When we talk about Satan, demons, and the fourth dimension it's really important that
we ground everything in scripture.
Because there is so many different opinions out there about the paranormal.
I mean you have major universities that are studying ghosts and haunted houses and paranormal
things related to UFOs and I want to just ground what I'm teaching here with what scripture
says and not just premonitions about what we think is going to happen in the future
or different kind of crazy ideas and theories out there about ghosts.
This is really what the bible says.
So what I'm going to do over the next few minutes is I'm going to look at what we do
have right in scripture about Satan and demons.
So that we have a clear understanding of what we're teaching.
The next one I'm going to actually talk about the origins of Satan.
But in the Old Testament, let's start there.
In the Old Testament the temptation of Eve is probably the first example we have of Satan
coming as a serpent.
The serpent was more cunning than any beast, that's in Genesis 3.
By Genesis 6 we talk about evil spirits on the earth.
It was called giants on the earth, the Nephilim are mentioned there.
The sons of God came into the daughters of men, that's Genesis 6.
That's a really big topic, that thing alone, but it does, most of your commentaries do
believe that there was some kind of interaction with demonic spirits and the daughters of
men, which would have been women.
Demonic intercessors, mediums and familiar spirits are mentioned in Leviticus 19.31,
Leviticus 26, 1 Samuel 28.3 and 9, 2 Kings 21.6, 2 Kings 23.24, 2 Chronicles 33.6, Isaiah
8.19, Isaiah 19.3.
Here's an example, Leviticus 19, give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits.
Do not seek after them to be defiled by them, I am the Lord your God.
Then in 2 Kings 21 we read Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king and he reigned
55 years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Hezbollah and he did evil in the sight of the Lord according to
the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed.
He raised up altars for Baal, he made a wooden image as Ahab king of Israel had done and
he worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them.
He also built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord had said in Jerusalem I
will put my name.
He built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
Also he made his son pass through the fire.
He practiced soothsaying, he used witchcraft, consulted spiritists and mediums.
He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger.
So we're seeing the degradation of the kings and the leaders of Israel.
First Chronicles 21.1, now Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.
So even Satan is infiltrating even David and having an impact on him putting together a census.
Satan before God, Job chapter 1.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord.
In this case the sons of God we believe would be angels.
And Satan also came among them.
So this is that fourth dimension realm that I talked about the last time.
And the Lord said to Satan from where do you come?
So Satan answered the Lord and said from going to and fro on the earth and from walking back
and forth on it.
Then the Lord said to Satan have you considered my servant Job that there is none like him
on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil.
So Satan answered the Lord and said does God, does Job fear God for nothing?
So there was this interaction in this heavenly place.
Maybe it was a throne of God because it just talks about it being a place where they came
before the Lord and Satan came in and challenged God to give him the kingdom of heaven.
Give him Job.
Then Zechariah chapter 3,
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord,
and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him.
And the Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan.
The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you.
Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?
So in this case now it's Joshua the high priest,
angel of the Lord faced with Satan.
Again, interaction between Satan and God, Satan,
and a high-ranking angel, the angel of the Lord.
The testimony of the prophets speak of Satan,
and I'll talk more about this the next time,
and that's Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.
Then when Jesus comes, I mean,
you could argue that a third, 30% of Jesus' ministry was casting out demons.
But when Jesus starts his public ministry,
he goes to the desert, Matthew 4, Luke chapter 4,
temptation and confrontation,
Jesus with Satan.
The Jewish leaders believed in demons,
and constantly accused John the Baptist and Jesus of being demon-possessed.
Matthew 11, 18, Mark 3, 30,
Luke 7, 33, John 7, 20,
John 8, 42 through 52,
John 10, 20 and 21.
Jesus' ministry was constantly casting out demons.
Mark 1, 21 to 28,
Matthew 9, 32 to 33,
Matthew 7, 14 to 18,
Matthew 12, 43 to 45,
Mark 5, Mark 7, 24 to 30,
Mark 9, 25 to 26,
Luke 4, 31 to 37,
Luke 8, 26 to 35,
Luke 9, 37 to 42,
Luke 11, 14 to 18.
So why am I giving you all of the biblical evidence?
And the reason is, is because there is a portion of the church,
there's a portion of the body of Christ that does not want to deal with this stuff.
They just skip over it,
and they feel like,
because I know the theological underpinnings of some of this,
that it's not for today,
it's not something we should be messing around with.
But it's just so much a part of the Bible,
Old and New Testament,
so much a part of the ministry of Jesus.
And I'm only giving you kind of a thumbnail sketch.
There's fully twice to three times more references that I could give.
Jesus with Peter, Matthew 16, 23.
But He turned and He said to Peter,
Get behind me, Satan.
You're an offense to me,
for you're not mindful of the things of God,
but the things of men.
So even Peter, who had become the rock
that Jesus would depend on the most
in the planting of the early church,
was speaking for Satan, evidently.
Now, was he demon possessed?
I don't think so,
but he was definitely demonized.
And so because of that,
instead of Jesus confronting Peter,
He actually confronts Satan
that is the one inspiring Peter to say what He said.
Satan entered Judas
and used him to turn over Jesus to the authorities,
Luke 22, 3,
John 13, 2,
and John 13, 27.
In the teaching of Jesus,
Jesus acknowledges Satan.
He says, Away with you, Satan.
Matthew 4, 10.
Matthew 12, 26.
Mark 3, 26.
Mark 4, 15.
Mark 8, 33.
Luke 10, 18.
Luke 13, 16.
Get behind me, Satan, again.
Matthew 16, 23.
Mark 8, 33.
Luke 4, 8.
Simon, Simon, indeed Satan has asked for you.
Luke 22, 31.
The wicked one snatches away the seed.
Matthew 13, 19.
And then speaking to the Jewish leaders,
He said, You are of your father, the devil.
Jesus said to them, John 8, 44.
Jesus taught us to pray.
Deliver us from the evil one.
So thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6, 13.
So, so many examples in scripture.
Again, Jesus says, away with you, Satan.
Matthew 4, 10.
Again, Matthew 12, 26.
Get behind me, Satan.
What about the early church?
Because that then leads us into where
and what we believe about today.
So it's the early church.
Church in the New Testament the Apostles cast out demons and experienced the
demonic Acts 5, 1-11, Acts 5, 16, Acts 13, 8-12, Acts 16, 16-34. In the Apostles
teaching Paul and Peter and James all talk about the demonic. 1 Peter 5, 8-9,
James 4, 7, Revelation 12, 9, and Ephesians 6, 10-12. The beast is
empowered by Satan in the last days mentioned 37 times in the book of
Revelation. So Revelation 13, 4, they worship the dragon who gave authority to
the beast so they worship the beast saying who is like the beast who is able
to make war with him. So these are just some of the passages that we find in the
Old and New Testament in the book of Acts as well as the epistles and the
early church. So men and women we're you know we're studying this because it's
really biblical and it's the kind of stuff that we have to deal with and many
of us are dealing with the demonic and don't even know it. We don't even
understand what's going on half the time. So this study that we're doing is to
take us through how to practically and evidentially deal with how the demonic
affects our lives. So my next message I'm going to talk about the origins of Satan
because it's from Satan that in his rebellion from God that we have demons
on the earth. Satan has been given the earth. He has control over the earth and
so in our next message we're going to look at that. So today I just wanted to
give you the biblical evidence for the satanic and the demonic. So may that
challenge you and look forward to the next message as we talk about the
origins of Satan.