Satan’s Hidden Influence Lesson #4
Characteristics of Devils and Unclean Spirits
In the previous lesson we saw that Satan uses devils and unclean spirits to influence things on earth today through what we referred to as the Spirit World. We must recognize the existence of these spiritual elements and how Satan uses them. In this lesson we are going to give some of the characteristics of devils and unclean spirits and how they are present today in our society.
General Characteristics of devils and unclean spirits:
1) They will many times deny Satan as a real being and make him an evil influence.
- You might ask what would be the point of this? If Satan wants to influence man without him realizing that it is Satan in the first place then this would be a great plan.
- He can simply trick people into believing that he is just an influence and not the real being who is called the God of forces (Daniel 11:38), god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), and price and power of the air (Ephesians 2:2).
2) They like the dark and to work in the dark (John 3:19-21)
- This is why most sin is committed after dark as well as most crimes.
- Have you ever wondered why it is natural for us to be afraid of the dark?
3) They do not like calling Jesus Christ Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3)
- Unclean spirit know who he is and they worship him but we don’t see them calling him Lord much in scripture.
- Note Judas Iscariot called Jesus master all the time but not Lord.
- They also do not like to hear talk about the blood of Jesus Christ.
4) They deny Jesus has come in the flesh (1 John 4:3)
- This makes you wonder what spirit is behind translations of the bible that attack the deity of Jesus Christ.
In Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-37 we can learn some specific details concerning the characteristics of unclean spirits and devils. In these passages the man of Gadara is possessed with many devils or unclean spirits and Jesus cast them out of him. Let us look at these passages and see some of these characteristics.
1) He lived among the tombs (Mark 5:2)
- In our society today we have many who are fascinated with the dead. This is usually a characteristic of unclean spirits.
- There are many who only were black clothing and use white makeup to make themselves appear as the dead.
- Also murder and death are main themes of most every show on television and most movies as well. This will increase as we get closer to the tribulation.
2) He had supernatural strength (Mark 5:3)
- The unclean spirits gave him the ability to be able to break chains. How many superhero movies and tv shows are there today.
- Once again Satan is preparing people for when his angels come to earth in the tribulation and perform miracles.
3) He could not be tamed (Mark 5:4)
- There seems to be a greater push for rebellion in our society today than ever before. Note that rebellion is said to be as the sin of witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23).
- One of the characteristics of the last days are that children will be disobedient to parents (2 Timothy 3:2).
4) He was naked (Luke 8:28)
- Nakedness has been associated with worshipping false gods since the beginning. When the children of Israel made their first idol they ended up naked (Exodus 32:25).
- Today pornography is rampant and people try to wear as little as possible in public. It is like they are having a contest to see how much they can show and get away with it.
5) He sought to destroy himself (Mark 5:5)
- The verse says that he was cutting himself with stones. In 2 Kings 18:28 we see that it was the manner of those who worshipped Baal to cut themselves.
- Children everywhere are doing this today. Psychologist will tell us they are trying to have physical pain instead of emotional pain. But here in the word of God we see if connected with a spiritual influence. Satan from the beginning has been trying to get man to destroy himself.
- This is why God said make no cutting in your flesh (Leviticus 19:28). This verse also speaks against tattoos. Today people have gone nuts with tattoos everyone has them even saved people are getting what they call Christian tattoos. There is no such thing as a Christian tattoo according to this verse.
- Why all this craze with tattoos? Satan is getting people ready to accept the mark of the beast it is that simple.
In these examples we see how once again Satan is a master at hidden influence. This is why as saved people we must be very diligent and study the word of God and be aware of Satan and his influence.
Satan’s Hidden Influence Lesson #4 : Handout
Characteristics of Devils and Unclean Spirits
1) List some of the general characteristics of devils and unclean spirits.
2) List some of the characteristics and their associations that we see today from the man of Gadara possessed with devils.