Read Textual Sermon from Robert Jeffress
The Reality of Spiritual Opposition
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever felt an inexplicable weight of oppression falling on your shoulders? For no logical reason, you start feeling depressed, and there's nothing you can do to shake that feeling.
Or have you ever been in an argument with another person that started escalating, getting tenser and tenser, hotter and hotter? You said things you shouldn't have said—things you could never take back. It's almost like there was a third party, an invisible party in the room motivating that argument, trying to keep it out of the right boundaries. You've just felt like somebody was egging you on in that argument.
Or maybe here's a sensation you've had. Have you ever been having a great day—getting things done, checking things off your to-do list—when suddenly, out of nowhere, a fear came into your mind? A "what if?" And no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't rid yourself of that fear.
Or maybe you've been in this situation. Out of nowhere, a temptation comes in front of you that, if you didn't know better, you would think God had designed it because it was the perfect enticement, offering exactly what you felt you needed at that very moment.
If you've had any of those experiences before, if you've ever found yourself in those situations before, you have come face to face with a world of demons.
Understanding the Reality of Demons
Now, wait a minute, Robert. Aren’t you kind of over the top in saying that? I mean, depression, anxiety, arguments, temptation—aren’t those all the result of our natural fallen desires that pull us toward sin? Well, partly that’s true, but not completely.
Last time, we saw in the temptation equation, James 1:14, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” Each person is tempted when he is carried away—that means to be drawn with an inward power. We’re carried away to sin. But it doesn’t stop there; we are carried away and enticed. That word means hooked.
Just like a fisherman puts the right bait in front of a hungry fish, causing it to bite, not knowing there’s a hook in the middle of the bait that will destroy it—somebody on the outside is taking advantage of our inward desire toward sin and dangles the right piece of bait at the right time.
Who is that adversary who is tempting us? Who is enticing us?
Up to this point, we’ve labeled him as Satan, our adversary, the devil. But remember—Satan is not God’s opposite. He’s not omniscient (he doesn’t know everything). He’s not omnipotent (he’s not all-powerful). And he’s not omnipresent (he cannot be in more than one place at a time).
So, it’s not just Satan who’s dangling the bait in front of you. He can only be fishing out of one pond at a time. He has a multitude of minions we call demons who are doing his work.
Today, we’re going to look at what the Bible teaches about the world of demons.
What the Bible Says About Demons
The Existence of Demons
I know some people roll their eyes when you talk about demons. They think of demons the same way they do Satan—they’ve seen him caricatured in a red suit with a pitchfork stabbing people in the backside.
They think the same way of demons. They’re portrayed in secular culture as comic book figures, little creatures that sit on our shoulders whispering sweet temptations into our ears. Or we trivialize demons—we talk about a person’s “inner demons” as if demons were nothing more than our weaknesses.
But as our friend Chuck Swindoll says, demons are neither funny nor phony. They are real forces that we need to understand if we’re going to win in spiritual warfare.
One of the most basic passages about demons is Ephesians 6:11–12:
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Notice the plural nature of these words—rulers, powers, forces. This is a reference to Satan and his demons. If Satan is the brain of the operation of evil, then demons are the brawn that he uses to fulfill his mission.
Demons in the Old Testament
There are few references to demons in the Old Testament, but when they are mentioned, they’re mentioned in terms of false gods.
Deuteronomy 32:17 says, “They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.”
When the Israelites started worshiping Asherah, Baal, and Molech, they thought they were worshiping alternative gods. They didn’t realize that behind those false gods were real demons.
Let me say this as clearly as I can—behind every false religion in the world today is a demon.
Demons in the New Testament
Every writer of the New Testament—except the author of Hebrews—talks about demons.
James said in James 2:19, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
Why did he say that? These Jewish Christians thought that believing the right set of facts made them Christians. James said, “Demons believe all the right things.” Demons are very orthodox in their theology.
It’s not enough to believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose again; we must trust that fact personally for salvation.
The Nature and Work of Demons
Where do demons come from? The Bible never explicitly says, but the most logical explanation is that they are fallen angels who followed Satan in his rebellion against God (see Ezekiel 28; Isaiah 14).
Revelation 12:9 says, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
So, if Satan has angels working under him, and the Bible elsewhere calls them demons, then not all angels are demons—but all demons were once angels.
The Personality of Demons
Demons are not mere forces or ideas; they are actual beings with intelligence, emotion, will, and identity.
In Luke 8:27–33, Jesus meets a man possessed with many demons who called themselves Legion, because many demons had entered him. They recognized Jesus as “the Son of the Most High God,” they feared being sent into the abyss, and they begged permission to enter a herd of swine.
This passage reveals their reality—they think, feel, choose, and act.
The Purpose and Power of Demons
Demons exist to do Satan’s will.
Toward unbelievers, Satan’s goal is to blind and bind them, keeping them from trusting in Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ… should shine unto them.”
His primary method is false religion—any teaching that diverts people from salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
Galatians 1:8 says, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
For believers, demons cannot steal our salvation, but they seek to rob us of joy, peace, family harmony, reputation, and spiritual influence.
They want to make us ineffective for Christ—and that’s the strategy we’ll look at next time when we talk about what demons want to do to you.
Questions This Sermon Answers
- How do we recognize the influence of demons in daily life?
- What does the Bible teach about the origin of demons?
- Are demons the same as fallen angels?
- How do demons work to deceive unbelievers?
- What is their goal in the lives of Christians?
- Why is understanding spiritual warfare essential for believers today?
