THEOLOGY LESSON 35

LESSON 35 – DEMONOLOGY – SATAN’S TROOPS

NO	STUDY	TEXTS
35	Demonology – Satan’s Troops	1 Corinthian 10:19-24 2 Peter 2:4-5 Galatians 6:2-4 Luke 8:26-40 Acts 19:111-20 Ephesians 6:10-18

INTRODUCTION

As active Christians we have to recognize that Satan does not like us being active. It is important to disagree with people if the Lord shows you that they are not right. In the 20th century we saw the complete turn around in relation to demonism.

In the first part of the century most people believed in God but few took any notice of demons while now many do not believe in God but there is a resurgence of demonism. They will go and watch films portraying demonism but will not come to church.

Satan is very busy forming an alternative to the church. This is typical of the climate in which we live today.

Today we are moving closer and closer to the situation that the early church encountered being surrounded by paganism, the occult and demonism. It is not that there are different philosophies; the real enemy is Satan and his army. As in the ancient world they were very involved with false religion; just like they are today.

Many people are looking for experiences and the enemy will offer them all they want. We need to know what the wiles of Satan are, so that we can warn the Lord’s flock against them. Satan's attack is very subtle with him being portrayed as a serpent; the creature that slithers past our defenses if we are not alert.

Satan sees the believer who does not know what they should know and zeroes in on them. It is essential that we recognize that demons exist. You will find that this is mocked in some churches. Some will say Satan is a force of evil but the Bible says he is a creature.  Stick to the bible!

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

1 Corinthians 10:19-24 talks about religion in the ancient world, especially eating meat offered to idols. Paul talks about the laws of the Christian life; the law of liberty, the law of love, the law of supreme sacrifice.

These laws inter react so that you refrain from doing something even though through the law of liberty you could.  In the ancient world the vast majority of meat had been offered to an idol.  This is not unlike the Moslem's offering sheep/goats that they are slaughtering to Allah. All the abattoirs in the city of Corinth were dedicated to a god. That god was not Almighty God; but it is a demon behind every idol.  The gods of the nations are Satan's demons.  They have power to deceive.   Many believers felt they couldn't eat meat then or they would be compromising their faith;   Paul says “no you can eat the meat even if it is offered to the idols (or demons)”, for they are in fact “nothings” in relation to the believer, and eating the meat offered to them is in fact demonstrating our superiority to them, for in Christ they have no power over us.

Paul says, from the law of liberty, he can eat a T bone steak offered to Apollo, for the demon behind the “god” is a big nobody , but he is not going to do so at this point, because he does not want weaker or younger brothers in Christ  to be confused in the relation of the believer and evil. He was going to follow the principle of grace and self-sacrifice. It is not a spiritual issue until you understand what it might do to another brother. If you eat, then he might come under the influence of those demons again. Once the new believers were secure in their faith however Paul would quite happily eat meat offered to idols as it is not an issue for him as he is in Christ and superior to them. The Christian’s real concern is not first for what he “can do”, but for the impact of all he does on other’s spiritual life. 

The principle is that Satan is involved in religion. Where there is a contrast between the truth and compromise the believer should pick the truth every time. The right path is always the one as far away from Satan's people and philosophy as possible. Religion is evil and defiling because Satan is the author of it and Satan is the author of sin. This is where believers have to be discerning as to where you pull back from. The Christian must learn what and where to avoid.   At a later point we will cover the principles of Love, Liberty and Supreme Sacrifice as they are taught in this passage in Corinthians

DEMONS

Satan's system is very powerful. Behind every false god there is a demon, behind pagan religions is Satan. With reference to the origin of demons there are many ideas.

Four possible origins are referred to in the belief systems of men;

[a] they are the spirits of wicked deceased people,

[b] they are the disembodied spirits of a pre Adamic race,

[c] They are the fallen angels that had sexual union with women described in Genesis 6:1- 6, They forsook their heavenly dwelling place and disobeyed God and formed depraved unions with Women.

The only one that is biblically correct is the last; that they are fallen angels. Some fallen angels are confined, some are free. In 2 Peter 2:4 we have the record of the confined demons. They are fallen angels. The context of this is that some of the demons were confined at the time of Noah's flood.

The Bible tells us in Genesis 6 that the ‘Sons of God’ ‘angels’ had perverted sexual relations with human women spawning the mighty men of renown (these are the great heroes of the myths of the ancient peoples). This was Satan's ploy to try and thwart the Lord's virgin birth by contaminating the gene pool of mankind by sexual habitation with the human race. In any case God thwarted their plan and judged these angels and locked them in a place called Tartarus, the pit.  They are held in chains of dense darkness in ‘pits of dense darkness’. The book of Jude mentions these sexual perverts in verses 6-7 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire”.

