Demons and how to Deal with Them

The final day of the 2017 Intercession and Deliverance Conference saw an insightful
expose on “Demons and how to deal with them” by Bishop Emmanuel Nterful, senior
pastor at Lighthouse Capel, Korle Gonno.


He began, “The reason why many Christians suffer and go through a lot of challenges
and difficulties is just the lack of understanding of who they are in God and what the
Word of God says about them; they have no light.” He stressed the need for the Word of
God to be taught in our Churches. He added that we need to receive revelation and
insight, which is the reason Paul the Apostle prayed that God would give us the Spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.


Bishop Nterful hinted that we are in a major spiritual conflict and that Christianity is a
battle between the forces of darkness and the forces of light. Adding, he said that ever
since you became a Christian you came into a battle with Satan and his demons. The
way to defeat your enemy is to know more about your enemy- once you know more
about Satan you have finished him.


He disclosed that demons are at work in practically every sphere of life but often we are
not aware. He emphasized that there is the need for us to find out more about our
enemy. Reading from Luke 4:18, Bishop Nterful noted that one of the reasons Jesus
came was to set the captives free from sin, diseases, demonic attacks and demonic
influence. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to deliver people from Satanic
attacks. Paul said that he was not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of
God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). Salvation in that context also means deliverance. So
the Gospel is able to deliver people from the devil and his cohorts.


He pointed out that people need to be delivered from oppression, suppression, sin and
demonic influence. The man of God enunciated that demons are very real and
described them as disembodied evil or unclean spirits. He also revealed that there are
two realms- the physical realm and the spiritual realm. He further stated that the spiritual
realm is more real than the physical realm.


He exposed that demons are agents of Satan that he uses against humanity and
especially the Church. If we don’t know about Satan’s devices, he will get an advantage
over us (2 Corinthians 2:11).


He alluded to the fact that if you are fighting with someone you should know the
person’s weakness in order to emerge victorious. According to Ephesians 6:12, demons
are not flesh and blood.


There are two schools of thought concerning the origin of demons. Some believe that
they are fallen angels (see Revelation 12:7-9). Others also believe that they are
creatures that lived in pre-Adamic times. This is because between Genesis 1:1 and
Genesis 1:2 there must have been a sequence of events that took place; God would not
create a universe that was “without form and void” with “darkness upon the face of the
deep”. God does not create spoilt things. This school of thought suggests that there are
probably millions of years between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 and further posits that
there were inhabitants on the face of the earth before the fall of Adam.


The man of God went on to explain the origin of demons in the light of the second
school of thought. He noted that in Isaiah 12:13, Lucifer is described as having a throne,
which means he was a ruler of some form of inhabitants on the earth. These inhabitants
are demons, according to the school of thought.


Demons represent the kingdom of darkness But the kingdom of God is light. The
kingdom of darkness is of the devil (see Colossians 1:13).


In 2 Corinthians 6:14, we discover that unbelievers are called darkness and believers
are called light. Furthermore, in Acts 26:17-18, we see that unbelievers are in darkness.
That is where demons operate.


When we preach the Gospel, we help unbelievers to come out of darkness into the light.
John 3:19 states that Jesus is the light. Thus, the Word of God is the light. We must
preach the Word of God because Satan wants to keep people in darkness.


When you study Revelation 16:10-11, you will know that that everything of darkness
represents the devil. Don’t associate yourself with darkness. When you do so, you open
yourself up to evil spirits. Satan and his demons operate where there is darkness.
There is a demonic hierarchy because Satan has a kingdom, and in every kingdom
there are structures. Over in the kingdom of darkness, Satan is the overall boss. There
are some important things you must know about Satan.


First of all, you must understand that even a baby Christian has power over Satan (1
John 4:4; Luke 10:19; Mark 16:17). Secondly, Satan is a created being. Never equalize
Satan with God. God created Lucifer. However, Lucifer was not created as a devil. He
was an archangel in heaven together with Michael and Gabriel. Nonetheless, he
corrupted his anointing with pride and became the devil (see Isaiah 14:12-14 & Ezekiel
28:11-19).


