Q58. The Demonic

[LadyP]

Q1. (Ephesians 6:11-13) Why is it difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day? How does their existence help explain the struggle humans face on earth? With all their power, how do we stand a chance? Did "the devil make me do it"? What kinds of things can't we blame on the demonic?

1. Why is it difficult to believe in the devil amd demomns in our day?

I think it is difficult to believe because to our generation, if you can't see it then it is not real or there. That is why some of us or non-believers to the knowledge of the word of Christ.

2. How does their existence help explain the struggle humans face on earth?

It explains it from the everyday struggles we go through. The stumbling blocks that come our way daily causing us to give in to our wants comes from the demons and devils. That is their job to keep us from our inheritance.

3. With all their powers, how do we stand a chance?

No matter how many or how strong their powers are, God is the ultimate and strongest power there is; no one can over power our God.

4. Did the devil make me do it?

No,we all have a choice and when you are a Christian you know what your journey is and which way to go. So to me the devil can't make you do anything unless you are caught in a very weak pity pat moment, you may take that road just to stop hurting for a minute because it sure will not last.

5. What kind of thiings can we blame on demonic?

We can blame refusal to be obedient to the Lord, Holy spirit when he is speaking to us, directing us and we turn the other way. We must follow the Lord in all that we do.

[Jubilee]

Q1. (Ephesians 6:11-13) Why is it difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day? How does their existence help explain the struggle humans face on earth? With all their power, how do we stand a chance? Did "the devil make me do it"? What kinds of things can't we blame on the demonic?

It is difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day and age because the god of this world, Satan, has blindfolded the minds of people to come to know the truth. People are perishing because they are ignorant of God's Word which leads to eternal life.

Sickness, disease, poverty, and wars are all consequences of the fall and their existence help us explain the struggle humans face on earth.

The only influence Satan has on us is the power we give him. We stand a chance to resist him and he will flee from us or we open the door for him to kill, steal, and destroy our lives. The choice is ours.

The "devil make me do it" is one of his liars. We need to know that the devil is a defeated foe. He has no power and authority over us. He comes to tempt us but we have the power and authority to resist him and he will flee from us.

We can not blame the devil for making wrong choices in life, not able to follow God's plans for our lives, temptations, of the flesh. He who is in us is greater than who is outside us.

[Jubilee]

Q1. (Ephesians 6:11-13) Why is it difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day? How does their existence help explain the struggle humans face on earth? With all their power, how do we stand a chance? Did "the devil make me do it"? What kinds of things can't we blame on the demonic?

It is difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day and age because the god of thgis world, Satan, has blindfolded the minds of people to come to know the truth. People are perishing because they are ignorant of God's Word which leads to eternal life.

Sickness, disease, poverty, and wars are all consequences of the fall and their existence help us explain the struggle humans face on earth.

The only influence Satan has on us is the power we give him. We stand a chance to resist him and he will flee from us or we open the door for him to kill, steal, and destroy our lives, The choice is ours.

The "devil make me do it" is one of his liars. We need to know that the devil is a defeated foe. He has no power and authority over us. He comes to tempt us but we have the power and authority to resist him and he will flee from us.

We can not blame the devil for making wrong choices in life, not able to follow God's plans for our lives, temptations of the flesh. He who is in us is greater than who is outside us.

[wifee]

1a) In our scientific culture,people want to identify all things,can see planets in space, but the world has no physical measures for right/wrong actions,love etc Satan dulls our spiritual senses, conscience, no measurement for spiritual beings,in the world, faith is yardstick.

b)Without Christ at mercy of our temptations and their consequences.In Christ have power God’s Spirit, prompting us, renewing our mind with his Word,as He comforts,instructs,disciplines &helps us change lifestyle to live for Him.

