The Demons I Don’t See

Defining What We Know About Spiritual Warfare – Part 3

Offensive and Defensive Prayer – Part 2.3

We’d been in service for several days. You know the kind you have once a day for a number of days with different speakers. Around day five or six, or at least the end of week one of three, this particular speaker was different. We couldn’t put our finger on it until my wife said these words. “I can not do [name].” Then it hit me. Before I go into details, remember, this lesson is one that takes us beyond what we normally think about “spiritual warfare.” This lesson will explain something that’s normally viewed in extremes. Therefore you don’t always see it for what it is and I want to explain it to you so that you will be able to identify the demons you, more often than not, see around you. As we begin, go ahead and shake off any combative or defensive thoughts and all the thoughts you have about “demons.” Demons are not what you see on TV and in the movies.

To get my wife going which only means I went to the left. I told her that was a demon. As you know, that’s just what I do to grab the attention of others. She says you can’t call this man a demon. I responded okay, but he has a demon on him and you somehow picked up on it. Let that sink in and I’ll explain.
1 – A demon is something you can’t see, just like an angel.
2 – A demon just like an angel has more impact on us spiritually, than physically.

Let me tread lightly here. I’m not saying that angels or demons don’t impact us physically. However, I’m saying they operate in the realm of spiritual things and it is the spiritual that impacts the physical.

Let me get back on track. I asked Pamela did she have the same feeling or sense about the speaker from the previous day? Her response was “no.” Of course not. So I asked what changed? Did something physically change? “No.” Therefore something unseen or spiritually, shifted. PAUSE!

One of the greatest leaders who served in promoting and advancing the Christian church said we’re not to only look at the things we see, but rather pay more attention to that which we can not see, the unseen. He called them eternal things. ^[1] Let us not forget that God, Himself, is invisible to us as humans.

I continued to probe my wife and gave her (and myself) some things to really ponder. Demons, or fallen angels, do exist. ^[2] She’d sensed a demon from this speaker; I said “on the speaker.” That’s extreme, but while I’m being extreme, there was more to this thought. She sensed something that was not a God-spirit. Let me talk about that for a moment. You have two types of spirits: God’s spirit and spirits that refute God, also known as evil-spirits or demonic spirits. Any time you pick up on the unseen, a spirit, feeling, or something you can’t place or see physically, that is unGodly, then you’ve encountered one that refutes God. Don’t shutdown on me yet or put back on that church-hat. I’ll help you with a few examples.

A demon overtook a man’s human spirit.
In the town of Galilee of Capernum, Jesus once dealt with an evil spirit right there in the synagogue where He taught every Sabbath day. The demon that overtook a man found in the crowd had the following effect. Facing the authority that Jesus asserted, the evil spirit cried out with shouts and recognized who Jesus actually was. I’ll save my thoughts on that statement for another day. At any rate, Jesus ordered this evil spirit to leave the man alone and that’s exactly what happened. Now this story ^[3] isn’t unfamiliar for most, but what is unfamiliar are the words used in describing this evil-spirit which I intend to point out. This is how various versions of the Bible describe this spirit. Evil spirit. Unclean demonic spirit. Demonically disturbed. Spirit of an unclean devil. Spirit of an unclean demon. Demon. When we use such language it invokes segregated thoughts about what happened to the man in a church service then and what happens today.
The disciples were challenged by a demon.
A loving father once brought his son to Jesus’s disciples to drive out an evil-spirit that plagued his son. They were unsuccessful. This particular evil-spirit had the following effects on the boy: seizures, violent thrashing upon the ground, foaming around his mouth, grinding of his teeth, convulsions, and muteness & deafness. It sounds pretty bad, but these effects are experiences that most people have encountered or seen during a lifetime. That’s the point. Many times we’re overlooking what it is we are really seeing. Jesus orders the evil-spirit to leave the boy and the disciples needed to understand something. Why weren’t we able to do the say? Jesus’ reply was something unexpected. This takes prayer and fasting. ^[4] In other words, He ridded the son of the evil-spirit that overtook his human-spirit using prayer and fasting.
God’s spirit and an evil-spirit impacts the same person.
In the Old Testament, ancient history, tells the account of the first king of the United Kingdom of Israel, who’s name was King Saul. This great king had the Spirit of the Lord on him in such a way that those around him knew it, felt it, and saw its effects. ^[5] Then one day God’s spirit left him and an evil-spirit filled him. Those around him knew that as well. It was an evil-spirit because of what it produced or made visible in the life of the king they had known to once possess God’s spirit. It’s said that this once powerful king was now depressed and full of fear. ^[6] The impacts of an evil spirit produced depression and fear. Think about this for a moment. Depression and fear came from an evil-spirit, an unseen spirit, a demon, that filled Saul. On the other side, the Bible says that God has not given us a spirit-of-fear; instead the type of spirit that God gives is a spirit-of-love, a spirit-of-power, and a spirit-of-a-sound mind. ^[7] Now those are spirits or unseen things we’ve not considered when it comes to spiritual things. How about that?

We make religion so spiritually deep that we’ve been missing the obvious.
With the three examples mentioned above, I noticed something. I noticed that we have a tendency to make spiritual things so spiritually deep that we miss out on the obvious. Spiritual things, demons, are all around us, but because we’ve made the word “demon” so negative and so taboo that it’s limiting our effectiveness in how we live. If you saw the signs mentioned in any of the three examples, you would certainly not refer to them as demons. As a result you would not use your authority, nor your ability of prayer & fasting to rid yourself of a symptom that can be easily ordered out of one’s life. This causes us not to fight the fight we should be winning. It causes us to miss out on some “spiritual warfare” that can be easily won since we do have the advantage. Now that’s good, if I have to say so myself! Let me help you abandon what you know about “spiritual warfare” as you know it.

Question: what other examples of demons have you miss-diagnosed in this way?

[1] ‭‭2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV, Bible.com, accessed December 14, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/111/2CO.4.18.NIV
[2] ‭‭Revelation 12:9 NLT, Bible.com, accessed December 14, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/REV.12.9.NLT
[3] ‭‭Luke 4:31-44 NLT, Bible.com, accessed December 14, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/LUK.4.31-44.NLT
[4] ‭‭Mark 9:14-29 NLT, Bible.com, accessed December 14, 2022, https://www.bible.com/bible/116/MRK.9.14-29.NLT
[5] ‭‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭10‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT, Bible.com, accessed December 14, 2022, ‭https://bible.com/bible/116/1sa.10.6.NLT
[6] ‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16‬:‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬, Bible.com, accessed December 14, 2022, https://bible.com/bible/116/1sa.16.14.NLT
[7] ‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬, Bible.com, accessed December 14, 2022, https://bible.com/bible/116/2ti.1.7.NLT

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