The hierarchy of the devils kingdom is seen in Ephesians 6:12 as follows: principalities,
powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.
Demons have some characteristics, too. The following are some of their characteristics:
First of all, demons are not stupid. They have personality; they are entities. The will,
emotions and intellect constitute one’s personality. Demons are intelligent beings
because they have a will (Matthew 12:44). They can make decisions. In Mark 5:12, they
exhibited their will. Because demons have emotions, they tremble. (James 2:19).


Demons are afraid of the Name of Jesus, the power of the blood of Jesus and the
power of the Christian. That's why a child of God filled with the Holy Spirit must not fear
demons.


Secondly, demons have unnatural intellect (Mark 1:24). They know stuff. If you are
walking in sin, demons can identify you. Be careful.


In addition, demons have self-awareness. In Mark 5:9, Jesus asked the demon his
name. The demon answered him. Remember, demons are not stupid. Don't expose
yourself to demonic activities.


Bishop Nterful asked, “Can a Christian have a demon?” He taught congregants that a
Christian can have a demon but a Christian cannot be possessed by a demon. Demons
can oppress Christians and control them. The oppression causes depression and
sicknesses. Demons can harass you. They can only possess you if you deny Jesus
Christ.


The main source of demonic activity is the mind. They play on your mind. You must cast
them out.


They operate in the flesh and in the mind but not in your spirit because the Spirit of God
lives there.


Bishop Nterful showed congregants several accounts in the Bible concerning demonic
activity including Matthew 17:14-21 (the story of the little boy who was delivered from a
lunatic spirit), Mark 5:1-17 (the story of the deliverance of the mad man of Gadara) and
Acts 16:16-18 (the story of the damsel who was delivered from the soothsaying spirit).
Never be afraid of evil spirits. Nonetheless, you cannot cast out evil spirits if you are
walking in darkness, stealing, committing adultery. You must walk with the Lord.


The best place demons want to be is in human flesh. The next is in the flesh of animals.
The man of God instructed the teeming crowds to read Mark chapter 5.


Bishop Nterful noted that demons make people do unnatural things. Homosexuality is a
result of demonic operations. Demons make people uncontrollable.


If nobody can control you there is trouble. If you cannot submit to anybody, there is
demonic operation at work. Loneliness is a manifestation of demonic activities.


Depression is a manifestation of demonic oppression. The spirit of depression is a
demonic spirit.


You need to understand it so that you can overcome it. Self-destruction is another
manifestation of demonic oppression.


Some decisions can cause you to destroy yourself, especially in marriage. Tendencies
to leave your church are all demonic activities.


Evil spirits work in teams. Evil spirits cause madness. They'll try to isolate you and kill
you. Bishop Nterful adumbrated the teams in which demons work as follows:
 Marriage-spoiling teams
 The stealing team
 The future-spoiling team
 The Sex Team
 The divorce Team
 The nation-spoiling team
 The Church-spoiling team. The Church cannot be spoilt by outsiders but by
insiders only.
 The Quarrelling Team

In closing, he shared on how to deal with demons by sharing the following important
strategies:

# Resist the devil (James 4:7)
Thoughts are spirits. Bad thoughts are evil spirits. The access point of devils is the
mind. Don't entertain them. Resist those thoughts by speaking to them in the Name of
Jesus.

# Don't expose yourself to darkness. Demons represent the kingdom of darkness. Don't
watch pornography, bad films and venture into discos. Don't walk with bad friends.

# Bind them.
You cannot kill Satan. You can bind him. Pray scripturally. Binding means weakening.
We can weaken the influence of demons (Matthew 12:29). We overcome demons and
demonic activities by binding them.

# Cast them out (Matthew 10:8).
Every Christian can cast out devils (Mark 16:17). The Greater One lives in you. You
must know your authority. The demons will tremble when they see you. Jesus cast out
demons, so can you.

# Plead the blood of Jesus (Revelation 12:11).
Always release the blood of Jesus. Surround and cover yourself by the blood of Jesus.

# Use the Name of Jesus (Philippians 2:5-10)

# Know your authority over Satan ad his demons.

Overcome sicknesses and challenges.