C)Satan in all his disguises is powerful, but Jesus broke hold powerof satan on us on the cross, we have the victory now as co-heirs with Christ.d)Devil plays a part in people doing wrong if we allow him,but we can put on the full armour of God,put our trust inJesus & not our own resources &be equipped refuse temptations. E)We cannot blame the demonic, when we deliberately ignore right path&commit wrongs.

[Old Jerry]

I think that one of the reasons that it is difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day is that we don’t hear about them from the pulpit. When we do hear about them then we are ridiculed about it because society doesn’t believe in them.

The reason that their existence help explain the struggle that humans face on earth is that the things that happen just aren’t real for some reason. It would be to explain how a person is so mean and without conscience without the existence of the devil.

With all the power of the evil one our only chance is Jesus. Even Jesus used the scriptures to fend off the evil on in the desert.

I don’t think the devil can make us do anything against our will if we turn to Jesus when the evil one approaches us. I don’t think that any of our actions can be blamed on the demonic power. It is our willingness to do evil that entices us.

[lighthouse2014]

Q1. (Ephesians 6:11-13) Why is it difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day? How does their existence help explain the struggle humans face on earth? With all their power, how do we stand a chance? Did "the devil make me do it"? What kinds of things can't we blame on the demonic?

In our day it is difficult to believe in the devil and demons because we to be a material and scientific world. Perhaps our own sins have deceived our hearts in the fact most do not believe in God so why believe in an evil spirit anyway.

Because of these evil spirits the human race is plagued with all sorts of evil, especially those who do not believe in them. People are easily influenced by them and are not discerning of this influence on society.

The only chance we have as Christians is to stand firm and be strong in the word of the Lord.

The only things we can't blame on the devil are are very actions. The devil plants the desire and once we act upon that desire, it is our sin.      

[JoanG]

People do not believe in things that they can not see. Everyone is taught to think of only the things that are positive. People seem to think that God controls all things and that all things are under his control. Life and death. all natural disasters. They do not see evil in anything. However, I believe that it battles the Holy Spirit in a lot of people. We need to pray to do things the right way. We need to make the right decisions. However, we have a choice to make with every thought, word and action. We can not blame the devil for our actions. We can not blame the for the evil actions that take place in the world. He does not force people to commit sin. He only makes sin look really good and self- satisfying.

[cezhead]

I think it's difficult to believe in demons because so many people are so skeptical.I find it interesting that people don't want to believe in the spiritual realm, but yet they talk about vampires as if they were real. The existence of demons explains much of our troubles because they constantly work to lure us away from God with temptation and appealing to our flesh. We stand a good chance of victory because we have the Holy Spirit living in us. He gives us the power to defeat satan, but we still have to make the choice to say no.

[Karen11]

On 9/15/2006 at 2:01 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q1. (Ephesians 6:11-13) Why is it difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day? How does their existence help explain the struggle humans face on earth? With all their power, how do we stand a chance? Did "the devil make me do it"? What kinds of things can't we blame on the demonic?

I don't know why it's hard for some to believe, I have often thought about that..as with God...The world is full of evil so much hate (devil) but you look around and see the love and beauty  of God.

So many temptations so much pressure of evil, to do wrong.

Staying close to God in his WORD.

Letting evil in to a place it doesn't belong.

[hanks]

Q58. (Ephesians 6:11-13) Why is it difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day? How does their existence help explain the struggle humans face on earth? With all their power, how do we stand a chance? Did "the devil make me do it"? What kinds of things can't we blame on the demonic? 
What we cannot see or touch, or experimentally prove, we find difficult to believe in. The devil and his demons are at their deadliest when they get us to believe that they don’t exist. Though we cannot see them, we are constantly surrounded by these wicked spirit-beings. They also seldom attack openly, preferring to operate in darkness rather than in light. These evil forces of darkness are powerful, wicked and cunning, and it is by underestimating them that we suffer most of our failures and defeats, for they are constantly trying to tempt us into evil deeds and looking for moments of weakness. As Christians we are sealed and protected by the Holy Spirit, and only the power of God can defend and deliver us from the might, the evil, and the craft of Satan. We belong to Jesus, and we have God’s power available to us to drive off these evil forces. We cannot say the devil made me do it – he has not got this power over us to force us to do anything against our wish. With Christ in us, we withstand their attacks and depend on His strength and use every piece of His armour. We are safe and can’t blame them for our moment of weakness. 
 

