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WEEKLY
Volume 2 Number 51
18 May 2008
Demons
(Message delivered by Rev Hien
Nguyen at the Worship Service, 2:00 pm, May 11, 08)
Text:
Matt 12:43-45
As we have learnt about angels, there are
two groups of them: The elect or obedient angels submit to God and
minister to Him, and the fallen angels, also called demons, proudly
rebel against God and follow Satan. There are also two groups of fallen
angels. One group is free and active in the world and the other is
confined, “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” (Jude 6; cf. 2 Peter
2:4). The Scripture recorded many incidents of demon possession and our
Lord Jesus Christ did cast out demons from the victims (Matt 8:16;
9:32-33; 12:28; 17:18; et al) and sent His disciples to preach the
Gospel and gave them power to cast out demons as well (Matt. 10:1; Mark
6:7; Luke 9:1). Therefore, demons are real and still active. We can
recognize them by their fruits: anti-Christ, anti-Truth, anti-God’s
Word, deceit, falsehood, lies, hatred, ungodliness, immorality, wrong
doctrines, apostasy, etc.
Who Are Demons?
There are some wrong human concepts of
demons, and we do need God’s Word, the Scripture, to know the truth
about demons:
(1) Demons are not the ghosts or souls
of deceased people. Many people think that demons are the ghosts or
souls of deceased people, and ghost stories and ghost movies support
this concept, but the Lord Jesus Christ confirms that the souls of the
dead cannot come back to the world (Luke 16:20-31).
(2) Demons are not the ghosts of
pre-Adamic race (based on the gap theory between Gen 1:1 and Gen
1:2). It is not biblical because God’s Word confirms that sin and death
came into the world through Adam (Rom 5:12).
(3) Demons are not the offsprings
of fallen angels and human women (Gen 6:2). This idea is contrary to
the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ that angels neither marry nor are
given in marriage (Matt 22:30; Mark 12:25).
(4) Demons are fallen but unconfined
angels, without corporeal bodies (Matt. 8:16; 12:43-45; Luke 10:17,
20);
(a) They are localized in one place at a
time, not present everywhere as God. When Jesus cast out demons from two
men of the Gadarenes, they asked Jesus to let them go away into a herd
of swine. (Matt. 8:28–34);
(b) They are intelligent but not
all-knowing as God. They could identify the Lord Jesus as “the Holy
One of God” (Mark 1:24), “Son of God” (Matt 8:29; Mark 3:11),
“Son of the most high God” (Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28) and Paul and
Silas as “the servants of the most high God, which shew us the way of
salvation” (Acts 16:17; 19:15). They could tell something about the
past and the future as “spirit of divination” (Acts 16:16). They
cunningly deceive the people of the world with unbiblical doctrines,
“the doctrines of devils” (1 Tim 4:1);
(c) They are powerful but not all-powerful
as God. Those who were possessed by demons could have supernormal
strength to break the fetters and chains (Mark 5:4), to overcome and
prevail against exorcists (Acts 19:16), but they were overcome and cast
out by the Lord Jesus and His disciples (Matt 8:16; 9:32-33; Luke 10:17)
(d) They are condemned and will be cast
into the lake of fire with Satan when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back
again (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10).
Then let us trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is able to keep us safe and help us overcome Satan and demons.
What Do Demons Do?
Demons follow Satan, so what Satan does,
they do likewise: attacking God’s Word and God’s children, deceiving
people, misleading them and harassing them, oppressing them, drawing
them away from God and His Truth.
Deceiving People:
Like Satan, demons corrupt human mind and
thinking with worldly values and mindset and wrong doctrines (Gen 3:1-5;
2 Cor 4:4; 11:3) and hinder people from knowing God’s truth and
salvation. Paul said to Elymas, the sorcerer, who sought to turn away
the deputy from the faith, “O full of all subtilty and all mischief,
thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not
cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10) Demons
are subtly misleading people of this world away from God and His truth
with “seducing spirits and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim
4:1) and even deceiving them to worship Satan and demons without
awareness, “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these
plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should
not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and
brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor
walk” (Rev 9:20), and “But I say, that the things which the
Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and
I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils” (1 Cor
10:20), and they will deceive the nations to fight against Israel in the
last days, “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles,
which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to
gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Rev
16:14).
Dear friends, many do not believe the
existence of Satan or demons, but through the Scripture, we may see
their deceits and evil works everywhere with antichrists, anti-Truth,
wrong doctrines, false prophets with signs and wonders, cults and
occults, idol worship, divination, necromancy, witchcraft, black magic,
sorcery, transcendental meditation, etc.
