Chapter 9: Demons & Their Attacks
EVIL ANGELS
I’d like to explain a bit about the working of evil angels. Imagine you are watching a little boy in the kitchen of his family’s home. His mother has just finished baking a batch of cookies and they are cooling on the counter. He asks if he can have one but his mother says, “No, it’ll spoil your dinner; you can have one for dessert after we eat”. She then walks out of the kitchen and goes to another part of the house. You see the little boy standing there gazing at the cookies. Do you know what he is thinking? Yes, of course. Does this mean you can read minds? No. It just means that you can guess what he’s probably thinking based on the situation. This is similar to how demons can at times know what we are thinking without being able to read our thoughts.
Now let’s go back to the little boy. Suppose you’re feeling mischievous. So you stand behind him and whisper. “Go on, take one. Your mother won’t know.” He looks around to see if she’s coming back; she’s not. You continue, “You can just take one then move the others around so she won’t miss it.” He reaches his hand a little, but then draws back. You say, “They’re really good. Can’t you smell them? Just grab one and run outside.” Do you know what’s going through his mind? Of course you do; you’re the one putting those thoughts there with your whispering. Finally the boy gives in to your suggestions; he grabs a cookie and runs outside to eat it behind the house. And you sit there chuckling to yourself, “Ha! That was easy.”
There are demons who follow us around doing the same thing.
We don’t like to acknowledge this for two reasons. First, we have seen this concept trivialized by cartoons to the extent that we think believing in this is like believing in Santa Claus. Second, we don’t want to admit to others or even to ourselves that we have this problem because we don’t want to seem like we’re haunted or even possessed. But by ignoring this as a possibility we make the devil’s work easier.
It is important to frequently rebuke the evil angels that follow us. They are persistent in coming back repeatedly and whispering doubts in our ears. When we feel the presence of the HS weakening, or when we start to think negative thoughts, then know that there is an evil spirit nearby trying to break our connection with God.
When you feel this, command him to leave you alone. You have to say this out loud; you can’t just think it. But you can whisper it softly; he’ll hear what you’re saying. Then once you’ve ordered him away, start thanking God for helping you with this encounter. You should immediately feel the HS strengthening within you.
Know that evil angels are real and they are trying to affect you. Your best protection is to realize that they are there and actively resist them. Don’t forget Ja 4:7, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Also, Mt 10:1, “He gave His disciples power against unclean spirits.”
The various activities that demons will do to humans include: committing evil, doing harm, accusing, deceiving, bringing sickness and disease, giving power for harm, and bringing torment.
Demons gain access to humans through several means. They may come at our invitation; we can invite them either directly or indirectly. Direct methods include playing with the occult or possessing occult items. Indirect methods include cultivating sins, such as anger, revenge, or some favorite indulgence; not accepting forgiveness, not believing that God has really cleansed us; or harboring sexual imaginings. Demons may also come to us at someone else’s invitation; such as through inheritance or through being cursed. If parents practice the occult, their children will be subject to it as well. Or if parents frequently swear and use obscene language, their children will be influenced by evil spirits on each occasion. We might also suffer because someone who hates us curses us to be tormented by demons.
The solution to break free from the influence of evil spirits is to follow these steps. Drop the sinful practice. Establish God’s presence. Be mindful to remain in God’s presence. Reject the evil spirits through Jesus’ authority. Be careful of further deceptions and distractions. Stay sensitive to the HS presence.
Satan is behind everything evil; his presence is behind everything wrong, every bad situation.
Jesus always saw past a person’s illness or bad actions, and recognized there the evil one and his works, and it was always against these that He spoke, not against the affected person.
Too many people these days refuse to see that Satan is at work in this world. They attribute bad happenings to anything except him — circumstance, accident, illness, and so on. They seem to be deliberately wearing blinders or dark glasses so as not to see the reality of Satan’s existence. We must wake up and see the truth.
Our fight is not against diseases, viruses, and situations; it is against the maker of the diseases, viruses, and bad situations. Our fight is against the devil who is attacking us. Ep 6:12, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness, against spiritual wickedness, and [against evil spirits] …”
We must learn to pray, “Father, please manifest Jesus in my life, so He may address everything that Satan has brought in my life, and that I may have His protection. Please manifest Him in me for His glory. Amen.” Once you receive the manifestation of Jesus, nothing else will be important to you, because you’ll then have everything you need, the only thing you need.
