Transcript Christians & Demons Part I The Spiritual War Within Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,

Christians
&
Demons
Part I
The Spiritual War Within
Ephesians 6:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the
power of this dark world and against
the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms.”
Who is Satan?
Was one of three original Archangels
• Michael – Gabriel - Lucifer
• Revelation 12:7-9 – “…war in heaven”
• Luke 10:18 – Jesus to Disciples: “I saw Satan fall
like lightening from heaven.”
• Isaiah 14:12 – “How you have fallen O’ Morning
Star, son of dawn…”
• Ezekiel 28:15 – “…you were anointed as a
guardian cherub.”
Who is Satan cont…
• Hebrew - ‘sah-tan’ – “To act as an
adversary”
• Greek Transliteration of Hebrew word ‘satan’ or ‘satanas’
• Greek - ‘Diabolos’ – “devil”, “adversary”
Names for Satan
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“Tempter” – Matt 4:3, 1 Thess 3:5
“Beelzebub” (prince of demons) – Matt 12:24
“Enemy” – Matt 13:39
“Evil One” – Matt 13:19, I John 2:13
“Belial” (worthlessness) – II Cor 6:15
“Deceiver” – Rev 12:9
“Great Dragon” – Rev 12:3
“Father of Lies” – John 8:44
Satan’s Role in the Fall
• Genesis 3:1-7 “Now the serpent was more
crafty…”
• Genesis 3:14 – Prophecy of Satan’s fate
• Revelation 20:7-10 – Satan’s fate is eternal
bondage
Other Descriptions of Satan
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God of this world – 2 Corinthians 4:4
Prowls the Earth – Job 1:7
A murderer and the father of lies – John 8:44
Accuser of the Brethren – Rev 12:10
Seeks to snare men in sin – 2 Timothy 2:26
Attacks Christians – Ephesians 6:11
Keeps people in bondage – Acts 10:38
‘Demon’ - Etymology
• Hebrew - “Evil Spirit”
•ra‛-râ ‛âh – ‘Evil’
•rûach – ‘Breath’
• Greek – “Demon” - “Evil Spirit” - “god”
•‘daimon’ and ‘daimonion’
Where did Demons Come From?
Fallen Angels
Jude 1:6 - “And the angels who did not keep their
positions of authority but abandoned their own home—
these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting
chains for judgment on the great Day.”
II Peter 2:4 - “For if God did not spare angels when they
sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy
dungeons to be held for judgment…”
Offspring of Angels and Antediluvian Women
Genesis 6:2 – “…sons of God saw that the
daughters of men were beautiful and they
took wives for themselves.
Characteristics of Demons
They know who Jesus is:
• Luke 4:33-35 – Identifies ‘Jesus of Nazareth’
• Luke 8:28 – Demon identified Jesus as the ‘Son of the Most High
God’
They can cause illness and physical affliction:
• Luke 13:10-13 – Woman crippled by a spirit for 18 years
• Luke 11:14 – Mute man caused by mute spirit
• Luke 9:42 – Boy convulsing and foaming at the mouth – Possible
Epilepsy
• Matthew 12:22 – They caused the man to be blind and
mute.
Characteristics of Demons
They can control the human body:
• Luke 11:14 – Mute man caused by mute spirit
• Luke 9:42 – Boy convulsing and foaming at the mouth
• Matthew 12:22 – They caused the man to be blind and mute.
• Acts 19:15 – Seven sons of Sceva and the demon possessed man
They can speak through a person:
• Luke 4:41 – Demons speaking to Jesus
• Luke 8:26 – Demons begging Jesus to be merciful to them
There are categories of spirits:
• Mark 9:25 – “When Jesus saw that a crowd was running
to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and
mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out
of him and never enter him again.”
Characteristics of Demons
• They are disembodied and desire to be inside something living:
• Luke 11:24-25 – “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes
through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says,
‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the
house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven
other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live
there. And the final condition of the man is worse than the first.”
• They can group together as one spirit with one identity:
• Mark 5:9 – “Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?.’ ‘My
name is Legion,’ he replied, ‘for we are many.’
• They can exhibit great strength:
• Acts 19:15 – Demon beat up the sons of Sceva
• Luke 8:29 – Demon possessed man breaking
chains from his hands and his feet.
Believers & Demons in the Bible
II Corinthians 11:3-4 -3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived
by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray
from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes
to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if
you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different
gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
I Tim 4:1-3- The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will
abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by
demons.
