On Demons?

I know basic Christian teaching on demons. That they are fallen angels who were cast out of heaven for refusing to love and serve God.

I know that they hate humanity and seek to harm us, sometimes by causing illness and demon possesion, but most often by just tempting us and causing us to doubt God. Turning us away from him seems to be their main MO.

I know demonic possession can happen, but doesn't happen all that often. Does anyone have any actual experience with it, or know how it can happen. I have heard it generally can't happen to a Christian, and even to non-Christians it generally only happens when they expose themselves to magic or the occult practices (voodoo, ouija board, tarot, wicca,divination etc.)

I have heard that by engaging in any of the above, you are calling on demonic assistance, and implictly consenting to having them actively in your lives. Exorcism piqued my curiosity, and I researched it, with the same intrigue as I have researched bigfoot, UFOS ,etc.

I almost wish I never did. Far from being interesting, the whole exorcism business sounds deeply horrible and depressing. Even where the afflicted person is "delivered' they and the person casting the demon out sometimes are deeply harmed and affected by the whole experinece.

However I know that mostly Satan is too clever to wish to possess manypeople and activley pointing himself out. If he did, many more people would be Christians and be terrified of him, instead of believing he is a myth.

Am I right in my understanding of demons/possesions?
 
Correct, Christians can no longer be possessed by demons.

Do you agree that salvation is of the soul and that spiritual afflictions are part of the spirit realm?
Do you agree that a person can be a child of God but not yet sanctified?
If we look at the world around us even at the things that are considered normal in our day and age are they scriptural?
If they aren't where would they come from?
Perhaps possession should be defined?
 
1. Do you agree that salvation is of the soul and that spiritual afflictions are part of the spirit realm?
2. Do you agree that a person can be a child of God but not yet sanctified?
3. If we look at the world around us even at the things that are considered normal in our day and age are they scriptural?
4. If they aren't where would they come from?
5. Perhaps possession should be defined?

1. Possession is not the same as a spiritual attack.
2. No, sanctification comes by the Holy Spirit only.
3. Yes, 1 Tim 4:2.
4. n/a
5. I agree.
 
The Holy Spirit is already sealed in the believers soul, spirit and body. Evil and holiness cannot dwell in the same tent.
 
Believers are no longer under the power of the devil..

daimonizomai: to be possessed by a demon Original Word: δαιμονίζομαι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: daimonizomai
Phonetic Spelling: (dahee-mon-id'-zom-ahee)
Short Definition: I am demon-possessed
Definition: I am possessed, am under the power of an evil-spirit or demon.

Matt 8:28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

1 Peter 1:3-5 NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
 
Rom 8:33-39 ESV says neither..trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword, death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate the elect from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
John 17:11 NIV I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

Eph 1:19-21 NIV and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
 
1 Cor 15:54-57 NIV When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Acts 26:15-18 NIV “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

2 Cor 10:4 NIV The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

2 Thess 2:7 NIV For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.

Rev 19:1 NIV After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

Rev 20:6 NIV Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
 
I know basic Christian teaching on demons. That they are fallen angels who were cast out of heaven for refusing to love and serve God.

I know that they hate humanity and seek to harm us, sometimes by causing illness and demon possesion, but most often by just tempting us and causing us to doubt God. Turning us away from him seems to be their main MO.

I know demonic possession can happen, but doesn't happen all that often. Does anyone have any actual experience with it, or know how it can happen. I have heard it generally can't happen to a Christian, and even to non-Christians it generally only happens when they expose themselves to magic or the occult practices (voodoo, ouija board, tarot, wicca,divination etc.)

I have heard that by engaging in any of the above, you are calling on demonic assistance, and implictly consenting to having them actively in your lives. Exorcism piqued my curiosity, and I researched it, with the same intrigue as I have researched bigfoot, UFOS ,etc.

I almost wish I never did. Far from being interesting, the whole exorcism business sounds deeply horrible and depressing. Even where the afflicted person is "delivered' they and the person casting the demon out sometimes are deeply harmed and affected by the whole experinece.

However I know that mostly Satan is too clever to wish to possess manypeople and activley pointing himself out. If he did, many more people would be Christians and be terrified of him, instead of believing he is a myth.

