Dealing with Demons in Grace

The threat from Satan and his demons is much more pervasive than imagined.  As the author of sin, Satan has set up a Cosmic System that is virtually impregnable apart from the Grace of God.  Although Christians have a choice about personal sins, they don't have a choice about sin in general.  They are born into it, and Satan, the master of deceit, has access to the believer with or without permission.  Demons have infiltrated every area of life, including the local church.  The only hope for dealing with Satan and his demons is the Grace of God.

Demons Everywhere
Sin in Human History
The Cosmic System
Demon Attacks
The Grace Solution
Fallacies about Satan and Demons
Do's and Don'ts
Dream Attacks
Purpose of Demon Attacks

Demons Everywhere

There is only one approach to understanding anything in this life, whether it is sin, Satan, demons, or God.  That is the Grace of God.  God must reveal the truth, and God must solve the problem.  Grace is the free gift of God.  It requires no work on man's part.  The Church Age is the Age of Grace.  God gave us the completed canon of scripture so that He can fulfill it in Grace.  Church Age doctrine is found in the 21 epistles to the Church.  Anyone who doesn't believe that is apostate.

The epistles do not teach the casting out of demons.  When a demon attacked, the Apostle Paul was helpless to stop him.  The Lord answered Paul's prayer and told him to use Grace (Ref. Paul's Thorn in the Flesh, 2 Cor 12:7-9).  Is that difficult?  So, why do the impostors run around today claiming to cast out demons?  The answer is that they themselves are full of the devil.  Casting out demons is a Satanic trick.  It has been used throughout history by witches to replace undesirable demons with more tolerable ones.  Some demons have vicious traits.  So the witches and wizards sought to replace them.

Sin in Human History

The necessity for Grace arises from the nature of a world of sin.  Satan was a master genius and highest ranking archangel of God until he sinned.  Satan wanted to "be like the Most High."  He wanted to sit on the Throne of God and take the place of Jesus Christ as the Lord of Creation.  Satan convinced a third of the Elect Angels to follow him.  God gave Satan and the fallen angels an opportunity to repent, but they rejected God's solution.  Therefore, God found them guilty and sentenced them to the Lake of Fire.  However, Satan appealed the sentence, and God granted the Appeal Trial.  Human history, beginning in the Garden of Eden, is the Appeal Trial.

God created two witnesses, a man and a woman, and placed them in the Garden of Eden.  The man and woman were perfect and without sin.  They had a body, soul, and spirit.  They had fellowship with God, like the angels, and were God's witnesses for the Appeal Trial.  They were given a test to see it they would sin.  They were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil, for in the day they ate of it, dying they would die.  They enjoyed a wonderful life in perfect environment.  However, when Satan was allowed to cross examine the witnesses, he convinced the woman to sin.  The woman ate the forbidden fruit, and gave it to her husband, and he ate.

After eating the forbidden fruit man died spiritually, and he would eventually die physically just as God had decreed.  Adam lost the rulership of the world, and Satan took over.  Satan was the author of sin.  After the Fall, Satan ruled the world through his Cosmic System.  Satan lived in sin, and man lived in sin.  God cannot have fellowship with sin.  God is Holy and Righteous, and His perfect Justice must condemn sin.  The Lord gave the man and woman in the Garden a choice.  They could accept His solution and He would pay for their sins, or they could reject His solution and be sentenced to the Lake of Fire.  They chose to believe in Jesus Christ and were saved.  However, they still had sin in their bodies and would eventually die physically.

This set the stage for the rest of human history.  Satan ruled the world in sin.  Man with sin in his body was subject to Satan.  However, man's sins would be forgiven by faith in Jesus Christ, who paid for the sins.  God would protect man through His Grace from Satan.  However, Satan would be allowed to cross examine the witnesses.

There's a moral to the story.  Man was created to be a witness in the Appeal Trial.  As a created being, man cannot choose his destiny.  He can choose some things.  He can choose to sin, but there are limits to his choices.  He cannot choose to be free from Satan.  That is God's decision.  God can limit Satan's access to man but not prohibit it.  Satan is allowed to cross examine the witnesses.  That happened to Job. It happened to Daniel in the lion's den.  It happened to the humanity of Christ when He was on Earth.  And it will happen to you.  So, count it all joy, brother!

