What the Bible Says About Demons Part 2

by John Lowe
(Laurens SC, USA)

God is greater than Satan or his demons; therefore, neither Satan nor his demons can have ultimate victory over believers. They may, however, influence and harass believers. Satan would destroy every believer if he could.

In 1 Corinthians 5:5, there is the indication that a believer may be “delivered … to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” It may be that God will deal with sin in a believer’s life by allowing the person to be afflicted in their body.

That’s what happened to me in 1991 when I had my heart attack; it changed my life and brought me closer to God. But when a believer suffers, his soul is never in danger. No one, not Satan, and certainly not a demon, can snatch a soul from the hand of God. Whatever relationship Satan and his demons may have to believers during this earthly life, it cannot be permanent or eternal.

The last topic to consider is THE DEFENSE AGAINST DEMON POWERS.
It is never wise for Christians to dabble in the occult, even on a superficial or entertainment level. God warned His ancient people about this. “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead” (Deuteronomy 18:10-11).

Although astrologers, palm and tarot card readers and other forms of the occult practiced over the years may not be taken very seriously, they still represent times in which satanic influence was openly recognized and even deferred to. Even today there are Satan worshipers and cultic practitioners among us. Some of the occult practices that are openly observed today are:
Spiritism: which is making contact with deceased or invisible personalities through spirit mediums or through trance channeling, which is a form of voluntary possession.

Fortune telling: which uses a wide variety of methods and objects to give advice.

Astrology: which is the ancient method of mapping celestial events by means of horoscopes.

Numerology: which attaches special significance to numbers and uses those numbers to analyze character and to predict the future.

Palm reading: which interprets the future by analyzing the lines on the palms of the hands?

Tarot cards: which use special occultic symbols to predict the future.

Automatic writing: in which the participant writes in a trance-like state without conscious control.

All these occultist practices are demonic in origin and prohibited by Scripture. Paul gives some practical advice on the subject when he says, “…do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). Satan waits for an opportunity to get his foot in the door.

Uncontrolled anger is an open door and an invitation for Satan to enter into disrupt and corrupt the body. He can only hurt and harm a person when he finds a place in someone’s life to do his evil work.

You have been set free from the old life, so why live in those old sins anymore? Anything evil from the old life that is brought into the new life will give the devil a beachhead. Paul names such things as lying, losing your temper, stealing, corrupt speech, bitterness, and an unforgiving spirit. These sins invite Satan into your life, and they hurt you, and they harm the church, and they grieve the Spirit of God. Is it worth it?

Christians should always rely on the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit, acknowledging that, “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The Spirit of God dwells in you, and that Spirit is mightier than men or devils.


Conclusion:

In the light of these facts about demons, every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ should be alert. Peter wrote, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Satan tempts believers to lie; he accuses and slanders them; he entices them toward sexual sin; he places obstacles in their path; he causes persecution, and he causes false-Christians to infiltrate among true Christians to promote confusion and division in the church. The Christian’s defense involves being on guard, sober, vigilant, taking a stand against the devil and resisting him. We should be careful to clothe ourselves with the whole armor of God. “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:13-18).

I like this poem because it says about the same thing.

“Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Stand in His strength alone;
The arm of flesh will fail you,
You dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armor,
Each piece put on with prayer;
Where duty calls or danger,
Be never wanting there.”

We should always recognize that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we should strive to keep ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually strong.

Paul wrote these words to the church at Rome, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). The believer is not to be fashioned after this world. The world we live in is an evil one, and it is dominated by “the god of this world.” The new creation in Christ is to live with the understanding that “old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We are therefore not to have our lives governed by the thought patterns and dictates of this evil world.

We are told in 2 Corinthians that we are to, “cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). In other words, we are to pull down the strongholds that sin has established in our minds by making every thought obedient to Christ.

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8). Meditate on them with careful reflection, not casually and superficially, but constantly and logically. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). Noble thinking produces noble living; high thinking produces high living, and holy thinking produces holy living. All these noble qualities were exemplified in Christ and are produced by the Holy Spirit.

If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you don’t need to fear demons, and through Christ, you can be what you ought to be, do what you ought to do, and have what you ought to have, all to the glory of God.

Amen.