Introductory Discussion

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

• Discussion over the general topic


• What are demons?


• Do you believe that demons exist?


• What is the purpose of demons?


• Demons as they function today


• Do you believe that the function of demons has
  changed over time?


• What is demonic possession?


• Do you believe demon possession is real?


• How do you believe someone comes to be possessed?


• What do you think is involved in exorcism?


• Who should attempt to exorcise demons?


• Can a Christian be demon-possessed?


• What is (not should be) the typical Christian's
  response to thoughts of demons?


• Why is this the case? What factors have contributed
  to such a response?


• What should be our response to thoughts of demons?

Teaching

1. ology - the study of




1. Demonology - the study of demons




2. From the Greek daimon or daemon




1. 1st Century Greek Usage: spiritual being between the level of
   the gods and man


2. Biblical Usage: a devil, an evil angel




3. Origin of




1. Satan – Is. 14:12-15




1. 5 "I Wills" motivated by pride and ungodly ambition


2. 1 Jn 3:8 – satan fell before the creation week was completed




2. Demons – Rev. 12:1-4, c.f. Job 38:7




1. 1/3 of the angels joined satan's rebellion






4. Nature of




1. Satan




1. the god of this world - 2 Cor. 4:4; Luke 4:5-6


2. father of lies - John 8:44; 2 Th. 2:9


3. murderer - John 8:44




2. Demons




1. assumed hierarchy - Eph. 6:12, Col. 1:16 (principalities=princes)


2. are behind idol worship - Deut. 32:17, Ps. 106:36-39




1. act as the gods worshipped by idolaters


2. probably instigate idols' initial creation as gods in the minds of idolaters








5. Biblical demons




1. Satan – prince of the world {John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11}


2. Baal-zebub [Lord of the Flies] - prince of Ekron {2 Kings 1:2}




1. NT reference, Beelzebub {Matt. 12:24} means Lord of the Dung, a dishonor


2. Prince of Persia (name unknown) {Dan. 10:13}


3. Prince of Greece (name unknown) {Dan. 10:20}


4. Quite possibly all biblical idol gods (Ashtoreth, Chemosh, Milcom, Tammuz)






6. Functions of demons




1. Rev. 12:10 – to accuse believers, particularly to God and believers themselves




1. to plant a spirit of condemnation (ungodly guilt)




1. lessens our confidence with God – Heb. 4:16


2. lessons our boldness to deal with devils effectively






2. 1 Tim. 4:1 – to introduce false doctrines into the Church




1. unfortunately, this is usually accomplished through those who teach the Word




3. Luke 13:11-16; 11:14 – to plague people with infirmity


4. Matt. 13:19; Luke 8:12 – to steal away the Word from our understanding




1. we must make sure that when we hear the Word, it's planted deep within our hearts




5. 2 Cor. 4:4 – to blind the minds of unbelievers so they'll reject the gospel




1. keep prayer at the heart of evangelism


2. exercising authority over demons before witnessing will help




6. Heb. 2:14-15 – to kill, particularly to scare people with the prospect of death




1. this fear of death ultimately leads to people's manipulation




7. Rev. 9:20 – to instigate idolatry


8. 1 Pet. 5:8; Job 2:2 – to devour (destroy) God's highest-created, man


9. 1 Cor. 10:20-21 – to counterfeit the things of God


10. Acts 10:38 – to oppress people


11. Jn 13:2; Acts 5:3 – to instigate evil into people's hearts




1. don't give them place/opportunity, don't entertain bad thoughts - Eph. 4:27




12. 1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Cor. 12:7 – to act as agents of God against believers




1. for the purposes of correction or to keep believers humble




13. Matt. 12:22; Matt. 17:14-18; 1 Cor. 7:5 – to exploit existing conditions




1. Jesus not only cast out the demon, but healed the boy as well - Luke 9:38-42




1. so there was both a physical condition and an exploitative demon present






14. 1 Th. 2:18 – to hinder ministry


15. 1 Cor. 11:14 – to deceive by presenting himself or his devices as innocent




7. Spiritual Warfare (a lesson in itself, compacted for this series)




1. Two main reasons for the warfare




1. Luke 10:20 – the souls of man (God is concerned about PEOPLE)


2. Is. 14:12-15 - satan covets God's domain




2. 2 Primary Levels of Spiritual Warfare:




1. Cosmic Level – the heavenly war between the Kingdom of God and of satan


2. Terrestrial Level - the war as it deals with humans, divided into two sub-levels




1. Church Level – (Eph. 6:12) the conflict between believers and demons


2. World Level – (2 Cor. 4:4) satan plot to hold unbelievers in darkness






3. Question To Ponder: Why is there a present war if satan is already defeated?




1. Consider Col. 2:15 – demons are already defeated through the cross


2. Answer: Positionally, we are triumphant, but victory is not yet consummated




1. c.f. positionally, we are righteous, but practically, we still struggle with sin


2. our warfare continues in one form or another until we enter eternity






4. Demonic activity is not supposed to go unchecked by the Church




1. Eph. 5:11 – the Church is supposed to expose the works of darkness




5. Demonic power (including satan's) is limited by God's providence - Job 1:7-12




1. There is, therefore, no reason to fear satan or his demons




6. The primary purposes of spiritual warfare on both levels




1. Cosmically - for the throne of God


2. Terrestrially - for the spirits of man (Luke 10:20)




1. God is concerned about people, not their power, position, or ability




1. so, our greatest concern should not be over the authority itself, but
   in the ministry that provides salvation and deliverance