The Cosmic System

Satan rules the world through his Cosmic System.  The Cosmic System includes millions of demons organized under Satan to rule the world.  Through his policy of lies and deceit, Satan and his demons have infiltrated every aspect of life on Earth.  Satan is engaged in the grand plan of altering human history to destroy Israel and usher in a false millennium to prevent the Lord's return to fulfill the unconditional covenants to Israel.

However, on a personal level, Satan and his demons have access to humans with or without permission.  How so?  The human body has an Old Sin Nature.  Every cell of the body is contaminated with the sin of Adam.  The Old Sin Nature in the body has an affinity to sin in the Cosmic System.  Demons can attack the body just as the demon attacked Paul's body without his permission.  Only the Grace of God can prevent a demon from having access to a human body.  The skin is not a barrier to keep demons out.

The illusion that people have is that their body is their own.  That is wrong!  God created the body, and He decides what happens to it.  At birth, He imputes to the body the sin of Adam and judges it with real spiritual death.  The body is full of sin just as the Cosmic System is full of sin.  The popular theology teaches that man must choose to sin.  Whereas, it is true that personal sins are a matter of choice, the human body is open to attack from the Cosmic System without a person's permission.  So, suffice it to say that everyone is vulnerable to demon attack and influence from the Cosmic System.

Demon Attacks

Demon attacks may come from Cosmic, Political, and Ecumenical Babylon.  The attacks fall into three categories due to the Justice of God, who rules over all Creation.  Attacks from Cosmic Babylon are associated with the head.  Attacks from Political Babylon are associated with the body, and attacks from Ecumenical Babylon are associated with the feet and legs.

The demon attacks on each area of the body will cause various symptoms and discomfort to indicate an outside attack. For example, an attack on the head may cause breathing or sinus trouble.  An attack on the body may be like a thorn or pin pricking or an attempt at sensual manipulation.  A sudden drop in temperature is also the sign of such an attack.  Attacks on the feet or legs may cause weakness or tingling like the leg going to sleep.

The recognition of the demon attack from Cosmic, Political, or Ecumenical Babylon is a clue that can be used to correlate the demon attack with some other issue in the life.  The issue may be in the past or future.  It may indicate false beliefs or weaknesses that need to be strengthened.  Although the demon attacks are not welcome, they are often inadvertently invited.  For example, a demon attack of sensuality may result from harboring an illicit lust.  Demons exploit personal weaknesses.  They don't generally attack a person's strong points.

The demon attack upon the head is the most complicated.  It begins with God's Judgment.  God decides to punish the person by allowing a demon to have access. The Lord protected Job with a hedge of security until He decided to open the security gate and allow Satan access (Job 1:10).  God's Judgment of the head produces Scar Tissue of the Soul, which blocks out divine Light and allows garbage in the subconscious to come out and cause problems.  The person does not know what is in his subconscious; so, he is oblivious to the cause of these problems.  The Scar Tissue of the Soul also leaves the person with illusions and subjectivity.  The combination of Scar Tissue of the Soul and garbage in the subconscious leads to cosmic desires, which is an affinity to the Cosmic System from the Old Sin Nature.  This is like a vacuum in the soul that sucks in the Cosmic System.  Next, Satan sees the opening and attacks as the Evil King, who may be a demon sent by Satan.  The demon can exploit the opening to implant thoughts, illusions, or feelings.  Once the demon has access to the soul, he has power over any part of the body, as well as the power to produce all manner of psychosomatic pains.  The stress can cause a headache or the pressure on the brain stem can cause loss of breath and a choking sensation.  This is one explanation for asthma.

The Grace Solution

The only hope for man is the Grace of God.  Satan has set up a Cosmic System that is virtually impregnable.  Fortunately, God has a better system than Satan.  God's solution to man's problems in the midst of the devil's world is Grace.  God will  provide help in Grace for every trial and exigency of life.  The Grace-oriented believer need not fear or be intimidated by Satan and his demons.  "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom 8:31).  He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5).  And no matter how difficult the test, God will not allow us to be tested beyond what we are able (1 Cor 10:13).

