August 23, 2026 - Resist: Spiritual Warfare FAQs About Demon Possession — Baptist Bible Church

One of the topics that has produced, I think, a lot of confusion today on the topic of spiritual warfare has to do with demon possession and exorcism.

And I think oftentimes when the phrase or the topic of spiritual warfare comes up, I think a lot of Christians' minds go to that topic, that concept.

Are we talking about demon possession?

Are we talking about casting out demons, praying out demons, rebuking Satan and his demonic forces?

And is this something that we should as a church be engaged in?

Is it something that we as individual Christians should be engaged in?

Are we called to direct confrontation with Satan and the demonic host?

And my hope this morning, as we delve into this topic and these questions, is to provide some biblical clarity on the topic.

My hope is that we can go out this morning with some solid biblical foundation to stand on that helps to shape how we understand these questions and what we think about those things as an individual Christian as well as the church today.

So we've got a lot of content to dig into this morning, so we're going to try to keep a healthy pace as we go, as we seek to provide some clarity on some of these questions.

Let's pray, and then we will dig right in.

Father, thanks for today.

Thankful for this opportunity now to open up your word.

I pray that as we dig into some common questions related to spiritual warfare, specifically as they relate to demons, as they relate to Satan, as they relate to how Satan and his demons interact with humanity and how we are called to fight and engage in the fight in spiritual warfare.

Father, help us to understand your word.

I pray that we'd be grounded in your word this morning, and we pray that the truth of your word would provide us with the clarity we need to know how to go forward and specifically as it relates to spiritual warfare.

It's in your name, or it's in the name of your son we pray.

Amen.

All right, well, let's start right away with the first question: what is demon possession?

What is demon possession?

Well, the term itself or the concept, I should say, is derived from two Greek words in the New Testament, two Greek words.

Daimonidzomai is one of those words, and that is translated as to be possessed by a demon.

And akine daimonion is translated as having a demon or to have a demon.

So when we read in our New Testament Bibles about demon possession, these are the two words that are used in those contexts.

There are in fact eight detailed accounts in the Gospels of demon possession.

So we're going to look at one of those examples this morning.

Turn with me to Matthew chapter 12.

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 12, verse 43.

Matthew 12:43

Matthew 12, 43.

Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came.

And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order.

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first.

So also will it be with this evil generation.

So in context, Jesus is rebuking Pharisees and seems to be indicating through this teaching that moral reform is not enough to save or regenerate a person.

Just because you're outwardly religious and adhere to religious rules does not mean that you are inwardly regenerated.

And in fact, he's stating here that a morally clean person can still be indwelt by demons because they have not been regenerated.

But we notice what I want us to note here is that Jesus' teaching helps us to understand that these terms that are used in the New Testament in these detailed accounts of demon possession refer to demon possession as an act whereby a demon indwells or takes up residence inside a person's body.

This is an indwelling.

Demon possession is an indwelling.

And when the demon indwells a person, they also seem to have the ability to override that person's own volition, meaning the demon can speak, has the ability to speak through the person, and act through that individual person.

We see this in the accounts in the Gospels.

One New Testament writer puts it this way: demon possession was viewed as a unique situation in which an evil spirit actually took control of an individual, acting and speaking through that person in at least partial independence of his or her own volition and consciousness.

So when we talk about demon possession, this is what we're talking about.

This is a biblical definition, a biblical understanding of what demon possession is.

Now, there is one model of spiritual warfare that is referred to as the deliverance model.

If you think all the way back to when we first started the series on spiritual warfare, I mentioned this as one of the common ways in which the church teaches spiritual warfare today.

They teach the deliverance model.

The deliverance model commonly teaches that a person can invite a demon in either through their own sin or through like a cult type activity.

So demon possession is invited by the acts and specifically the sins of the individual.

So if I have turned into some deep sin, I am therefore inviting a demon to come.

