Behaviour of Demons

Behaviour of Demons

THEY SEEK TO ENSLAVE US.

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father. Romans 8:15 Just at they themselves are under the enslaving control of their master, Satan, so in turn they seek to bind us with fear, envy, jealousy and other emotions. Just as they are bond slaves to sin, so they seek to enslave us similarly.

THEY TORMENT.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (Self control ) 2Tim.1:7

We can also be tormented by failure to accept ourselves. Here again, Satan seeks to deceive us.

THEY DECEIVE.

A further one of his characteristics through demons is to deceive: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron," I Tim.4:1-2.

These deceiving demons seek to tell us that we are not loved by God and not accepted, which of course is contrary to Ephesians 1:6:
"To the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he has made us accepted in the Beloved." In the world today, there are many doctrines contrary to the Word of God and it is quite easy to see how so many deceiving spirits are leading well meaning people away from the truth of the gospel.

Such doctrines as Christian Science, Armstrongism, Mormonism and similar doctrines, are evidence of the deceiving spirits in the world. Similarly, many people are misled by spirits from Eastern religions which would encourage them into wrong fasting or abstaining from meats, as Paul says in the same scripture. "Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." 1Tim. 4:3

THEY ENTICE.

"But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed."James 1:14

We must note here that it is our own lust which we allow to entice us away. When our thought life is not right and we allow wrong thoughts to enter, especially lustful ones, then the spirit of lust can follow and draw us away from the things of God. In due time, other spirits also enter as we allow lust to take over.

THEY DRIVE AND COMPEL US.

"For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness."Luke 8:29
One of the great characteristics of demon activity is this ability to drive and compel people. Some people find they are doing things which they hate and despite the best endeavours on their part they still are unable to give up certain habits. For example the habits of masturbation or addiction to smoking, or alcohol, or similar unclean habits where the person feels compelled to do these things, even contrary to his own will, can be evidence of demon activity.

Lust is a particularly good example of this, where men or women lust after other people's bodies, despite the fact that within them their own conscience is saying that it is wrong. Something seems to take them over in those circumstances. Similarly, demons of murder and assault are often present and we find people who have committed such crimes saying afterwards that they don't know why they did it. This can often be the result of demon activity.

THEY DEFILE

"To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled." Titus 1:15

I have attended Rock Festivals as a speaker, leading large groups of Christians. We have observed, at these Rock Festivals, where many tens of thousands of people have been gathered in the one area, the defiling of the human body. At one such festival, nearly one-third of the persons present were stark naked and many of them were covering themselves with mud from head to foot.

Others were defiling themselves by bowing down to Buddha's, whilst others lay on the ground stark naked as there was an incantation made by an eastern priest encouraging the demons to enter their bodies. As they did so, the people grunted like pigs. We were told this was a form of spiritual rebirth. At yet another Rock Festival, teenagers were diving through the toilet seats into the excreta and beginning to drown before they were pulled out by their feet. Yes, Satan wants to defile at every level and he will do so at the very first opportunity.

DEMONS CAUSE FRICTION BETWEEN PEOPLE AND FIGHT AGAINST PEACE IN EVERY WAY.

The great characteristic of demon activity is restlessness. Demons fight against a person's inner harmony as well as their peace of mind and physical wellbeing. The result is that people find that their relationships with other people, especially their closest relatives and friends is often in jeopardy. One of the most marked activities of demons is to cause friction between those who should be in harmony, especially husband and wife. Their whole activity is against harmony. We remember that in John 14:27.

Jesus said: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." Similarly, in Matthew 10:13, Jesus referred to the peace which the twelve apostles would bring as they entered households: "If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. The opposite of peace is disharmony, and this is where Satan's kingdom reigns supreme. In the same way, we may find great difficulty in having a harmonious relationship with those around us or in our external circumstances. If we find there is a lack of peace around us, and with those with whom we deal, then this can be a mark of demonic activity. Just watch a person who is always restless.

You will find that there is no peace within them, they are always up and going and can never settle down.

