Authors: Praying Medic
I shared these stories to illustrate one thing: demons are real and the more you become involved with them, the more they become involved with you. I never imagined how savagely they can attack us. Contrary to what you may have heard, they can attack Christians. They come in many different varieties and they have different abilities and areas of specialization. Many of us have been taught that the only way a demon can interact with a human is for it to “possess” our body and assume control over us. While violent demonic possession has been popularized in movies and books, the truth about demons and how they operate is far subtler.
Contrary to popular belief, demons rarely take complete control of an individual. The English Bible descriptions of individuals who were “possessed” by demons are a mistranslation. The term “demon-possessed” isn’t found in the Greek text of the New Testament. Instead, three other terms are used. Some passages say “to have a demon.” Others say, “to be in a demon.” The most common term used is “demonized.” These terms mean essentially the same thing and are used interchangeably in the account of the man with the demon named “Legion” (see Mt. 8:28-34; Mk. 5:1-20; Lk. 8:26-39). None of these terms indicate total ownership or control of an individual. They simply mean that the person is in some way affected by a demon.
All the examples from the Bible involving demonic attack describe people harassed in some way but not completely overpowered or controlled. The single exception is the case of “Legion.” This is because it takes many demons to completely possess a human. Demons have limited abilities and one demon alone can only attack its host in a particular area. If you examine both Old and New Testament cases of demonization, you’ll find that when only one demon is mentioned, the person under its influence is not completely controlled by it.
In the account of the boy with seizures that the disciples couldn’t cure, Jesus made an interesting comment about the nature of demons. When the disciples were not able to heal the boy they asked why:
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, ’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. ”
MT. 17:19-21
Jesus said the kind of demon they encountered did not come out except by prayer and fasting, implying that there are different types of demons. Some teachers dispute this, saying that when Jesus said “this kind” He wasn’t referring to “kinds” of demons, but rather the “kind” of unbelief the disciples had.
In this verse, the word that is translated “kind” is the Greek word
genos
from which we get the English word “genealogy.” This word describes differentiation between related varieties of living beings – specifically between families, races, tribes or nations. It is unreasonable to think that Jesus was describing different families or races of unbelief. He must have meant that there are different families or races of demons and the one they encountered was somehow different.
If you’re curious to know how this demon was different from others, consider this: Mark’s account mentions that the demon caused the boy to be deaf and mute. Matthew notes that it caused him to have seizures. Both accounts mention only one spirit. This is the only spirit mentioned in the Bible that caused more than one type of physical affliction. It was indeed a different type of spirit (compare Mt. 17:15 and Mk. 9:25).
When a spirit creates an effect on a physical body, such as trembling, muscle twitching, convulsions or vomiting it is called a
manifestation.
As demons are revealed, it’s not unusual for them to manifest in bizarre ways. Some people report sensations of pain moving to different parts of their body before a spirit leaves them. When a demon manifests, it can make the person shake violently or make their arm or leg bend in unnatural ways. It is not unusual for people going through deliverance to vomit a slimy substance. Demons will often speak through the person they inhabit. The individuals often report that these experiences are like being a back-seat passenger in their own car.
On a trip to Australia, I was praying with a woman who wanted to be healed of diabetes. Shortly after I began praying, she reported pain that she didn’t have before. The pain was in her back, near her left shoulder blade. I commanded the spirit of pain to leave and the pain moved higher in her back, near the top of her shoulder. I explained to the group that the spirit was moving around in an attempt to confuse and frighten her. A few more people joined us in prayer. We commanded the spirit to leave. It moved to her other shoulder and the pain became worse. We continued commanding the spirit to leave and eventually, it departed. This same woman had just prayed for someone else who had received a remarkable healing of back pain and muscle damage to her leg. And all the while, she had a demon herself and didn’t know it.
When praying with someone, if they suddenly experience pain they didn’t have before, or if a present sensation of pain moves to another part of the body or becomes worse, it’s a sure sign that an evil spirit is manifesting. Demons sometimes manifest to frighten their host. If the demon can create enough fear in the mind of its host they may ask you to stop praying for them, thinking you’re only making things worse. My advice in these cases is to tell them there is a spirit present and the increased pain is a tactic it’s using to frighten them. Ask if you may continue and reassure them it will eventually leave.
Sometimes demonic manifestation can become so bizarre that it causes problems. There are two schools of thought on this. One belief was popularized by the Pentecostal church. It teaches that when we allow demons to manifest or speak, we give them an opportunity to draw attention to themselves and this is undesirable. The thinking is that we don’t want to give the enemy a platform to speak from. For this reason, many people teach that you should not allow demons to manifest or speak and when they do – the manifestations should be ignored.
The other school of thought is that demonic manifestations can help the process of deliverance. One problem with deliverance is that many people refuse to believe they have a demon. One way to convince them is to command the demon to manifest. When the person experiences uncontrollable movements of their body, they quickly realize that their demonic problem is real and they’re more likely to cooperate with the process of removing them. Another reason to consider having a demon manifest is to verify whether one is still present or not.