Grace begins at Salvation.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that (salvation) is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God! 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

If a person sins after Salvation, the Grace recovery procedure is to acknowledge the sins to God (1 Jn 1:9).  The recovery procedure, called Rebound, restores the Filling of the Holy Spirit and fellowship with God.  The believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit is free to respond to God through Grace.  This is called Grace orientation.  Grace orientation means responding to God's Grace.  God is not impressed with anything we can do.  In Grace, He does the work.  Only His solution will be effective against demon attacks.

Through Grace, God reveals the truth to the believer so that he is not blind-sided by a demon.  When a demon attacks a believer, God, in His Grace, reveals all the necessary details about the attack so that the doctrinal believer can understand the spiritual issues and take appropriate action.  For example, the demon attack may have been due to association with an apostate who was under the influence of the demon.  It might be noticed that the demon attack followed or preceded association with that person.  And the location of the demon attack on the body provides another clue as to whether it came from Cosmic, Political, or Ecumenical Babylon.  The Evil King attacks the head, and the Prostitute of Babylon attacks the body.  In the Sovereign Design of God, the pertinent clues will be revealed to the believer who has discernment.

Rebound and the Filling of the Holy Spirit are effective against personal sins, but they will not stop a demon attack.  During an attack, the believer should resist from a position of Grace.

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

So that is the solution to demon attacks per Church Age doctrine.  The believer must be on the lookout to spot the attack in order to deal with it.  He may not have the Spiritual strength at first to withstand the attack.  He is told to "be sober" (1 Pet 5:8), which means operate in Spiritual Self-Esteem.  The believer with Spiritual Self-Esteem will have the strength and confidence to handle the attack.  Immature believers who are under demon attack need to get under the ministry of a Grace-oriented pastor so they can grow Spiritually until they are strong enough to resist the demon.

Fallacies about Satan and Demons

Much of what passes as Christianity is actually the work of Satan.  Those who attempt to cast out demons in the Church Age are themselves false teachers who are under Satan's power.  The practice of exorcism is also a Satanic ritual of Beelzebub.  Satan uses the trick to take over people.  For example, a demon causes an illness, and a person with the power of a stronger demon casts out the first demon, which cures the illness.  This may be practiced by pastors or priests of Satan, like wizards and witches.

Demon attacks are also associated with the cults.  Demons empower the Evil King and Prostitute of Babylon.  The Prostitute of Babylon engaged in ritual copulation with the demon god, Tammuz, at the temple in Babylon.  Furthermore, the idolatry of the ancient world, such as the worship of Baal by the Canaanites, included fornication under demon influence.  Demons participated in ritual prostitution.  Today, Satan and his demons still tempt people to fornicate (1 Corinthians 7:5).  Demons still participate in illicit sex, although they cannot procreate as they could before the Flood.  And the Prostitute of Babylon as symbolized by Jezebel is still active in the Church Age.  People who come under the influence of the Prostitute of Babylon may also be attacked by the demons associated with the Prostitute.  God sends the demons just as He did to the Apostle Paul, to Saul, and to Job.  These demons, which often originate from Beelzebub, may be called the Thorn in the Flesh, "evil spirit from the LORD" (1 Samuel 16:14-15), "the terrors of God" (Job 6:4), Tammuz, the entity, incubus, succubus, Ashtoreth (1 Kings 11:5), Lilith (Isaiah 34:14), UFO mantis type demons, or the Old Hag (Shakespeare).  Note, angels and demons do not have gender.  There are no female angels.  Lilith only appears as a female.

