139. Are Demons Real? Understanding the Unseen Battle at Work Today

Send us a text

We explore the biblical reality of demons as active spiritual entities, not fictional metaphors, that work against God's people. Understanding their nature, tactics, and the authority believers have through Christ empowers us to recognize spiritual warfare without falling into fear.

• Demons are the disembodied spirits of Nephilim seeking hosts to influence and oppress
• Scripture repeatedly shows Jesus confronting and casting out demons throughout his ministry
• Modern demonic activity often works through false teachings, fear, addiction, and entertainment glorifying darkness
• Pharmakia (the Greek word for sorcery) connects substance use with opening spiritual doorways
• Fascinating parallels exist between parasitic infections and demonic oppression
• Born-again believers cannot be possessed but can still experience spiritual oppression
• Christians have authority through Christ to resist demonic influence
• Standing firm requires truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, God's Word and prayer

If this episode gave you insight, encouragement or clarity, share it with a friend. For more foundational teaching on spiritual warfare, check out episodes 3-6, and episode 138 on Satan's reality. Stay connected on Instagram and Facebook @theRadiantMission or on YouTube by searching for Rebecca Twomey.

Support the show

Thank You for Joining Us!

For the full show notes, including links to any resources mentioned, please visit The Radiant Mission Blog.

Follow along on social media:
Instagram
Facebook

Enjoying the show? Please refer it to a friend :)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:32):
Hello and welcome back to the Radiant Mission
podcast and Coffee Talk, wherewe are diving into real,
faith-based conversations thathelp you start your day rooted
in faith.
Faith-based conversations thathelp you start your day rooted
in faith.
If you've been following thisseries, then you know we've been
exploring deep spiritualquestions like who is God, who

(00:52):
is Jesus?
And, in episode 138, is Satanreal?
That last episode laid thefoundation for today's
discussion.
We explored Satan's fall, thewatchers from Genesis 6, the
Nephilim and how spiritualwarfare is active in the world
today.
But Satan doesn't work alone,and that leads us to today's

(01:16):
question Are demons real?
Are they still at work in ourworld and, if so, what can we do
about it?
So first, what are demons?
In scripture, demons are oftencalled unclean spirits or evil
spirits.
They're not fictional andthey're not metaphors, and

(01:41):
they're really not something tojoke about either.
They're very real and they'reactively working against the
people of God.
As we mentioned in episode 138,many Bible scholars believe
that demons are the disembodiedspirits of the Nephilim, the
hybrid offspring of fallenangels and human women described

(02:02):
in Genesis 6.
When the flood destroyed theirphysical bodies, their spirits
remained.
These spirits are restless,corrupted and deeply opposed to
God.
In Luke 11 24, when an impurespirit comes out of a person, it
goes through arid placesseeking rest and does not find

(02:25):
it.
Demons desire a body, a host.
In Matthew 8 31, demons beggedJesus to send them into a herd
of pigs rather than be cast intothe abyss.
They don't want to wander.
They want to influence, oppressand deceive.
So let's talk a little bitabout where do demons show up in

(02:48):
the Bible.
Demonic activity is all overscripture.
In the Old Testament we'rewarned against sorcery,
necromancy and idol worship, allof which are tied to demonic
spirits.
In Deuteronomy 18, verses 10through 12, it says not to
practice divination or consultwith the dead.

(03:08):
In Psalm 106, verse 37, theysacrifice their sons and
daughters to demons.
In the New Testament, jesusoften cast out demons and in
Mark 1.34, he healed many whowere sick and cast out many
demons.

(03:29):
Demons caused physical andmental torment, deception,
violence, self-harm andconfusion, and that hasn't
stopped.
Just because demonic activitytoday looks more subtle or maybe
it just seems more subtle, itdoesn't mean that it's not
happening.
So how do demons operate today?
In modern Western culture, theenemy has shifted tactics.

(03:53):
Instead of an outrightpossession, demons often
influence through falseteachings and new age beliefs,
confusion, fear and isolation,addictions and compulsive
behaviors, bitterness, trauma orhidden sin or unforgiveness,

(04:14):
and an entertainment thatglorifies darkness.
In 1 Timothy 4.1, we're warnedthe spirit clearly says that in
later times some will abandonthe faith and follow deceiving
spirits and things taught bydemons.
Demons are active wherever theyare invited through rebellion,

(04:34):
pride, compromise and curiosityabout darkness.
Next, demons and pharmakiaspiritual deception through
substances.
So let's talk about somethingthe Bible addresses but we
rarely hear discussed, and thatis pharmakia.
The Greek word appears in theNew Testament and it's where we

(04:55):
get the word pharmacy.
But biblically, pharmakia isn'tjust medicine.
It refers to sorcery,witchcraft and the use of
substances to alter the mind orconnect with the spiritual realm
.
Galatians 5.20,.
Idolatry and sorcery orpharmakia are mentioned.
And then in Revelation 18.23,we're told that all nations were

(05:20):
deceived by sorcery, and againthat word is pharmakia.
In the ancient world, potions,incantations and hallucinogens
were often used in rituals tosummon spirits.
The purpose opened the mind toquote higher knowledge, but it

(05:40):
wasn't coming from God.
And even today, many occultpractices still use drugs to
contact spirit guides, but theseguides are demonic, no matter
how beautiful or loving theyappear.
We also live in a societyheavily dependent on
pharmaceuticals Some helpful,sure, but many substances alter

