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And when He (Jesus} had come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met Him coming out of the tombs, so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that way. And behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?
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The account as told a bit more completely in the gospels of Mark and Luke make it clear that a man in that case, now freed from the bondage of the devil, wanted to travel with Jesus. But He told him to return to his home and tell of the great things the Lord had done for him and how He had mercy on him. So he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone marveled. {Mar.5:18-20}

What I want to draw our attention to is the fact that the demon possessed man was ‘exceedingly violent’, very fierce, or ‘exceedingly fierce’ in other translations: In the original Greek, ‘chalepos’ (χαλεπός). That word is actually only used in one other place in the New Testament, 2 Timothy 3:1, where the apostle Paul is speaking of the perilous last days! Perilous, not difficult–that same Greek word ‘chalepos’. When there are demons whose desire is to destroy you for all eternity that is not like having difficulty balancing your checkbook. It is life and death! The apostle Paul describes what perilous is there in the second letter to Timothy! And that is the proper description of the last days.

We need to be prepared for what is soon coming, or more accurately, pre-prayered for what has already begun! His disciples asked Jesus what the signs of His return and the end of the age would look like. Having been asked He said among other things that His true believers would be challenged and attacked at every turn with many falling away. {Mat.24} And as Paul also wrote, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. {2Tim.3:12}

That makes it ever so important for us to remember that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. {Eph.6:12} We have to put on the full armor of God any time the enemy might attack (all the time) and to keep in mind that although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. {2Cor.10:3-4}

The breastplate of faith and love {1Th.5:8} that is what the Lord has given us to protect our hearts, the core of our being, from the flaming arrows of the enemy. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. {1Co 13:7-8} Sin and death were conquered when Jesus, the Christ, hung on the cross and prayed saying, “Father, forgive them. Then, committing His spirit to the Father He breathed His last.” {Lk.23:34,46} Love conquers all!

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:43-45)

THERE IS VICTORY IN JESUS