“Jesus called His twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.” (Matthew 10:1 NLT)
While this isn’t a common theme from many pulpits in America, the Lord has prompted me to address the subject of demons for a few reasons. But first, let me lay some groundwork. If you read the King James Version of the Bible, you will not find the term “demon.” The KJV prefers “unclean spirit” or “evil spirit.”
Unlike our all-powerful, omnipresent God, Satan is not omnipresent, nor is he all-powerful, which means he can only be in one place at a time, and he cannot make you do anything you’re not willing to do. However, he has millions of evil spirits or demons who do his devilish bidding. These are created beings who were cast out of heaven with Satan when he rebelled against God. They know their eternal home is in hell and their goal is to deceive as many humans as possible, and take them to hell with them.
Like Satan, they have no authority except that given to them by humans. They tremble at the name of Jesus and cannot possess a child of God. They can intimidate and oppress a believer, but they can never occupy a heart that’s filled with God’s Spirit.
Unlike Jesus, Satan will seek to send his demons into anyone who will believe his lies. Jesus is a gentleman and will not send His Spirit into anyone who is not willing to receive His invitation. He will not force Himself upon anyone who is resistant to His holy presence. Jesus is incapable of telling anything but the truth, Satan, on the other hand, is incapable of telling anything but lies, and will force himself, through his demons, upon anyone unprotected by God’s Spirit.
As Jesus is the embodiment of perfection, goodness, mercy, kindness, and love, Satan is full of evil, wickedness, debauchery, and the opposite of everything God is and does. Demons are no respecter of persons and will attack and possess anyone who doesn’t overtly resist them. They don’t care about age, race, gender, national origin, social or socio-economic status, religious or atheist. The only thing they want is power and control, resulting in forcing people to say, think, and do wicked and evil things.
Why is any of this important in 2022? Because I’m convinced that many of the evil things that are happening in our world today, including wars, famine, oppression, trafficking, slavery, mass shootings, and on and on, at their root is demonic activity.
We often ask when horrible things happen: “Who in their right mind would do such a thing?” Exactly! Even family and marital issues can result from demonic influence and interference. “But how?” you may ask. When we open ourselves to the occult, witches, palm readers, “spiritual” advisers, psychics, those who claim to communicate with the dead, etc. we open ourselves to demonic influence and possession.
There are those who seek to communicate with the spirits of people who have died through séance. And people are amazed by the information these mediums can give them. Pretty convincing, huh? Until you realize that God isn’t the only one who knows your family history. Satan isn’t all knowing, but he can learn a lot from a mind that is open to him, and he’s been around for generations.
One more observation. People who think that “believing in Jesus” is enough to get them to heaven need to read the verses throughout Jesus’ ministry when the demons would cry out to Him, referring to Him as the “Holy One of God.” Or James 2:19-20 when James writes: “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?”
Demons are alive and well and as Satan’s angels are wreaking havoc in our world. We’ll look at this more closely in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed
Walking With Jesus 