Satan and His Demons
(Taken from Neil Anderson’s "Bondage breaker")
Last week, I lead us through the reality of the spiritual world and those parts of the invisible creation. We focused on specific beings/creatures known as angels. The focus was upon the angels of God who remain faithful and obedient to serving their Creator. Today, we will make the shift to examining those angels who chose to rebel against God and were cast out of heaven. They are known as the fallen angels or Satan and his demons.
As I stated last week, recognizing the reality of the good angels, gives validation to the reality of the fallen angels. Yet, there are still those in our world today who are so caught up in the materialistic and secular culture that they deny any existence of a spiritual reality at all. This includes angels and demons. Some accept the idea of good angels but deny the existence of the devil and demons.
For example, J.B. Russell has several books written about the devil, but doesn’t actually acknowledge his existence. Here is what Russell has to say in his own words:
“I assert the reality of the Devil, but by this I do not intend a judgment as to the metaphysical reality of such a being.”
Rather, “the Devil is the personification of whatever is perceived in society as evil.”
Some actually prescribe the biblical teaching in regards to demons based on superstitions of unsophisticated people. Some actually believe that the people that Jesus had cast demons out of were actually plagued with mental disabilities, and so Jesus was just accommodating their superstitions. That in itself is a bogus idea, that Jesus would compromise the truth just to accommodate someone’s belief system.
This morning, I will not be sharing the myths about the spiritual world, or about Satan and his angels. The Bible has made it very clear that these beings are as real as you and I, even if we do not see them with our eyes. So, let’s begin.
1. First, we will begin with Satan himself
As I mentioned last week, Satan is not the exact, evil replica of God. He is an angel that chose to rebel against God and was then cast out of heaven. He is limited in what he can do. Most of the areas I covered last week in regards to angels, is true of Satan.
- The nature of
- Exist as a part of the invisible creation
- Spiritual beings
- Powerful
- 1/3 of the angels were cast out (Multitudes)
Satan is the prince or ruler of the rest of the demons. The name Satan, is a generic Hebrew word meaning, adversary, opponent or one who tries to block your way, and accuser.
In the New Testament, the Greek word is “satanas” and all its uses refer to the devil. Again the basic nature is that of an opponent or enemy of God or mankind.
There are a number of different references to Satan in the Bible. Both Old & New Testaments refer to him. Let me list them for you:
- Diabolos (Greek), means “to accuse or to slander.” In the New Testament, it is used 30 times for Satan and translated “the devil.” The devil is identified as being a slanderer or accuser of both God and man.
- Adversary
1Pe 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
- Enemy
Mt 13:25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
Mt 13:39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
- Accuser
Rev 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the
kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the
accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God
day and night, has been hurled down.
- Other less used names are that of Apollyon & Abaddon. These names mean “destruction and destroyer” Revelation 9:11
- Belial or Beliar: names applied to a powerful evil spirit. 2 Corinthians 6:15
- Beelzebul of Beelzebub: These two names may refer back to the O.T. pagan deity known as Baal-zebub, meaning “lord of the flies” or a similar deity named Baal-zibbul, meaning “lord of the dung heap.”
- He is also referred to as the Serpent. Both in Genesis and Revelation.
- Dragon is used all throughout Revelation depicting his sly and sinister nature.
- Tempter in Matthew 4:3 and 1 Thessalonians 3:5 which reads:
1Th 3:5 For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
- Deceiver, again found in Revelation
- Liar and the father of lies
Jn 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
His power and position are pointed to when we see titles like:
The ruler of this world:
Jn 12:31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of
this world will be driven out.
Jn 16:11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world
now stands condemned.
Ruler of demons:
Mt 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by
Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
Mt 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who
are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
God of this world (age):
2Co 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Prince of the power of the air:
Eph 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
Eph 2:2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
The evil one:
Mt 13:19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.
Eph 6:16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
Satan himself is the ultimate enemy of God, but is not an evil version of God. There is only one God. Satan is a fallen angel. Limited in time, space, knowledge and power. Even so, he keeps himself busy by blinding unbelievers so that they do not see the light of Christ. He continues to disrupt believers lives through temptations, lies, accusations and slander. If you are growing in your relationship with the Lord, he will do what he can to hinder your growth. Here are some of the lies he has lead many to believe, and some of you here today, have fallen for them:
- I am not a strong Christian
- I don’t know enough about the Bible
- I’m still plagued with sinful thoughts
- I don’t have many spiritual gifts
- He can’t use me
- The Bible is outdated & can’t help my problem
- I do a lot of good things
- I go to church every week, that’s good enough
I am going to deal more with the lies of our enemy and how we can overcome them, but we will deal more with that next Sunday.
Now, because the devil is limited, he has helpers to do his bidding. These are the rest of the fallen angels who were cast out of heaven with Satan. We usually refer to these beings as demons. Some people really struggle with believing in demons. The reality is, Jesus did, so how can we argue any other way.
As I mentioned earlier, demons serve Satan. They are referred to as his demons. He rules over them. Just as God’s angels serve God and carry out his mission, so demons do the same for Satan. They to do all they can to hinder unbelievers from coming to Christ, especially if an unbeliever is asking questions in regards to God. When an unbeliever wants nothing to do with God, Satan and his demons are not threatened. But when someone begins to inquire about the things of God, they become a direct target, because Satan does not want to see the Kingdom of God increase by any number.
Demons are referred to in the Bible as evil spirits.
Lk 7:21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.
Ac 19:11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,
Ac 19:12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
They too, carry the distinguishing characteristics of Satan.
- Liars
- Deceivers
- Slanderers
- Tempters
We have already discussed the nature of Satan and demons, when looking at the angels of last week.
- Created beings
- Dwell in the spiritual realm
- Spiritual beings
- Powerful
- Greater in might & power than humans
- Not as large a number 1/3rd cast out of heaven
- Immortal beings (life eternal in the fires of hell)
They are very real and can cause a great deal of harm to us even as Christians if we don’t have our guard up. Prayer is an essential way to keep your guard up. Praying for one another in love and humility, praying for protection for one another. Just as I asked you to pray for me and my family throughout this study, I ask you to continue, because this study is not complete yet. Next week, I want to deal more with the work and purpose of Satan and his angels. Seeing how they affect our lives and how we can affect theirs. Again, all praise glory and honor should first and foremost be directed toward Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Many have accepted Him as their Savior, but many wrestle with letting Him be the Lord of their lives.