[hanks]

Q59. (Ephesians 6:13) What is difficult about standing our ground in today's world? In what way can standing our ground be considered victory? Why are the saints in Revelation 12:11 considered victorious over the devil? How did they stand their ground? 
Most people in today’s world do not realize who their actual enemy is. Not realizing that they are to do with evil spiritual forces and that the only way they can face this enemy is with spiritual weapons and not the psychological weapons they use. Our spiritual weapons represent a set of Biblical truths that protects a given area of our Christian walk. Not only does the full armour of God protect us from these evil spiritual forces but it enables us to stand firm. We are able to face the enemy with confidence. Resisting the devil and standing up against him will cause him to flee, and we would have won the battle. With reference to Rev 12:11, the saints claim victory with Christ on the basis of His shed blood that has redeemed them from sin and set them free from Satan's accusations. They stood their ground and overcame the devil and they are able to sing God’s praises day and night in thankfulness for their redemption. 
 

[Bianca]

We live in a world that wants to go by what it sees. It wants to experience and see first and then believe. You also have in some cases Christians that in certain situations that want to see first then believe. But God requires us to walk by faith and not by sight. He requires us to use Godly wisdom but also to walk by faith and not by sight. Well if humans would truly acknowledge that there is a devil that would help explain alot of things to them even their own struggles. Sometimes people can be so blind and just think that is the way they are(their personality) Well I'm just set in my ways mentality and they are not understanding that there is a devil and he can be an influence over your personality if you allow him. Even if you don't believe he exists. We can stand against the devil by putting on the whole armour of God. The devil can't force you to do anything but we can allow his influence to get us to do the wrong thing. So the devil made me do it is really no excuse we can use. So ultimately we have to take responsibility for our own actions even if the devil was behind influencing a situation.

[haar]

Q58. (Ephesians 6:11-13) Why is it difficult to believe in the devil and demons in our day?

There different reasons, I think one is unbelief especially due to the fact that we cannot see the devil and demons.

How does their existence help explain the struggle humans face on earth?

The extend of so many challenges all over the world like conflicts and wars, sickness and diseases, infidelity even in the church etc., is a confirmation of the existence of evil spiritual forces at rampage.

With all their power, how do we stand a chance?

By being in Christ and putting on the full armour of God and standing firm to overcome.

Did "the devil make me do it"? What kinds of things can't we blame on the demonic?

Whatever we willfully yield to such adultery, when the Holy Spirit is prompting us to resist and flee.
 

[Krissi]

The book of Job has always troubled me. Here, we have two protagonists God and Satan, and one supporting character, Job. Job is a helpless man tortured in a cosmic battle from which he cannot extract himself. He has no power. No agency.

What troubles me the most about this story, though, is that God stepped away from Job, leaving him to withstand Satan seemingly alone.

Though Job never denies God, he suffers greatly. God allowed this suffering. Permitted it. One could say God willed for Job to suffer. God also willed the death of his family, animals, his poor health, his poverty, etc.

In a way, Job didn't "stand a chance," as you put it, Pastor Ralph. He stood firm in the storm, dropped anchor and waited it out. He had NO power against Satan and no way of defending himself. Job could not put on the armor of God in order to safely protect himself from Satan's attack. He was vulnerable. If the God of the OT has the same attributes and character as the God of the NT -- which I believe -- then this may explain why some people suffer so much. This answers the question that so many ask, "Why do good people suffer and evil people skate through life?"

I don't particularly like this answer. I fear a God who may choose to abandon me in my weakest times, allowing me to suffer, even die.