(06:01):
the mind, weaken our spiritualdefenses and blur the lines
between sobriety and spiritualdanger.
1 Peter 5.8 says Besober-minded and alert, and
we're called to stayclear-headed for a reason Demons
take advantage of a mind leftunguarded.
Not every pill is evil, notevery prescription is demonic,

(06:24):
but anything that opensspiritual doors outside of
Christ needs to be approachedwith wisdom and prayer.
And if you want to hear moreabout pharmakia in particular,
go back to episode 41.
We discuss it in.
I believe it's 41, 42, and 43.
But something else that I wantto throw out there is that as

(06:46):
believers, we are certainlycalled to be set apart, as we
know, and sometimes it canbecome easy because we are in
the world and we're in societyand we don't want to be too
different.
Right, we're going along or wehave been programmed into
certain mindsets when I say notevery prescription is demonic,

(07:09):
sure, but some of them are, andI just want to encourage you
this is a kind of a sidestep tothis conversation I want to
encourage you to be sober-mindedwhen it comes to what you are
taking or injecting into yourbody, if human or animal cells
are inside of that vial thatyou're going to shoot into your

(07:33):
own blood, and we're told thatthe life of the body is in the
blood, something you may want tolook into, a hole you might
want to go down.
Let's talk about another hole.
That's kind of interesting andthat's with demons and parasites
a physical, spiritual parallel.
This is something I foundreally interesting as I started
to study demonic activity and itmight sound kind of unusual,

(07:57):
but many have noticed somethingreally interesting that there is
a striking parallel betweendemons, or demonic oppression,
and parasites.
So think about it.
Parasites feed off of a host,silently at first, and then
gradually weaken it.
They often go unnoticed whiledraining life and energy.

(08:18):
They can affect your mood,behavior and even thoughts,
especially the gut brainparasites, and they thrive in
the dark and toxic and uncleanenvironments.
Likewise, demons seek toinhibit and influence people.
They often operate throughdeception and secrecy.
They attach themselves to areasof spiritual darkness, sin and

(08:42):
trauma.
They attach themselves to areasof spiritual darkness, sin and
trauma.
Deliverance ministry sometimesreports physical manifestations
during spiritual deliverance,such as vomiting, twitching and
sudden release, not unlike whathappens when a parasite is
purged from the body.
While this connection isn'tdoctrinal, it's a powerful
analogy and it may point to thedeeper connection between our

(09:04):
physical and spiritual health.
That brings us to the bigquestion can christians be
possessed by demons?
Here's a question I get asked alot.
And if you're a believer injesus christ, truly born again
and skilled with the holy spirit, you cannot be possessed.
You are God's and nothing cansnatch you from his hand.

(09:25):
We're told in Ephesians 1.13that we are sealed by the Holy
Spirit.
In 1 John 4.4,.
Greater is he who is in youthan he who is in the world.
But that doesn't mean that youcan't be oppressed spiritually,
harassed, mentally oremotionally, influenced by lies
or unhealed trauma, orvulnerable to spiritual

(09:47):
strongholds when sin is leftunchecked.
That's why Paul warns us inEphesians 4.27, do not give the
devil a foothold.
So how do we stand firm inChrist when we're up against a
battle like this?
We don't fight demons on ourown strength.
We fight with the authority ofJesus.
Luke 10, 19,.

(10:09):
I have given you authority toovercome all the power of the
enemy.
James 4, 7,.
Submit yourselves to God,resist the devil and he will
flee from you.
And Ephesians 6 outlines ourarmor the belt of truth, the
breastplate of righteousness,the shield of faith, the helmet

(10:30):
of salvation and the sword ofthe spirit and prayer.
So stay submitted, stay rootedand walk in the light.
You don't need to fear theenemy, you just need to
recognize him and resist.
Thank you for joining me forthis coffee talk.
Yes, demons are real, but youdon't need to fear them.

(10:51):
You need to be aware and standfirm in Christ and remember the
same power that raised Jesusfrom the dead lives in you and
Satan and all of his minions.
They have already been defeated.
Last, I have a few questionsfor you to reflect on as you are
going through your week.

(11:12):
Do I recognize areas where theenemy may have influence in my
life or thinking?
Am I staying grounded in truthor entertaining lies?
Are the spiritual doors I needto close through repentance,
forgiveness or prayer, and do Ibelieve in the authority I have
in Jesus?
If this episode gave youinsight or encouragement or

(11:36):
clarity, share it with a friend.
And if you have missed any ofthe past episodes in Coffee Talk
series, I invite you to go backand listen, especially last
episode 138, is Satan Real?
And for even more foundationalteaching on spiritual warfare,
definitely check out episodesthree through six, where we
first explored what it means tobe in a spiritual battle and how

(11:59):
to stand firm in your faith.
Thank you so much for tuning inand for being on this journey.
If you would like to stayconnected outside the podcast,
you can join the mission onInstagram at the Radiant Mission
, facebook at the RadiantMission Podcast.
Or if you wanna watch in videoformat, you can find us on
YouTube by searching for my nameRebecca Toomey, t-w-o-m-e-y.

(12:22):
And today I'm going to closewith Romans 8, 38 through 39,
for I am convinced that neitherdeath nor life, neither angels
nor demons will be able toseparate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus, ourLord.
Wishing you a radiant week andI'll see you next time.
Bye everyone.