Sons and Daughters of the Living God
Title: Angels and Demons 2
Subject Matter: Some general information on angels and demons, and some practical information on dealing with demons.
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded December 10, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Angels and Demons
I am writing this post to explain something that is very plain and easy to see in the Bible, but seems to be absent from the understanding of many Christians I come in contact with.
According to the Bible, every Christian has absolute authority over every demon, and the devil himself. And as we will see, this authority is a gift. It is not the result of hard work, study, holy living, devotion, prayer, fasting, or any other religious activity.
We are going to look at some passages from Ephesians 1 and 2. Paul, the writer of Ephesians, explains this authority by first showing us the authority of Jesus, and then showing how that relates to us as believers.
Our first passage comes as part of a very long paragraph, and it is difficult to break into the middle of it, so I am going to quote the whole thing here. Our focus in this passage will be on the later verses.
Ephesians 1:15-21
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
Notice that it says in verses 20 and 21 that Jesus has been seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places. Notice also that this is a position that is far above all “principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”
Paul uses the words “principalities and powers” (and so on) to describe demons and evil spirits. He uses this same terminology later in this same letter when he says this:
Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
So, going back to Ephesians 1:20-21, Paul is showing us that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is far above every evil spirit or demon or fallen angel or any other evil spiritual being that exists.
In a kingdom, being seated at the right hand of the king is the highest position that is available. There is no higher rank than this. And since the the Kingdom of God is the greatest Kingdom, and since there is no authority in existence that is higher than God the Father, then we know that being seated at His right is to be in a place of unmatched authority. Jesus is in this place of authority at the Father’s right hand. Jesus has absolute, unconditional authority over all demons.
Please keep the previous information in mind as we continue reading in Ephesians. And please pay very close attention here. What you are about to read is so amazing that it is almost hard to believe.
I am going to quote the next part of the passage here, and we will skip to the end and work our way back.
Ephesians 1:22-2:6
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
Take a very close look at the last verse above. Ephesians 2:6. I want to show it in several different translations, so that you can see what it is saying.
NET – and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
NIV – And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
NASB – and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
NLT – For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms––all because we are one with Christ Jesus.
NRSV – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
NKJV – and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
God the Father has seated us at His right hand, in the same seat of authority that Jesus occupies (we are WITH Christ and we are also IN Christ). This is a place that is far above every demon, every fallen angel, every evil spirit, and even the devil himself. It is the same seat of authority Jesus occupies, as mentioned in the passage that we looked at earlier. The Bible says that God decided to allow you to share the throne of Jesus. That is astounding!
God has chosen to give us, His beloved children, a level of authority in the spirit realm that is above every other created being.
Also, please notice the tense of the verbs. This is not something that will take place in the future. The verbs are in the past tense. It doesn’t say that we will be seated, it says we have already been seated. This is something that has already happened. We, as followers of Christ, have already been given authority that is far above the enemy.
Take a moment and let this sink in. If you have never seen this before, it make take a while. It is a staggering truth to comprehend. We have absolute, unconditional authority over all demons. We are in a position that is far above them. We are above even the most powerful and highest ranking forces of evil. This explicitly includes principalities, powers, and every name that is named.
To further emphasize this truth, read Ephesians 1:22-23 again. It says “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
All things are under the feet of Jesus. Jesus is the head of the church. The church is His body. The feet are part of the body. All things are under His feet, so all things are under His body…so all things are under the church. The picture that God wants us to see is that every demon is under our feet. We have authority over all demons.
If you believe the Bible, then you need to believe this, because it is in the Bible, and it is true.
It is true whether or not you realize it. It is true whether or not you believe it. Rather, it is true because God said it. When you decide to believe it, that doesn’t make it true. It was true already. But if you will choose to believe it, then you can and will begin enjoying the benefits of it.
Authority over the devil and demons is not something that we should be working towards. It is not a goal or a target. It is a fact that is true right now. It is already so. We don’t have to work for it, it was given to us as a gift. God gave it to us “because of His great love for us” (Eph 2:4), not because of our hard work and holy living.