Many people who operate in deliverance work under the assumption that a demon has left simply because they told it to leave. They believe that demons must leave because of their authority, but they never bother to find out if a demon is still there after commanding it to leave. Many times the person who was “delivered” continues experiencing the same symptoms after their “deliverance,” because the demon never left. One way to verify the presence of a demon is to command it to manifest after you think it has been removed. If the person still exhibits signs that the demon is present, you’ll need to continue the process until it no longer manifests when you command it to.
God’s creativity is seen in all of nature. No two snowflakes are identical, and no two people are exactly alike. The same is true for demons. They are unique and they all have certain weaknesses, strengths and abilities. Each demon is a specialist in one or more areas, bringing its own brand of affliction to man. This differentiation or specialization is what Jesus was referring to in the passage we discussed earlier in the chapter. Some demons specialize in physical affliction, as with the woman who had been crippled by a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years (see Lk. 13:11), or the deaf and dumb spirit that also caused seizures, which we just mentioned.
Some demons specialize in emotional trauma, like the spirit that terrorized King Saul with what might be diagnosed today as anxiety attacks (see 1 Sam. 18:10).
Some specialize in divination, as was the case with the spirit Paul cast from the woman who followed him for many days (see Acts 16:17-18).
James and John became influenced by an evil spirit when they suggested they should call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritan city that did not receive Jesus. Hearing their idea, Jesus rebuked them, saying,
“You do not know what spirit you are of”
(see Lk. 9:54-55). The Lord told them they had become influenced by an evil spirit, which planted this idea in their minds. When we look at the words Jesus used when referring to the way the spirit influenced James and John, the phrase that is translated “are of” is the Greek word
este
which could better be translated “belong to.” The phrase “belong to” carries the connotation that one thing has taken possession of another. Jesus said His disciples “belonged to” or were speaking under the influence of this demon, even if it was only momentarily.
Another example of demonic influence of a disciple of Jesus is found in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew. Jesus asked the disciples,
“Whom do men say that I am?”
Peter confessed that He was the Messiah – the Son of God. Jesus commended him saying that His Father had revealed this truth to him (see Mt. 16:16). Later, Jesus began to teach that He would be handed over to the Jews, killed and raised on the third day. Peter rebuked Him, saying these things could never happen. Jesus said:
“Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men”
(see Mt. 16:22-23).
Why did Jesus refer to Peter as Satan? Because Peter, like James and John, had briefly come under the influence of an evil spirit. Jesus was speaking to the evil spirit behind Peter’s words. If you don’t believe that disciples of Jesus can have demons, here are examples of three disciples who did and they were the three that Jesus trusted most.
As we’ve seen with other accounts of demonic attack, the evil spirits did not exert complete control over them, but only influenced them in its area of specialty. Each of these people remained in control of their mental faculties, apart from the demon’s area of specialization. Though Saul suffered anxiety, he had no physical ailments. The woman, who was physically crippled by a demon, had no mental or emotional infirmity. Peter, James and John did not manifest demonic activity or physical illness, neither did the woman with the spirit of divination. Each retained their own identity and did not exhibit signs of complete control by the evil spirit.
The man with “Legion” was a different story. He had lost control of both his mind and body. He was unable to dress himself and couldn’t control his own actions, even when put in chains. He mutilated is own body (see Mk. 5:5). He wandered into the wilderness and refused the company of family and friends. When he was asked his name, he couldn’t recall it. He took on the identity of the demons that had overpowered him, calling himself “Legion.”
As to whether believers can be possessed or harassed by demons, as we’ve just seen, even Peter, James and John were subject to demonic influence. Jesus himself was attacked and harassed a number of times by Satan. It is unbiblical to believe that anyone is immune from demonic attack. The real issue isn’t whether Christians can be influenced or demonized by evil spirits. There is ample evidence from scripture to suggest that we can. The real question is to what degree we can be influenced by them and how does it happen?
Demons gain access to us through attitudes that reside in our hearts. The apostle Paul warned believers in Ephesus not to allow Satan to use their anger against them, because it provided an opportunity for the enemy:
Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
EPH. 4:26-27 NIV
In this passage Paul equates anger with a place of opportunity where the enemy can gain control over our lives. Paul’s point that anger provides a foothold for the enemy is illustrated in the case of James and John. The demon that influenced them was able to do so because they became angry at the Samaritans. When we allow anger or other ungodly emotions and attitudes to linger in our hearts, they provide opportunities for the enemy to gain control over us.
If demons enter our lives through footholds, they see us as a kind of home. We need to understand not just how they enter our lives, but how they operate once they arrive and how they are removed. Let’s look at what Jesus taught about this in Luke chapter 11:
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder... When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, I will return to my house from which I came. ’ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there... ”
LK. 11:21-22, 24-26 NASB
Jesus likened an evil spirit to a strongman who is armored and keeps his home. He went on to say that when one who is
stronger
comes (a representative of God’s kingdom) he removes the demon’s armor and evicts the demon from the place he calls home. He said that once removed, the demon may return later if its home remains intact.
There is a widely taught doctrine concerning this passage that needs to be de-bunked. I was taught that whenever a person is delivered from a demon, they need to be filled with the Holy Spirit immediately, because if they aren’t, the demon will return. This sounds logical, and the idea of demons returning is certainly illustrated in this passage, but if you look closely, there is no suggestion that the presence of the