Pray for this with all your heart.
SATANIC ASSAULTS
Satan has two major avenues of attacking us individually: 1) inspiring evil thoughts in us; 2) taking advantage of sinful imprints within us to weaken our resistance. Satanic demons can motivate us to think harmful thoughts and keep us dwelling on them until we are affected negatively, and if possible until we begin to harm others. He also knows that when we indulge in a particular sin, that act leaves a mark in our psyche’; so that the next time we are tempted to do that same thing, our resistance against it is lower. He starts working on us in childhood trying to get us to do what we know is wrong, not caring if we later ask forgiveness, because he knows that he then has implanted within us a button he can push our entire lives! As soon as we recognize that a thought has entered our mind from Satan we must reject him. This way he knows that he has no more power over us. Reject him always!
In Ep 6:11-17 we read about the ‘Armor of God’; it consists of the girdle of Truth, the breastplate of Righteousness, the shoes of Peace, the shield of Faith, the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. Using this heavenly Armor has two aspects: First, put on all pieces of Jesus’ character; and Second, actually go into battle against the Evil One. It’s not enough to prepare, only to then stand idle; we must stand against the Devil and be used by God to regain from the Enemy lost ground.
When we rebuke demons and cast them out, it is not enough just to tell them to “Go out”. By doing this they will leave our immediate vicinity, but they are still around to come back and torment us later, or they might go attack someone else. When we send them out we must send the demons to “the Pit/ the Abyss”, and command them to stay there to await the Judgment. There are several verses which address this. Mt 16:19 & 18:18, “Whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven.” Rv 20:2, “He laid hold on the devil and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit.” Is 14:15, “Thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Ps 143:12, “Of Thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul; for I am Thy servant.”
The way we learn to fight Satan and his demons is by practice. So as Satan attacks us repeatedly, we get to where we finally know how to resist that particular attack. Also, each challenge shows us our need of power and our dependence on God. Don’t get discouraged as you make mistakes and sometimes have failures; remember, we’re trainees learning ‘on the job’!
As you fight against Satan you will discover that there are demons of varying strength: some are “weak” (relatively speaking), some are what could be called “average”, and some are “powerful”. They apparently have some sort of hierarchy with what could be likened as “privates”, “officers”, and “generals”.
We can see evidence of this as we look at the experiences of the Disciples. We read in Lk 9:1-2 that Jesus gave them “power and authority over devils and diseases”, then sent them out to preach and heal. When they returned they told Jesus with surprise that, “even the devils are subject to us!” (Lk 10:17). So from this we can understand that the Disciples were able to cast out at least most types of demons.
But then we read the story of the father who brought to the Disciples a demon-possessed boy (Mt 17:14-21; Mk 9:14-29; Lk 9:37-43); in this account we find that the Disciples were unable to cast out a particular type of demon. The Disciples had already been given power to cast out demons prior to this, but they eventually came across one they couldn’t overcome. Jesus came and cast out that demon and sent the healed boy and his father home. Afterwards the Disciples came to Jesus and asked why they couldn’t overcome it, and Jesus answered them saying, “Because of your unbelief … However, this kind goes out only with prayer and fasting.” By stressing “this kind”, He was signifying that it was a different kind of spirit (powerful). He also admonished them for their unbelief; at that time they weren’t in “one accord”, they were jealous of each other about who would be first in the new kingdom. The level of faith needed to battle the strongest of demons comes only through prayer and fasting.
Each attack from Satan can be turned into an opportunity to advance against him. We must respond to each challenge not as we feel inclined to do, but in a way that will bring glory to God! In the past, when we were attacked spiritually we would usually stumble backwards and fall. Now, as we’re growing stronger we are getting to where we can stand up to his attack and hold our ground. But once we have grown into full spiritual maturity we will find, if we are alert, that we can turn Satan’s attacks back against him; so that rather than us losing ground, it is actually him falling backwards before the advance of God’s kingdom.
Remember that Satan is your enemy and you must always be on your guard against him and all his many forms of attack against you. Never forget that Satan is always looking for any and every opportunity to harm or kill you.
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