In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. After he completed his masterpiece, he stepped back to gaze upon the marvelous landscape and menagerie of living creatures. It was all very good. Human beings, whom he created in his own image, were the pinnacle of his creation. He placed them in the Garden of Eden, where they flourished in the beauty and abundance all around them. They enjoyed perfect companionship with God and each other—all was well with the world—and they could have lived happily ever after.
But Satan, the architect of evil, disguised himself as a serpent and deceived Adam and Eve into eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When they tasted the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened to evil and they felt shame. Sin had entered the world and marred God’s masterpiece. Purity and peace were replaced by pollution and pain. From this time on, the human race would be dominated by selfishness, conflict, and betrayal. And the price to redeem a wicked world was the sacrifice of God’s own Son on the cross!
Most of you are familiar with this story. The fall of Adam and Eve is the reason why our world is still in turmoil. Had it not been for Satan’s treachery, we may all be living in the Garden of Eden today. This causes us to wonder about Satan. Who is he? Where did he come from? Was he always evil? How much power does have? And what about his band of demons? Who are they and what can they do?
In Christian doctrine, there is a whole category dedicated to answering these questions; it’s called demonology—which literally means the study of demons. Like most pastors, I have spent some time pursuing this topic. It is impossible to answer every question about demons in a single sermon, but I will try to help us form a better understand their origin, activity, and our defense against demons.
The Origin of Demons
As we learned last week, the Bible indicates that God created the angels before he created the physical world. (Job 38:1-7) Then, sometime between the creation of the heavens and earth (Gen. 1) and the fall of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3), Satan, who was a high-ranking angel, became puffed up with pride and desired God’s glory for himself. He convinced some of the angels to join his rebellion against God (depending on how you interpret Revelation 12, it may have been one third of the angels). God punished Satan and these fallen angels by banishing them from heaven and sentencing them to roam on the earth. There are two biblical passages that describe the fall of Satan: Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. Listen to the prophecy from Ezekiel 28:11-18:
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.’”
Ezekiel’s prophecy against the human King of Tyre contains a double reference to Satan the primordial fall of Satan. Satan was created by God to be a guardian cherub with immanence wisdom and beauty. He was blameless before God, but because of his beauty, his heart became proud, so God threw him to the earth.
Isaiah describes the same event 14:12-15:
How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.
In the immediate context of Isaiah, the subject is the king of Babylon, yet we find another double reference to the fall of Satan. The sin that the “king” proposes in his five “I wills” seems to go far beyond any human’s most outlandish and egotistical aspirations. On the other hand it is completely consistent with what one would expect of Satan. He wanted God’s glory for himself—and that is why he was cast out of heaven.
When we read these passages about Satan’s fall, it reminds us that pride was the original sin that caused separation from God. Thus, the old saying is true: pride goes before a fall! When our hearts puff up with pride—when we place our trust in our beauty or abilities—when we seek glory for ourselves—when we think we are better than other people—when we choose independence rather than accepting help from others—when we think the whole world revolves around us—when we focus on “I, I, I, Me, Me, Me”, we recapitulate Satan’s sin and separate ourselves from God.
The Activity of Demons
Now that we have a better understanding of the origin of Satan and his demons, let’s examine their activity. There are two basic categories: demonic possession and demonic oppression.
Demonic Possession
Demonic possession is the category with which people are most familiar. Hollywood has popularized and sensationalized demonic possession through horror films like The Exorcist, The Conjuring, or The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Demon possession is when a demon temporarily and partially takes over the mind and body of a human being. Symptoms of demonic possession include missing memories, altered personalities, convulsions, fainting, and spastic movements, and super-human strength. Jesus dealt with demonic possession as a regular part of his ministry. Many examples could be given, but let’s look at Luke 4:33-37:
In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are– the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.
There are a few things we should notice about this passage. First, we see the demon’s ability to control the man’s body and speak through his voice. Second, the demon recognized that Jesus was “the Holy One of God” and had the power and authority to destroy it. And third, the demon had to submit to Jesus’ command to come out of the man.
When we read passages like this, it causes us to ask many questions: Do demons still possess people today? How do you know if someone is possessed? Why do demons possess some people but not others? Can Christians be possessed? I’ll address these questions after we discuss the next category.
