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Return to You and Your Beliefs Series Return to Wednesday Bible Study Series "You
and Your Beliefs"--Angelology, part 2
Two of the bestselling books in the evangelical Christian community in
the early 90’s were the novels by Frank Peretti, This
Present Darkness and Piercing the
Darkness. I read both with great
fascination. The books describe an
ongoing struggle between angels and demons as they battle each other for
influence on people who live on the earth. Both
books did much to challenge me to pray more fervently.
Both reminded me of the biblical truth that we are in a spiritual battle.
I think there is value in reading the books.
There is also danger. The
books are fictional novels. Peretti
presents a picture of the spiritual battle that originates largely in his
creative imagination, and not in the Bible.
Fact: There is a fervent
fascination with angelic and demonic beings these days.
Discuss: Why?
Caution: We need to be
careful of going to two extremes:
1. Denial of the reality of
the Demonic world
2. Excessive fascination with
the Demonic world
Both extremes are unbibical. It's
the second that really plagued Christianity in the 1990's and continues to do so
in our present decade.
John MacArthur wrote about a conservative mission organization that
required all of its missionaries to attend special training seminars to learn
how to confront and assault the powers of darkness.
Their strategy includes speaking to demons and learning techniques for
exorcising them. It is becoming
popular to deliver incantations against Satan and supposedly rebuke or bind him.
Do Christians need to attend spiritual warfare bootcamps?
Can we actually bind and rebuke Satan?
Are we supposed to break the strongholds of demons over towns?
We must go to the Bible. We
are spending 2 weeks on the Doctrine of Angels.
--Last Week: Angels
--Tonight: Satan and the
demons Review:
From last week… We
began to investigate what the Bible says about angels last week and ran out of
time. Let’s begin with a quick
review, then we’ll finish exploring what the Bible teaches about angels, after
which we’ll move to the subject of wicked angels/demons. [See last week’s notes, beginning
at… III. What do angels do?] This
Week: Satan and Demons I.
Satan A.
Who is Satan?
Satan has not always existed. He
is a created being. See:
Ezek 28:12-15
The prophet was speaking to the King of Tyre.
But apparently he was speaking not only about the king, but the one who
influenced this king, Satan himself. We
see a description of Satan before he sinned.
What happened? See:
Isaiah 14:12-14 "How art
thou fallen from heaven..."
Satan's sin originated in pride. It
ended in rebellion. It resulted in
judgment. We can learn a lot about
Satan by looking at the names and titles used for him in the Bible...
See: Radio Bible Class, "What in the world is Satan Doing?",
pp. 10-11 B.
What does he do?
His strategy is subtle. His
aim is to thwart the plan of God. He
started with Eve (see Gen 3:1ff ).
Satan's strategy is no different today.
(see John 8:44 "Ye are of your father the devil...")
Satan is a liar. He deceives,
confuses, attacks the truth.
Does he have a red suit and pitchfork?
No. (see 2 Cor 11:14
"And no marvel...an angel of light...")
Is Satan omnipresent? No.
How then can his attack be so pervasive in the world?
He doesn't work alone… II.
Demons
When Satan rebelled against God, and was cast out of heaven, he wasn't
alone. Rev
12:9 "And the great dragon was cast out, called the Devil and Satan...and
his angels were cast out with him." (12:4 implies that one-third of the
angels fell) A.
What are they? 2
Cor 11:15 "Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers..."
Who are Satan's ministers? Demons Jude
6 "And the angels, who kept not their first estate..." B.
What do they do?
(taken from RBC, "What Can We Learn from the Angels?" 10-12) 1.
The oppose God and His people (1 Pet 5:8; Matt 13:39; Eph 6:12). 2.
They slander God and His people (Gen 3:1ff; Job 1:9-11; Rev 12:10) 3.
They deceive the unsaved and try to deceive Christians (2 Cor 4:4; 1 Tim
4:1; Rev 12:9). 4.
They plant evil thoughts into the minds of people (1 Chr 21:1; Matt
16:22-23; Lk 22:3; Acts 5:3; II Pt 2:1, 2, 10). 5.
They take over the personality of some people (Mt 8:28; Mt 17:14ff). 6.
They influence national leaders ("prince of this world" Jn
12:31; "god of this age" II Cor 4:4; King Ahab I Kings 22; King of 7.
They play a role in human illnesses (Job 2:6-8; Mt 12:22; 2 Cor 12:7?). 8.
They try to pervert the doctrine of grace (I Tim 4:1-5; 2 Cor 11:3). 9.
They try to distort the biblical view of Jesus Christ (1 Jn 4:1-3).
Discuss: What are some
examples of demonic activity in our society?
Be careful. We’re inclined
to miss the evil’s one’s most dangerous attacks due to our preoccupation
with the bizarre… III.
The Biblical Response to Evil Forces
"Territorial Warfare" is being promoted today.
What is it?
See: MacArthur gives examples, How
to Meet the Enemy, p. 42
Modern day teachers are saying we should "confront and bind
Satan." Does the Bible ever say
that? Are we supposed to wage war
with Satan on his turf? Are we
supposed to talk with him and reprove him?
Look at what Christ told the church at Pergamos. Rev
12:13 "I know...where you dwell, even where Satan's throne is..."
What was their problem? They
tried to accomodate the world (14-15).
Here's what another "expert" in territorial warfare did (MacArthur,
49). "For the last 10 years I have lived in the black community in
Is that how we're to win our neighborhoods?
Did Christ instruct the Christians in Pergamos to walk the roads and say,
"In the name of Jesus, I rebuke Satan?"
Did He tell Christians to command demons to leave the city?
No.
Discuss: What is our
God-given responsibility for reaching our community?
We are to impact our community by preaching the gospel and holy living.
"But Satan and his demons are real.
What are we to do?"
Discuss: What are we to do?
Let’s look at the Scriptures… 1
Pet 5:8 "Be sober...your adversary the devil...a roaring lion..." James
4:7 What are our 2 responsibilities?
1. Submit to God
2. Resist the devil
Be careful of Satan's trickery. He
mascerades his attack on God under such misleading covers as secularism, and new
age teachings. Such teaching has
infiltrated modern education.
Psychic William Hewitt has introduced a new age procedures into public
schools, to show children techniques on how to invite spirit beings to be their
helpers (RBC, "What Can We Learn From the Angels?", pp 3-4)
What must we do? See:
Eph 6:10ff
1. Be strong in the Lord
(10).
2. Recognize that the
spiritual battle is real (11-12).
3. Appropriate the protection
of Christ through the armor of God (13-17). |