Angels, Demons and Satan
By: Dan CornerPlease also read "Beware of Spiritism"
Permission is granted to reproduce this in its entirety only.
Mankind lives in a physical, tangible, material world, which is influenced by the invisible,
spiritual world around us. This spiritual world is just as real in our day as it was when the Lord Jesus walked the face of
the earth nearly 2,000 years ago. Glimpses into this spirit world are revealed from time to time throughout the Old and New
Testaments. It is only here that we can factually learn about angels, demons and Satan himself. Sadly many have been misinformed
about these, especially those involved in the occult. There is a great need to set the record straight regarding these and
the related, especially in our hour, with its present angel craze, channeling and a belief in spirit guides. Without writing
a thick volume on angels, demons and Satan, let's proceed with some answers from the only reliable source that God has given
mankind -- the Bible.
What Does the Bible say about Angels?
God's angels are described as:
Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
(Heb 1:14) All of the angels were created by Jesus:
For by him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (Col 1:16 ) The Lord Jesus created all of the angels. This even includes Michael the archangel, which some cults wrongly
think is Jesus!
Angels are powerful spirit beings:
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who
are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his
powerful angels. (2 Th 1:6,7)
Yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful , do not bring slanderous
accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. (2 Pet 2:11) Angels
do not marry and have baby angels:
At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like
the angels in heaven. (Mat 22:30) Since angels are created beings there are
no baby angels , in spite of all the pictures you might have seen that show otherwise. Artists that draw fat, little,
baby angels do this without any Biblical support at all.
God's angels worship Jesus:
And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels
worship him [Jesus]." (Heb 1:6) God's angels obey Him:
Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
(Psa. 103:20) God's angels praise Him:
Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. (Psa. 148:2) God's angels refuse to receive worship:
Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper
of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the true words of God." At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to
me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship
God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Rev 19:9,10)
And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had
been showing them to me. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the
prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" (Rev. 22:8,9). Dear
reader, it is vitally important that you worship ONLY the true and living God. NEVER would an angel or any servant
of God ever direct you to worship an angel, any person or creation itself.
Angels attended Jesus after the devil's temptations:
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. (Mat 4:11) Jesus could have been delivered by legions of angels from his cruel death on the cross:
Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than
twelve legions of angels ? (Mat 26:53) Angels were present after Jesus rose
from the grave:
But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and
saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. (John 20:11,12) Angels can guard the righteous:
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; (Psa.
91:11) Angels can bring deliverance:
My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because
I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king. (Dan 6:22)
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.
(Acts 5:19) God executes His Judgment through angels:
He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility -- a band
of destroying angels. (Psa. 78:49) Angels will be used to find everything that
causes sin and all who do evil (the unsaved):
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything
that causes sin and all who do evil. (Mat 13:41) Angels will thrown people into
the fiery furnace:
This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked
from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 13:49,50) When Jesus returns He will come with angels:
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then
he will reward each person according to what he has done. (Mat 16:27) Angels will
gather the righteous at the point of the rapture:
And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect
from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Mat 24:31)
And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends
of the earth to the ends of the heavens. (Mark 13:27) Upon their death, angels carry
the righteous to their home in the afterlife:
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The
rich man also died and was buried. (Luke 16:22) Angels observe the servants of God:
For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like
men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.
(1 Cor 4:9) Angels will be judged by Christians:
Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! (1
Cor 6:3) There are only two angels that are specifically given names in the Bible.
The angel Gabriel is one and he is always bringing a message:
The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been
sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. (Luke 1:19)
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, (Luke
1:26) (Gabriel is also mentioned in Dan 8:16; 9:21.)
The only other angel named in Scripture is Michael.
The archangel Michael (Jude 9) is a warring angel, but there are other archangels too (Dan.
