Demonology--Part 3

Scripture has given the saints “history” and “prophecy” of Jesus Christ from His first advent to His second advent. There was a lot of demon activity associated with the incarnation of Christ and His work as the God-Man on behalf of the elect He came to save. Demons are the spiritual agents acting in all idolatry. The idol itself is nothing, but each idol has a demon associated with it who promotes idolatry with its worship and sacrifices. Paul said, “Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (I Cor. 10:18-21 NASB).

As seducing spirits, the demons deceive men into thinking they can converse with deceased loved ones. Listen to what Moses said in his song: “Give ear, O heavens, and let me speak; And let the earth hear the words of my mouth…They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whom your fathers did not dread. You neglected the Rock who begot you, And forgot the God who gave you birth” (Deut. 32:1, 17, 18 NASB).

Acting under Satan, demons are permitted to afflict with bodily disease. Paul said, “And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me—to keep me from exalting myself!” (II Cor. 12:7 NASB). Later he said, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong; I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody” (II Cor. 12:10, 11 NASB). What a lesson this is for all Christians today! God knows what to allow Satan to use to keep His sheep in the straight and narrow way, which is the way of life (Matt. 7:13, 14).

The command of Matthew 7:1 is not absolute—“Do not judge [present active imperative] lest you be judged” (NASB). The context—overall and immediate—proves it is not absolute (Matt. 7:15-20). There is always time for a righteous evaluation. Although a righteous judgment is being made, the one making the judgment must realize that at the same time he makes his judgment known, he is issuing a challenge to the unrepentant person to judge him. That judgment may be unrighteous because of a lack of grace. The person who judges another before he has first judged himself, by the authority of Scripture, is self-deceived. He is a stranger to the first principle of grace. The person who judges a subject being discussed before he hears and considers the evidence makes an unrighteous judgment. Solomon said, “He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him” (Prov. 18:13 NASB).

In what context is the command of Matthew 7:1 found? The Pharisees were making unrighteous evaluations against hypocritical and unrighteous judgments. The context proves that judgment must be exercised. (See verses 6, 15, and 20.) Absolute prohibition of judgment would be catastrophic to both society and the church. Judges and magistrates are God’s appointments for society (Rom. 13:1-7). Ruling elders are appointments for the local assemblies of Christ (I Tim. 5:17; Heb. 13). Therefore, authority in both society and the churches is despised by hoodlums and religionists.

Christian judgment applies to false teachers, false doctrine, false spirits (demons), false ways, false professors, and false living (Matt. 7:15; I Thess. 5:21; I John 4:1; Prov. 14:12; Matt. 18:15-20; I Cor. 5:12; 6:5). We must judge in terms of principle. When prejudice replaces principle, it becomes an unjust judgment. The same is true when personalities are put in the place of principle. These are the lessons learned: (1) Judging makes the judge unpopular. People are ready to sympathize with the judged. (2) To judge a person is almost always issuing a challenge for him to judge you. (3) Judging is limited to fruit. The heart and motive are unseen. (4) Judgment in this life is not final. (5) God alone makes the final judgment, because He has the last word.

The demons (daimon, a demon or evil spirit) are “knowing ones” who possess supernatural knowledge. Demons are the fallen angels who fell when Lucifer fell. They are the reprobate angels left when God took His chosen angels (I Tim. 5:21). Angels, neither chosen nor reprobated, do not increase or decrease. The angels that became demons possess, dispossess, and influence as the sovereign God permits (Job 1, 2). There are different kinds of demons. Some are base and filthy, but some are refined and moral. However, they are all “unclean spirits” (akathartos, denotes spiritual defilement). Christ was charged with possessing a demon, but His enemies did not accuse Him of moral evil. “The Jews answered and said to Him [Christ], Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (John 8:48 NASB). Unable to answer Christ, the Jews resorted to ridicule and blasphemy.

During Christ’s first advent, the demons recognized the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and they wanted to know what He was going to do to them. The demons knew more than the people in general. They were not trying to be smart, because they already knew the day of their appointment for judgment. They were wondering if their judgment was coming early. If that be the case, the demons wanted to delay it as long as possible (Matt. 8:28, 29). Therefore, seeing the herd of swine in Gadara, the Jews would not be feeding the herd of swine.

It is interesting to note it was because of the pigs that the demons were the first to speak to Christ. The verb parekaloun, imperfect active indicative of parakaleo—para, beside and kaleo, to speak—draws the picture and dwells on the course of the event, instead of merely stating its occurrence. In this case, it is the description of the action. Therefore, the demons admitted defeat.

The demons yield only to omnipotence. Satan has nothing but contempt for the small fry. Listen to what the “evil spirit” said to the “evil spirits”—“And the evil spirit answered and said to them [evil spirits], I recognize [ginosko, to know by experience or by interaction] Jesus, and I know [epistamai, to know about or to understand] about Paul, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15 NASB). God employs demons to humble the arrogance of the wicked.

You cannot believe or trust demons, because they are fallen angels, reprobates, and doomed for the lake of fire. Furthermore, there are false powers and evil demon activity widely diffused and ceaselessly active in idolatry, superstition, and are against everything God is for. According to Scripture, demons are believers; therefore, there is no difference between demons and religionists, except the demons shudder (phrissousin, present active indicative of phrisso, which means to shudder from fear—James 2:19).

In closing the present study on the subject of demonology, look at the following chain of events from the present to the final reference to Satan and his “fallen angels” who are demons:

1. Demons are the spiritual agents acting in all idolatry. The idol itself is nothing, but each idol has a demon associated with it who promotes idolatry with its worship and sacrifice. Paul said, “Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (I Cor. 10:18-21 NASB). Please observe the immediate context of I Corinthians 10 as you consider the verses mentioned.

2. Due to the condition of the apostasy, which had already begun, Paul said to Timothy, “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith [the system of truth], paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from food, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth” (I Tim. 4:1-3 NASB). The point to be made here is those who depart from the faith give heed to the teaching of demons.

3. These are the final three references to demons: (1) “And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone, and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts” (Rev. 9:20, 21 NASB). (2) “And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty” (Rev. 16:13, 14 NASB). (3) “And he [another angel] cried out with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird” (Rev. 18:2 NASB).

The Greek word daimon, a demon, is frequently translated devil. However, the words means a malignant demon, an evil angel (Matt. 8:31; Mark 5:12; Luke 8:29; Rev. 16:14; 18:2). The word for “devil” is the Greek word diabolos, which means accuser or slanderer. It comes from the verb diaballo, meaning to accuse or malign, and is the word for “devil,” the enemy of God and man. Therefore, the Devil, or Satan, accuses man to God (Job 1, 2; Rev. 12:9, 10) and God to man (Gen. 3). Being himself sinful (I John 3:8), Satan (Devil) instigates man to sin (Eph. 4:27; 6:11) and encourages him by deception (Eph. 2:2). However, the lies of Satan and the demons never keep the sovereign God from fulfilling His purpose in Jesus Christ and His chosen sheep (Rom. 8-11; Eph. 1:3-14).