Are Demons Real?

Christians accept by faith that God exists. Most Christians believe that angels exist, too. But what about demons? Are they real? Do they interfere with the lives of people?

Christians use the Bible as their reference book about God; it is the divinely inspired Word of God. It tells us about angels, heaven, earth, Satan and demons. If we believe in its truth, then we must understand that we have enemies, Satan and his demons. The purpose of this article is not to exalt or deify demons but to educate Christians. We are soldiers in the service of Christ and to do battle effectively, we must know our enemy’s strengths and weaknesses.

To get to the topic of demons we need to first learn a little about Satan since he is the chief demon. (Matthew 12:24) Satan started out as an angel, created perfectly by God. Just as God has given us free will, so He also gave the angels free will. Satan desired to be greater than God. (Isaiah 14:14) The Bible tells us that Satan was cast out of heaven for his sin of pride: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” (Ezekiel 28:17)

Satan was not cast out alone: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9) These angels of Satan are demons. The Bible tells us a great deal about them. They are subtle, deceitful, powerful and wicked. They are given the power to tempt, afflict, accuse and beguile humans. Yet we are not powerless against them.

Demons can be very subtle in their attacks against us. They can pervert anything, twisting truths just slightly to throw us off the path of righteousness. “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)

Their job is to deceive us. (2 Corinthians 11:13-14) This is the very tactic that Satan tried to use against Christ in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:1-10) Satan took the Scriptures and twisted them to try and deceive Christ into sinning. Yet Christ withstood the attacks because He knew the nature of His enemy; He knew that Satan was deceitful and relied on the truth of the Scripture, the Word of God, to protect Him.

Demons are wicked; they are the enemy of God and their intentions are to do evil. (1 John 2:13b) They use temptation to draw us away from the will of God.

(1 Chronicles 21:1) Each of us has our own weaknesses and those areas of weakness are what we must guard. Those areas are where demons will try to lure us back into behavior that kept us dead inside and separated from the love of God. To fight our enemy we must know ourselves so that we can guard against temptation.

Demons have the power to afflict us. “So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.” (Job 2:7) They will use whatever means they have to try and turn us from the love that God has for us. We must be wary and keep our eyes focused firmly on God, just as Job did when he was afflicted. When we are weak and in pain, we must cry out to God for protection and comfort.

We must watch out for demonic attacks, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2 Corinthians 2:11) They will constantly try to tempt and trick us into sin, and because we are weak and human they will sometimes succeed. When they do, we must ask God’s forgiveness and turn our backs on our sin.

We are not defenceless against demons; God has provided us with protection against them. “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11) While the armor of God protects us, we can fight against demons with the sword that is the Word of God. (Ephesians 6:17) Through knowledge of the truth, we can defeat the lies of demons.

When we resist the lies, the liars leave us alone. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) Like schoolyard bullies, demons will pick at those who are weak but when we stand up strong against them, they run away like cowards. They know that Christ already defeated them. “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11)

As the army of God, Christians have the authority of Christ over demons. “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19) They are powerless against us unless we surrender to them out of fear or lack of faith. When spirits of temptation, deceit, or other demons attack us, we only have to call on Christ to defend us. In His name we have all authority over demons; they have to leave us alone when we demand it in the name of Jesus.

Some have a hard time believing that we have a spiritual enemy but readily accept that we have guardian angels. Why do we need guardian angels if there isn’t a spiritual enemy to guard against? While Christ has already won the war against Satan and defeated death by His sacrifice, all around us a spiritual battle rages and we are the spoils to the victor. We have a choice about the outcome of any battle; we can choose the way of sin and death and be captured by the enemy or we can choose the way of life through Christ and be victorious. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

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Are Demons Real? ....(take 2)

By  K. B. Napier

It is an undeniable fact that most Christians take their values and beliefs from other people. When listening to preachers they like, they will retain some of their teachings; when listening to preachers they don't like, they ignore just about everything being said...whether or not it is truth. They will read certain authors and underline the bits they like. They will listen to secular leaders on TV and radio and imbibe whatever is current thinking. In this way, the majority of Believers build up a formidable store of haphazard (often unconnected!) knowledge.

The trouble with this store of knowledge is that it is mostly useless! Information is only valuable if we use it - and we can only use it if it is valuable to us. There can be only one type of useful, valuable, Christian knowledge...knowledge which enhances our spiritual lives, which is given by God and which points to God and His Truth. Everything else is worthless. It does not matter how 'academic' a topic is or, how important it is in the eyes of others; if it does not agree with God's view of things, then it is, bluntly, nothing but rubbish!

