SPIRITUAL WARFARE (Part 5)

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SPIRITUAL WARFARE (Part 5) “P.O.W.’s – Demon Possession!” > P - PROFILE THE ENEMY! - A symbolic view of Satan and his angels appears in Revelation 12:4,9 - His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth . . .So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Where the dragon (a symbol for Satan) "drew a third of the stars of heaven" (a symbol for angels) and "threw them to the earth. - The Devil and his fallen angels (also known as demons) rebelled against God and desire to destroy God’s creation and God Himself. Jesus gives insight to their ultimate judgment in Matthew 25:41 - "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” - We understand that only part of the fallen angels took part in the wickedness at the time of the Flood (Genesis 6:1-4). - The New Testament also speaks of the fall and later imprisonment of this group of angels: 1 Peter 3:18-21 - For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 2 Peter 2:4-6 - For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; Jude 6-7 - And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. - Pagan worship is also related to demon activity in the Old Testament; demons delight in making heathen idols the focus of their activities - Leviticus 17:7 - They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, afterwhom they have played the harlot. Psalms 106:3638 - They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. - Observe the “spiritual warfare” in Daniel 10:10-21 (i.e.- powerful demons/fallen angels are the “Prince of Persia” and “Prince of Greece”)

> O – OBSERVE DEMONIC ACTIVITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT - Quite frequently demons are called "unclean spirits" (Matthew 10:1; Mark 6:7). Another descriptive phrase for them is "wicked (or evil) spirit" (Luke 7:21; Acts 19:12-13). In his writings Paul calls them "deceiving spirits" (1 Timothy 4:1).

- John refers to "the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6) and "spirits of demons" (Revelation 16:14). Luke describes one demon as a "spirit of divination"' (Acts 16:16). - The New Testament gives graphic descriptions of the effect of demons on people. Some of the diseases which they caused included muteness (Matthew 12:22; Mark 9:17,25), deafness (Mark 9:25), blindness (Matthew 12:22), and bodily deformity (Luke 13:10-17). But demons were not responsible for all physical ailments. - The gospel writers frequently distinguished between sickness and demon possession (Matthew 4:24; Mark 1:32; Luke 6:17-18). - In New Testament times demons were also responsible for some mental problems (Matthew 8:28; Acts 19:13-16). The ranting and raving that they produced probably should be included with mental disorders (Mark 1:23-24; John 10:20). - Uncontrolled fits were another form of demonic affliction (Luke 9:37-42; Mark 1:26). Sometimes a demon also caused a person to behave in an antisocial manner (Luke 8:27,35). (Nelson’s Bible Dictionary)

> W – WAR! DEFEAT YOUR ENEMY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST! -

Jesus commands them to leave - Let’s take a look at Legion in Luke 8:26-39.

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The disciples command through the authority of Jesus name - Acts 16:16-18.

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Some can only be delivered through prayer and fasting – Mark 9:14-29.

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Some try to cast demons without being born again and fail – Acts 19:11-20.

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Rejoice! Victory! Search and destroy mission - Luke 10:1-24

- Can Christians be “demon possessed?” NO! 1 John 4:4-5 - You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. - 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 - For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.