Holy Spirit #3

Spirit Beings in the Bible

Fred R. Coulter—November 14, 1992

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In order to really cover this thoroughly, today I'm going to cover spirit beings in the Bible. When we get to the Holy Spirit, we will see that the Holy Spirit never was, never has been and was never referred to as a person in the New Testament.

Let's begin with what is absolutely essential. Some of these things will be in the way of foundational or review. That's so that we can completely cover it and have a very thorough study and analysis of it.

John 4:24: "God is Spirit…" The King James says a spirit. God is composed of Spirit. That's what God is made of. We know that God has:

• a mind
• a face
• hands
• a body
• feet and legs

That's all in the Bible!

When Jesus was in the flesh, when one of the disciples said, 'Show us the Father and it will be sufficient,' Jesus told them, 'If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father.' So, if God the Father were in the flesh He would look just like Jesus looked.

Isaiah 57:15 is another foundational Scripture: "…the high and lofty One Who inhabits eternity…"—which is a spiritual level of existence that God lives in. Human beings live in the level of the flesh. God lives in the level of the eternal and the spiritual.

Let's see in the Old Testament that's very important concerning God and spirit beings, which we will cover today. We will cover spirit beings, angels and demons.

Daniel 7:9: "I watched until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days sat, Whose raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool…." This goes right back to Rev. 1. It shows what God looks like in kind of a far off, distant thing, in vision, as a spirit being.

"…His throne was like flames of fire, and its wheels like burning fire" (v 9). That ties right in to the book of Ezekiel, which talks about the cherubim, the seraphim, the Spirit of God and the vehicle, which we could call the chariot of God.

Verse 10: "A stream of fire issued and came out from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court sat and the books were opened." This gives us a view as to what it is like on the level of eternity that God inhabits. It's a level of existence that we cannot fully grasp or understand.

• Can you imagine seeing something like that?
• I wonder what Daniel thought when he saw that?

Daniel had quite a few things that he saw.

Heb. 1 ties all of this together: God, Christ, angels and men. This tells us about God and Christ. We'll go right through and pick out the essential things concerning what we're covering. I think it's important that we cover spirit beings, because no place in the New Testament does it say that the Holy Spirit is, or was, God. In the Old Testament, there are only three places that talks about the Holy Spirit, which has to do with something that God gives. It has nothing to do with a person. I think it's important that we cover the structure of spirit beings, as revealed in the Bible.

Hebrews 1:1: "God, Who spoke to the fathers at different times in the past and in many ways by the prophets, has spoken to us in these last days by His Son, Whom He has appointed heir of all things, by Whom also He made the ages; Who, being the brightness of His glory and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His own power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (vs 1-3).

This tells us a lot about God. There's the right hand, the work, the purging of the sins; Jesus purged all of the sins Himself. "…the exact image…" in the Greek: 'charakter.' So, He has the character of God.

Verse 4: "Having been made so much greater than any of the angels…" That means, by the power of the resurrection when He came back to take His life as God.

"…inasmuch as He has inherited a name exceedingly superior to them. For to which of the angels did He ever say, 'You are My Son; this day I have begotten You'?…. [none] …And again, 'I will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me'? And again, when He brought the Firstborn into the world, He said, 'Let all the angels of God worship Him'" (vs 4-6). That's an interesting statement, because it is the 'First Begotten/Firstborn and that shows when Jesus was in the flesh.
Even while Jesus was in the flesh, the angels worshipped Him. Remember, there were people who worshipped Jesus while He was in the flesh. Remember the blind man? He said that he didn't know who it was that healed him and Jesus said, 'The One Who healed you, I am He.' Then the blind man worshipped Him. Even when He was in the flesh He was worshipped. When you compare that with what John did when the angel brought the message to him, he bowed down to worship the angel and the angel said, 'Don't worship me, worship God alone.'

The key thing concerning angels in relationship to God, v 7: "Now, on the one hand, of the angels He says, 'Who makes His angels spirits… [they are made spirit beings] …and His ministers a flame of fire.'"

Verse 13: "But unto which of the angels did He ever say, 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet'? Are they not all ministering spirits, being sent forth to minister to those who are about to inherit salvation?" (vs 13-14). Each angel is a unique creation by God sent forth to do the work of God, what God wants done.

There are many different things that you can read in the Bible about angels and the things that happened. We'll look at some of them, how they work and what they do. We will see how the angels, as spirit beings, can manifest themselves to appear as men. The angels that have sinned and rebelled, cannot manifest themselves in a way that is direct and personal like the angels.

It says to 'entertain strangers, for some have entertained angels unawares' (Heb. 13). With demons, because they've been perverted, because they have rebelled, their nature has changed, just like some one who has been given over to evil, their nature has changed. They cannot manifest themselves as appearing to be human beings.

Genesis 19:1: "And there came two angels to Sodom at evening. And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. And Lot rose up to meet them when he saw them. And he bowed himself with his face toward the ground." This is homage due someone of a high office, not worshipping them.