When you chose to put your faith in Jesus, several things happened. You were declared righteous and holy by God the Father (Romans 5:1). You were spiritually born again (John 3:5-8) into the family of God (John 1:12). You were given citizenship with full rights into the Kingdom of God (Eph 2:19). And you were placed into a seat/position of authority that is higher than every other created being (Eph 2:6).
All of this took place the instant you believed. It was all an act of unmerited goodwill (grace) from your heavenly Father. You did not work to earn any of it. It came as a result of faith in Jesus, “not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8).
It was given as a free gift, totally apart from your own goodness or merit. Like I said before, you did not earn your place with God by working hard, reading your bible, fasting, praying, giving to the poor, or any other good deed. It was all a free gift.
Since it was a free gift, and since you already possess all of these things, then you can be very confident that you do not have to achieve any level of performance in order to maintain any of these things…including your authority.
Your authority over the devil did not come as a reward for your holy lifestyle, and likewise it not be decreased or taken away because of any moral or ethical failures, large or small, that you may experience during your life. Don’t get me wrong…sin is bad, and sin can make things very difficult for you. But remember this: your level of authority over the devil is not related to your ability to avoid sin. You have authority over the enemy, even when you sin.
So never let the enemy lie to you and tell you that you have lost your authority because of something you did. That is just a lie to trick you into becoming an easy target.
If you have any experience working in a job for different managers, supervisors, or company owners, then you can probably identify with what I am about to say. There are some people in a position of authority that can speak and people will listen to them. Then there are other people in a position of authority that can speak and people will ignore them, or disrespect them, or any other variety of responses.
It is possible to have a position of authority…to have authority…but not know how to use it.
You have authority over the devil, but it is not doing you any good if you don’t know how to use it.
In my next post, I plan to spend some time giving some examples of how to use the authority that your Father has given you. But for now, I want to highlight something from the beginning of the first passage I quoted in this article.
Ephesians 1:15-19
15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
The writer is offering a prayer here. Notice that he is not praying for God to pour out His power, or to give the people more authority. He is praying that the people would open their eyes and realize what they already have. We do not need to be praying for more power or more authority. That is actually unbelief….you don’t believe that God gave you what the Bible says that He already gave you. If we want to pray about this subject, we should be praying that God would help us see what He gave us, and train us and help us learn how to use what He has already provided.
So, in closing, I encourage you to pray something like this: Father, I believe that you have given me power and authority to represent you, and to destroy the works of the enemy. Help me understand this. Teach me how to cooperate with you to do your will, and to use this power and authority to bring glory and honor to Jesus. Amen.
“The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his.”
― George S. Patton Jr.
We are citizens of the kingdom of God (Phil 3:20), sons in His family with full rights and privileges (Gal 4:7), ambassadors with authority (2 Cor 5:20, Luke 10:19), and soldiers in His army with supernatural weaponry (2 Cor 10:4).
We are at war. We have an enemy, but our enemy is not a human enemy (Eph 6:12). It is a real enemy, but it is not a visible, physical enemy. It is a spiritual enemy. It is an opposing army that is loosely organized under the leadership of a fallen angel named Satan. He is called the ruler of this world, and he is a renegade criminal dictator (1 John 5:19). He has a kingdom (Luke 11:18) that is called the power of darkness (Col 1:13) that he is seeking to expand. That kingdom is our enemy. I will call that enemy “he” or “him” in this letter, but I am referring to members of that enemy kingdom.
Our enemy has infiltrated our society and culture, our government, and our churches.
The weapons that he uses against us are not missiles, bombs, and bullets (although sometimes those come as a result of his influence on humans). His weapons require our cooperation, our complacency, or our ignorance in order to have any lasting effect on us. They include (but are not limited to):
deception
intimidation
manipulation
enticement and temptation
condemnation
defilement
judgmental, finger-pointing, self-righteous Pharisee-ism
backbiting or gossip
factions
enslavement / bondage to addictions
unbiblical religious tradition
other forms of physical, mental, or emotional problems
Through these weapons, our enemy uses us against each other, and against ourselves….like we are his foolish little puppets. Does this make you angry? It should.