Acts 5:1-10 – Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan
has so filled your heart that you have lied to the
Holy Spirit?”
Believers & Demons in the Bible
1 Corinthians 12:1-4, 7-10 - Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do
not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans,
somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3
Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God
says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by
the Holy Spirit.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the
common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message
of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the
same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of
healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another
prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another
speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another
the interpretation of tongues.11 All these are the work of
one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each
one, just as he determines.
Believers & Demons in the Bible
Mark 8:31-33 – “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man
must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests
and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three
days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside
and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his
disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do
not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
I Thessalonians 5:23
“May God himself, the God of peace,
sanctify you through and through. May
your whole spirit, soul and body be kept
blameless at the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active.
Sharper than any double-edged sword,
it penetrates even to dividing soul and
spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The Triune Man
How we Relate to
our Environment.
Experienced through
the five senses
The Body
GK - Soma – “Body” Literal flesh and blood
2 Peter 1:13-14 – “I think it is right to refresh your memory as long
as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon
put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.”
2 Corinthians 5:1 – “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live
in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in
heaven, not built by human hands.
The Triune Man
How we Relate to
our Environment.
Experienced through
the five senses
How we Relate to the
People Around us. The
Mind, Will, Emotions.
The Soul
GK - Psuche– “Breath” The divider between Spirit and Body
Matthew 22:37 – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
1 Corinthians 2:14 – “But a natural man does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
The Triune Man
How we Relate to
our Environment.
Experienced through
the five senses
How we Relate to the
People Around us. The
Mind, Will, Emotions.
How we Relate to
God. Called the
‘Spirit in Man.’ Faith,
Hope, Reverence,
Worship.
Sanctification
happens here
The Spirit
GK - Pnuema– “Current of Air”
- The part of us that indwells the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16)
1 Corinthians 2:11 – “For who among men knows the thoughts of
a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the
thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”
Romans 8:16 – “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we
are children of God.”
1 Corinthians 14:14 – “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but
my mind is unfruitful.”
Descriptions of Demon Possession
To ‘have’ and unclean spirit
• Matt 11:18, Mark 7:25, Luke 8:27
To ‘be with’ and evil spirit
• Mark 1:23, Mark 5:2
To be demonized
• Matt 4:24, 8:16, 8:28, Mark 1:32, 5:15, Luke
8:36
“Demon Possession”
Daimonizomai – ‘Possessed by a Demon’ – ‘demonized’
Mark 5:15 – “They came to Jesus and observed the man
who had been demon-possessed sitting down…”
‘Possession’
- English = ‘Total control’
- Greek = ‘To be afflicted by’
The Triune Christian and Demons
Our spirit is protected
by the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 6:11
Argument Against Christians Having Demons
2 Corinthians 6:14 - Do not be yoked
together with unbelievers. For what do
righteousness and wickedness have in
common? Or what fellowship can light have
with darkness?
Scripture NEVER discusses demons
influencing our ‘spirit in man’. Just our
body and our soul.
“A Christian can ‘have’ a demon, just as they
can have a sickness or disease. Saying a
Christian can be possessed, is like saying
that a person’s body is owned by an
infection on that person’s finger. The
infection may ‘influence’ the body, but it
does not mean that it ‘owns’ the body. The
same is true with demons: while a Christian
can ‘have’ a demon and be in bondage
(influenced), it does not mean that the
person is owned by the demon.”
Ephesians 4:27 - “Neither give place to the
devil.”
2 Corinthians 2:11 - “Lest Satan should get
an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant
of his devices.”
We Are Not to Fear Satan or Demons!
James 4:7- “Resist the devil and he will flee
from you.”
1 John 4:4 - “You, dear children, are from
God and have overcome them, because the
one who is in you is greater than the one
who is in the world.”
How do Demons Enter the Christian?
Doorways that are opened in our lives either willingly
or unwillingly.
1. Sins in the past before the believer came to know
and accept Jesus
2. Abuse (emotional, mental, physical)
3. Past dealings with the occult
4. Un-Godly Soul Ties - Sexual sin
5. Un-forgiveness
6. Rejection
7. Destructive Secrets
Possible Evidence of Demons
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Addictions that cannot be totally beat
Chronic illnesses
Unusual fears
Chronic relationship difficulties
Suicidal thoughts
Extreme behavior
Time of Response
1. Ask God to search you and reveal where
demonic strongholds may exist.
2. Ask God to take away any spirit of fear that may
be stopping you from seeing these strongholds
3. Listen