Know Your Enemy

All of us have had people who have insulted us or attacked our
integrity. We have all had people talk behind our backs and have had
people lie about us. Turning and attacking our accusers is a common
instinct but it is a wrong conclusion because it is not the person who
is attacking us but the evil spirits that reside inside them. These spirits
have the ability to talk, using the voice of their surrogate, or they can
use their own voice, whichever they prefer. They can carry on a
conversation just like you and me. It is a distinct mark of their
personality.

They are completely aware of their surroundings and are aware of
their own identity and the identity of the surrogate they control. They
are aware if there are any other demons residing in the surrogate and
are highly intelligent. They show emotion and can control the bodily
functions of the one they possess. They have in the past manifested an
outward appearance of fear, causing the subject to tremble or to be
cast down to the ground. They possess a free will and are able to
come into and leave the subject at will.

We have the stories where Satan entered a snake to fool Adam
and Eve. We also have the story where he entered Judas and used him
to betray Jesus. Sometime in the near future Satan will also enter the
person who is to be the antichrist and will lead the entire world astray.
Depression and many physical illnesses are caused by demons. We
have the story of the woman Jesus healed of a crippling back injury
by casting out a spirit of infirmity.

In old Greek the word demon is derived from the primary word
daemon and is described as a supernatural being of a nature between
angels and human. There are two main orders of angels who dwell in
the heavens—those who stayed loyal to God and those who didn’t.
This order of rebellious angels assigns the demons to the human
beings who they are to dominate and direct. I believe these fallen
angels that are in control of the legions of demons that haunt mankind
are from the dominion angel choir as their name might reflect. There
is no reference where these demons are capable of leaving earth;
however, fallen angels have access to both earth and the heavens.

Demons manifest themselves through human beings under many
different names in the Bible.
Jealousy Ill-will Lying Perverse Deep Sleep
Distressing Fainting Despair Harlot Prostitution
Unclean Deaf-mute Dumb Infirmity
Sickness Divination Predicting Deceiving Fear
Intimidation Falsehood

They cause us to engage in all types of sexual sin. They are
responsible for hatred, murder, violence, sickness, suicide, and
depression. They can influence both flesh and mechanical devices.
When Christ was crucified on the cross, His sacrificial death
cancelled all the claims of sin on mankind. Our old self was crucified
with Christ on the Cross. “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be
forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may
utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has
forgiveness but is subject to eternal condemnation.”1 This is because
of the demonic control of so many here on earth. We are instructed to
put to death the things of the flesh because we are hidden in Christ in
God.

Once we have placed our sinful infirmities under Christ we are no
longer controlled by the law. Therefore, we conclude that a man is
justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.2 We still obey the
law even more than we did in the past because this is the will of God.
We put on the new man. This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord,
that you should no longer walk as the rest of the world walks,
in the futility of their mind…and that you put on the new man which
was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.3

Demons come into our mind by our own devices. This can be
devices that go back as far as three or four generations in the past.
Many things that are popular today enable the entrance of demons
into our mind. Drugs, alcohol, negative parental influences, sinful
behaviors, past family occupations in the occult, and many more. It
can simply be a moment of weakness where our imaginations open
access to our mind. If you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your
hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not
descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy
and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality and without hypocrisy.4

Satan is an expert in the law of God and will use it to trick and
entice you to do wrong. When we open the door for a demon to enter,
it will not leave until our sinful acts are confessed and cancelled out
by God’s forgiveness. For this reason, it is important for us to be
careful who we allow our spirit to interact with because we can share
in the sins of other people. So, keep yourself pure. But I say to you
that for every idle word man may speak, they will give account of it in
the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by
your words you will be condemned.5

Many today are tricked into following a religious fallacy that
covers the fact that they are occultists. These pastors distort the
teachings of the Bible to benefit them financially and confuse many
into practices of the devices of Satan. It is just another tragedy in our
society that so many are deceived by the words of a man. Beloved, do
not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God;
because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this
you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not
confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.6

Astrology is a familiar spirit that leads many astray. People look
at this as a harmless pastime yet where your faith is, there is your
heart also. There are other similar spirits like psychic readings,
fortune telling, and the reading of cards, palms, and bones. Many
want to know the future and are tricked into giving away their life
savings to someone that is led by a familiar spirit. This behavior is
unfaithfulness and there are times when God gives us over to these
things because of unbelief.

Then there is the spirit of drugs and alcohol that has so many
people today trapped into addiction. This is called sorcery in the Bible
and it is a gateway for demonic activity. But evil men and impostors
will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.7 The old
Greek word imposters literally mean enchanters, or sorceries. There
shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his
daughter pass through the fire [This is the stone chair where a statue
of Melech sat. Fire is built under the chair and children were cast onto
the lap of Melech], or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer,
or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures
spells, or a medium, or a spiritualist, or one who calls up the dead. For
all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because
of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from
before you.8

The purpose of all occults is control—the control of your time,
your money, and your soul to do the will of another human being. The
god of this age has blinded the minds of many and people who yield
their bodies to sexual perversion will be taken over by a
corresponding demon. So now you can look around where you never
saw a demon before, and now you see them everywhere. So, I urge
you to be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him,
steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are
experienced by your brotherhood in the world.9

Christians know so little about their adversary that they are
blinded by many of the same things as non-Christians. Paul writes, “I
fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so
your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For
if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached,
or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or
a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up
with it!10

There are many who teach a different gospel than the one that is
found in the Bible. It may just be a variation of the same theme, yet it
is counterfeit and it is from a different spirit than the Holy Spirit of
God. Deception is the demon of a different tune and it is in the hearts
of many. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth
good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth
evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. So,
Christ asks all of us, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not
do the things which I say?”11

Our protection against Satan does not come from being a
Christian but from obeying the commandments of God. This is the
message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God
is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice
the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses us from all sin.12

This is the distinction between a true believer and a pretender. A
true believer purifies their heart by faith thus allowing the Holy Spirit
to have a work inside them. We are told to guard our heart for it is the
wellspring of life. For by one offering He has perfected forever those
who are being sanctified, to be set apart by the sacrifice that Christ
made on the cross where we are bit by bit being separated from the
demonic activity that resides within our mind. You have begun the
process; now let’s explore the possibilities of gaining control over it.

1.) Mark 3:28-29
2.) Romans 3:28
3.) Ephesians 4:17, 24
4.) James 3:14-17
5.) Matthew 12:36-37
6.) 1 John 4:1-3
7.) 2 Timothy 3:13
8.) Deuteronomy 18:10-12
9.) 1 Peter 5:8-9
10.) 2 Corinthians 11:3-5
11.) Luke 6:45-46
12.) 1 John 1:5-7