10:13). Yet in the future, Michael and his angels will fight against Satan [the dragon] and his angels:
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the
dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon
was hurled down -- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the
earth, and his angels with him. (Rev 12:7-9) Children all have personal angels that
appear before God:
See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels
in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. (Mat 18:10) Angels can
appear as people undetected:
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels
without knowing it. (Heb 13:2) An angel of God appeared to an unsaved man and
accurately told him how to learn about God's salvation:
One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of
God , who came to him and said, "Cornelius!" Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel
answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. And now send men to Joppa,
and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: (Acts 10:3-5). This is a key passage,
for in it we learn that an angel from God will always promote the message found in the Holy Bible! The unnamed angel
in the above passage did this by telling Cornelius how to find Peter, one of the Lord's disciples, who could tell him the
truth about salvation. See Acts 10:43. When a "spirit guide" communicates a message, we can unmask the veil by learning
what such a spirit being says about the Lord Jesus and the salvation he provided for all of mankind when he shed his precious,
cleansing blood on the cross. If such is denied in any way or would promote any unscriptural message or practice, then that
spirit being is a demon trying to deceive people. Hence, there exists an incredible need to know the Bible to safeguard against
such. The end result of the angelic visitation to Cornelius was Biblical salvation for him and all of his household!
Angels are immortal:
And they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children,
since they are children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:36) One solitary angel of
God will seize Satan, the great deceiver, and throw him into the Abyss during the 1,000 year reign of Christ:
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding
in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand
years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until
the thousand years were ended (Rev. 20:1-3). During the Perfect Age, angels will
be stationed as guards at the twelve gates entering New Jerusalem:
It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On
the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. (Rev 21:12) There
are multitudes of angels in heaven in joyful assembly:
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You
have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, (Heb 12:22) Some
people in Jesus' day did not believe in the existence of angels like in our day:
The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits,
but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. (Acts 23:8) False teachers can be involved
in the worship of angels, which is always forbidden:
Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify
you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with
idle notions. (Col 2:18) It is also important to know that you should NEVER CALL
ON AN ANGEL for guidance, deliverance, etc. To do so will open yourself up for spiritual deception. According to the Bible,
we should ONLY call on God. We are also to TRUST ONLY IN GOD for deliverance, NOT AN ANGEL. While it is true that God might
deliver us with angels it is still God who is our Rock, Fortress, Deliverer, etc. God commands his angels what to do and they
obey Him.
What Does the Bible say about Demons?
At least some of the angels that sinned long ago have been bound and put away:
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned , but sent them to hell, putting them
into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; (2 Pet 2:4)
And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home
-- these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. (Jude 1:6)
It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound
at the great river Euphrates." (Rev 9:14) Pagan religions "sacrifice to demons":
They sacrificed to demons, which are not God -- gods they had not known, gods that
recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear. (Deut. 32:17)
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. (Psa. 106:37) Thousands of demons grouped together inside one person begged Jesus:
The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs." (Mat
8:31) A Christian has spiritual authority to drive out demons:
He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits
and to heal every disease and sickness. (Mat 10:1) Some people know this as "exorcism."
Note: a wooden cross and/or holy water is NEVER used, in the Bible, to drive a demon out of
a person.
Some spirits (demons) are more wicked than other ones:
Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they
go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked
generation. (Mat 12:45) Jesus cast out demons or evil spirits:
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching --
and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." (Mark 1:27)
For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized
him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon
into solitary places. (Luke 8:29) Jesus drove out demons by the Spirit of God:
But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God , then the kingdom of God has come upon
you. (Mat 12:28) Demons know Jesus is the Son of God, unlike some people:
Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son
of God." (Mark 3:11) Evil spirits can speak through a person! In our dark day, some
might call this by the New Age term "channeling" and the person with the [evil] spirit a "channeler." Devotees of "spirit
guides" need to ponder what Scripture says about a spirit being speaking through a person.
A fortune teller might be possessed by a demon spirit:
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit
by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl
followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be
saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In
the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. When the owners
of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone ... (Acts 16:16-19) When
the demon spirit was cast our of that girl, her special powers to predict the future were totally gone. This was also apparent
to the owners of that slave.