Am I right in my understanding of demons/possesions?

About 40 years ago, when I first became a born again believer, there was a sister in our small Church, and she asked a few of us to come over to her house to help her with a problem. When we got there she said "I am afraid I have demon inside of me", So we all got together and prayed, and then commanded this demon to come out of her. The lady spoke with a man's voice, and keep throwing up, and refusing to come out. It reminded me of the movie "exorcist" I mean this lady had supernatural strength, and completely refused to come out of her, even using the name of Jesus Christ and his shed blood. We did not know what to do after an hour of doing this. We were all new Christians, and did not know much about dealing with demons. There was one other lady in our group who just stood backed and watched what was going on. She had been saved for several years, and had been used by God many times in the gifts of the Spirit. She took us all aside and said, "there is no demon in our sister, she is only being oppressed by a demon from the outside" We thought to our self's no wonder this demon would not come out of here because it never was inside her!!! We were being played. We finally rebuked this demon from our presence and it left immediately. Our sister friend had let fear rule her, there by allowing herself to yield her members unto unrighteousness. When dealing with evil spirits, or demons you must depend on the gifts of the Holy Spirit to give you the discerning of spirits, and the a word of "knowledge", or and "Wisdom" in how to deal with them.
 
About 40 years ago, when I first became a born again believer, there was a sister in our small Church, and she asked a few of us to come over to her house to help her with a problem. When we got there she said "I am afraid I have demon inside of me", So we all got together and prayed, and then commanded this demon to come out of her. The lady spoke with a man's voice, and keep throwing up, and refusing to come out. It reminded me of the movie "exorcist" I mean this lady had supernatural strength, and completely refused to come out of her, even using the name of Jesus Christ and his shed blood. We did not know what to do after an hour of doing this. We were all new Christians, and did not know much about dealing with demons. There was one other lady in our group who just stood backed and watched what was going on. She had been saved for several years, and had been used by God many times in the gifts of the Spirit. She took us all aside and said, "there is no demon in our sister, she is only being oppressed by a demon from the outside" We thought to our self's no wonder this demon would not come out of here because it never was inside her!!! We were being played. We finally rebuked this demon from our presence and it left immediately. Our sister friend had let fear rule her, there by allowing herself to yield her members unto unrighteousness. When dealing with evil spirits, or demons you must depend on the gifts of the Holy Spirit to give you the discerning of spirits, and the a word of "knowledge", or and "Wisdom" in how to deal with them.

You said.............
"When dealing with evil spirits, or demons you must depend on the gifts of the Holy Spirit to give you the discerning of spirits, and the a word of "knowledge", or and "Wisdom" in how to deal with them."

So you are saying that the "gifts of the Spirit" which includes Knowledge and wisdom have more power than does the name of Jesus Christ?

Acts 8:9-10............
"But there was a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the nation of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all gave heed to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is that power of God which is called Great." And they gave heed to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic."

There is a warning here and It's a warning for people who are seeing or want to see supernatural signs and wonders. It's not an indictment of signs and wonders; but it is a warning that a person can think and feel about signs and wonders in a way that can be destructive if it is given its lead.

Read the whole story in Acts 8 and the simplest way I can think of to illustrate what happened with Simon is an experience every mother of toddlers has had. Suppose you have a one-year-old child sitting on your lap and suddenly in the window there is a beautiful bird and you hold out your hand to point at the bird and say, "Look, look at the bird." What does the child look at? He looks at your hand and the sign you are making with your fingers. He might even try to imitate the sign by putting out his index finger.

He sees the sign. He is excited because you are excited. He joins in imitating the sign as best he can. But the problem is he never sees the bird. The whole point of the sign is missed. That is what happened to Simon the magician here in Acts 8. He saw the signs that Philip was doing. They were better than his own magical signs. He got excited about them. He followed Philip around and wanted to imitate them. But he never saw the bird in the window. He never saw the ugliness of his own sin, the need for repentance, and the glory of Christ in the gospel who forgives and makes new and clean.

If we are looking for words of wisdom and knowledge and signs we just may miss the Lord Jesus Christ.

Something to give a lot of thought to in these days we live.
 
