Evil Supernatural Influences Series

INTRO: CD 2:00 “Demonic Discourse.” From FAITH HIGHWAY

Have you ever had an encounter with an evil spirit? How did you know?

Illustration: The evil spirit at the bottom of the stairs…

Evil spirits are like pets: always around causing trouble, carrying disease, and a pain to get rid of.

? Where did they come from and why are people so fascinated with them?

NEW NETWORK SHOWS & MOVIES ON SPIRITUALITY:

NBC: Medium: She sees what others can’t.

CBS: The Ghost Whisperer: girl who can see and talk to dead people who need to “cross over”

MOVIES: The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Amityville Horror, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride:

FOR KIDS, because what would childhood be like without being able to watch movies about the undead? ABC: Invasion: about aliens who come to possess people’s bodies. “Mommy, you smell different…”

Why is everyone so fascinated with the dead? And why is it always the evil side?

MOST PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO BELIEVE DEMONS ARE REAL, BUT WE’RE AFRAID THEY MIGHT ME. It’s this fascination with the unknown, which lures us.

There is an unseen enemy most people refuse to acknowledge, but it behooves us as Christians to know about them, because they are the enemies of our souls, and knowing the enemy’s weakness is always a powerful asset for a soldier.

The BAD NEWS for most people is that yes, demons are REAL!

The GOOD NEWS is THEY DON’T ALWAYS WIN! Ultimately, they loose big… Unfortunately, a lot of ‘unbelieving’ people will loose big with them.

This is the fear and the power of evil supernatural beings: they want something you have and they’ll stop at nothing to get it.

JOB ILLUSTRATION: Satan is even seen approaching God to accuse Job of wrongdoing BEFORE Job ever commits the sin he’s being accused of!

Job 2:1-6, “On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason." "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face." The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."

Satan had NO AUTHORITY, except that, which God allowed him to use…

? WHERE DID (the little buggers) COME FROM AND WHY ARE THEY SO NASTY?

Turn the clock back about 6,000 years to “IN THE BEGINNING…”

It all began with that word AUTHORITY. Authority: God has all authority and He’s given all authority to His Son, Jesus Christ. That’s the only place where you and I get authority: from JC.

Satan had SOME authority but he wanted ALL authority, so he formed a mutiny, rebellion, revolution against God and the Lord Jesus and His angels: a fight for the whole enchilada: authority.

Unfortunately, Satan was about as smart as an unmanned fire hose, and he lost the battle…

He was the BIGGEST LOOSER: “LA-HOO-ZA-HER.”

Ever since then, he and his nasty bunch have pursued subjects, one at a time, who would give him a place to exercise authority over our lives. Satan STILL wants it all, and he’s coming to a theatre near YOU!

He can’t get his authority from God any more, so he’s going to the next best thing: God’s children… That’s you and me.

“May I have authority over your finances, desires, thought life… SOUL?!”

It’s up to YOU now. You have something Satan wants and he’ll stop at nothing to get it.

Satan’s looking for spiritual real estate and he’ll take as much as you’re willing to give him: a little or a lot because he knows his time is short…

Revelation 12:9, “The great dragon was hurled down-- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”

Satan’s primary objective is to persuade you to give him supreme authority for your life. Why? So he can use you and then kill you. That’s what he does. He deceives & uses then he accuses and disposes.

I’ll give you one of the first examples of his use of this pattern…

Satan wanted authority, and he started the first Jihad in the courts of Heaven to obtain it. His first recruits were angels… A third of the angels in Heaven joined him, waging war against The Lord and the other two thirds of the angels in Heaven, but there was no contest. The creature is always subject to its creator, so God hurled the devil and his followers to the earth till judgment day.