Let me just briefly review what we have covered in the subject of demonology. It's been a little while since we were in these messages. And in the first message, we introduced this subject and said that we are in a war. By the way, maybe I could encourage all our families with young children, parents, After this message, we've just really introduced the subject. I've taken too long, but after this message, I would encourage parents with young children to take notes, listen very carefully. There will be some hard things to discern, but I think you will need them in light of your children in the days ahead. We are in a war. The war is between God and Satan and involves the good angels and demons. And the battlefield is the mind of man. This battle is going on in every human being. It's going on in every one of you. Both God and Satan want the mind, which the Bible calls the heart. But we looked at three views of what demons are and concluded that they are fallen angels. And then we looked at the meaning of the terms Satan, Devil, and Demon. The word Satan means an adversary or opponent, and thus the adversary and opponent of God and all godly people. The meaning of Devil is to throw over or divide or set at variance, accuse, bring charges, slander, etc. The word demon basically means to distribute fortunes. I think it may be that Satan promised the angels in heaven to distribute his fortunes with them when he has been exalted to godhood. Then we looked at the task of demons. The task of demons is what? To destroy, to destroy. Their effort is to destroy everything holy and good and godly and just and righteous, etc. Demons love sin. They want to conquer by sin. And I said the chief tools of demons is the world and the flesh. Could I, this morning, give us a little word on worldliness? Check the things you do and are involved in and are they worldly? The devil uses the world and the flesh. He is so subtle and sly that Christians all over are involved in worldliness and fleshliness and do not realize it. So quite often it is said that we battle the world, the flesh, and the devil. That is true, but it is the devil that uses the world and the flesh, the sinful, fallen nature of man for his ends. Then the next five messages, and I did take too much time on this. I hope I won't stretch it too far. But we went through, we covered the history of demonism. We covered the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Church Age, the Tribulation, the Millennium, and the Short Season. and the true new age. And in all of those ages, except for the new age, the battle is between God and the devil. And we are right in the midst of it. So when we were done covering the New Age, so was the devil. He will be done then as well. He will be finally and ultimately cast into hell where he will not torment anyone. Could I ask you for a prayer on a subject? I've been working on this for some years. A certain man wrote against the doctrine of hell. And I have been seeking to answer the questions that this man raised. And I would ask you to pray for me that I would have discernment to be able to see through some of these things. Anyway, the devil is cast into hell. He will receive his ultimate just end and Christians will live happily ever after. Isn't that wonderful? This is no fairy tale. Christians will live happily ever after. This morning I want to deal with two more subjects and then we will go to the more practical matters. We will deal first with the abode of demons. Where are they? Where do they dwell? Then we will look at the subject of exorcisms. And then that will, all of what we've had so far will prepare us to deal with demon possession in the next message. Hopefully if I get through this morning. Now, the abode of demons. As I can find, there are demons that are bound and there are demons that are free. Those are the two major categories of demons. And we're going to consider first the bound demons. So turn to 2nd Peter chapter 2. And Jude in verse 6 talks about this as well, but we'll go to 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 4. It says, For if God did not spare the angels who sinned and cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment, and so on. Here are angels that are said to have been cast down to hell. And who are these angels? And why are they in hell? Let me first comment on the word translated hell. The word for hell in chapter 2 verse 4 is Tartarus. It's the only occasion of this word in the Bible. Barnes writes of this word, the word here used occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, though it is common in the classical writers. It is a verb formed from Greek Tartarus, which in Greek mythology was the lower part or abyss of Hades, where the shades of the wicked were supposed to be imprisoned and tormented, and answered to the Jewish word Gehenna. End of quote. Well, the Jewish word Gehenna refers to the place we call hell. And if you talk with JWs and so on and those that do not believe in hell, they will trap you on this word Gehenna and Hades. And it's well worth learning these two words. You will remember that demons that Jesus cast out of the man called legions, they asked him not to send him into the abyss, the deep. This is the place they resisted as much as they could. I might add that some, like Vine's dictionary, say that Tartarus is