Here is some insight into some of the ways our enemy operates.
He will pound on you with temptation over and over until you give in, and then he will point the finger at you and rub your nose in it. If you don’t give in, he will leave you for while, in search of an easier target. He will likely return to again at a more opportune time. He will tempt you to use your own voice to injure your own wife, family, and friends. He will lay traps to entice you into doing something you will regret. It is still your choice, but the traps can be very deceptive. Then he will lie and tell you that you are the only one, and that God is mad at you, and you are a failure, and all kinds of other crap. He will tempt you to judge other people, or get offended, or criticize someone behind their back, or who knows what else.
But if you don’t cooperate, then power of the enemy is very limited. Our enemies do not have physical bodies, so they can’t come and put you in a headlock and make you do things. You have a choice. You can do something about it. But they have cleverly convinced most people to either blame the “issues” on their past, their parents, God’s will, or God’s mysterious plan or timing. The goal is for us to think that we just have to live with it, or to just try harder with more willpower. This allows the enemy to go around defiling and afflicting people without much retaliation from anyone.
Every now and then, some folks start learning about the weapons of OUR warfare, and start learning to cooperate with God to enforce His will and set people free.
When this kind of thinking begins to break out among the citizens of our Father’s Kingdom, the enemy does not just sit back and watch. One of his counter attacks is to stir up controversy in the body of Christ and have people to stand up and label these soldiers as heretics, or greedy, or crazy, or ignorant, etc. Or they use fear of failure or fear of rejection to keep people sitting on the bench.
Another tactic is to present a false choice. For example, people will say something like “developing your character is more important than miracles.” Or “God is more interested in your heart than in physical healing.” Those are false choices. We don’t have to choose one or the other. We are supposed to “pursue love AND desire spiritual gifts (1 Cor 14:1).” God forgives all our sins AND heals all our diseases (psalm 103:3)
When forced to choose between ethics/morals and the power of the Kingdom of God, I imagine that our enemy would much prefer us to focus our studies on self-improvement rather than power and authority. This puts us in a defensive mindset, and it will limit the scope of our ability to inflict damage on their kingdom. But we don’t have to choose one or the other. We can do both. You can learn to live wisely, AND learn to use the authority and power God has entrusted us with.
The body of Christ is being tricked, robbed, and abused. We should be putting our foot on the devil’s neck. We should be evicting every trespasser. But instead, many Christians look at you like you have two heads when you start to talk about this stuff. There are actually preachers that attack other Christians who are trying to figure out how to use our weapons.
All of this should make you angry. Not angry at yourself, and not angry at any other person. It should make you angry at the father of lies, who is sowing unbelief, legalism, and ignorance in the body of Christ.
We are at war. But it seems to me that most Christians do not understand this. Or if they do, they think that they way to fight this war is to huddle in a corner and pray for our “General” to come and do something.
But our “General” gave us authority and equipment, and then told us to take the fight to the enemy. Yes, the battle is the Lord’s, but He has chosen to fight the battle through you. He has given every believer the right, privilege, authority, and power to destroy the works of the devil in every place that we find him working. And if we aren’t following orders, then we don’t need to blame it on the General when things don’t go the right way. We need to go back and reexamine the orders and the strategy, train, and get back out there and fight again.
The works of the devil are sickness and disease, oppression (spiritual, emotional, mental, physical), and condemnation.
Acts 10:38 “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about DOING GOOD and HEALING ALL WHO WERE OPPRESSED OF THE DEVIL for GOD WAS WITH HIM.”
Our weapons are healing the sick, casting out demons, and preaching the gospel. Set people free from sickness, oppression, and guilt and condemnation. That is how you attack the enemy. That is how you damage their kingdom and take ground. That is how we fight offensively.
That is what our General has equipped us for.
That is His strategy.
That is His will.
Healing is war.
Deliverance is war.
The gospel is the POWER OF GOD.
And as we (every believer) learn to preach the full gospel, with signs following, then we are getting closer to what we are built for.
James 4:7 says “resist the devil and he will FLEE from YOU.” It is your job to MAKE HIM RUN AWAY FROM YOU. You are to make him sorry that he ever messed with you and your family. If you don’t know how, then start learning.
