The Reality of the Kingdom of Demons

By Dr. H. Clifton Black

Spiritual warfare is not a game, and the devil is not an innocent puppy. He is the master deceiver, thief, and murderer, and the force behind nearly all evil. He is full of all kinds of cruelty, pain, curses, and blight known to the human family. To survive his attacks, you must realize that the devil is a real enemy, hell-bent on destroying you. I challenge you to get serious today about determining methods to rebuke him and keep him from hindering your service to the Lord.

Where did Satan come from? Did God create the Devil? Is God responsible for evil? Such questions plague the individual who wrestles with the existence of our adversary in the light of the Bibles revelation of the holiness of God. Philosophy can never give a satisfactory answer to these questions. The only satisfying answer is Gods answer, found in his Word.

If we are going to combat this enemy known as Satan, then we must know his motives and his methods. Our goal in this book is to resolve this and answer many other questions as we talk about every believers responsibility in spiritual warfare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490842516

Dr. H. Clifton Black

Dr. H. Clifton Black has served as senior pastor of Mountain Grove Church, Granite Falls, NC, for the last twenty-seven years. He is married to Linda Newton of Greenville, Alabama. They have three children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Dr. Black graduated from The Baptist College of Florida and received his Master of Theology and Doctorate of Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Black has been widely instrumental in revival efforts, bible conferences, and church growth conferences. He has served as president of the North Carolina Pastor’s Conference, and he has appeared in the 1975 edition of Who’s Who in American Religion and the 1985 Official Register of Outstanding Americans.

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Copyright © 1981, 2014 Dr. H. Clifton Black.

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Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-4250-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4252-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4251-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014911425

WestBow Press rev. date: 07/03/2014

Contents

Introduction

1     The Reality of Satan

2     The Reality of Demons

3     The Reality of Demons and Mankind

4     The Reality of Deliverance from Demons

Bibliography

Introduction

As one studies the Scriptures, it becomes apparent that they predict that there will be a great increase in demonic activity in the last days, as seen in 1 Timothy 4:1. Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. An ever-increasing flood of satanic wickedness, ranging all the way from psychic afflictions to moral aberrations, characterizes our age. This rapid expansion of the work of the kingdom of darkness is affecting and influencing the entire world, its governments, society, the church, and the life of the believer.

Practices that were once conducted more or less surreptitiously and abhorred by the average person as witchcraft and sorcery are now being clothed with the cloak of respectability and popularized through religious literature, lectures, church groups, and other media, such as radio, television, and movies. Millions are being subjected to demonstrations of the powers of darkness. The daily lives of millions are being influenced by the horoscope, which is the ancient Babylonian pseudo-scientific black art of astrology, as seen in Daniel 2:1–2.

And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, and his spirit was troubled, and his sleep went from him. Then the king commanded to summon the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

Multitudes, including businessmen and government and religious leaders, beset with problems, fearful, and confused because of the present state of the world, and concerned about the future, are seeking help and information from fortunetellers and spiritualist mediums. Countless others have been subjected to the influences and deceptions of spiritualism, assuming everything supernatural is of God. The gullible are naively falling victim to the fallacious reasoning that since God can heal and perform miracles, then every case of healing and everything that passes for a miracle must be from God. Since God has spoken through men by prophecy and revelation, then everyone who claims to have a prophecy or revelation from God must be accepted as a prophet and seer. Thus, psychic mediums and fortunetellers are finding multitudes who are clamoring for their help and guidance through the operation of their alleged gift of God.

Therefore, it is imperative that every believer studies the Bible to know the authoritative truths about the enemies of the causes of Christ and the kingdom of God. But why? The answer is that it is best to know your Enemy, and not just to know about him. We need to know how he operates. We need to know how he presents himself. We need to know what his weapons are. And most of all, we need to know how we might defeat him.

No individual can be victorious against the adversary of our souls unless he understands that adversary, unless he understands his philosophy, his methods of operation, and his methods of temptation.

Therefore, in this study, the biblical basis will be set forth to sustain the fact that there exists an unseen, but real, kingdom of darkness. This consists of a complex hierarchy of evil forces and an invisible host of demonic spirits, all actively engaged in an insidious plot to deceive, control, oppress, and eventually destroy the human race. But we will also give the biblical basis for victory over this diabolical Enemy of mankind.

Chapter 1

The Reality of Satan

A study of the kingdom of demons could not be realistic apart from a brief study of their diabolical leader, who is referred to in the Scriptures as Satan, Devil, Beelzebub, Belial, Adversary, Dragon, and Serpent. He is mentioned by these names 174 times in the Bible.

Where did Satan come from? Did God create the Devil? Is God responsible for evil? Such questions plague the individual who wrestles with the existence of our adversary in light of the Bible’s revelation of the holiness of God. Philosophy can never give a satisfactory answer to these questions. The only satisfying answer is God’s answer found in His Word.

The origin of Satan is more or less shrouded in mystery. One thing is certain: he is a created being, and that of the exalted type. We do know from a study of the Scriptures that before his fall, he was the anointed Cherub that covers. That is, he was the guardian or protector of the throne of God. He was perfect in all his ways from the day he was created until iniquity was found in him. In him were the fullness of wisdom and the perfection of beauty, but it was his beauty that caused the pride that was his downfall. He was clothed in a garment covered with the most rare and precious gems: the sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle—all interwoven with gold.

He dwelt in Eden, the garden of God. This probably refers not to the earthly Eden but to the paradise of God on high, for Satan dwelt on the holy mount of God. All this we learn from Ezekiel 28:11–19, where the prophet has a preview of the Antichrist under the title of the king of Tyre, and as Antichrist, he is an incarnation of Satan. The prophet describes Satan’s original glory from which he