not hell, but a special place for certain very wicked angels. But I think it answers to the Hebrew word, Gehenna, and is hell as we think of it. In the context, there are false teachers. It would appear from the rest of the chapter that they have been Christians. Such verses as verse 20 indicate this. And Peter is warning that these false teachers will be judged because their judgment has not been idle and their destruction does not slumber. Verse 3. Then Peter gives this warning against false teachers. If God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, then these false teachers need not think that they will get away with such things. Albert Barnes comments like this, the Apostle now proceeds to the proof of the proposition that these persons would be punished. It is to be remembered that they had been or even were even then professing Christians, though they had really, if not in form, apostatized from the faith. And a part of the proofs, therefore, are derived from the cases of those who had apostatized from the service of God. He appeals, therefore, to the case of the angels that had revolted. Neither their former rank, their dignity, nor their holiness saved them from being thrust down to hell. And if God punished them so severely, then false teachers could not hope to escape. Now, why was a certain class of angels cast down to hell while others are still free? Some believe that these are angels that cohabited with women in Genesis 6 and that God punished this sin by casting them into hell for it. I do not personally believe that angels can cohabit with women and do not subscribe to that view. There are many, many solid Christian believers who believe that, Jewish people as well, Catholic Church as well. I do not know what sins these angels committed, that they were cast into hell before the rest, but in the context, the Lord likens false teachers to such a high class of sin that their judgment will be very severe, if not premature. All that to say that some angels are already bound in hell. They may be loosed for a while later, we'll see some of that, but they are already there. Now go to Revelation chapter 9. We're talking about bound demons. Verses 1 and 2. Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key of the bottomless pit, and he opened... This is the Abusos. This is where those demons didn't want to go. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. It may be that these demons who are released from the pit are those in 1 Peter that God had previously cast into hell, or it may be that those demons who were cast out of people during the church age and were sent to the pit will later be loosed to wreak havoc on deserving people during the tribulation. So it appears that God, for some special reason, casts some angels into hell prematurely. When a demon is cast out of a person and commanded to go to hell or the pit, this is where they must go. Now, I must say as well that some do not agree that you can command demons to go to hell. There is some disagreement on that. But demons that are in hell are bound. They do not have access to heaven or to man on earth. It appears that Peter and Jude speak of these demons. Then in Revelation 9, 13 through 15, we speak of another group of demons. Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. So the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of horsemen was 200 million. I heard the number of them, and thus I saw the horses in the vision. Those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red hyacinth, blue and sulfur yellow, and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of the mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. The word for angels here is Angelos. Demons are fallen angels. These four messengers appear to be demons. Now, when they are bound there, we do not know, but it seems that God has some special work for these four demons in the future. When you study the tribulation, it will be a time of a lot of demonism happening in mankind. So, these are bound demons. We want to look at free demons. there are myriads of demons that are free that is they have not been bound as those we saw earlier and it may come as a surprise to you that some of them at least have access to heaven today so Job in chapter 1 let's look at Job chapter 1 again and we'll read Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, from where do you come? So you see he's in heaven now. So Satan answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro on the earth and from walking back and forth on it. Then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? So Satan answered the Lord and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. So what we learn here is that Satan himself has access to heaven. When we studied the tribulation, we found out that in the middle of the tribulation, he is cast out of heaven. He will never have access again. maybe for the sake of time, we had a passage in 2nd Kings, we've gone through earlier 2nd Kings 22, 19-23 and God was going to do a work in a certain king and he said he was going to go do this for me and there was a spirit that said I will go be a lying spirit to him, this is a demon This is in 1 Kings 22, 19 through 23. And so God said, yes, you can go. And he was a lying spirit to this king. He lied through their prophets. And so what we learn from that