A lesser form of this same sort of suffering is " being purified in God's crucible."  Here, God purposely subjects us to suffering so we'll turn to Him in desperation and our faith or character will be strengthened and purified. He "burns off" aspects of our character that are disgusting to Him. God clearly wills, at time, suffering "for our own good." This is the smaller, more life-size version of Job's experience, one that we all experience in life. Again, here, God steps away and allows suffering, but in this case, Satan is not the agent of our suffering ... I think.

--

These verses also bring up the huge problem of human agency within this celestial conflict. Can I -- Kristen -- do good or evil, or am I merely a conduit for God or Satan acts on earth? This is a serious question. If anything good that I do is God working through me, then, logically, anything bad I do is Satan working through me. As an rational, willful agent, I don't exist. Obviously, then, I cannot be responsible for my actions.

This makes the Christ's sacrifice on the cross a moot point. Since Christ came for a reason, to give me a chance in spite of my sin, both in my life and in an eternal perspective, then I must be responsible in some way for both the good and evil I do, think and am. 

The way I deal with this, which I know is wrong, is to discount Satan, taking responsibility for my sin and begging God for help. The converse is not true, however -- I tend to thank God for doing good when I seem to be doing it.  So, I promote God by saying He is responsible for any good I do, and demote Satan, by accepting responsibility for any evil I do. So yes, I have the tendency to discount or even deny Satan because I know I'm in some way responsible for my sin ... which, finally, is an answer to your question!

[Zilka]

I think we make it difficult only our thinking and spirit no Balance.

Don't forget ....

You and me live in the World also devil and demons, sometimes we do or our thinking and our spirit looklike devil and demons. 

Thank you Lord, Jesus!

You give us law or rules, schemes, power, bible, weapon, rich, etc. 

Than we must stuggle and Jesus helps us in his time.

 

[Zilka]

I think we make it difficult only our thinking and spirit no Balance.

Don't forget ....

You and me live in the World also devil and demons, sometimes we do or our thinking and our spirit looklike devil and demons. 

Thank you Lord, Jesus!

You give us law or rules, schemes, power, bible, weapon, rich, etc. 

Than we must stuggle and Jesus helps us in his time.

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

This ignorance is due to serious lack of Bible study on part of church denominations and their respective clergy.  An age of the decline of Orthodox Bible study.   Form criticism and demyologizing the Bible has a lot to do for this problem.   Like clergy like laity !   A heart of unbelief in the name of rationalism has blinded many.  The scores of highly educated clergy who have gotten into the deep mire of immoral behaviour is staggering.

So evident today that so called normal people just snap.   Cases abound in the church world, bizarre cases of adultery, immoral behaviour and hypocritical living.  Even amongst the Amish and conservative Bible believers, pastors and church members  have gotten into terrible situations.   Some have backslided and accepted doctrines of devils.  They forsook the daily altar and spent hours on the Internet pursuing immoral matters and dating online sights.  

A daily regula of Bible study, prayer and Evangelical outreach will keep theiin sn't of  believers on the right road.   Without a disciplined spiritual lifestyle,  disaster is waiting to happen.  Mortification of the flesh isn't stressed enough.  Neither is tarrying in prayer; so many are inimical to spending long hours in prayer and fasting.

We cannot blame the devil for our lack of daily prayer, and other essential practices to further our spiritual lives.  People have plenty of time for sports, immoral activities, fitness centers and just wasting time.   They aren't aware of pleading the blood of Christ during spiritual warfare,  nor aware of  a disciplined Christian life style.  Avoiding the occasions of sins is also very crucial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Old Jerry]

I think that the reason that we don’t believe in the devil and demons is because we don’t talk about them anymore. We have put it out of our minds. Since we don’t think that they exist then we humans are really struggling because we aren’t getting to the root cause of our problems. The only way we stand a chance is because we have a greater God then them.