satan & demons

Satan and demons form a team that seeks to stop or keep people from having a relationship with the Lord of Hosts and doing in His will. They do this often by counterfeiting the work of the Holy Spirit. They form the kingdom of darkness and followers of Jesus wage war against them. They tell lies and like to take cheap shots and kick you while you are down (Job, 1 John 5:18, Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 11:14). 

The team

The leader of this group and is referred to as the enemy is known as the Devil or Satan. He rebelled against the Most High (he was an angel) and now seeks to prevent people from entering into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a liar and wants to lie to people, he is a thief and wants to steal from people and he is a destroyer who wants to wreck people and their livelihood (John 8:44, 1 Peter 5:8-9). 

demons 

These are spiritual beings that seek to lead people away from Jesus, they are the angels that joined Satan in the rebellion against God. They are trying to destroy and hurt people. They can do this by injecting thoughts, feelings, or a voice/s and etc. They can influence from the inside if given access to a person by that person coming into agreement with the ways of the kingdom of darkness. This internal influence can happen to both followers of Jesus & those who do not follow and is known as demonization. For more information on demonization refer to the Living in Freedom material (Matthew 12:45, Luke 8:30, Ephesians 4:27). 

demonic team Structure

There is hierarchy in the enemy team. Individual principalities and demons rule over various places on earth. Over nations, cities, neighborhoods, and households if God’s kingdom is not present (Daniel 10:13, Ephesians 6:12, 1 John 5:18-19). God’s church can take territory from the enemy team as Jesus has all authority (Matthew 28:18, Revelation 1:18)  

demon’s Tactics

The enemy has tactics to use against people who follow Jesus and against those who do not (2 Corinthians 2:10-11).

His primary tactics against followers are:

• To stop followers from having a deep relationship with Jesus (John 15:4-6, Philippians 3:8-10)

• Keep followers from being in unity, and to isolate them from one another (Hebrews 10:25, John 17:20-23)

• Distract people from walking in God’s will (by being preoccupied with fleshly or worldly desires) or trying to hinder them (Matthew 13:18-22, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Peter 5:8-9, 1 John 2:16)

• Make them believe lies about who they are or who God is or to doubt what God says (Genesis 3:1-4, John 8:32,44)

• To convince them to be unforgiving (2 Corinthians 2:10-11, Matthew 18:21-35)

His primary tactics against those who do not follow are:

• Keep them from finding out about and knowing Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:4)

• By giving them something that is a form of godliness/goodness but not the real thing. An example being a form of love or acceptance that is polluted (2 Timothy 3:4-7, 2 Peter 2:1, 1 John 4:7-8)

• Getting them caught up in worldly/fleshly desires, which become a hindrance to receiving Jesus (2 Peter 1:4, 1 John 2:16)

The subtleness of the enemy team

The enemy often is trying to be sneaky and not found out. They try to appear helpful or as a friend, but in reality it is a disguise and they find it amusing to harm people & cause them problems. If he can get a follower even a little bit off course from the straight and narrow path, down the line it will lead to them being way off the path as shown below. The enemy is often trying to play the long game!