Wars are not won by only playing defense. We are not seeking to merely hold our ground and protect our fort. We are seeking to destroy our enemy and make sure it is known that we are not a group of men that are just going to lie down and take another beating. We do not need to be afraid of the enemy. The enemy needs to be afraid of us.
Title: Taking Every Thought Captive
Subject Matter: Using your God-given authority to overcome temptations
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded October 29, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Taking Every Thought Captive
Title: Our Position of Authority
Subject Matter: A look at the position of authority that God has given to His children in the area of spiritual warfare
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded October 22, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Our Position of Authority
In my previous post, I attempted to answer the question “What are a demons?” In this post, I want to provide at least a partial answer to the question “What can demons do?”
The Bible does not have a chapter that provides a checklist of the abilities of demons. We have to piece this together the various accounts of their activities throughout Scripture. So, that is what I will do now. Here is a partial list of things demons can do, with scripture references attached to them:
It we want to group all of this into a few sentences, we could say something like this: If left unchecked or unopposed, demons can attempt to intimidate, deceive, harass, defile, afflict, tempt, entice, and control.
But before I end this article, I want to make sure that the reader does not go away fearful. Christians NEVER need to be afraid of demons.
The Bible tells us that Christians have overwhelming power and authority to resist, oppose, defeat, rebuke, and expel every demon. We (the believers) have been given power and authority by Jesus to destroy the works of the devil. We get to operate in the authority provided by Jesus. He has all authority (Matthew 28:18) and He has commissioned us to represent Him in His authority.
James 4:7 – Resist the devil and he will flee from YOU
Mark 16:16 – These signs shall follow THOSE THAT BELIEVE, in my name THEY shall cast out demons
Luke 10:19 – Behold, I give YOU authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and over ALL the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt YOU
In my next post in this series, I plan to examine in more detail what the Bible has to say about the authority of the believer.
In the previous article, I showed from the Bible two major facts about Jesus and demons:
So, dealing with demons was important to Jesus, and it it something that Christians need to be equipped for.
But what exactly is a demon?
The Bible does not provide a scientific definition for us. There is not a verse that says “A demon is ____.” But from reading the different accounts of their activity, we can get a good idea of what they are and what kinds of things they can do.
A demon is a non-human, spiritual being. It is an invisible creature that does not have a physical body. Demons are not just mythological beings that exist only as part of primitive superstition. They are real, and it was very important to Jesus that His followers be prepared to deal with them.
Although some demons masquerade as the ghosts of deceased loved ones, demons are not dead people. They are a different class of being. They are not human. You can think of them as sub-human. In this way, they are similar to animals.
However, demons do have abilities that are not always associated with animals. For example, demons talk (Mark 1:23-24), have thoughts and make decisions (Matthew 12:43-44), form strategies (Ephesians 6:11), have emotions (James 2:19), spread doctrines (1 Timothy 4:1), and many other things associated with an “intelligent” life form. Although they have much less power than us, they can sometimes affect humans with results that range from mildly annoying all the way to dangerously life-threatening. They are evil without remorse, and should be treated as such.
Demons can affect people that don’t know how to (or are unwilling to) stand up to them. They operate through deception and intimidation, and from the accounts we have in the Bible, they seem to be very concerned with territory and authority. In this way, they are like bullies, or the mafia. They are also attracted to sin and garbage. In this way they are like vultures or flies. They have an intense desire to be attached to a human host, like parasites. And they operate largely through deception, like spies conducting espionage.
Scripture uses several different terms that refer to demons, and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. The three main terms are:
All three of these terms refer to the same thing. A demon is the same thing as an unclean spirit, or an evil spirit.
There are also many different “types” of demons mentioned in the Bible. Here is a partial list:
While it is clear from the Bible that there is some sort of “ranking” system among demons, there is not a lot of detail given about the hierarchy. What we do see, even with limited detail, is that some demons are stronger or more influential than others. I have seen this in my own personal experience. When I am casting demons out of an afflicted person, sometimes the person is set free in just seconds. Other times it is more of a battle. But never forget that even the strongest, highest ranking demon is no match for the Holy Spirit who lives inside of every Christian (1 John 4:4). Demons are nothing to be afraid of.
