Lesson for June 17, 2026

Demonism

Lesson 1

Demonism is real and has influenced the human race since Adam and Eve. Demons are angels who followed an angel named Lucifer (Satan) in a rebellion against God in eternity past that we call the Angelic Conflict. The Angelic Conflict began as a rebellion to the authority of God by the most beautiful creature to come from the hand of God, Lucifer. Lucifer, meaning shining one, was the highest ranking of the angels. By an act of arrogance, Lucifer attempted to overthrow God and become the ruler of the angels. Of course, this didn’t happen and Lucifer and the angels that followed him (now called fallen angels) were tried and sentenced to the Lake of Fire for all eternity. (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28)

Lucifer, now called Satan, meaning adversary, appealed the sentence and an appeal was granted. Mankind was created to resolve this conflict by demonstrating to Satan and the fallen angels that God was fair and justified in His sentence. If only one person in history accepted the salvation solution offered by God, this would prove the fairness of His sentence. Of course, many have accepted God’s salvation solution found in Christ and every time another person trusts Christ as Savior, another potential witness is created for the prosecution.

Satan ended up with a very large “army” of fallen angels that are at his command and do his bidding. Demons are fallen angels sent into the world to carry out Satan’s agenda and policies. These demon-possessed unbelievers are used by Satan to infiltrate, corrupt, and destroy the lives of both individuals and nations.

Since believers in Christ are permanently indwelt by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, they can never be possessed by a demon. However, believers can be influenced by demons. Demons continually attempt to destroy the spiritual lives of believers through their influence of others in various aspects of society like social media, movies, education, family, politics, and government. If a demon can keep a believer from executing God’s plan for their life, a potential witness against Satan is neutralized!

Satan’s evil genius set up an evil organization of fallen angels called demons. In Ephesians 6:12, Paul lists these as the rulers, the powers, the world forces of this darkness, the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

There are a number of terms used in the Bible to describe Satan (who is an angel) and the fallen angels who are his followers. These descriptions give us a lot of insight into who we are dealing with as believers, and the power that they possess. The power of angels is greater than the power of humans. Only by using the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit can we overcome the power of Satan and his army of demons.

Ephesians 6:12

Knowing the character of Satan means understanding his strategy and tactics. Satan is the ruler of this world, and he has total power to influence the world system which he controls. (Luke 4:5–7; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; II Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2) Therefore, as the ruler of this world, Satan has policies and strategies regarding the nations of the world. His policies are anti-Christian and anti-establishment. (Revelation 12:9; 20:3,8) Satan has a strategy regarding unbelievers, like “blinding their minds,” so they will choose not to believe the Gospel. (Luke 8:12; II Corinthians 4:3–4; II Thessalonians 2:7–10; Colossians 2:8)

Satan also has strategies regarding believers. He accuses believers in Heaven. (II Corinthians 2:11; Job 1:6–11; Zechariah 3:1,2; Revelation 12:9,10; I John 2:1,2) He is the sponsor of reversionism. (I Corinthians 10:19–21; 11:3,13–15) He frustrates the will of God in three areas: the mental will of God (what God wants us to think). (Ephesians 4:14); the geographical will of God (where God wants us to be). (I Thessalonians 2:18); the operational will of God (what God wants us to do) (James 4:7–8)

Satan does everything he can to keep us from applying Bible doctrine and living our spiritual lives. He does this by getting believers to focus on people. (Jeremiah 17:5) He appeals to our ego by getting us to focus on ourselves and not on God. (I Kings 19:10) He gets believers to become involved in religious programs designed to improve the Satan’s world system. Religion was created by Satan to counterfeit the plan of God. Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship with God through personal faith in Jesus Christ.

Rulers are the top officers, the highest and most powerful demons under the command of Satan, and they are the equivalent of the archangels in the elect angel organization.

Powers are the commissioned officers in the demon army. Satan understands the importance of discipline, of authority. His army is highly effective and one reason for it is that they are much better disciplined than most Christians. These officers command the millions and millions of demons in the armies of Satan.

World forces means world rulers. It refers to a special corps of demons who might be classified as Satan’s ambassadors. He has these in all of the ruling places of the world. These are special ambassador demons whose job is to influence the world rulers so that Satan can control history. (Daniel 10:13–20, one is called the prince of Persia; one is called the prince of Grecia) This demon brings religious and moral darkness.

The spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places describes the entire demon army of Satan, who are angels that followed Satan in rebellion against God. These demons possess immense supernatural power and carry out the counterfeit activities to Christianity often as “angels of light,” who dupe people into believing they are from God.

Nations that succumb to demonism cannot survive. God will ultimately destroy the effects of demon influence and demon possession upon a nation, if they go unchecked. Every nation that allows demon activity to gain a foothold is flirting with disaster. Such was the divine judgment on the ancient Canaanites, whose evil practices of demonism led to God’s command that they be destroyed (Deuteronomy 20:17–18). The fate of demon-influenced societies is recorded throughout the Scriptures in an attempt to deter those who would become involved with demonism.

Demonism is more prevalent than people realize. Satan and his demon army are subtle but effective in infiltrating all areas of the life of a nation and the individuals within that nation, even in a nation that was founded upon divine establishment principles such as the United States. Satan has been successful in infiltrating churches/religion, education at all levels, the media, movies, television, the internet, government, marriages, families, etc.

Satan is far from the hideous monster depicted in movies. He is not always enticing people to perform evil acts as some form of demonism. Satan disguises his most devastating demonic attacks as benevolent acts of kindness/human works. Using religion, Satan deceives millions of people who never suspect they are being deceived by demons. Satan uses human good and counterfeits that look and sound like they are from God to fool people.

Satan is a genius at using ancient demonic practices packaged as something new and enlightening to confuse, deceive, dupe, and snare unsuspecting unbelievers and spiritually weak believers. Such is the case with the New Age movement. The New Age movement emerged prominently in Western society during the 1970s and 1980s, drawing on a wide range of spiritual and mystical traditions. It is a group of individuals connected by shared values and visions of a “New Age” of peace, enlightenment, and spiritual evolution. Using terms such as self-awareness, self-fulfillment, and self-love captivates the minds of the unsuspecting. Eastern mystical meditation, divination, and witchcraft craftily presented in scientific or psychological terminology fools people into believing they are connected to God. In reality, these people are connected to Satan.

Concepts from mystical experiences which offer hope of a “greater reality” or a connection to a “higher being” is in fact contact with demons. Mysticism has been nourished by the influx of pagan religions into our country, such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

Christianity is not immune to the controversies surrounding demonism. Some believers wrongly blame carnality on Satan or demon possession, while other believers think they must battle demons to grow spiritually. A primary weapon in this confrontation is so-called exorcism, a spectacle which lures large crowds and lucrative offerings in church services. Apostate pastors and Bible teachers falsely urge Christians to “bind the devil” and “rebuke Satan” in order to be victorious in the Christian life.

Misconceptions, distortions, and false teaching about demonism abound. A preoccupation with the demonic and offensive action against Satan distracts many believers from the goal of spiritual maturity. Only the Word of God prepares and protects believers so they can “stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”