Demonic Oppression
Demonic oppression refers to the activity whereby demons afflict human beings externally. This includes specific activities of tempting, intimidating, accusing, causing illness and disease, and moving objects. Like the good angel that rolled away the stone from Jesus’ tomb and announced his resurrection to the women, demons have the ability to manipulate the physical world and speak to human beings. But under Satan’s power, they use their God given power for sinister purposes. They serve a master whose goal is to steal, kill, and destroy everything God created, including human beings. We catch a glimpse of this in Job 1:6-12:
One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
If you continue to read the book of Job, you will discover that Satan oppresses Job by orchestrating the loss of his wealth, his health, and his family. But even through all this torment, Job remains faithful to God! Job learns the all-important lesson that no one (not even Satan or his demons) can thwart God’s plan. And God blesses Job by restoring all of his fortunes (Job 42)
I will never forget my first encounter with demonic oppression. When I was a freshman in college, I went on a spring break missions trip to a Choctaw Indian reservation in southeastern Oklahoma. Each evening, we split up into groups of a dozen students and went to various Choctaw villages to put on children’s programs and lead a worship service. One night, I was designated to take a group to a church called Mt. Zion. Before we departed, our director, Dr. Leonard Rasher, told our team to pray the whole way to the church, but he didn’t explain why. When we arrived, everything was fine. The people were nice, and the children’s program went well. But when I got up to preach during the worship service, a strange heavy presence immediately filled the sanctuary. The faces of the native people became glazed over; their bodies were physically sitting there, but their minds were on another planet.
After a few minutes, the presence felt even darker. Then, to my great shock, all of the shudders on the windows began to open and slam shut simultaneously. I felt a cold chill run down my spin when I realized that nobody was causing this to happen. As soon as this stopped, the two large wooden doors at the back of the church began to swing open and then close with a loud crash. When this stopped, I could see keys on the piano began to move and hear the dissonant sounds fill the church, but nobody was sitting at the piano.
As all of this happened, the native people’s faces were expressionless. The faces of my teammates were frozen in terror. I finally realized that we were dealing with direct demonic oppression. As I preached, I prayed for wisdom; I really didn’t know what to do! But I received a sense from the Holy Spirit to just keep on preaching. Eventually, the heaviness lifted, and the darkness dissipated. By the time I finished the sermon, everything was back to normal, as if nothing ever happened.
When we got in the van to return to our base camp, no one said a word for at least fifteen minutes. I finally broke the ice and asked, “Did that really just happen?” I was relieved when every member of our team corroborated the experience. I wondered if I had imagined the whole thing. We processed the experience the whole way home.
When we arrived, Dr. Rasher pulled me aside and asked how it went at Mt. Zion. As I shared the story, a little wry smile appeared through his bushy beard. He said, “Every time I send a group of students to Mt. Zion, they experience demonic oppression.” I was ripped mad when I realized that he knew this would happen but didn’t warn us. He asked, “Why did you think I told you to pray the whole way there? Besides, do you think your education would have been as effective if I’d warned you ahead of time?” The next day, he taught us all about spiritual warfare, which I learned, is extremely common on Indian reservations.
With my first demonic experience under my belt, I was ready to learn all about defending against demons!
Our Defense Against Demons
There is no way to pack a whole semester course on spiritual warfare into one sermon, but let me highlight one verse that is incredibly helpful. In James 4:7, Jesus’ brother tells us: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Whenever I lecture or preach on the topic of demonology, I am often asked the question: What should I do to defend myself against demons? My response is always the same. The best defense against the devil and his demons is to submit ourselves to God. When we fall into the traps of disbelief or disobedience, we open ourselves to demonic attack. But if we resist the devil, he will flee from us! Jesus modeled this for us when he resisted the devil who tempted him in the dessert. The closer you are to God, the safer you will be from the devil and his demons!
So, how do we do this in practice? First, stay far away from portals to the demonic world—witchcraft, black magic, séances, fortune tellers, mediums, psychics, tarot cards, astrology, Ouija boards, voodoo, reiki, energy healing, and contacting the dead. Many people have started dabbling in these things to satisfy their curiosity or search for answers, but they opened themselves up to serious spiritual attack.
Anton LaVey, author of the Satanic Bible once said:
In the scores of books lining the shelves of New Age bookstores, there are instructions for guided meditation, creative visualizations, out of body experiences, getting in touch with your spirit guides, fortune telling by cards, crystal balls or the stars. What if Satanists reclaimed these for their own dark purposes and integrated them into rituals dedicated to the Devil, where they rightfully belong? New Agers have freely drawn upon all manner of Satanic material, adapting it to their own hypocritical purposes… But in truth, all ‘New Age’ labeling is, again, trying to play the Devil’s game without using His Infernal name.” (Anton LaVey, quoted in Church of Satan, B. Barton, p.107)
These “New Age” practices have become extremely popular in our culture. On the surface, they appear to be innocent and even helpful. But I have personally witnessed how these practices can open people to demonic activity. Avoid them at all costs!
Second, build up your spiritual defenses by living a moral life, attend church faithfully, read the Bible and pray regularly, and surround yourself with the fellowship of other Christians. This is all part of putting on “the full armor of God.” (Eph. 6)
Third, and most important, make sure that you have truly given your life to Jesus Christ! When your soul is regenerated, the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside of you and protects you from demonic possession. Remember that the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world! Conclusion
Now that we are aware of the origin and activities of demons, let us defend ourselves against them by putting our faith in Jesus Christ and walking close to him and following his ways!