These fallen angels developed lusts for Women and got involved with sexual immorality.  Immorality is a sign of demonism even if it is behind a facade which is very respectable.  Mediums are almost always apparently respectable but can be wildly promiscuous or sexually deviant. All the religions of the ancient world had demonic activity producing gross and significant sexual deviance.

The final destination of all the fallen angels is the lake of fire. Therefore we are witnesses of the end time degradation of everything the demons are involved in.  Fallen angels have wills which they express negatively; they have personality and names and are individually identifiable. Physically they are more powerful than we are. However in Christ with the filling of the Holy Spirit we are superior to them. It is your position in Christ which gives you the superiority. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.  (This text has been repeated often for a reason; it is our strength and a reminder of who we are, and our destiny.)

Many people are classified as mentally ill. There is evidence that many are not psychologically sick but rather they have been dabbling in drugs and are either brain damaged or demon possessed. It is necessary to be discerning here, for there is mental illness and physical illness, but sin and the impact of satanic teachings can play a big part in both, the demons can help develop the sin of the children by feeding off the Fathers sins down many generations

In Luke 8:26-40 - here we see a demon possessed man. In verse 27-33 we have the picture of the Lord talking with this man and the demons within and they wished to go to another living being, in this case a herd of pigs. It is of interest that the swine did not want to be demon possessed and so ran into the lake.   The swine were smarter than a lot of people, who for the power that Satan promises will accept a spirit guide (demon) into their body.

A Roman Legion was 6,000; there were six thousand demons in this man. Forget about demons taking up space. They are spiritual beings. The Gadarene demoniac comes running out and throws himself at the Lord's feet. He is not speaking; the demon is speaking through him. 

Demons can control a person's life but there is still the ability for the person to demonstrate their free will by means of bodily action as demonstrated by this man by him throwing himself at the feet of the Lord.  The demons knew who Jesus was and feared the Lord.  They had personality and together they had given themselves a collective name. They had will and desired to go into the pigs. They wish to be embodied. If you see a witch or witch doctor that is nearing death you will be seeing a panic stricken person because the demons stir them up, because they looking to indwell someone else. You will find that when the demon goes the person dies quite quickly.

This is not psychology; this involves the will of the person. No one becomes demon possessed accidentally, you become in that state because you allow it to happen. Having received it the only way to get rid of it is by passing the demon to someone else or by it being driven out by the Holy Spirit.

There is no hope without Christ for the demon possessed person.  It is very common for the demons to control the voice box. You may find demon possessed people speaking normally and then their voice changes.  A voice comes out and talks about life in ancient Greece and will be absolutely accurate because it is the demon speaking and he was there.  They have observed mankind since Adam. This is what all the previous lives business of the mediums is all about.

People without Christ are easily fooled by the demons and so are Christians who allow the 'carnal to take over'. It is unusual for very small children to be demon possessed as it normally requires an act of will, so a child of very young age who is 'possessed' has really broken barriers to get to that place or it has come down from the Father or Mother in a Generational Curse. Jesus said that little children were the type of people who make up the kingdom of God, so that is why the enemy will target the young very early on. The Bible tells us that the Sins of the Fathers is visited down to the 3rd or 4th Generation to those who do not Love God. The enemy has played havoc with families right down the centuries and has exacted a legal case against Millions of cursed people.  

Demon possession usually takes place when a person opens themselves up to demonic activity, or being in a place where the demon influence is very strong and allow themselves to be manipulated by them. Usually demonism is associated with drugs or the occult.  The word witchcraft is "pharmakeia" in the Greek.  Drugs are as old as man.  Nothing is new under the sun, as the saying goes. The explosion of occultism in the western world coincided with the explosion of drug taking in the 1970's.  Many people do not know why they are involved with demonism.  It is because they were involved with drugs.

In Acts 19 Paul was in Corinth. There was an insurrection. Here we have a Jewish exorcist. Most religions have exorcists.  Satan plays with them and uses them from time to time.  The Jewish exorcist tried to cast out demons in the name of Jesus.

The demon said Jesus and Paul I know but who are you and beat him up. Demon possessed people often have super human power.  The demon possessed person jumped on them, ripped all their clothes off and they ran out of the house naked and wounded.   This demonstrates that this area is one to confront only in the Lord's power, with the prayers of the whole church behind you, and with his word as your guide.