And once that demon comes, it will dominate the individual and then compel them to continue in sin.

So we notice in the deliverance model, there is a direct correlation between demon possession and sin.

These are two concepts that are put together in the deliverance model.

Your own sin, your own depravity invites a demon to come in, and then that demon then pushes you even further into your sin.

Therefore, how do you fight sin?

How do you fight in the battle of spiritual warfare?

Well then, that demon must then be rebuked.

It must be directly prayed against, it must be cast out of both regions, cities, cultures, nations, as well as individual people.

That's the only way for a person to be released from the grip of evil.

So it's a sin issue ultimately, and the demon is the one that's compelling and influencing that person in their sin.

And for that person to have victory over sin, the demon itself must be rebuked and removed.

This is what is known as direct confrontation, spiritual warfare.

Demons, evil spirits, Satan himself are directly rebuked and confronted by Christians.

This is the approach that's common both in charismatic circles today, Pentecostal charismatic churches.

This is also the view within the Roman Catholic Church.

Differently nuanced in both circles, but this would be the basic idea in these denominations today.

So, is this the biblical model?

Is the question we need to ask ourselves this morning.

Biblically, is this how we should be approaching spiritual warfare?

Well, in order to understand that, we need to root ourselves in what the Bible reveals to us about demon possession and exorcism.

And Jesus is going to be the person we're going to look to this morning to notice.

How did Jesus interact with demons?

And we'll notice this morning the first thing we need to understand is that Jesus cast out demons in order to relieve suffering, not to provide a method of sanctification.

So when Jesus cast out demons, the root issue wasn't sin.

The root issue was suffering.

And Jesus' exorcisms were in fact acts of mercy.

These were acts of mercy.

So I'm going to show you, don't try to write all these down.

Maybe if you want to take a picture, you can.

But we notice that demons, when they possessed a person, they inflicted suffering.

They were not invited by sin, nor did they compel sin.

So we've got several different examples of this.

And I've put down, those are the eight, those are the eight detailed accounts of demon possession in the New Testament.

And in each of these examples, we'll notice that the person was suffering.

The demon was possessing someone and producing suffering.

So for example, we have the mute, demon-possessed person in Matthew chapter 9.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

The person was unable to speak while the demon inhabited him.

Sorry, the lines get a little blurred there, but the the person, why was the person mute?

Because the demon was producing that suffering in them.

So when Jesus cast out the demon, it wasn't about sin.

It was about the person being able to speak.

The demon was producing and inflicting that kind of suffering.

Okay, uh notice, let's look at, you know, the we have the blind and the mute demoniac.

That's just another way to describe someone demon-possessed.

This person was blind and mute.

And what did Jesus do?

He cast out the demon and healed him so that the man spoke and saw.

We have the spirit convulsing the man in the Capernaum synagogue, the the demon-possessed guys by the tombs.

We notice they were crying out, they were cutting themselves with stones.

The demons were producing this awful, horrific behavior in these people that was producing so much suffering.

Every time a demon was cast out, it was an act of mercy.

So this is an important, this is an important departure from the deliverance model that says demon possession is a sin issue, that a person is sinning.

And in order for the person to be released from sin, the demon has to be cast out.

That's not what we see in the New Testament.

When Jesus cast out demons, it wasn't to deliver people from sin, it was to deliver them from the suffering the demon was inflicting.

So keep that in mind.

That's an important foundational component to all of this.

And then secondly, the remedy for sin is not deliverance from a demon, it is the ordinary means of sanctification God has already provided.

So we need to recognize that our own sin nature is what draws us to sin.

It's our flesh that makes us a slave to sin.

The remedy is not deliverance from the demon.

The remedy to fighting sin is to fight with the ordinary means of sanctification that God has already provided.

All right, so if you remember, Ephesians chapter 6 was one of our foundational passages with the armor of God.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

And in that passage, Paul lays out how believers fight sin.

