SCRIPTURE: James 2:19 "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."
Matthew 8:29 "And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?"
Mark 1:24 "Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God."
PROPOSITION: To use this text and others to show what the devils believe and how their belief affects them. To show that there are unregenerate men that believe the same way the devil's believe and they are just as lost as the devils. And also to show that there is a saving faith, but it is only for those who come to Christ with a repentant heart.
1.) What do the devil's believe?
A. They believe there is one eternal majestic God and only one. "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe" the scripture makes it very clear that there is one Supreme glorious Being and that he is the almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth and of all creatures great and small, the devils ascribe to this. Isaiah 43:10 "...before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."
B. They believe Christ is "the holy one of God". Often times carnal men attempt to demote the Lord Jesus Christ and make him just a great teacher and deny his diety, but the holiness of Christ is something that the devils were forced to confess when they were confronted by the Son of God. Luke 4:34 "...I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God." Just because the devils believe who Christ is, and were forced to confess him when they were in his presence doesn't mean that they don't offer to men a counterfeit Christ, the scripture teaches that they do. 2 Corinthians 11:4 "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
C. They believe Christ is the Son of God and they are willing to confess this in the same way that Judas did or a false convert would by giving and outward agreement but having an inward animosity.
Matthew 8:29 "they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?"
D. They believe that a day of judgment is coming and that hell torments await them. When the evil spirits spoke from the mouth of the maniac of gadara they asked
Matthew 8:29 "art thou come hither to torment us before the time"?
The devils believe that Christ has the power, wisdom, and the authority to measure out these torments, to give to them according to the egregiousness of their crimes, that the scales of Justice might be balanced proportionally to their transgressions, and that they will know what the wrath of Jehovah is through these torments that will be inflicted upon them. In this way the glory of God will be vindicated as it ought to be, and all the devil's believe this.
2. Why did the devils give testimony of belief while they were in the presence of Christ?
A. The devils knew Christ, they had been in his presence in heaven and they had seen the brightness of his glory and yielded allegiance to the Son of God before Lucifer had persuaded them to follow him. these glorious angels of light "kept not their first estate but left their own habitation". Lucifer is spoken of as a great red dragon and "his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth", and now these fallen angles who are the mirror of evil only find pleasure in the darkness of warring against the Lord God Almighty.
"and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they KNEW him".
3.) How does a belief in God affect the devils?
A. It fills their heart with terror, so much so that they begin to tremble. "the devils also believe, and tremble". This trembling takes place because of what they know about hell torments, "art thou come hither to torment us before the time?". there are those devils that roam freely upon this earth but there are others that are incarcerated, God has reserved them "in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Those devils who are free to roam this earth and the devils who are incarcerated tremble because God "has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness." and the glorified saints will take part in this judgment. 1 Corinthians 6:3 "Know ye not that we shall judge angels?"
4.) If the devils believe in God and his Son why are they not saved from eternal destruction?
A. Because the decision Lucifer and his angels made was final, it was against an immeasurable amout of knowledge of God's goodness and greatness, they sinned in the face of God and the scripture gives us no indication that they have ever had any remorse concerning this rebellion, "they LEFT their own habitation" never to return again. Jesus said "I beheld Satan as lightning FALL from heaven". The angels that are in heaven now are not there based on belief, but on a refusal to rebel against God. those who did not rebel are referred to as the elect angels, and if they are elect angels they had to be confirmed in holiness. God must have gifted them this confirmation. 1 Timothy 5:21 "I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the ELECT ANGELS" Matthew 25:31 "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the HOLY ANGELS with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:"
5.) If the devils believe and are under a sentence of death, are there humans that believe and yet still remain under a sentence of death?
A. Yes there is a belief unto salvation and there is a belief unto condemnation, this is seen clearly in the John's gospel where it says "many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." In this insightful portion of scripture we see that many believed in Jesus, but he didn't believe in them and so he rejected them.
ILLUSTRATION: Simon the Sorcerer is a perfect example of somebody who believed in Jesus and yet had never been converted to Christ, Simon the sorcer had a great interest in the supernatural, and the scripture says he "believed also", but the scripture also teaches us that his heart was "not right in the sight of God" and that "he had neither part nor lot" in the things of God. After Simon the sorcerer had offered to pay money for the the power of God, Peter saw his covetous heart, he perceived that he was "in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." And he commanded him to "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." Peter made it very clear that Simon was not saved, he said "thy money perish WITH you." When somebody comes to Christ in truth they are no longer "in the bond of iniquity" Jesus said "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." Someday we will see many that believed in Jesus that did wonderful works in his name and even preached in his name, but Jesus will say unto them "depart from me ye that work iniquity" they believed in Christ but he didn't believe in them. They were hypocrites, "workers of iniquity" just like their father the devil. "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness" In conversion there is always a "repentance toward God" and a "faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ" the faith that saves is never just an acknowledgement in God, Christ, or in the Bible, but it is always a complete reliance and trust in Christ and his payment for sin. And where there is not a "repentance toward God" there is NEVER a "faith toward the lord Jesus Christ"!
CONCLUSION: The kind of belief the devils have gives an acknowledgement to facts about God and the Lord Jesus Christ without giving any allegiance to Christ, there are many people today that have the same kind of faith that Satan and his demons have, they believe in God they believe in Jesus "Thou believest that there is one God" but they have never repented of their sins and they have never trusted Christ ALONE for salvation. Being converted to Christ is one act of turning from the darkness of sin to Christ who is the light of the world.
Acts 26:18 "To open their eyes, and to TURN them FROM darkness TO light, and FROM the power of Satan UNTO God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."
Revelation 21:8 "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
Question: Do you have a demonic faith or a saving faith?