Unlike some people, demons believe there is a God and "shudder":
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that -- and shudder. (James
2:19) Mary Magdalene had seven demons in her before she became a Christian:
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out
of whom he had driven seven demons. (Mark 16:9)
And also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene)
from whom seven demons had come out (Luke 8:2) Evil spirits can torment people:
Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented
by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. (Acts 5:16) Worshiping demons
will be a characteristic of the end of this age:
The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work
of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons , and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood -- idols that
cannot see or hear or walk. (Rev 9:20) Evil spirits in John's vision looked like
frogs:
Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of
the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. (Rev 16:13) This does not mean that a frog is a demon!
Demons can perform miracles:
They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings
of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. (Rev 16:14) NOTE:
Demons can produce miracles! See our other article entitled, Miracles -- Two Sources. Not all spirits are from God. Some spirits are deceitful and are trying to mislead us:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving
spirits and things taught by demons. (1 Tim 4:1) There are many ways in which demons
can deceive people, but the more common ones are through occult involvement, Ouija boards and seances. Dear reader, don't
ever dabble with such, even out of curiosity or amusement. If you have already, ask God to forgive you and renounce all such
behavior.
What the Bible says about Satan:
The devil has one general goal for you, your family and friends -- "to devour":
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking
for someone to devour. (1 Pet 5:8) The preventatives cited are clear and twofold:
(1) We must be self-controlled. (2) We must be alert to his clever schemes.
Do NOT give the devil an opportunity to tempt you or lead you away from God:
And do not give the devil a foothold. (Eph 4:27) Satan
tempted the Lord Jesus by quoting Scripture which mentioned angels:
"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will
command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against
a stone.' " (Mat 4:6) The devil can quote Scripture! This is a disturbing but important
truth to know about our chief, spiritual adversary! To make matters even worse, false teachers can do the same! Therefore,
we must make sure Scripture is not used out of context. To do this we must consider the verses before and after the verse
in question. Also, when trying to arrive at the proper interpretation of Scripture, we must consider all verses on any given
subject.
Satan can transform himself into looking like an angel from God:
And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:14) This shows that the devil can disguise his appearance to appear as an angel of God. This explains alleged
visions in Mormonism, Catholicism and Seven-Day Adventism. The crux of the message found in these visions contradict the other
visions found in these other groups! In other words, the visions in Mormonism contradict visions in Catholicism which also
contradict the visions in Seven-Day Adventism. Since God does not change (Mal. 3:6; Jam. 1:17), it is impossible for the source
of these visions to be God, especially since they have an unscriptural message!
If even an angel from heaven would declare a salvation message different from that found in Scripture,
that angel is not only wrong but accursed for doing so:
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we
preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! (Gal 1:8) Dear reader, don't believe
any plan of salvation that varies from the message found in Scripture, even if an angel named Moroni allegedly came to a person
named Joseph Smith, Jr. or a personage claiming to be Mary appeared and declares that she is "the way" to God, as occurred
at Fatima, Portugal. Scripture clearly declares Jesus is the only way to the Father (John 14:6). Since Jesus is Mary can't
be.
Satan's Final End Is Everlasting Torment:
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast
and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Rev 20:10) Eternal fire beyond the grave was prepared for "the devil and his angels":
Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal
fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Mat 25:41) The same fire that will
claim the devil and his angels will also torment people who die in a spiritually lost condition. Dear reader, do not be deceived:
There is no reincarnation! The ultimate authority on all spiritual matters, Lord Jesus,
taught a judgment and an afterlife in either the kingdom of heaven or eternal fire, but not reincarnation. Also, there is
no Purgatory or annihilation of the wicked, according to Jesus. He taught there are only two roads, two gates, two destinies
and two groups of people.
Because there are false teachers, deceitful spirits, visions and dreams from the devil, miracles
performed by demons, etc. we are advised to do the following:
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)
Test everything. Hold on to the good. (1 Th 5:21)
Our standard is the Word of God, which is used for testing all teachings (2 Tim. 3:16,17). It is in
the Bible alone that we can be made "wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15).
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