The pentecostal apostates who claim to have the power to cast out demons today are not only confused.  They are under Satan's power themselves.  They are not Grace oriented.  The power to cast out demons was a temporary gift that was given to some disciples and apostles of Christ before the completion of the canon of scripture.  Those who plead the blood are sadly confused.  There is no power in the literal blood of Christ.  He did not bleed to death on the Cross.  The "Blood of Christ" is a metaphor for His substitutionary spiritual death for the sins of the world.  Prayer will not work.  It didn't work for Paul.  The "anointing with oil" recommended by James (James 5:14) was part of a Jewish exorcism procedure used during the precanon period.  It is no longer applicable in the Church Age.

Although Satan and his demons have far more influence and may cause more diseases than we realize, another fallacy is giving them too much credit.  Those who are quick to say, "The devil made me do it," are often simply the victims of their own subjectivity and full of excuses.

Among Satan's best supporters today are the anti-Semitic unbelievers and Christians who are not Grace oriented.  None of the major Christian denominations are Grace oriented.  They don't even teach how to receive the Filling of the Holy Spirit.  Who gives them their doctrine and who teaches them?  Obviously Satan is their teacher and the source of their apostasy.

Do's and Don'ts

1. Don't be afraid.  Those who can be frightened have already lost.
2. Don't react.  Those who react with self-righteousness or anger have already lost.
3. Resist.  Don't submit to the demon's demands.  Don't negotiate.
4. Don't attack.  Demon warfare must be defensive.  "The battle is the LORD's!"
5. Don't believe the demon's lies.
6. Don't take the bait.
7. Don't talk to the demon, except in some rare cases.  Don't order him around.  Don't lecture him.
8. Don't fall under the demon's spell.  Wiggle or squirm to break the demon's power.
9. Do turn to God immediately.
10. Do reflect on the scene in light of God's Sovereign Design.
11. Recall the promises of scripture.
12. Don't assume there is only one demon involved.  There may be many hidden behind the first one.
13. Don't feed the demon's ego.  He wants attention.  Taking pictures or talking about him only emboldens him.

The procedure for handling a demon attack is not designed to remove the demon.  Following the procedure precisely will not necessarily remove the demon.  The procedure is the Grace approach for dealing with the problem.  The demon is not the problem.  The demon is punishment for the weak person.  Withstanding the demon attack and learning from it will enable the Christian to mature and overcome the problem.  This is not a short term fix, but a long-term solution.

Dream Attacks

There is a great debate between the psychiatrists, who contend that the dream images are purely imaginary (just dreams), and the paranormal investigators, who believe they are associated with spirits.  The truth is in the middle.  Demons can, and do, cause dreams.  Yet, a person who is dreaming is dreaming.  Both, the demon activity and the person's dreams have a common thread that is linked to the person's life.  Events on the Stage of Life are both physical and spiritual (divine or demonic).  So, God allows both demons and dreams to help the person fully understand issues in the Angelic Conflict.

Satan sends the demons to attack, but God allows it.  God has both demon attacks and dreams specified in His Sovereign Design for every person.  Both the hypnagogic demon attacks and dreams can be understood from the perspective of God's Sovereignty.  The demon attacks are often related to previous contacts on the Stage of Life, and the dreams are associated with personal problems.  Divine viewpoint can be used to understand both the demon attacks and the dreams.  When they are exposed by the Light of divine viewpoint, they will cease to be a problem.

Purpose of Demon Attacks

Once Satan and his demons get permission from God to attack, they are full of spite and all too ready to practice their deceit, magic tricks, and malicious spite.  They are full of sin and evil and are ready to practice it.  However, pestering a stupid believer doesn't do that much to further Satan's grand plan of conquering the world and ushering in a false millennium.  To do that he has to neutralize the Church and annihilate the Jews.  His two main thrusts are from the Evil King to kill his enemies and the Prostitute of Babylon to promise peace, peace, when there is no peace.

So, there is no demon attack that catches God by surprise.  He knows all, and knew it in Eternity past.  Therefore, the Grace Plan of God is sufficient to handle all attacks of Satan and his demons.  God is on top of the situation.  No demon attack occurs without being exposed and Judged by God in Grace.  He does not leave the believer defenseless, and He is not unjust.  He gives everyone a fair shake, even the unbeliever.  He will never leave nor forsake us, and His Grace is sufficient to handle anything that Satan can try.