is that there are at least some demons that have access to heaven, and the devil has access to heaven. The comforting thing about these passages, both of these, 1 Kings and Job, is we see that demons cannot do whatever they want to do. They must have God's permission to do it. Now, let me give one word of warning here. I'll talk about it more later on. One of the ways we can open up to demonism is by rock music. This is an unquestionable field. I'm saying this for the sake of our young people. I'll talk more about it later. And what you can do by entering that is opening the doors. There are times when God allows demons to enter, and when we do certain things, He may give them permission to enter us. And that is one of the danger areas. We'll talk more about that later. So there are, by the way, there are a lot of other ways, ways that your children will be in danger of in the future. That's why I said what I did before. So there are demons that have access to heaven. Second, there are free demons that have access to earth and dwell there. By the way, I would be very shocked if there were not demons here and if some didn't come in with some of you. I would be shocked. This is the major battle, always has been, always will be till the new heaven and the new earth. So the devil in Job was walking up and down on earth and the next time he was in heaven. So we want to look at some of the places on earth that demons inhabit. First, there are demons on earth walking to and fro, seeking whom they may devour. The scripture is 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 8 through 9. Right now, they are walking around, they are seeking whom they may devour. When we allow ourselves into certain things, like I mentioned before, say rock music, there are a lot of other things. These are things that give them opportunity to enter. That doesn't mean that everybody who listens to that will be demon possessed, but it is one of the possibilities. So 1 Peter 5, 8-9 says, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, there's the word adversary, the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. So Satan is here on earth, working through his demons. In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2, he is called the prince of the power of the air. Here again he travels back and forth on earth through the air. As a matter of fact, the world, not the earth, the world, that's all of lost mankind, belongs to him. It's his. 1 John 5, 19 says, we know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he took Jesus to a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world. And then he said, if you will fall down and worship me, I will give you all of this stuff and the glory of it. And the glory of it. So the world belongs to him, not the earth, but the world. And so in the words of the title of one of Hal Lindsey's books, his title was, Satan is alive and well on planet Earth today. By the way, he is much more alive and well on planet Earth today than he was some time ago. In North America, I should say. So there are spirits on earth who are roaming about seeking entrance into humans or seeking their destruction. Later on I will talk about demon possession and some of these things and we'll learn to recognize some of this. But from scripture we learn that there are also some demons who inhabit people. It appears that the most desired place for demons is to dwell in people. We have read in an earlier passage of a number of spirits that inhabited one man. I will speak in another message of demon possession. Demon possession is when a demon resides inside a person. There are people who are what we call, and I'm going to talk more about this phrase later on, demon possessed. So there are demons in the air. They have access from here to heaven. And then there are demons that inhabit animals. It seems they want to inhabit a body. If they cannot inhabit a human, they prefer an animal next. We saw this from the demoniacs at Gadara. You can read the story where Jesus cast the demons out of the man and they went into the herd of swine and they ran into the sea and so on. So it is evident that demons can enter animals from the account of the man called Legion, who had many spirits and they sought permission to enter the swine, and the swine went wild. And animals that have demons within, like demon-possessed people, seem to want to die very hard. So I'd just like to ask, is there anyone here that has come across an animal that seemed like a possessed animal, just wild and wicked? I think That sometimes at least an animal like this can go crazy you know some years ago my wife and I went to Saskatchewan we visited some of our cousins and One we had visited the night before we left when we got home. We heard he had died and What happened, he was working for his brother who had a dairy farm. He had a bull in the fence. He had been known to be kind of an aggressive animal. But when he went through the fence that day, and he shouldn't have, but in the middle of the fence where his boots were, he must have seen the bull starting to come. And he got to the fence, and the bull hit him and pushed him over the fence, and he was dead. Now, I have heard stories of animals when if, let's say, he would have fallen inside the fence and the animal would have smelled blood that it would have shredded him to pieces. And there are animals like this. I have talked to one man who works with spirits who said he had an animal like that. He could even hardly shoot the animal. There are people like this as well, by the way. They are very, very hard to kill. because of the spirits. Okay, so there are demons that have access to heaven, there are demons on earth, there are demons in the air, there are some demons in some people, and some in some animals. So much then for the abode of demons, we now come to this very important area of dealing with demons. In the next point, I want to look at this subject of demon possession. But before we do that, let me deal with the problem of exorcism, and I view it as a problem. So go to Acts chapter 19. And we'll look at verse 13. I'll read from 11. Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, we exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches. The online Bible says that an exorcist is one who employs a formula or conjuration for expelling demons. They have a formula that they go through and they expel demons like this. I have downloaded the Catholic formula for expelling demons. Now, exorcism has been practiced by many unsaved people, groups, Catholics, Muslims, even demonized people. claim to have exorcised demons. For example, Hinduism, which is loaded with demons, claims to exorcise demons. Wikipedia says, beliefs and practices pertaining to the practice of exorcism are prominently connected with Hindus. The article goes on to say how they practice exorcisms. They use mantras and incantations which are occultic. By the way, any time you hear repetition of phrases, Every red flag should be high. Parents, children. Muslims claim to exorcise demons. Wikipedia says Islamic exorcisms consist of the treated person lying down while a sheik places a hand on the patient's head while reciting verses from the Quran. The drinking of holy water, Zamzam water from Zamzam well, may also take place. Specific verses from the Quran are recited, which glorify God. The wrong God, by the way. And invoke God's help. In some cases, the Azan, the call for daily prayers, is also read, as this has the effect of repelling non-angelic unseen beings or the jinn. That's what they're called. The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology says Muhammad also exercised jinn by cursing them three times. This is what he said, I seek refuge in Allah from you. I curse you by Allah's perfect curse. Then the same curse is used against infidels as well. Muhammad exercised jinn from others by beating the possessed and by ordering the jinn out. So how did they do it? They beat these possessed people. A man took his grandson who became insane through a possessing jinn to Muhammad. The Prophet beat the boys back while saying, get out enemy of Allah, enemy of Allah, get out. The jinn left the boy and he was healed. In another case, a boy suffering with fits was taken to Muhammad. The Prophet blew into his mouth three times and said, in the name of Allah, I am the slave of Allah, get out enemy of Allah, and the boy was healed. Now Judaism, As I've mentioned earlier, claims to exorcise demons. Alfred Edersheim, in his tremendous work, The Life and Times of Jesus Christ, writes of many of these Jewish practices of magic and dealing with demons by incantations. By the way, incantations, always a red flag word. And when he is done, he says, it has been a weary and unpleasant task to record such abject superstition, mostly the outcome of the contact with Parsi and other heathen elements. But Hal Lindsey gives a good warning. He writes, we should recall exorcism's pagan origins. Magic formulas and rituals to expel evil spirits have been practiced for centuries. Many of the methods were painful to the one possessed and involved beating, pinching, burning, and other types of physical abuse. Unger tells us of a shrine in India, which is well known among Hindus and Muslims as a place where demons are exorcised. He writes, violence and the infliction of pain are common, but when the demon that is to be driven out is particularly obstinate, cotton wicks soaked in oil are lighted and stuffed up the nostrils of the possessed. The cruelty of professional exorcists is beyond human understanding. Lindsay then writes, when we read and hear of methods of casting out demons used by unbelievers, we understand that it is possible under the power of Satan to cast out demons if it furthers his teaching and purpose. Now all of this raises a major question for me. Does it for you? Listen to Matthew chapter 12 verses 22 through 30. You might want to turn there It says then one who was brought to him who was demon-possessed blind and mute and he healed him so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw and all the multitudes were amazed and said could this be the son of David and Now when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad." Well, Lindsay said, when we read and hear of the methods of casting out demons used by unbelievers, we understand that it is possible under the power of Satan to cast out demons if it furthers his teachings and purpose. But from what Jesus said, if Satan casts out Satan, his kingdom cannot stand. it would implode, it would self-destruct. So what do we make of these claims of unbelievers exercising demons? I mentioned earlier that the online Bible says of