7. Demonization and demonic oppression




1. Demonization (Matt. 4:24) - an inner torment and/or control




1. from the Greek daimonizomai (dahee-mon-id'-zom-ahee) - to have a devil


2. this torment and control can be exerted on varying levels of influence




1. "possessed" does not appear in the original texts


2. the better translation of daimonizomai is "demonized"


3. what we would call "possessed" in our culture, which implies a complete control,
   means that the demon would inhabit the spirit of a person, and this is impossible in the case
   of a Christian (one who has the Holy Spirit of God inhabiting his spirit), and quite likely an
   impossibility period




• consider that even the highly demonized man of Gadara could still exercise enough
  free will to worship Christ (Mk. 5:6)


• no word distinction is made in Scripture as to a person's level of demonization






3. a person can be inhabited by multiple demons one time (Mark 5:9; Luke 8:2; 4:33-34)


4. a person's being demonized does not necessarily mean the person was ungodly or spiritually rebellious




1. on the same token, it doesn't nullify person accountability for the actions or inactions that
   allowed the devil(s) access




• we must never adopt a "devil made me do it" mentality








2. Oppression (Acts 10:38) - a persistent bombardment of external attack




1. from the Greek katadunasteuo (kat-ad-oo-nas-tyoo'-o) - to exercise dominion against




1. indicates that a person has somehow given a devil authority (or a right) to lay siege
   to our lives




• building on that point, consider a medieval walled city under siege as a metaphoric
  expression of demonic oppression






2. demonization - a siege from within, oppression - a siege from without




3. How either demonization or oppression can occur




1. Eph. 4:27 - opportunity, called "place", must not be given to the devil




1. this indicates that, save exceptions like Job, devils do not simply have freedom to oppress or demonize people at will




• people give them place to do so, whether knowingly or unwittingly






2. this can happen through:




1. unresolved anger - Eph. 4:26-27


2. unguardedness - Eph. 6:11-13; 1 Peter 5:8




• simply believing in God does not provide protection (Heb. 2:14)




3. unresolved sin - 1 Co. 5:1-5


4. unforgiveness - 2 Co. 2:10-11


5. ignorance of satan's schemes, of his method of operation - 2 Co. 2:11


6. generational curses - Ex. 20:5; 34:6-7




• Deut. 24:16; Ez. 18:20 – seems to imply generational curses ended


• the penalty for sin, in fact, is no longer exercised against succeeding generations,
  but that doesn't mean that the susceptibility to sin, or demonic connection with
  generations no longer applies




• consider the spiritual connection (and authority) that a parent has over a child;
  don't think that a devil won't exploit this connection










4. How to prevent




1. Matt. 12:44; John 14:30 – we can disallow satan's ability to have a hold on us by clearing up any avenues of entry
   and legality he may exploit




5. Exercising discernment




1. never assume that satan is always the source of everything negative


2. we have issues that are simply caused by our human nature (some sinful desires, physical infirmity, personality issues




1. death entered through sin, so it's now the natural course (Rom. 5:12)




• if we don't entertain possible causes besides demons, we'll never overcome issues with other causes


• demons don't actually put the garbage in your life, they just feed off of it




• Matt. 12:42-45 - Consider that the man was possessed, blind and mute; Jesus didn't only
  cast out the devil, He healed him










6. Deliverance




1. Mark 16:17; Mark 9:38-40 – you don't have to have a particular position to be used in deliverance
   ministry, just a Christian (Acts 19:13-16)


2. Luke 9:1; Luke 10:17; Mark 16:17 – our authority over demons is derived in the name of Jesus, not the five letters,
   but the Person they represent


3. Luke 8:29 – demons can endow those they possess with super strength, but that doesn't pose a threat to people
   who understand their authority




1. notice the man never once tried to attack Jesus




4. Luke 4:35; 9:42 – demons can cause people to physically move


5. Mark 5:6-9 – apparently, even after Jesus commanded the demon to depart, it wasn't immediate, because they still
   conversed after the command was given, so sometimes (with us, possibly oftentimes) deliverance
   will be a process rather than a moment


6. Mark 7:25-30 – demons can be exorcized over distances, although for people of limited
   faith like us, direct contact is easier


7. Mark 5:12 – we can establish the place a cast out demon goes








8. Miscellaneous




1. 1 Pet. 1:12 – angels are curious of our salvation, probably since they are higher in ability than we are, but we
   are higher in our redeemed nature and position as sons (Heb. 2:5-7)


2. Jude 1:6 – it seems that the "sons of men" referred to in Gen. , those who didn't
   keep their "first estate" didn't
   simply join satan's rebellion after the flood, they here
   put in chains and have been there ever since




9. Ultimate Destiny




1. the kingdom of satan isn't going to be defeated, it already is defeated




1. Col. 2:14-15 – Jesus triumphed over satan in the cross, and that triumph final




1. a. So, our warfare is not to win victory, but to hold fast to the freedom that we received because of our victory (Gal. 5:1)




2. Rev. 19:20, 20:10 – Scripture doesn't specifically tell us when the devils were cast into
   the lake of fire, but we can assume that it probably
   happened in during one of these verses




1. a. 1 Co. 6:1-4 – v. 2 – he certainly doesn't mean that we'll judge people for heaven/hell,
   but probably means that as there were judges
   during the early history of the nation of Israel,
   we'll be judges/rulers during the
   Millennial Reign (2 Ti. 2:12; Rev. 20:6)




1. v. 3 – this doesn't refer to the Millennial Reign, since satan will be bound, so
   it probably refers to the Great White Throne Judgment… while Jesus judges humans,
   we'll judge the angels (Jude 6 – the judgment of the great day)