthew 7:13-14; Revelation 12:9), most will go down to the pit, they will die without knowledge (Job 36:12).

 

“Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ Jesus.”  Colossians 1:28

 

So here you have the demons worrying and begging to not go to the abyss or deep, but most people go about their lives like that ‘ain’t worried’ gentlemen. 

 

Obviously the demons know/knew who Jesus is (Luke 4:34), just as they knew Paul (Acts 19:15), they are ‘behind the scenes’ and believe more than the average person about Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind, as well as the reality of Heaven and Hell (Revelation 12:7).

 

So consider that there are many who wrongfully worship angels (Revelation 22:9), there are many who serve demons (1 Timothy 4:1; Galatians 1:8), both due to literally going down the road of the occult and then through false doctrine that has taken over most of the churches around the world, however, note that these fallen angels fear the pit, they fear it, yet mankind does not take it to heart.

 

Well the Bible is quite clear:

 

“And many of those sleeping in the earth’s dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting abhorrence.”  Daniel 12:2

 

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, without sin, unto salvation.”  Hebrews 9:27-28

 

“And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, out of the things which were written in the books.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one, according to their works.  And Death and Hades were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.”  Revelation 20:12-15

 

All we can do is be faithful to Christ and warn, warn people that they need Salvation, that is found only through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

 

“Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”  Ezekiel 33:9

 

“And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.”  Revelation 9:2

 

“He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from the pit.”  Psalms 107:20

 

“He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from the pit.”  Psalms 30:3

 

Amen!