Along with this magpie-collecting of odd bits of knowledge, comes a growing interest in New Age ideas, concerning everything from incense and soothing oils, to yoga and medium-ship. Oh, how evil loves to hide its true self behind many guises! Weird ideas from occultists, New Agers, unbelieving scientists and plain sceptics, have tended to shape popular Christian culture. So, when it comes to demons, there is a wide diversity of opinion concerning their presence, their ways and their aims.

Many think demons are spirits of the dead - commonly called ghosts and sub-divided into many different types, such as 'poltergeists' etc. Some are thought to be benevolent and others are thought to be malevolent. This idea that ghosts are spirits of the dead (which cannot find rest) is reinforced by the many claimed sightings of ghosts, which are described as 'grey ladies' or 'headless horsemen' and so on. Children are seen and heard, some singing. Favourite aunts, uncles or even parents, are seen - usually they have come to 'comfort' those they leave behind. It is assumed, even by Believers, that this 'proves' that ghosts are spirits of dead people and that most of them mean no harm.

This is a great error, for all ghosts, without exception, are demons - wicked angels, followers of Satan whose only task on this earth is to deceive and to harm. We are told this in scripture. We are also told that no man has ever returned from the dead, except for Jesus Christ and those He raised from the dead as special miracles. Ghosts are never friendly. They are always wicked, even if they appear to be kind. Their purpose is to make us believe they are spirits of the dead. Once they manage to delude us, they continue to hold our attention, so that any belief we may have in God as He is presented in scripture, is eroded to nothing.

Demons are angels who were thrown out of God's presence (heaven) along with Lucifer (Satan). Satan was the chief of all angels, of incredible beauty and power. But he sinned, even before Man sinned. When he was cast out of heaven, those angels who followed him were also cast out. All of this is found in scripture. They were bound to this earth and they have lived here since the world was formed. They devote their sleepless, evil lives to harming God's people, deluding and harming others and generally wreaking havoc in the lives of all humankind. They will persuade and nurture Hitlers and Husseins; they will make great preachers fall; they will cause governments to oppress and individuals to rebel.

Evolution, much of psychiatry and psychology, many scientific ideas, social practices...are formulated and initiated by demons, through humans. Whole churches can be brought down by hatred or bitterness, envy or backbiting, by evil angels. Often, they will work through just one person...have you ever come across someone (Christian or not) whose very presence makes your skin crawl and whose every word is tinged with malice? It is highly likely that the person is 'led by the nose' by demons. What about those in society whose perversions spill over, often dramatically, so that many in society are at danger? It is likely that they are the pawns of demons. Demons are like stalking lions, watching for easy prey. And when they find someone, they pounce with a ferocity which is boundless and totally vicious.

Demons are not just 'forces' - they are real creatures. They are spirits, just as God is spirit. Under normal circumstances they cannot be seen, but they can assume human or any other likeness whenever they wish. This is how Dad or a favourite aunt can suddenly appear to you. Demons know what they look like, what they sound like and everything about their histories, right down to their pet names for you. So, they mimic them. And people listen! They are hooked on an ungodly spirituality!

Demons can speak, too. Witness Jesus talking to the demoniac in the garden? Here one voice was used to represent possibly thousands of demons in one body...hence he called himself "Legion". At times, they can be heard talking through human beings. They can make people howl like rabid dogs, scream like pigs, utter vile curses and so on. In other words, demons are powerful - far more powerful than human beings. But they are not invincible!

Christians should treat demons warily, but not with sanctity. They are evil, not holy. Their power was demolished by Jesus Christ on the cross! That means, in ordinary language, that Christians cannot be ruled by Satan or demons (unless they give them entrance willingly). People can certainly have dirty tricks played on them, or can be made to suffer...but demons know that the Lord is their Maker and their Judge. They know that one day soon, they will be cast into hell along with those who deny Christ. Our protection is not in ourselves, but in the Lord.

There is far more we can say, but perhaps the reader is now convinced of the reality of demons. Not to be convinced is to become prey to them. Demons are a reality of life, but we must not lay awake every night worrying about it. Rather, we should simply put our lives into the hands of God - He will warn us when necessary and He will keep us, sometimes even when we are being rebellious. Remember, too, that Christians can become oppressed by demons - usually when they are doing something they should not be doing. Sometimes, however, demons are allowed by God to attack us, so that we may gain strength spiritually as we fight in Christ's Name (note such attacks on Job).

As for so-called 'exorcism'...forget about it! Full-time exorcists are not being Biblical and there are no 'rites' of exorcism. Christians who are always on the look-out for demons to exorcise are heading for big trouble! Indeed, they are being deluded and used by the very demons they wish to find.

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