Dealing with demons is not a game, and is not something to be taken lightly. But on the other hand, there is no need to be afraid or worried either. It is like termites. We are not afraid of them, but we also do not take them lightly because of the effect they can have if we ignore them or assume that they are harmless.
Before I end this article, I want to take a moment to address something. I have heard on more than one occasion from various speakers that there are certain ranks of demons that Christians do not have authority over. The teaching usually says that we are not supposed to come against those kinds of demons unless the Lord gives us a specific instruction and a special empowerment beyond what we normally have.
However, according to Ephesians 1:20-21, every demon is far below the feet of Jesus. And also according to Ephesians 2:6 every believer is also seated with Christ, far above every demon. So, every demon (including principalities and rulers and etc) is FAR BELOW the feet of every single believer.
When Jesus gives his representatives authority to drive out demons, he does not put qualifications or exceptions on it. Christians outrank demons, period. That is a Biblical fact. The weakest, newest, most immature believer outranks the even the strongest demon, by a large margin. And while the Christian may not be aware of this authority, or may not know how to use it, his actual rank is not affected by his knowledge or maturity level. Christians have been given authority over all demons without any qualification.
Luke 10:19 – Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
If you are new to this subject, then your first step is to accept these two facts: demons are real, and Christians have authority over them.
Jesus spent a considerable amount of His time on earth dealing with demons (aka evil spirits, unclean spirits, etc). This was one of His main activities. It was also one of the things that really drew people to him. Take a look at these passages.
Matthew 8:16
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,Mark 1:34
Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew HimMark 1:39
39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.Mark 3:11
And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”Luke 4:36
Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”Luke 6:17-18
And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.Luke 7:21
And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.
Preaching, teaching, healing the sick, and casting out demons. That’s what you would see if you went to see Jesus in action. He would preach the Kingdom of God, and then demonstrate it with displays of supernatural power. Or, He would do it in reverse order. He would exercise supernatural power over sickness and demons, and then He would preach and teach.
That is what the ministry of Jesus looked like. Casting out demons was a big part of it. It was one his three main areas of focus (with healing and preaching/teaching being the other two).
Also, we know from scripture that it was important to him that his representatives do this also as a regular part of their activities.
We can see it when he sent out the 12 (his first group of representatives):
Luke 9:1 – Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
We can also see it when he sent out the 70 (his second group of representatives):
Luke 10:1 – After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go….
Luke 10:17-19 – Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you…”
Also, at the great commission, this is the first thing Jesus mentioned when he was describing the signs that “shall follow them that believe”:
Mark 16:17 – And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues…
When Jesus prepared people and sent them out to represent Him, casting out demons was part of the program. This is because He loves people, and wants them to be free from the influence of evil spirits, just like He wants people to be saved and healed.
As the Bible narrative continues in the book of Acts, you can see His followers dealing with demons as part of what they did. This wasn’t just something that happened during the ministry of Jesus before He died on the cross. It continued, just like healing and preaching/teaching continued. Those are the three main activities that followers of Jesus are supposed to be equipped for. That is our mission as Christians. We are supposed to doing the works that Jesus did (John 14:12) which means healing the sick, casting out demons, and preaching the gospel.
When teaching people about the different parts of the Christian walk, we should include training on dealing with demons. It should be a major area of focus, since it will be a regular part of our activities. There aren’t any less demons in the world now than there were 2000 years ago. And a representative of Jesus should be able (at least to some degree) to recognize demonic activity, to exercise authority over demons, and to drive them out of anyone that is being oppressed. This is a balanced, proper, and Biblical perspective.
Title: Jesus and the Holy Spirit
Subject Matter: A look at the interaction between the Holy Spirit and Jesus, and what this means for us
Speaker: Neal Leazer
Recorded May 21, 2014 at Spirit Filled Living – a local church in Apex, NC
You can download the audio by right-clicking on the following link: Jesus and the Holy Spirit