Demons By Bryan Carraway The Christian Online Magazine -- Demonologia (Demonology)

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Date Posted: 04:51:24 07/05/04 Mon
Author: lando
Subject: Demons By Bryan Carraway The Christian Online Magazine

Demons

By Bryan Carraway
Source:http://www.christianity.com/CC/article/0,,PTID42281|CHID147904|CIID732460,00.html

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Demons are the fallen angels who, along with Satan, at one time rebelled against God and were banished from heaven (Rev. 12:7-9). They are members of the other class of sentient beings that God created known as angels or celestial bodies (I Cor. 15:39-40). Very little is mentioned in the Old Testament concerning these fallen angels or �demons� as they are called. The Old Testament prophets and writers knew of their existence and mentioned them on occasion. They were usually depicted as engaging in such activities as: influencing false prophets (I Kings 22:20-22), afflicting people with bouts of depression (I Sam. 16:14), and empowering mediums and witches with powers to summon other demons or the dead (I Sam 28:11-15). They are also involved in tempting God�s people to sin as did Satan, the chief demon, when he enticed king David to order a census of Israel in I Chronicles 21:1.

Biblical revelation concerning the nature and activity of demons grows progressively fuller in the New Testament. There is more taught in the New Testament about demons than there is about angels. There are primarily two Greek words that are used to describe these beings. The most common is daimonion (lit. �a deity�) which occurs over 60 times in the New Testament in passages such as Matt. 9:33, Mark 1:34, and Luke 4:33 and is usually translated as �devil� or �devils.� In over 30 cases the New Testament uses the word pneuma (lit. �wind� or �spirit�) which is translated �spirit� in passages such as Mark 1:12 and Acts 16:16.

Scripture presents these demons as being under the authority of Satan. Ephesians 6:12 seems to suggest that Satan has his demons organized in a certain hierarchy for maximum effectiveness. The apostle Paul calls Satan the �god of this world� (II Cor. 4:4) and the Devil seems to have placed some under his command in charge of various territories or even entire nations. One demon is referred to as �the prince of the kingdom of Persia� in Daniel 10:13. Demons vary in their strength and intensity but all seek to inhabit the bodies of humans (Matt.12:45). Demons are intelligent but totally depraved beings that are beyond redemption. They are incapable of goodness or mercy and their sole existence is directed toward hindering the work of God and causing havoc spiritually, emotionally, and physically upon all humankind.

The activities of demons in the Bible all revolve around their desire to oppose the kingdom of God. Their activities in Scripture include:

* Opposing the work of Christ Matt.4:1-11
* Attempting to destroy or hinder Christians I Thes. 2:18, I Pet. 5:8-9
* Bringing accusations against Christians Rev. 12:10
* Perverting true Christian doctrine I Tim. 4:1-3
* Tempting individuals to sin I Chron. 21:1, Luke 22:3-4
* Inciting people to kill & ravage one another Job 1:15;17
* Bringing sickness and disease upon people Matt. 12:22, Luke 13:11
* Blinding people to the truth of the gospel II Cor. 4:3-4, Matt. 13:19

Thankfully, Jesus accomplished Satan�s defeat during His earthly ministry. Proof of this is demonstrated in the fact that a new �strongman� has arrived on the scene (Jesus) that is now able to bind the previous strongman (Satan) and pillage his goods (Mark 3:22-27). Jesus has given His church that same power and authority over demonic forces today. He first gave that authority to His twelve apostles (Mark 3:14-15), and then later to His other disciples (Luke 10:17-20), and finally at His assension He gave that authority to all future generations of Christians (Mark 16:17). The Bible makes it clear in II Cor. 10:3-5 that Christians are involved in an eternal spiritual warfare that can only be fought using spiritual weapons. Christians should seek to live lives of holiness and purity so as to not allow demonic spirits the opportunity to hinder us. We are instructed to adorn ourselves with God�s spiritual armor (Eph. 6:10-18) to proactively defeat the works of Satan. The church must also be ready to minister deliverance via exorcisms to those trapped in demonic bondage.

Although the world today contains much evil and darkness Satan is in a sense bound for a season while the church seeks to complete her task before the return of Christ (Rev. 20:1-3). This binding, or restraining, of Satan will one day be removed and God will loosen the Devil and his forces upon the earth in full measure. The result will be horrific proportions of evil the likes of which the earth has never seen. God will use Satan to usher in a final climatic age of destruction and judgement that will occur just before the end of the age (II Thes. 2:3-9). In the final consummation of all things at the return of Christ, Satan and his demonic forces will suffer their ultimate defeat in which they will be banished to hell where they will spend eternity (Rev. 20:7-10).

Copyright 2001 by BRYAN CARRAWAY

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