Demons

Worship in false religions honors demons. When the people of Israel rebelled against God, they made Moises angry, he spoke foolishly, and they failed (in the battle against another nation). Instead of doing what God had asked them to do, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs. They worshipped their idols, and it led to their downfall. They even sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons. They shed innocent blood. This is an abomination (detestable) to the Lord. Christians should be extremely cautious with this. Demons try to hinder God's plans. Prophet Daniel had a vision of a messenger. He was able to understand what his vision meant. It concerned an event certain to happen in the future. Times of war and great hardship. Just as the messenger (the angel sent from God) spoke to him, and told him he was there to answer his prayer. But, for 21 days the prince of Persia blocked Daniel's way. Then Michael, (one of the Archangel's) had come to help him. We see that the prince of Persia was under the influence or control of a demon trying to hinder God's plan. These things still happen to modern day Christians; many times they find that in their walks of faith, there are obstacles/hindrances to their daily lives.  But, they need not be discouraged; for God is with them; and his plans and purposes will be fulfilled no matter what demons are trying to stop them.  Demons are no match for Jesus. Jesus healed great numbers of sick people who had many different kinds of diseases, and he ordered many demons to come out of their victims. They were set free. Demons want to destroy people. When Jesus healed a demon-possessed man, it was a man who all day long and throughout the night would wander among the tombs and in the hills, screaming and hitting himself with stones. The man saw Jesus, and fell before him. Jesus said " Come out of the man, you evil spirit." And the man was instantly set free. That demon made the man hurt himself. Demons submit to the name of Jesus. Jesus sends out His disciples. When the seventy two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, "Lord even the demons obey us when we use your name." Demons can be driven out by Jesus' followers. When Paul and Silas were in prison, they one day we're going down to the place of prayer, and met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. She followed along behind them shouting, " these men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved." This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and spoke to the demon with her. "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her," he said. And instantly it left her. Demons are powerful. Acts 19: 16 reads: and he leaped on them and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house naked and badly injured. This happened to a team of Jews traveling from town to town in Ephesus. They were casting out evil spirits and tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus. The incantation they used was this: " I command you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!" They were seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest. But when they tried it on a man possessed by a evil spirit, the spirit replied, "I know Jesus, and I know Paul. But who are you? That's when they were attacked. Because they were not prepared to cast those spirits out. Demons cannot separate people from God's love. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't, and life can't. The Angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from God's love that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Demons deceive people. When they possess a person, or influence them, they can come in the form of a false apostle. They fool you by disguising themselves as Apostles of Christ. Be not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder his servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve. Christians fight against the plans of demons. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. Demons want to mislead people. A warning against false teachers: Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons. These teachers are hypocrites and liars. They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead. Demons believe in God. Do you think it's enough just to believe that there is one God? Well, even demons believe this, and they tremble in terror! Demons are angels that have sinned. For God did not spare even the Angels when they sinned; He threw them into hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgement day. God will judge demons. And I remind you of the Angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the day of judgement. Do not take demons lightly. Yet these false teachers, who claim authority from their dreams, live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at the power of the glorious ones. Demons can work miracles. In the seven bowls of the seven plagues in Revelation 16: 13-14 we see three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. This was a vision prophesied as follows: these miracle working demons caused all rulers of the world to gather for battle against the Lord on that great judgement day of God Almighty. In the last days, demons will be bound by God. In Revelation 20: 1-3 speaks of the Ten Thousand Years; Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon-that old serpent, the Devil, Satan- and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he would be released again for a little while. This is a study on demons and what we should know. We encourage you to reach out to your Pastors and Pastoral staff when dealing with these spirits or to learn more about how to deal with them. Only trained staff will know how to cast them out and pray over demon possessed or illnesses. Until next week, be safe, and God bless you!