Influencing People by Unclean
Spirits: Demons are called
“unclean spirits” (Matt 10:1; Mark 1:27; 3:11; 5:13; Luke 4:36;
6:18; Acts 8:7; Rev 16:13) and are drawing many people in this world
away from godliness and holiness, “departing from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in
hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim
4:3). When human consciences are seared or hardened, they do not feel
guilty or ashamed and their consciences are not stricken when they
indulge themselves in sins and sinful lusts. We can see unclean demons
are behind worldly pleasures and entertainments, sexual immorality,
homosexuality, pornography, dirty movies, videos, websites, etc. Let us
be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we may have holy minds, hearts,
and desires and keep ourselves pure and clean from all unclean things in
this world. Let our hearts and minds be filled with God’s Word and the
things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and good (Phil 4:8;
Col 3:16).
Influencing People by Evil Spirits:
Demons are also called evil
spirits (Luke 7:21; 8:2; Acts 19:12-13) and their works are very wicked.
Not all illnesses are caused by Satan or demons, but they may inflict
people with illnesses (Luke 8:2; 13:11; Job 2:6) or cause their victims
to torture themselves without painful feelings (Mark 5:5), even prompt
them to commit suicide (Matt 17:15). They stir up hatred, envy,
bitterness, confusion, vengeance, strife and murder through “earthly,
sensual, devilish” wisdom (James 3:14-16) and evil works, “He
that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the
beginning… Not as Cain, who
was of that wicked one, and slew his brother…
Whosoever hateth his brother is a
murderer” (1 John 3:8, 12, 15).
We can see demons working behind all evil works, envy, violence, hatred,
murder, crimes, etc. Let us be filled with the Holy Spirit and His love
so that we may overcome sin and evil.
Demon Possession
Our Lord Jesus delivered many
who were possessed by demons and He warns, “When the unclean spirit
is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and
findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from
whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty,
swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself
seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and
dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the
first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.”
(Matt 12:43-45). Demon possession is real and still exists in this world
today.
Then can Christians be
possessed by demons? We thank God that true Christians who are born
again are kept in His mighty hand and with the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit, they cannot be possessed by demons, “And I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all;
and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John
10:28-29), “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them:
because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world”
(1 John 4:4), and “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not;
but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one
toucheth him not” (1 John 5:18).
How to Keep Ourselves from
Demonic Influence
Keep Ourselves in
Christ: “We
know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten
of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1
John 5:18). Although we Christians cannot be possessed by demons because
of the presence and indwelling of Holy Spirit in our hearts, we cannot
tempt God by going to places full of demonic influences. We must be
“separate and touch not the unclean thing” (2 Cor 6:17).
As we have mentioned the evil
works of demons, it is wise for us to keep ourselves and our children
from unclean and evil influences such as ghost stories or movies,
witchcraft (even in novels like Harry Potter), charms, horoscopes,
zodiac, fortune telling, mediums, necromancy, cults and occult
practices, pornography, sexual novels or movies, sexual immorality,
envy, hatred, idolatry, wrong doctrines, and apostasy.
Be Controlled by the
Holy Spirit and God’s Word:
It is dangerous to leave our hearts and minds empty. When I was in my
country, one of my students came and shared with me about his meditation
and yoga and asked for my advice. He said that he believed in Christ and
attended Sunday worship, but he still followed some occult practices.
One day he did his meditation (in doing this, he had to keep his mind
empty, focusing on something) and he felt as if a power of darkness
wanted to possess him. He was very scared and stopped his meditation. I
then shared with him the warning of our Lord Jesus Christ and advised
him to stop his occult practices right away. It is very dangerous to
leave our hearts and minds empty, but we should always be filled with
and be controlled by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, “be
filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18) and “Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Col 3:16), then demons cannot
harm us.
Conclusion
Dear friends, Satan and demons
are real and even more active in these last days. We can see their
unclean and evil influences everywhere, deceiving many people and
drawing them away from our Lord Jesus Christ and God’s Truth (God’s
Word). May the Lord help us to be alert, keep ourselves separate from
all unclean and evil things and wrong doctrines, then trust in the Lord,
submit to Him and His Word, put on the whole amour of God, and resist
Satan and demons in Jesus’ Name by God’s Word and prayers until they
flee away (Luke 10:17; Eph 6:10-18; James 4:7). Amen.
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