Demons 12/7/2011

Tonight we had a whole discussion about demons.  Are they real?  What about demon possession?  Can they kill?

Are Demons Real?

Yes demons are real.  Demons are fallen angels.  So when it comes to what they are and what they can do they would have much the same characteristics as angels do.  Demons are messengers of Satan just like angels are messengers of God.  The Bible gives several scriptures that deal with the reality of demons (Mt 8 and 9; Mark 5; Luke 10).  In these scriptures we see Jesus encounter people who are dealing with demons.  Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we are engaged in a spiritual war with powers we cannot see.  1 Timothy 4:1 warns that in the last days people will turn away from God and listen to the teachings of demons.  They are real.  They do exist, and they are still trying to deceive people today.

Can Christians be Demon Possessed?

No they can't.  God is greater than Satan (1 John 4:4).  If you are a Christian your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.  God lives inside of you.  It's not possible for demons to also live inside of you.  Jesus talked about this when he talked about a demon coming back and finding the house empty.  If the house is empty and Jesus is not living there then the demon can come back and live there (Luke 11:14-28).  If we are living in Christ we are protected from demon possession.  We can still be attacked, but we cannot be possessed.

Can a Demon Kill You?

I am backtracking from my original statement on this.  I originally looked at the provision in Job where God told Satan he could do anything to Job except kill him (Job 1:12) as indicating that under normal circumstances Satan would have the power to kill.  But in rethinking this I think God was setting a limit on the power of Satan and his demons here.  God is still in control.  I believe demons can mess with our minds to the point where we will hurt ourselves, but they don't have the power to physically kill us.  God has still given us free will and He is ultimately in control.  Although we have power through Christ to overcome demons, they are not something little to be messed with.  We must be prayed up and in a right place with God.  There was an account in the gospels where the disciples could not cast out a demon.  Jesus said that kind came out only by much prayer and fasting (Mark 9:29).  There's also a story in Acts where some people tried to cast out demons just cause they saw other people doing it.  This is really dangerous.  They were not Christians and the demons attacked them (Acts 19:13-16).  Notice the demons did not kill them though.

In all of this remember that demons are a very serious matter.  We need to be careful to not open ourselves up to even the littlest amount of demonic activity.  When we mess with ouiji boards, or horoscopes, or witchcraft, or literature that might lead in that direction we are opening ourselves to demonic activity.  That is a dangerous place to be.  We should strive for holiness in Christ.  We should not see how close we can get to sinful activity without being consumed by it.  Take their power seriously, but know that we serve the God of all creation and He is much greater than anything Satan can throw at us.  He will ultimately be victorious.  Demons are not something to be messing around with, but we should also not be afraid because God is on our side.