In this posting we will examine a number of Scriptural instances in which Satan’s demons were involved.  Included will be my personal experiences with them as well as the reported encounters of other people which were recorded either in written or spoken form.  There will be no set order of presentation.  I will relate the instances of demonic encounters as they come to mind.

We will return to the Holy Scriptures to begin our look into the unseen and mostly unknown world of the “powers of the air,” the air which surrounds us, the air in which evil spirits dwell and from which they plant thoughts and impulses in our minds.  It is through these mind games that they attempt to lead us, deceive us, tempt us and hopefully convince us to do that which is contrary to the will of God.  In the vast majority of cases, they successfully manipulate mankind into doing their master’s will.  The unchurched are puddy in their hands.  Their skills are such that they also afflict those in the Institutional Church, causing them to rebel against the very One they believe has saved them from the consequences of their rebellion.  As did Adam and Eve, they allow Satan to convince them that they can (actually must) sin and still inherit eternal life.  So powerful are Satan’s agents that they have persuaded billions to reject the Words that plainly express God’s will that must be obeyed in order to receive the promised salvation they believe they already have.  By controlling church leaders who do their face-to-face work for them, demons rarely lose in the on-going battle for men’s souls.  If there is better proof of the power of Satan and his agents over professing Christendom I have yet to find it.  Let us now examine some real life examples of the work of Satan and his fallen angels in the lives of unsuspecting people.

In the previous posting I discussed the case of the lunatic (“moonstruck”) boy whose problem-causing demon was so powerful that the disciples could not cast it out.  Jesus was able to cast it out with this explanation: “This kind (of demon) comes out only by prayer and fasting” (Mat. 17:14-21).  Having spent much time in prayer and fasting–once for 40 days–He was spiritually ready for whatever Satan and His servants sent His way.  Demons have varying degrees of power and differing personalities.  I once dealt with a woman in whom 33 demons had taken up residence.  Following my command to come out of her, their spokesman informed me that they were not coming out.  I informed him that they had no choice.  They exited through the lady’s right nostril.

In Acts 19:13-16 we find that seven sons of a chief priest named Sceva had commanded a demon to come out of a man “in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  The demon attacked them, defeated them and sent them home naked and wounded.  Their problem was that they knew ABOUT Jesus but DID NOT KNOW HIM PERSONALLY.  Such is the case with the vast majority within professing Christendom.  A personal relationship with Him comes about only by KNOWING, BELIEVING AND OBEYING HIS WORD.  No amount of religiosity or churchivity will make up for true fear-and-faith-based obedience.

The Catholic/Protestant Church System has neither the fear nor the faith to obey God.  Look at what is happening in the world today.  There is no difference between the world and the worldly church that mirrors her.  The world has approximately 7.5 billion members.  The only real difference between the world and its church system is where approximately 1/3 of them spend a couple of hours on Sunday morning.

If someone does something contrary to God’s will we can rest assured that a demon (or demons) is (are) either directly or indirectly involved in the act.  Such was the case of the demon possessed man of Gadara as recorded in Luke 8:26-39.  Here we find Jesus and His disciples arriving in the land of the Gadarenes where they were met by a man who lived in the tombs among the corpses of the dead.  The demons within him caused him to go naked and to repeatedly harm himself.  Demons are incredibly strong.  People in the nearby village had bound the demon possessed man with chains which he broke as if they were string.  However, when the man saw Jesus he knew he had met his match.  Approaching Jesus, he fell before Him and acknowledged that He was the Son of God.  He also acknowledged that Jesus had total power over him and his fellow demons.  At the demon’s request, Jesus cast them into a herd of pigs that then ran into the sea and drown.  Note that, unlike the people of Gadara, the demons knew who Jesus was.  Demons know when they are in the presence of godly power.  Church people would not recognize Jesus if He introduced Himself.  Valuing the pigs more than the man, the people of Gadara asked Him to leave the area.  They cared more about the money the pigs would bring them than about the man Jesus had delivered from demonic bondage.  Today’s spiritual Gadarites (the church) are no different.  Valuing themselves over Jesus, they “cast His Truth to the ground” (Dan. 8:12) and go about their self-pleasing ways.

When demons are forced to exit their victims they do so in a variety of ways, most of which are not observable to the human eye.  However, they sometimes do reveal themselves.  In one personal instance the demon came out in the form of vomit.  God had warned me about what would happen when the demon came out.  Therefore I had provided the person with a waste can.  In another personal case the demon’s victim spun around a number of times then fell to the floor.  She had been playing with Tarot cards.  Normally I do not know what the demon or demons will do so I am ready for anything.

Some demons physically injure their host.  In one case I heard about, the demon would scratch its host.  Bloody wounds would suddenly appear on the person’s skin.  In another case a demon literally threw his host across a jail cell several times.  I was told about a demon trying to pull a man out of his bed by physically yanking on his foot.

I have a friend who at one time had been involved in witchcraft, which is one of many ways demons do their business.  My then demon-possessed friend could “see” people in other areas going about their business.  From far distances he could see what they were doing, how and with whom they were doing it, etc.  He would later tell them what he had “seen.”  This is called “astral projection.”  Through demonic power he was taken in spirit to where his subjects were and “viewed” what they were doing as if he were actually there.  One person reported watching a child literally walk backwards up a wall.  Sometimes items literally fly through the air.  Those who do not understand the spirit world attribute these happenings to “ghosts” of dead people.  There are no ghosts.  These are demons who have allowed themselves to be seen by human beings.  Demons can and do take the form of men, women and children.  I have personally never seen a demon.  I have seen the form in which they exit a person–vomiting, spinning, etc.  I have “seen” in clear visions what demons are doing to other people and have verified the reality of my vision by questioning them.  In one case I “saw” a woman carrying a tray of food to a couple’s house.  The lady of the house was having severe physical problems.  God told me that the lady with the food tray was a witch who was casting a spell on the other lady in order to cause her death so that she–the food bearer–could have her husband.  People have seen demonic persons literally levitate and pass from one room to another while in the air.  One Scripturally ignorant church pastor professed: “God turns on my television for me.”  God does no such thing.  This false prophet was being used by a demon who wanted him, and those who followed him, to watch more t.v.  The preacher and his family, and supposedly his congregation, were complying.  So effective was the demon that the preacher confessed that the t.v. was “the central factor in our family life.”  Television, not the Holy Bible, was the focus of their existence.  This is not unusual within the religious world.  The typical “Christian” spends hours each day watching Satan’s Broadcasting Company and only minutes studying God’s Holy Word.  If, that is, they can find the time.  I know a couple who filmed hours of daytime t.v. programs while they were at work.  Following supper they watched what had been filmed.  At bedtime they would show their dedication to God by reading ONE CHAPTER of His Holy Bible.  And these were pillars in their church, the same church in which I spent the Sunday mornings of my youth.  I thank God that He delivered me out of that “unclean thing” (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1).  In the next posting we will study how demons cause their hosts physical, mental and emotional problems.  We will also see how Satan’s minions can duplicate the acts of God and thereby cause people to unwittingly worship and serve the “god of this world”–Satan–“who has blinded the eyes of those who do not believe so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ cannot shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:4).  L.J.