How do they engage in spiritual warfare?

And we notice, he says, with truth.

To fight with truth, right, was one of the pieces of armor and faith and salvation, gospel peace, these things that are normal components of a believer's regular growth in Christ and growth in the faith was the means by which we noticed in Ephesians chapter 6 that believers fight sin and grow in holiness.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

So we need to recognize this morning that demon possession in the New Testament, in the gospel accounts, was related to suffering.

We today don't need to cast out demons to fight sin.

We need to do the normal day-to-day activities of sanctification prescribed in Scripture to fight sin.

And that's the series that we have been going through in spiritual warfare has sought to make clear what we are called to do, how we're called to go to scripture, use the truth, go to Jesus, go to prayer as these normal means by which we fight against our own sin.

Alright, so that's one foundational plank here.

The second is to understand why Jesus cast out demons.

Why did Jesus cast out demons?

So turn with me to the book of Mark, chapter one.

Mark chapter one.

Look in verse fourteen.

Mark chapter one.

Mark chapter one, verses fourteen and fifteen.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel.

So we notice here in the opening of the Gospel of Mark, we notice what Jesus was proclaiming at the start of his public ministry.

And this was the message, which, by the way, was a continuation of the message that John the Baptist was preaching, a message of repentance.

And John's ministry was to prepare the way for Jesus.

When Jesus comes on the stage and begins his public ministry, he also preaches a message of repentance and ties it to this concept of the kingdom of God.

And the reason why he does that is because the people of Israel were expecting the kingdom of God to come.

And so Jesus came on the scene, and this is exactly what he was preparing the people for.

But there's a condition to that.

And you can go back and you can look in the Old Testament, you can see the condition is always attached to the promise.

It's conditional upon the repentance of the people of Israel.

If the people of Israel would repent of their sin, then God would establish his kingdom on earth.

And so this is exactly the message Jesus is preaching.

He's saying, the time has come.

The king is here.

God's anointed Messiah is here.

So repent, believe in the gospel, because the king is here and the kingdom is going to be established if you'll do this.

So this is what Jesus was proclaiming as the king.

Okay, so then we notice Jesus, as part of his offer of the kingdom to the people of Israel, part of this process meant casting out demons in order to display his authority as king.

So why do I say that?

Well, first of all, we need to recognize Satan has been allowed a measure of authority over the earth.

We see one of his titles, God of this world, or prince of the power of the air.

There is a sense in which Satan has been allowed to be the ruler of this world.

He's been allowed a measure of that authority.

So when Jesus came to offer the kingdom by casting out demons, he demonstrated he had the power and the authority to cast out the current ruler and to then bring in God's kingdom instead.

Now we see that if you go to Matthew chapter twelve.

So turn with me back to Matthew.

Look with me in Matthew chapter twelve.

Matthew twelve, twenty-two.

It says, Then a demon oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him.

And he healed him so that the man spoke and saw.

Here we notice.

Demon inflicting suffering, causing a person to be blind and mute.

What does Jesus do?

He says he healed him.

The idea here is he cast out the demon, with the result being the man spoke and saw.

Act of mercy.

There's no mention of any kind of sin here.

But then notice what happens in verse 23.

And all the people were amazed and said, Can this be the son of David?

Now that is a significant title that connects back to the book of 2 Samuel, where God promises David, this is known as the Davidic covenant, God promises David that one day that a descendant of David will rule over an eternal kingdom, a never-ending kingdom.

And so that concept is more fully developed throughout the Old Testament and fleshed out further to understand that God is going to send someone under the lineage of David who would come as the Messiah and rule and reign over the kingdom of God on earth.

So this is a theologically loaded claim.

And the people are seeing Jesus cast out demons, and what does their mind go to?

Is this that promised king?

Is this the son of David who's come to establish the kingdom on earth?

So we notice the people uh making the connection, saying he has the power to cast out demons.

Is he this king that's coming, this Messiah that's coming?

