How
Demons Take Control (Part
2)
How
Do Demons Take Control of a Free
Will Being?
God gives
each person gifts and talents at
birth, and the demons want to use
and twist these assets for evil
purposes. Some of
God’s gifts include a
measure of faith, the ability to
hear the Holy Spirit,
intelligence, the ability to
reason, reanalyze and remember,
the capacity to love and be
loved, and most of all, free
will (Romans 12:3, John 16:13, Joshua 24:14,15, John 3:16, Revelation 22:17).
When a person reaches maturity,
God’s gifts and talents
enable that person to be a
self-directed adult who becomes
responsible to God and his
neighbors for his actions.
The curse
of sin mars God’s gifts and
talents in various ways.
Each person is born with a
propensity for selfishness,
rebellion, and wrong-doing, and
if this propensity is allowed to
dominate God’s gifts and
talents, the results will be
harmful. The demons know
this so they prey on our natural
propensity to do wrong. The
shameful and vulgar ways of
talented and gifted people today,
a bulging prison population, and
thousands of years of sordid
human history reveal their many
successes.
Demons
understand the gift of free
will. After all, each demon
knows that he deliberately and
willfully chose to
rebel against God.
Therefore, their greatest delight
occurs when they can lead young
people to make foolish choices
because the demons know these
actions can produce unbearable
misery for a lifetime. The
demons carefully study each of us
from birth to determine how the
inescapable consequences of sin
can be used to ruin us.
Demons are masters at gradualism;
if it takes 20 years or even 50
years to ruin a person, this is
not a problem. They have
nothing else to do. If a
well-known person’s
credibility and respect are
ruined in later life by some
defect in character, the demons
are delighted! They watch
to see which temptations are most
effective, which natural traits
of character are dominant, which
opportunities where entrapment is
possible, and they especially
watch to see whom each person
will choose for friends.
One of their best tools for
getting young people to make rash
decisions is through friendship
with bad people. The demons
know, “‘Bad
company corrupts good
character.’ ” (1 Corinthians
15:33) They have seen
this phrase fulfilled billions of
times!
The Bible
indicates that demons are
intelligent and they can speak
their minds. (Matthew 8:29,31; Luke 4:33,34; Acts 19:15)
God permits them to speak to
human beings through the same
spiritual channel the Holy Spirit
uses to insert thoughts into our
minds! The problem we have
is that we cannot always identify
the source of the voice.
Each sinner has an imagination
and can create evil thoughts
because all sinners have a
natural propensity for doing
wrong. The demons are
experts at doing wrong and they
can insert their knowledge of
evil into our minds. They
are masters at using the power of
suggestion. This power is
not trivial and do not confuse it
with our own ability to generate
evil thoughts on our own.
Similarly, the Holy Spirit uses
the power of suggestion, puts
thoughts in our minds, and
prompts us to obey God and do
right. He also inserts
thoughts that go beyond
man’s natural ability to
think of good things to do!
For example, consider the
marvelous ministries of George
Müller (1805-1898) or Mother
Teresa (1910-1997).
I am
convinced that a phenomenon
called “mob mentality”
occurs when demons insert the
same evil thought into a mob of
people at the same time.
When a mob is caught up in a
moment of passion, demons know
the power of suggestion can
become actionable and when this
occurs, the result is a true
phenomenon. It is as though
the mob suddenly behaves as if it
has “one mind.”
The fruit of demonic behavior is
anger, hatred, violence, and
destruction and when adrenalin
induced anger goes beyond reason,
you can be sure demons are
present. Because demons are
angry beings focused on our total destruction,
we should not be surprised if
their victims mirror them.
In fact, the pigs in Matthew 8:32 displayed
“mob mentality” when
Jesus sent the demons into them
and they all drowned.
Demons
know our fears, weaknesses,
likes, and dislikes. They
are masters at tempting and
tormenting people. Even
though demons live among us and
are bent on destroying us, the
Father has placed “a hedge
of protection” around each
sinner. Demons cannot
penetrate this hedge of
protection unless we willfully
and knowingly do wrong.
When we choose to do something
evil, this hedge is momentarily
removed and the demons start
talking. If we continue to
willfully and knowingly do wrong,
the hedge becomes weaker and the
demon’s attacks become
stronger. God has given us
free will and if we want to give
it over to demons, we can.
Therefore, when we willfully sin,
God allows a demon to insert evil
thoughts and if we act on any of
these thoughts, the demon will be
back with a thousand more!