an exorcist, and I quote, is one who employs a formula of conjuration for expelling demons. By the way, you can go on internet and download the Catholic formula for casting of demons and so on. So, that is using occult methods. So, what really happens? Well, I want to express my own view here. We know that the devil is both a deceiver and a habitual liar. He is the father of lies. I propose that the devil works in harmony with these exorcists. The exorcist does not cast out demons, he exorcises them. And I've wondered, why does the scripture not use exorcism when Jesus does it and the Catholic Church just uses the word exorcism? These demons that are exorcised are not sent to the abyss, but rather, I think, the exorcised demons are most likely simply reassigned to some other, maybe better place, better person. They want to inhabit a person. Through such exorcisms, the devil keeps hold of the demonized person, makes the exorcist think he has great power, draws those who witness such exorcisms into his snare, and likely simply reassigns such demons to another person. In other words, these demons are not cast out by the exorcist, but are called out by a demon positioned over the one being exorcised. Possibly they are even then offered a more desirable position. So imagine a Muslim Imam or a Hindu priest or a Catholic priest exercising a demon that has tormented some person and the followers of these religions are now awed at this man. Satan has now won more ground by removing one of his own from one person and sending him to another but he is not divided against himself, he is multiplying himself. I think there is scripture that answers what the Lord Jesus thought of those who exercised demons in his name. He said in Matthew 7, 21 through 23, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? I read of a Catholic priest, I think, who claims to have exorcised something like 160,000 demons. What will he say? Lord, help the Lord, didn't I cast out? And then Jesus will say, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice, what? Iniquity, lawlessness, exorcisms. Iniquity, lawlessness. Now these people claim they cast out demons, but could it be that they were practicing exorcism? Is that why Jesus said they were practicing lawlessness? And I think that may well be the case. Surely exorcisms by incantations, even if it is the name of Jesus, is a work of iniquity. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 13. I want to read verses 1 through 5. there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder now this word sign is translated in the New Testament a miracle and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you saying let us go after other gods which you have not known let us serve them you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him, and keep His commandments, and obey His voice. You shall serve Him, and hold fast to Him. But that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. Now, I would expect that if you and I were to be brought into a situation where we saw a Hindu priest or a Catholic priest exercising a demon and the demon is gone, we would be made to question our faith. And what I think we have there is one of the means by which God can test whether we really belong to Him or not. In this passage, God allowed that sign or the wonder to happen that the false prophet had said. And he explains why he did it. It is as a test for us. God allows demons, I believe, to be exercised by unbelievers to test the true believer. And the devil uses such opportunities to ensnare his own in even deeper ways. So in conclusion, Where do demons dwell? Well, some are bound, have been cast down into hell, and some are bound in a special location. The free demons may be in heaven, while others on earth. And those who are on earth may be going about through the air, seeking whom they may devour. Others have found habitation in either a human body or an animal body. But what of the claims of cults or the occult that they exorcise demons? I have come to the conclusion that this is a ploy of Satan through which he gains even more people to his side. During an exorcism, he may call out a demon or demons and give them another person to reside in, possibly a more desirable one. Through such exorcisms, those who are in that religion are bound ever more deeply in their false religion, while others may be won to that religion through such a show of power over the demons. And from here on, Lord willing, we will consider this subject of demon possession. And what I want to offer is during those messages, well, even from these, if you have questions, Write down your questions. Keep your questions, and if I answer them before the end, they will be answered. If they aren't answered, then I will give you an opportunity to hand in those questions, and then I will seek to deal with anything that you may have a question about that I can find out about. and do some research for any subject that you may want to have or have an answer to on this subject. And once again, for parents of young children, I would encourage you to take good notes, if you can, on those next messages and keep them handy. The day may very well come you will say, is that a name that I have on the list here? And you can check out to see if those are things that are a danger to your children. So, Lord bless you.