So you are saying that the "gifts of the Spirit" which includes Knowledge and wisdom have more power than does the name of Jesus Christ?
A word of "Knowledge" is a understanding of how a situation currently is. (This demonic spirit with NOT inside this lady)
A word of "Wisdom" is a understanding of what is going to happen. Dealing with demonic spirit requires one to have understanding of where they are, and in what their intentions are. Shooting into the dark does no good. They know the Church has power, and authority over them, but we must be specific in what we say to them. Telling a spirit come out of a person, when they not in a person using the name of Jesus does no good.
 
I know basic Christian teaching on demons. That they are fallen angels who were cast out of heaven for refusing to love and serve God.

I know that they hate humanity and seek to harm us, sometimes by causing illness and demon possesion, but most often by just tempting us and causing us to doubt God. Turning us away from him seems to be their main MO.

I know demonic possession can happen, but doesn't happen all that often. Does anyone have any actual experience with it, or know how it can happen. I have heard it generally can't happen to a Christian, and even to non-Christians it generally only happens when they expose themselves to magic or the occult practices (voodoo, ouija board, tarot, wicca,divination etc.)

I have heard that by engaging in any of the above, you are calling on demonic assistance, and implictly consenting to having them actively in your lives. Exorcism piqued my curiosity, and I researched it, with the same intrigue as I have researched bigfoot, UFOS ,etc.

I almost wish I never did. Far from being interesting, the whole exorcism business sounds deeply horrible and depressing. Even where the afflicted person is "delivered' they and the person casting the demon out sometimes are deeply harmed and affected by the whole experinece.

However I know that mostly Satan is too clever to wish to possess manypeople and activley pointing himself out. If he did, many more people would be Christians and be terrified of him, instead of believing he is a myth.

Am I right in my understanding of demons/possesions?
If you study up on the demonic you will be horrified, so don't do it. Study the Light instead. By this, you will overcome the darkness for darkness flees the light. There's a commercial about a vitamin that says, if correct, our eyes can see a candle 10 miles away, that's the power of light, both physically and spiritually. Study the Light of God and leave the darkness in the shadows.
 
The Holy Spirit is already sealed in the believers soul, spirit and body. Evil and holiness cannot dwell in the same tent.

That is not true.

Holy Spirit dwells in the spirit of the man...in his worship center, so to speak, but it takes a lifetime for most believers to renew their minds with the knowledge and wisdom of God from there, and also to have it move on to the body in its consecration. So, the Christian can easily harbour a demon in the mind (or soul). I have witnessed to the truth of that.
 
And I would have to agree with you.

1 Thess.2:18 says that the degree of control is different for a Christian than a non Christian. As Christians the enemy can control from with out not from within even though at times it can seem the same as possession. With the believer deliverance is a matter of the will. With a non believer they have no spiritual authority.

1 Jn.5:18............
"He who is born of God keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him. This is an assurance and is clarified in the Greek that he cannot lay hold of or fasten to.

In Jn.17:15 Jesus prays that............
"they should not be taken out of the world but that the father should keep them from the evil one."

Again a provision of not being in a relationship with the enemy that we were formerly delivered from. We need faith to endure, because there is no promise of permanent deliverance from evil. We are always to pray for deliverance from evil (Mt. 6:13). as long as we are in this world there will be evil encroaching upon us. There is no prayer , method or incantation for relief, just faith to persevere.
 
That is not true.

Holy Spirit dwells in the spirit of the man...in his worship center, so to speak, but it takes a lifetime for most believers to renew their minds with the knowledge and wisdom of God from there, and also to have it move on to the body in its consecration. So, the Christian can easily harbour a demon in the mind (or soul). I have witnessed to the truth of that.

I do no think I can agree with you sister.
 
That is not true.

Holy Spirit dwells in the spirit of the man...in his worship center, so to speak, but it takes a lifetime for most believers to renew their minds with the knowledge and wisdom of God from there, and also to have it move on to the body in its consecration. So, the Christian can easily harbour a demon in the mind (or soul). I have witnessed to the truth of that.
Amen! Many are quite content in their current state and don't wish to learn more. Perpetual babes.
 
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