Demonic
Influence and Oppression Is A
Slippery Slope
If you
have been born again, you know
that we live in a world that
groans under the heavy influence
of demons. Many people do
not realize that billions of
demons are hovering over us,
ready to destroy. People go
about their merry lives totally
unaware of lurking demons because
demons are invisible and we
cannot see their predatory
efforts and intimate
involvement. People are
also desensitized by the decadent
state of human conduct. A
pig farmer once told me, while I
was gasping for breath, that if I
lived near the pigs for a short
time, I would not smell
them. I have also had
former pig farmers tell me that
after being away from the pigs
for a while, they cannot believe
how badly they smell! This
proves that whatever is usual
soon becomes normal. Each
day we learn through the media
there are more murderers killing
innocent people. Robberies,
drug use, and corporate crimes
are rampant; political hatred and
infighting are disgusting, and
sexual immorality is
everywhere. This is our
normal and people brush it off
with, “the world is a crazy
place.” The devil is
energizing this degenerate
craziness. “Be
self-controlled and alert. Your
enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
There is
a difference between mental
illness and demonic oppression;
however, distinguishing between
the two can be difficult because
demon possession can mimic mental
illness. Of course, God
knows the difference and He can
heal any form of mental
illness. He can terminate
demonic oppression or cast out
any number of demons from a
possessed person. Humanly
from a medical perspective,
demonic oppression can be
difficult to distinguish from
mental illness. Some people
are sure they are demon-oppressed
when, in fact, they have mental
problems. Some people think
they are not demon-oppressed
when, in fact, they do have
demonic problems. If a
person thinks he has a demonic
problem, he should seek a
thorough physical and mental exam
to make sure that a physical
defect is not causing the
problem.
To make
matters even more complicated,
there are different degrees of
demonic oppression and many
different routes lead to demonic
oppression or possession, but the
doorway is always the same: Free
will. God insures that no
one can be demon-possessed
involuntarily, otherwise everyone
on Earth would be demon
possessed! In this article,
I define demonic possession as a
condition where the victim can no
longer exercise free will.
The victim has no self-control
because demons have complete
control. (Matthew 8:28, Mark 1:23-26)
Demonic
oppression is different than
demonic possession in that
demonic oppression does not
necessarily end with demonic
possession. Demonic
oppression occurs when demons
begin to torment willful and
deliberate sinners. Demons
are able to agitate, incite, and
upset their victims in various
ways. For example, demons
can rob a person of sleep and
this one thing can create a train
of physical problems.
Demons will often magnify the
innate tendencies of their
victims. For example, a
demon can make a person who has a
tendency for paranoia extremely
paranoid. A demon can make
a person who has anger problems
very explosive and violent.
Demons can make people behave in
rash and unpredictable
ways. When demons switch
these personality states off and
on, mental health experts are
baffled. Medication makes
little difference. What can
a victim do?
The
detection of demonic oppression
requires a gift from God.
Notice these verses:
“The
Spirit clearly says that in later
times some will abandon the faith
and follow deceiving spirits and
things taught by demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1)
“To
one there is given through
the Spirit the
message of wisdom, to another the
message of knowledge by means of
the same Spirit, to another faith
by the same Spirit, to another
gifts of healing by that one
Spirit, to another miraculous
powers, to another
prophecy, to another
distinguishing between spirits,
to another speaking in different
kinds of tongues, and to still
another the interpretation of
tongues. All these are the work
of one and the same Spirit, and
He gives them to each one, just
as He determines.”
(1 Corinthians
12:8-11, emphasis mine)
Remember,
the door to demonic oppression
opens when we knowingly and
willingly choose to do wrong and
violate our conscience.
Demons are not stupid. At
first, their approach is gentle
and benign because they want to
work on us without us knowing
it. They want us to think
that their thoughts are our
thoughts. Over time, the
demons gain deeper access if we
act on their suggestions.
Demons will not stop oppressing a
victim unless the sinner comes to
his senses and takes a firm stand
to stop doing the wrong that he
has been doing. If a person
resists the demons and hardens
his heart against their
suggestions, God requires the
demons to back away. They
have to respect our free
will. Freedom from demonic
oppression will come with a
struggle and it will take time,
but it does happen by standing
firm for what is right!
If a
victim of demonic oppression
reaches a point where he realizes
his true condition before God and
is willing to sorrowfully repent
of his sins and live by faith,
God will receive Him. In
turn, the Holy Spirit will give
him additional strength to fight
the good fight of faith!