Now, notice not everybody shared this opinion, because then if you see in verse 24 it says, but when the Pharisees heard it, they said, It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.

Now, this is this is fascinating.

Because the Pharisees, what they they can't deny what just happened, right?

It's not like they can say, like, oh, this is just a trick, or don't be deceived, you know, there's like there's smoke and mirrors going on here.

I mean, this is like a guy was possessed by a demon, he couldn't speak, he couldn't see.

Jesus cast out the demon so the man can now speak and see, and everybody just saw it.

There's no, there's no way to excuse it.

And felt, well, there's one way.

There's one way.

The Pharisees could either just admit, okay, yep, I guess this is the son of David.

Or what?

Nope, the power didn't come from God.

The only reason he can cast these demons out is because he's empowered by Satan.

And that's what they chose to do.

Blinded by unbelief, rather than admitting Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of David, they decided instead to explain away this incredible power, this incredible authority, by saying that he has been empowered by the ruler of demons, and that's how he can cast these demons out.

I mean, that's an incredible claim, isn't it?

I mean, to be to be an eyewitness of the full power and authority of the Son of God, and to see that power and authority displayed in an amazing way.

I mean, you would just like, if you would think, if you were there, like you would just be like, yeah, this is the Son of David.

There's no denying it.

We would think that, right?

And yet, here these Pharisees, these people, supposed to be religious leaders, observed the very power of God at work and chose to say, that's Satan, not God.

That's remarkable.

And it speaks to the blindness of that sin produces in us.

But notice what Jesus says in verse 25.

He says, Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is laid to waste, and no city or house divided against itself was Will stand.

You see, that Abraham Lincoln didn't come up with that.

That was Jesus.

He says, And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself.

How then will his kingdom stand?

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebel, by whom do your sons cast them out?

Therefore they will be your judges.

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

So, what do we notice here?

We notice, first of all, Jesus makes a very logical argument.

He says, How is it that by the power of Satan I'm casting out demons?

Satan would be attacking his own kingdom.

He'd be attacking his own army.

Jesus says, Are you guys crazy?

That makes no logical sense.

So that that claim is ridiculous.

He blows it up with that argument.

A kingdom divided itself can't stand.

Satan would never do that.

But then he says, did you notice in that last verse, what does he say?

He says, But therefore, if I'm casting out demons by the Spirit of God, guess what?

I am the king, and I have the full authority and power to establish God's kingdom here on earth.

So Jesus here is explicitly stating the theological reason for why he's casting out demons.

Because he's casting out the ruler of the world, and he's preparing the world for the new, for a new ruler, a new king, new government, the kingdom of God on earth.

So we need to recognize this morning that when Jesus cast out demons, number one, it wasn't about sin, it was an act of mercy.

And number two, Jesus theologically was casting out demons as a demonstration of his authority and power as king.

And therefore authenticating the kingdom offer.

Yes, I have the power to establish God's kingdom on earth because I can cast out the current ruler of the earth right now.

By the way, this is also how we should understand the disciples' ability to cast out demons, as they were an extension of Jesus' kingdom offer and therefore an extension of his authority.

So in the few examples we have of demon of disciples casting out demons, it was in the same vein.

As they went out and preached the kingdom, preached to the kingdom offer, they were demonstrating that they had that same power because it was an extension of the power of the king.

Okay, so we've got a few planks here.

We're going to bring it all together in just a few minutes, but there's one other thing we need to talk about, and that's this other popular question.

Can a Christian be possessed by a demon?

There's one more little note for you there.

By casting out demons, Jesus showed his ability to evict the current ruler of this world.

Okay, so then the next question: Can a Christian be possessed by a demon?

There's a few verses we need to look at for this, so turn first to John 17, 15.

John 17, 15.

This is known as the high priestly prayer of Jesus.

Jesus goes before the Father and makes intercession, intercedes for his disciples, for his followers in prayer.