That person, in later life, may manifest such conditions as arthritis, heart attacks or asthma and the like. They can never sit still for more than a few moments and certainly have little time to listen to others. While one cannot be adamant in every case and say that these people are subject to demon activity, there is a very great likelihood that in fact this is their problem. I am indebted to Dr. Derek Prince for his exposition of the psychological and physical aspects of demon activity, and I set them out as follows:

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Persistent or recurrent evil or destructive emotions or attitudes dominate a person even contrary to his own will or nature, e.g., resentment, hatred, fear, envy, jealousy, pride, self-pity, tension, impatience. b. "Moods" ... unreasonable, sudden, extreme fluct uations, e.g., from talkative exhilaration to taciturn depression.

A typical example of such a situation is where we do not know how the person will react to us at a particular time.

One moment they will be all right, but the next moment they will have a reaction which we cannot fathom.

c. Various forms of religious error or bondage, e.g., submission to unscriptural doctrine or prohibitions, unnatural asceticism, refusal to eat normal foods, superstitious observances of all kinds, all forms of idolatry.

d. Resort to charms, fortune telling, astrology, mediums, etc.

e. Enslaving habits, e.g., gluttony, alcohol, nicotine, drugs, sexual immorality or perversion of all kinds, uncontrollable unclean thoughts or looks.

f. Blasphemy, mockery, unclean language.

g. Persistent or violent opposition to the truth of scripture of the work of the Holy Spirit.

PHYSICAL

Unnatural restlessness and talkativeness, muttering.

b. The eyes glazed or unnaturally bright and protruding, or unable to focus naturally.

c. Froth at the mouth, fetid breath. Palpitation or unnaturally exhilarated action of the heart.

e. Shunning, recoiling from, or fighting against the power of the Holy Spirit. In many cases, one of the foregoing symptoms alone would not be conclusive indication of demon presence or activity, but where several of the symptoms are found together, the probability of demon activity is extremely high.

DEMONS SEEK TO OPPRESS US

As we read earlier in Acts 10:38, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power who went about doing good and healing all who were OPPRESSED by the devil, for God was with Him. When people have demons within them they will often oppress people who surround them, besides feeling oppressed themselves. The great desire of demons is to control others. Sometimes when we enter a building, or are with a person and sense an oppression around them. This spirit of oppression will seek to attack us and bring us into bondage. As an example of this, I find that when I have an employee and I am afraid of asking him to do something then that person is no longer of any use to me unless he will repent. In other words, the spirit within him seeks to control me and make me afraid to ask him to do something.

Once a person reaches this point, then he is of little use as an employee unless he repents. Of course, if he will not turn to Jesus Christ and repent, there is little that one can do about the situation. If that person is allowed to continue working for you, then after awhile the spirit within him will increasingly control you because you are afraid to ask the person to do the things you want him to do as an employee. Many times I pray with a person and, although there is no manifestation of the departure of demons, they will suddenly say, "Oh, I feel much lighter!' or, "Something heavy has left me".

Again, when praying for a person who has a demon, we find that sometimes that person becomes very heavy, as though weighed down. It is almost impossible to hold them up because the demon seems to make their body so heavy that the only thing to do is to let them sink to the ground.

I usually prevent this by getting several people to hold the person up and, when the demon leaves, suddenly the person is lighter. We must be able to discern whether a person is really being "slain" by the Holy Spirit or whether a demon is taking that person to the ground in order to hide and give the impression that, in fact, the person has been slain in the Holy Spirit. Oppression can be an actual physical manifestation as well as a spiritual manifestation.

DEMONS OPERATE IN TWO WAYS

(1) From outside of the body. In this case we must resist them: "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

James 4:7 "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." 1 Peter 5:8-9

We must learn to be able to resist the devil. This will come from our knowledge of Jesus Christ, belief in Him, and the authority which He has given us.

1 Peter 5:8 (2) Alternatively, demons can operate within the body, in which case we must expel them: "When evening had come, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. And he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick." Matt.8:16"And he was preaching in their synagogues throughout Galilee, and cast out demons."

Mark 1:39 One way in which I find immediate release in the case of demons within people is to encourage them to breathe in the Holy Spirit and breathe out sharply. If they will do this say four or five times, they will find that the demon has left them as it has been expelled from their body and the Holy Spirit has refilled them.