God is willing to restore and
protect the free will of every
sinner whether the sinner becomes
a believer or not. However,
God’s hedge of protection
only occurs for as long as the
sinner will not willingly and
knowingly do wrong. God
generously provides this
protection because He loves every
sinner and wants each sinner to
have the freedom to choose whom
he will serve. God knows
what is best for us, but we have
to choose to serve Him. He
wants us to put our faith in Him
and obey His Word. Living
by faith means doing what is
right in God’s sight
regardless of the consequences.
This is using free will for its
highest purpose.
For some
people, the road to demonic
oppression can have an innocent
and naive start. Bad
friends may introduce addictive
vices such as tobacco, drugs,
alcohol, pornography, or violent
movies and games. Given
juvenile curiosity and peer
pressures, many addictions have
started in young people this
way. For some people, the
road to demonic oppression may
have started with exploring the
occult, sexual lust that led into
sexual immorality or through
abusive or unloving parents (or
foster parents). Demons
love to hurt children because
children can grow up and hurt
their offspring.
Demon-oppressed parents can make
a child feel self-loathing and
shameful which results in the
child having no self-esteem,
self-worth, or self-value.
Evil parents can physically,
sexually, and emotionally abuse a
child, causing great
psychological damage, and they
can cause a child to inordinately
thirst for love and friendship,
whether good or bad. These
are just a few avenues that
demons use to prey on children
because they know that damaged
children are vulnerable.
Can
Demons Possess Children?
In
ancient times, certain physical
defects or illnesses were
believed to be the result of
demonic possession (Matthew 9:32 and 12:22) and
this is still true in certain
parts of the world
today. Because this
was a prevailing practice in
Bible times, I believe Bible
writers sometimes lumped physical
defects and illnesses into a
general category called
“demonic
possession.” This
issue needs discussion because I
believe that God does not permit
minors to become fully demon
possessed. I do believe
that demons can insert thoughts
in the minds of older children
starting with early adolescence
and oppress them, but only after
the child has knowingly
and willfully chosen to
disobey the good that he knew to
do (he exercised his free will to
do wrong).
Consider
this: If demons can possess
children, what would keep demons
from possessing all
children? I know, sometimes
it looks like the kids in the
checkout line at Walmart have a
demon in them, but that is a
matter of poor parenting
skills. There is a story
about a little boy having a demon
in the Bible. Three gospels
relate the story and you have to
study all three versions of the
story to properly understand the
situation. (See Matthew 17:13-20, Mark 9:17-29 and Luke 9:38-42.)
The little boy suffered from a
condition that caused him to foam
at the mouth and to fall
involuntarily into the water or
fire. The father thought
his son had a demon so he took
him to Jesus’ disciples
because Jesus was
unavailable. The disciples
were publically humiliated
because they could not cast out
the demon or heal the little
boy. Fortunately, Jesus
showed up, rebuked the demon and
the little boy was healed.
Whether
the little boy had a physical
defect like epilepsy, an unknown
mental condition, or even a
demon, Jesus healed him.
This story is important because
it reveals a profound point that
many people misunderstand!
A few weeks before this event
occurred, Jesus gave His
disciples a commission to go
throughout Israel telling
everyone that the kingdom of God
was at hand. Jesus gave His
disciples the power to heal
sicknesses and cast out all kinds
of demons to ensure their
testimony gained traction. (Luke 9:1,2)
Naturally, this power created
quite a sensation in the towns
and villages where the disciples
went. So, when the father
showed up with his afflicted son,
he rightfully expected his son to
be healed; and the disciples were
totally confident they could do
the job, but they were humiliated
and embarrassed.
There is
a simple reason for their
failure. The public failure of
the disciples stemmed from a
hidden defect in character.
While Jesus, Peter, James, and
John were on the Mount of
Transfiguration – the
remaining disciples were at the
base of the mountain – and
while waiting for Jesus to
return, they had nothing to
do. I believe they began
discussing the miracles they had
performed and the coming kingdom
of God. This led to some
argument about who would be
greatest when Jesus set up His
kingdom. Based on
Mark’s (Mark 9:33,34) and
Luke’s (Luke 9:43-48)
comments, it is difficult to
identify the location and timing
of events that transpired that
day. However, we do know
that Jesus and His disciples
headed for Capernaum shortly
after Jesus healed the boy. (Mark 9:30)
As they walked along, I believe
some of the disciples continued
their discussion privately
about who would be the greatest
in the coming kingdom of God
because they were very excited
about the coming kingdom and
their position! However,
when they arrived at Capernaum,
Jesus asked “What
were you arguing about on the
road? But they kept quiet.
. . Sitting down, Jesus
called the Twelve and said,
‘If anyone wants to be
first, he must be the very last,
and the servant of all.’
” (Mark 9:33-35)