And notice in John 17, 15 it says, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

So the first thing we need to understand is that Christ's intercessory prayer keeps us from the evil one.

We can rely on the prayer of Jesus Himself, his intercessory prayer as a defense.

Remember, this is for Christians, this is for followers of Jesus, this is as a defense against attacks from the evil one.

If you go to 1 John chapter 5, you'll notice in 1 John chapter 5, God answers this prayer.

1 John 5 · chapter mention 1 John 5 · chapter mention

1 John chapter 5, look in verse 18.

1 John 5 · chapter mention

It says we know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who is born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

So we notice similar language there.

God the Father keeps believers from the evil one.

So we have an answer to Christ's intercessory prayer.

And then the final, so we notice God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, God the Spirit.

Look in a few verses here.

Okay, we already noticed in Matthew chapter 12, Jesus taught demon possession as an indwelling.

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

That's the first passage we looked at this morning.

In Matthew chapter 12, Jesus gives the picture of a house and correlates demon possession to demon indwelling.

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

So we understand that when a demon possesses a person, it is that demon inhabiting or indwelling somebody's physical body.

That's demon possession.

Okay, so now if you go to First Corinthians chapter three, we'll notice a significant truth.

First Corinthians chapter three.

You're not spiritually mature.

So these are these are not spiritually mature Christians.

And what does he say in 1 Corinthians 3 16?

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

So what significant truth do we understand here?

Christians are indwelt by who?

By God the Spirit.

By God the Spirit.

Christians are indwelt by the very Spirit of God.

And if you turn over a few pages to 2 Corinthians chapter 6, okay, one last verse for us to look at this morning, or 2 Corinthians chapter 6.

2 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention 2 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

Verse 15, 2 Corinthians 6, 15, what accord has Christ with Belial?

Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

What agreement has the temple of God with idols?

For we are the temple of the living God.

So we notice here that as the temple, there is a separation.

There's a separation between light and darkness, between God and Satan.

And if we are indwelt by the Spirit, guess what?

It is impossible to happen.

What's impossible?

It's impossible for a demon to share the dwelling place.

A demon can't indwell a Christian because a Christian is already indwelt.

The residence is already filled up.

There's no roommates.

If you're indwelt by the Spirit, you cannot.

It is impossible to be indwelt by a demon.

So we notice three strong evidences in the New Testament, both related to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, that it is impossible for a Christian to be possessed or indwelt by a demon.

Rest assured, rest in that truth.

Okay, let's tie it all together.

Some biblical conclusions regarding demon possession, exorcism, and Christians.

How can we take these foundational biblical truths we learned this morning and help that shape our understanding of these topics?

Okay, well, there's a few things.

Number one, the casting out of demons appears to be a unique ministry reserved for Jesus and those apostles he gave the authority to.

So when we look at the theological reasoning behind why the demons were cast out, and we look at what the effect of it was, we understand to help people fight sin, we don't cast out demons.

That's not what helps people fight sin.

So in the church's mission to help fight sin against sin, demon possession isn't a part of the arsenal in that fight.

But then, secondly, theologically, this is tied specifically to Jesus and his establishing of the kingdom of God on earth.

And it's interesting to note that it seems as though there is a dramatic increase in demon possession and demon activity at the first coming of Christ.

We don't read about demon possession in the Old Testament.

But when Jesus comes, all of a sudden we read about a bunch of demon possession.

And then into the New Testament epistles, do we read any more about demon possession once we get into, you know, the church has been established and now we have these letters?

Do we read any instructions regarding demon possession?

No, we don't.

But guess where demon possession pops up once again?

Guess where demon activity pops up again?

In the book of Revelation, which describes what?

The time just prior to Jesus' second coming when he establishes the kingdom of God on earth.

So it seems as though these two points in history we have a dramatic increase in demon activity and demon possession that does not seem to be a coincidence.

