The Invisible Realm A recent survey of adults’ spiritual beliefs suggests that people who consider themselves to be Christian have a diverse set of beliefs – but many of those beliefs are contradictory or, at least, inconsistent. 59% of “Christians” said they believed that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” Ironically, a majority of Christians also said that they believe that a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces, such as demons or evil spirits. 64% of Christians agreed that such influence is real. (www.barna.org).
Do you believe that angels and demons exist? If you trust God’s truth recorded in the Bible you should! “Believe” can mean three different things: Faith Service Worship Vision There may be times when you find it difficult to reconcile God’s truth to your own opinion or worldview, God’s truth is eternal, it does not change, our understanding of the truth does change as we allow God to work in our hearts and minds. These sessions are not about opinion, they are about learning truth, the truth contained in the Bible, together we are going to focus on how we apply God’s truth, black & white in a grey world. To set godly priorities, grow in Christian character and live according to God’s standards so that we are a living witness to others.
Words of Truth & Life:
Session 3 Bible Study 5 October 2010
1. It can mean simply an opinion, like believing it will rain tomorrow. 2. It can mean personal trust or reliance, like believing in your doctor. 3. Or it can mean religious faith, saving faith, giving your whole heart and self and life to God in adoration and submission. Believing in angels in the first sense makes only a mental difference in your map of the universe. Believing in angels in the second sense makes a real and important difference to your life. Believing in angels in the third sense is idolatry, worshipping false gods. Clearly we are talking about belief in the first and second senses
What difference does it make whether you believe in angels or not? This subject makes many of us uncomfortable. It may seem to be a throwback to medieval superstitions. However, a person cannot read the Bible as the Word of God without accepting the reality of demons. In addition to the physical realm that we see, there exists an invisible spirit realm. This invisible realm is inhabited by good spirit beings called angels and evil spirit beings called demons, and affects our world every day. “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18). n
Throughout the history of the church, spiritual warfare has been over and under emphasised. We need an appropriate understanding of spiritual warfare.
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The devil wants you to either believe he doesn’t exist, or to be afraid of him.
The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of demons any more than it attempts to prove the existence of God. It simply reports on their activities as if its first readers accepted their existence. Nor did the early church fathers have a problem with the reality and personality of demons. Origen wrote: “In regard to the devil and his angels and opposing powers, the ecclesiastical teaching maintains that the beings do indeed exist; but what they are or how they exist is not explained with sufficient clarity. This opinion, however, is held by most: that the devil was an angel; and having apostatized, he persuaded as many angels as possible to fall away with himself; and these, even to the present time, are called his angels.”
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