GOD DEALS WITH THE PROBLEM OF DEMONS

There are no magic formulae in Christianity. It is not a good luck charm to have a cross or a large Bible in your hand when you confront evil. Satan is not impressed by lucky charms! The power that defeats demons is the power of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Word of God must be real in your life, not heavy in your hands. The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. You need to have it in your mind.  If you have the Word in your hand without the Spirit in your life, you are naked. The Holy Spirit works through God's Word.

The believer has to deal with sin in their life and keep short accounts with God. Do not walk one step unprotected in the Devil's world.  Unless you are armed as per Ephesians 6 you are not dangerous to the enemy, you are in danger.  The Spirit must be controlling you through the Word. Any unforgiveness has to be dealt with and bitterness and hatred for anyone.  If we try to operate in Gods favour without repenting first, the enemy will take no notice and remain where he is.  

The Lord can even use the demons for his purposes.  If you come across demonism when filled with the Spirit you know you can take authority in the name of Jesus Christ and he will support you.  However it is wise to be prepared by studying the subjects of Deliverance and rebuking and renouncing curses spoken over your life.  You have a number of promises and principles to claim in the 'blood of Jesus Christ' by means of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, so use them we you need to.

You have to recognize first what the demons are up to. They promote idolatry and are behind all idol worship. They promote false religion, teaching that you do not need a Saviour, or that you can be your own Saviour. They teach works salvation rather than grace, they teach immorality rather than morality, they stir up the nations - Daniel 10:13.

Satan is involved with all wars. After World War 1 there was an increase in demonic activity worldwide.  In the 1920's it was almost as if an army of demons had been released from the trenches and were trying to stir up trouble elsewhere.  The influence of demons on politics cannot be overstated but we are on the winning side, and our job is to keep preaching the gospel and not entering politics to stop Satan’s plan.

DOCTRINES

DEMONS

1. Occult practices such as astrology, divination and spiritism are condemned by the scriptures (Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:9-12).  This was punishable by death in Israel. (Leviticus 20:27)

2. Demonism has exercised much influence in history (Ezekiel 21:21, Daniel 10:13).  Evil is associated with the rule of demon possessed kings. (2 Kings 21:1-17)

3. The judgment of demons involved the destruction of demon possessed people and religious systems associated with idolatry (Isaiah 19:1-3, Deuteronomy 7:5)

4. Many nations have been destroyed for demon practices.

a) Canaanites (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)

b) Babylonians (Isaiah 46:1-7, 47:1-15)

c) The judgment of Egypt's first born included the judgment of demons (Exodus 12:12)

5. The return of nations to the battle of Armageddon is by demon influence (Revelation 16:13-16).

6. Satan and the occult forces will be imprisoned during the Millennium (Isaiah 24:21-23; Revelation 20:1-3).

7. Demons are called "hairy ones" (Leviticus 17:7), destroyers (Deuteronomy 32:17) and demons.

8. Demons

a) seek to possess men or animals (Mark 5:1-13).

b) deceive man into false doctrines (1 Timothy 4:1).

c) believe and tremble (James 2:19).

d) speak both truth and lies (2 Chronicles 18:21; Acts 16:17-18).

9. Satan rules the demon world (Matthew 12:24-28).  Demons have a hierarchy (Daniel 10:12,13,20; Ephesians 6:12).

10. Sacrificing to idols is worship of demons (Deuteronomy 32:17, Psalm 106:36-38, 1 Corinthians 10:19-21).

11. The following activities can lead to demon possession (for the unbeliever) or demon influence (for the believer):

a) Submission to demons through idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:19-21) and occult practices such as mental telepathy, clairvoyance and spiritism (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).

b) Specific dedication of one's body to demons, such as the Hindu soma and shamanism.

c) Any practice in which you "lose control" of your mind and senses, such as drugs and alcohol (Galatians 5:20, the Greek word for "sorcery" is "pharmakeia"), meditation and trances, hypnotic rhythms in music and dance.

d) Sexual cults, such as the asherah (Judges 6:25-28, 2 Kings 21:3)

12. When people reject God, He may allow Satan and demons to administer discipline, even death (John 8:44, 1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Timothy 3:6-7).

13. Demon influence can cause abnormal psychological behaviour, physical strength, sickness, etc (Mark 5:1-5, Job 2:6-8)

14. Jesus Christ has conquered all demon power (Matthew 10:8).

We recommend the site http://ministeringdeliverance.com that deals extensively with Curses, Deliverance and Blessings.


Bless you


David