So the casting out of demons appears to be a unique ministry that released mankind from the infliction of pain and suffering and demonstrated Jesus' divine authority to rule and reign and authenticated his kingdom offer.

Secondly, the New Testament epistles contain no command, instruction, or example directing Christians to cast out demons, nor do they provide a method for diagnosing demon possession.

It's interesting in the gospel accounts, everybody knows it's a demon-possessed person.

There's no confusion about it.

Everybody knows.

Isn't there a lot of confusion today?

Is that person demon-possessed or not?

We don't know.

Well, it doesn't help that the Bible doesn't tell us.

Why doesn't the Bible tell us?

Well, that's interesting, isn't it?

The Bible doesn't tell us, hey, if this person exhibits these characteristics or attributes, these are the seven signs of demon possession.

And if somebody is demon-possessed, then guess what?

This is now then how you are to cast out that demon.

We don't have any instructions in the New Testament for the church to do that.

So it's an argument from silence in a sense, but the silence is kind of loud.

If we're supposed to be casting out demons, how come nobody in the how come not Paul, John, James, how come none of these writers who are writing instructions to the church ever dealt with the topic?

That causes us to question that.

There's no instructions for us to do this, but there are a lot of instructions that deal with fighting sin and growing in sanctification, aren't there?

There's a lot of instructions on how to do that.

No mention of casting out of demons.

Which leads us to the final conclusion this morning.

The Christian is called to engage in spiritual warfare by committing to the ordinary means of sanctification as presented in Ephesians chapter 6.

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Whether or not a person is truly demon-possessed is not up to you to determine.

It's not something you should try to figure out or ascertain.

It's not up to you to determine that.

We are called to engage in the fight by sharing, teaching, and proclaiming the gospel, as we saw the last couple of weeks.

We understand this morning that it is the gospel that gives sight to the blinds, figuratively speaking, and it is the gospel that sets people free from sin.

And so as you seek to engage in the fight, and we're not saying Satan and his demons aren't real, we've already established that with great clarity, I hope.

He's a real foe, he's a real opponent.

How do you fight him?

Share the gospel with your neighbor.

Tell someone about Jesus.

Start a Bible study with someone, and by engaging in those normal, ordinary methods, as God has proscribed through his word, you are advancing upon the kingdom of darkness.

When a person is set free from their sin because they have believed in the gospel, you are engaging in the fight, you are advancing the cause of Christ.

This is how we fight.

Preach, proclaim, teach, share the gospel, go out and make disciples.

And as you fight your own sin, putting on the armor of God, digging into the truth, being a faithful part of the church, growing in gospel grace, as you as you go to God in prayer and wrestle your flesh and your heart into submission to God's truth.

And as you seek to mortify the flesh, you are fighting sin the way God has described and commanded in His Word.

That's spiritual warfare.

So, Christian, are you fighting?

Are you fighting this morning?

Are you fighting God's way?

That's what we're called to.

Alright.

We're gonna pray.

And then I'm gonna have the guys come forward as we transition into our communion service this morning.

Heavenly Father, thanks for today.

Thankful now uh that we're able to take some time to remember the sacrifice of Christ.

We've talked a lot about the uh power of the gospel this morning.

We've reflected on and remembered the fact that we're called to engage in the fight by uh proclaiming the gospel, that it's the that the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

The gospel is our weapon to go out and to fight the enemy with.

And we're thankful that uh the gospel itself is made possible because of the sacrifice of Christ at the cross.

And so as we turn our attention now to remembering Jesus, remembering his sacrifice, Father, help us to uh examine our own hearts, confess any sin and repent of any sin that you bring to our mind this morning.

And I pray that that reflection on the sacrifice of Christ would produce in us thanksgiving and gratitude and love and worship, and would in fact bolster us against sin, as uh we are so filled with satisfaction and thanks and love for you through the sacrifice of Christ and the gospel message.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.