Demonic Influence in the World

This month, we have been pulling back the curtain and discussing our relationship to the devil. We’ve talked about who he is and what he wants, but today we’re going to go further and discuss some of the ways that Satan and his fallen host have influenced and are currently influencing our lives, our culture and ourselves. You may be surprised to see just how much clear influence the enemy is having on your life, so stay with us as we tackle the conversation of demonic influence in the world.

Before we get too deep into the conversation, I want to stress up front that our goal here is not to make you paranoid and afraid, thinking there’s a demon behind every bush or that Satan himself is personally out to get you. The devil is real. Demon’s are real. There is an unseen, spiritual realm that has an immediate and direct impact on the natural world that we can see, touch and interact with. BUT, as believers, none of this should be a surprise to us. In Ephesians chapter 6, the apostle Paul writes,

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."

So, we shouldn’t be surprised or scared by the fact that there is demonic activity and influence in the world but, instead, we should be aware of it and ready when it comes.

So, what are the ways that the devil influences our world? Remember in our previous video, we showed how the goal of Satan is to diminish the spreading of the gospel, to keep people trapped in bondage to sin and, ultimately, delay the second coming of Christ for as long as possible in order to stave on his own judgement. In John 10:10, Jesus made the intentions of the enemy clear when He said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” That’s his plan for you. But, if a fiery demon or a talking serpent slithered up to you and told you they wanted to kill you, you would probably not be too quick to go along with them, so the devil uses deception to get you to walk willingly into your own destruction. This has been his tactic from the very beginning.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” - Genesis 3:1-5

This is how satanic deception works. There’s something that looks good but you know is bad for you for whatever reason. Your initial defense, then, is based off of an outside directive rather than an internal conviction or belief, “I can’t do that because I was told not to.” Then, the enemy comes in and uses rational reasoning to get past your defenses before elevating the desirability of the thing you're being tempted with. In the case of Eve in the garden, he diminished the penalty and elevated desirability by telling Eve that after eating the fruit, she would become like God! Though it may seem like an extreme jump, this lie is what is truly at the heart of every temptation and deception that you and I will face in our lives. It’s the promise of control, autonomy, power, self-governance. It’s a heart of rebellion. When you were a child, you would get mad and throw tantrums when you didn’t get your way. We all did. Even in those young ages, we were driven against the idea of being told what to do when it didn’t match up with our own intentions. Unfortunately, that instinct didn’t go away, it just acclimated. We get better are getting what we want, by manipulation, by coercion, by pretending until we get our way. Our sin becomes civilized, but our hearts remain rebellious and seeking our own ends.

So, as we get older, our sinfulness doesn’t go away, it just looks different. We desire different things for different reasons. There’s the temptation of pre-marital sex; it sounds appealing to our flesh, but we’ve been told that it’s wrong, then the temptation sets in because it was never our own conviction. We are easily deceived into rationalizing our sinful desires. “Isn’t waiting until you’re married just part of the puritanical, patriarchal, misogynistic culture that is wrong with the world? Sex is natural and it’s unnatural to repress our sexual desires. Look at all the people around me who are having sex, and nothing bad seems to be happening to them. I’ll try it just once and if I don’t like it, I can always stop. What is so bad about sex, anyways. Maybe God is just holding out on me, if he even exists at all.” And just like that, you’re hooked. Now, just as this process happens to each of us on a micro scale everyday, there are also demonic influences at work in our culture, in our government and in the world at large. This is why Paul used the terminology of “rulers, authorities and cosmic powers.” This thing is much bigger than just you and me.

We can see the macro demonic influences at work all around us. The breakdown of how we understand right and wrong is one example. Violent criminals have been excused because of what is called “systemic inequality,” only to be released back into the public and commit even more heinous crimes. The recent murder of Laken Riley is a tragic example of that, with many other examples in recent history, as well. In another example, people around the country are fighting to be able to give chemical castration drugs to children and to teach about sex, including same sex sexual acts, masturbation, and exploring their own sexual identities, to children starting in elementary school. While this is going on, young people are losing themselves in self-expressed identities and pronouns such as non-binary, furries and even demon-self, claiming that they have “alters” who manifest themselves on command and claim to be demonic entities. Mind altering, hallucinogenic drugs are becoming more and more mainstream, with people reporting interacting with interdimensional beings, especially with great, talking snakes, who tell them the secrets of the universe and reality. In fact, throughout history, there is a clear and recurring connection between psychedelic drugs, serpent worship and, darkest of all, human sacrifice. We’re seeing the first two, but surely the human sacrifice element has all but been eradicated in the modern, western world.

Every year, it is estimated that over 600,000 babies in the womb are killed by abortion. It should be no surprise, then, that after Roe v Wade was overturned, one of the loudest voices trying to ensure that abortions could still be accessed even in states that had restricted it was the Satanic church, who offered satanic ritual abortions drugs and outlines in order to protect the right of mothers to end the lives of their babies under the guise of religious protections. These things aren’t hidden. They are in plain sight and even celebrated today. I will leave you with one last passage that sheds light on how such obvious satanic wickedness could be tolerated today.

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. - 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

Because they refused to love the truth, God gave them over to live in the lies they wanted to believe. Deception starts small, seems rational, offers a desirable outcome, and leaves you trapped in bondage, unable to even recognize the lies in front of you until you’ve followed them all the way to hell. Hopefully, this is a wakeup call to some of you. In these days of lawless deception, we must learn to love the truth and so be saved.