Angels and Demons - Satan and His Demons
This past Sunday we continued our Angels and Demons series by diving into what Scripture has to say about Satan and His Demons! This has already been a great series, full of information that many of us have never really sat down and addressed before surrounding the ‘spiritual realm’ around us. If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
Last week Pastor Robbie addressed the lighter and more favorable side of spiritual beings with Angels, but this week we dove into the less appealing subject of Satan and His Demons. In our pop culture, Demons are presented as malicious entities that make themselves known in the most explicit and terrifying ways possible. People in our western culture have this idea of Satan being a red man with horns and a pitchfork - his demons tricksters with menacing smiles. While our culture’s portrayal of Satan and his Demons are not altogether true, like many things, there are shreds of truth that still keep the image in the minds of our friends and family. Ps. Robbie started off with a unifying declaration that is paramount in understanding our situation in our world, “We need to establish a baseline - Satan is real. And taking it a step further, demons are real. They are also a part of this unseen supernatural realm.”. Here in the West, where a naturalistic and materialistic worldview dominates, these entities in pop culture are discussed in such a way that degrades the reality of our situation. Evil forces that seek to steal, kill, and destroy God’s Image Bearers are very real - our underestimation of them gives them equally real power over our communities.
Let’s start from the top and we’ll work our way down to the range of influence and impact of their works’ demons have in our world. First of all, Demons Influence the Leaders of Nations. Let’s look at Daniel who had prayed for twenty-one days nothing happened. Then, an angel of the Lord came to him and declared in Dan. 10:13, “The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia…”. This ‘prince’ is understood to be a demon of significant power, in other faith traditions we see hierarchies concerning demons defended and this is one of the verses to support such an idea. We see the forces of darkness, demons at work, trying to influence the leaders of nations!
Now, consider the work that is being done in our communities - most of the stories in the Gospels surrounding demonic activity involve the suffering of individuals in very unfortunate ways; to say the least, Demons Desire to Inflict Suffering on You. Take Matthew 17:15-18 for example, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.” Ps. Robbie implores us saying, ‘I want you to think about a six-year-old, or a seven-year-old, or a little boy or a little girl, and imagine this little child doing stuff like trying to throw themselves into a fire, or trying to jump into a pool in order to drown themselves.’ (v15). This is what was happening in this story. This demon was trying to kill this child - but Jesus rebuked the spirit and the boy was healed instantly (v18)! The torment that this family and their surrounding community endured from these events must have been unimaginable!
Now let’s get right down to it, this was a story back in Jesus’ time, and some may think that demonic activity was for this time and has ended - this is not the case church! The reality that we are dealing with, right here and right now, is that Demons Scheme to Lure You Away from God & Demons Want to Paralyze You with Fear. Satan and His Demons are schemers, and above all deceivers; for the believer, the enemy has what power is given to them and that real power comes from deception. But, this is not the end of the story, this is not the condition that Jesus lived, died, and rose again for his followers to experience - as we see in 2 Tim. 1:7 “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” We do not fight with our power, but with God’s authority; we cannot miss that today, God’s power and authority have overcome the world and all the schemes and deception(s) that the enemy seeks to wield against us! Do not let these forces induce doubt towards the amazing works that God has done in your life - it is this power, this trans-formative power, that he can wield to conquer whatever force may be against you.
Ps. Robbie concluded with “There is an evil force that is more wicked than you could ever imagine that wants to steal, kill, and destroy everything that matters to the heart of God. The demons want your family, your marriage, your children, your finances, your health, and your relationship with God. Bottom line is, they want you.” but we are not defeated, we are not powerless against these forces; for we have been empowered with a Holy Spirit that, when wielded, will conquer all forces that come against us. God conquers the forces that come against us for “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.” (Col. 2:15)!
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
Angels & Demons - Satan and His Demons: Satan, and His Demons, are very real and active in our world.
Main Scripture Passages: Eph. 6:10-12; Mark 5:2-8; Eze. 28:12-15; Dan. 10:13; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 1:7 Col. 2:13-15.
Demons Influence the Leaders of Nations: Powerful forces come against those who have influence and power over the affairs of the world.
Demons Desire to Inflict Suffering on You: These forces desire to make you and everyone around you suffer!
Demons Scheme to Lure You Away from God: The deceptive schemes of these entities have one ultimate goal in mind - to instill doubt about who God is and what He has done through the blood of Jesus.
Demons want to Paralyze You with Fear: These schemes unto doubting the work of God are done through inducing fear in people, and that is their entry point.
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
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Join us next Sunday as Pastor Robbie continues in our Angels & Demons series when we explore the subject of Heaven and Hell!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!