Verse 2: "And said, 'Behold now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and stay all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early and go your way.'.…"

He knew that they were prominent individuals from just the way they walked in, just the way they were dressed. I don't know what sort of relationship people had with angels then, but even when you look at some of the mythology of the ancient times, there is a greater interplay between angels, demons, mythology and all of this sort of thing, than we have today. You know what happened; the angels were there:

• they had supernatural powers
• they blinded those people who wanted to come in and molest them and take Lot's daughters
• they were ministering spirits sent to minister to Lot and his family
• How did they do that? They rescued them from the destruction!

Unfortunately, Lot's own family was so involved in the society that they didn't even believe. His wife wasn't too convinced of it. She turned around and looked when they were told not to look and she turned into a pillar of salt.

Let's see what angels do in carrying out the work of God. In Num. 22 we find the problem and difficulty of Balaam. Balaam pleaded and finally went on his way. We see that the angel of God intervened and the angel of God was apparent.

Numbers 22:22: "And God's anger was kindled because he went. And the angel of the LORD stood in the way as an enemy against him. And as he was riding upon his donkey, and his two servants with him, then the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand…. [Balaam couldn't see the angel right then] …And the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her back into the way" (vs 22-23).

Angels have to make themselves manifest. The spectrum of human vision is not capable of seeing a spirit being. So, the spirit being must manifest itself in a form that can be see by human beings. However, here's a donkey that was able to see the angel. I don't know what the angel did to make himself seen by the donkey but not seen by Balaam. They have certain unique powers and things that they are able to do, as evident by this account, here.

Verse 24: "But the angel of the LORD stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall on this side, and a wall on that side. And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pushed herself into the wall and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall. And he struck her again" (vs 24-25). This is pretty hilarious when you really think of it.

Verse 26: "And the angel of the LORD went further and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she fell down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with a staff" (vs 26-27). Poor donkey!
Here's what God did. An angel, or the Lord, has the power to make the donkey speak, v 28: "And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, 'What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?' And Balaam said to the donkey…" (vs 28-29). Just carrying on a conversation. Talk about the movie, Talk to the Animals.

"…'Because you have mocked me…. [nothing like a little bit of arrogant vanity concerning his position] …I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you.' And the donkey said to Balaam, 'Am I not your donkey upon which you have ridden ever since I was yours to this day? Was I ever known to do so to you?' And he said, 'No.' Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way…" (vs 29-31). There it is right there.

God is able to do separate and different things. I've never been around an animal that talked, except a parrot that has been trained, but here this thing was. Balaam acted as if he was so outraged that if the donkey talked to him he'd just talk right back to him, not thinking of it. Not saying, 'Oh, boy! This donkey's talking!'

"…and his sword drawn in his hand. And he bowed down his head and fell on his face. And the angel of the LORD said to him, 'Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Behold, I came out to withstand you because your way is perverse before me. And the donkey saw me and turned from me these three times. Unless she had turned from me, surely now I also would have killed you and saved her alive.' And Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, 'I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again.' And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, 'Go with the men. But only the word that I shall speak to you, that you shall speak.' So, Balaam went with the leaders of Balak" (vs 31-35).

You know the rest of the story. Balaam could only bless Israel. He could not curse Israel.

Verse 41: "And it came to pass on the next day, Balak took Balaam and brought him up into the high places of Baal so that from there he might see the extent of the people."

It shows that it was all Baal worship. That's what Balak was doing and the whole thing. So, Balaam got up there and all he could do was bless. Balaam got the money, ran off and Balak didn't quite know what to do.

As strange as it may seem, we're going to come to a time when there are going to be a lot of angels doing an awfully lot of things. As a matter of fact, when you look at the book of Revelation, there is more angelic activity there in Rev. than almost any book in the whole Bible. I would have to say that there is more angelic activity there than in any book that the Bible reveals.

Psalm 68:17: "The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; the LORD is among them, in Sinai, in the Holy place." Just showing that angels have chariots.

What happened when God opened the eyes of Elisha's servant and they saw on the hillside, horses and chariots, etc. These are all various spirit creatures, or machines, that God has made. I am sure that a chariot made out of spirit is not a spirit being, but a spirit thing. Just like a car that we may have, it is physical but it is not a physical human being. It is a physical thing. So, I'm sure that God has a lot of spirit things that He has made out of spirit, which are not spirit beings, but they are things.

For example: New Jerusalem has got to be made out of spirit things. It has to be, but New Jerusalem is not a person, it is a city. Here we have that there are 'chariots of God,' thousands upon thousands of angels that apparently man them.

Psa. 78 gives us another little insight concerning what happened in Egypt when He brought the children of Israel out and set all the plagues. That was all done, not only by the Word of the Lord, but it was done by angels.

Psalms 78:49: "He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath and fury and trouble, by sending evil angels among them." That's how God took care of the evil and the Egyptians. He sent the evil angels to do it. They carried out the will of God.

With evil angels, He is talking about demons. We will see some good angels, and we'll see some evil angels, or unclean spirits, as they are called.

Rev. 12 is a very foundational Scripture. In a way, it should be something that we should all know, have memorized and to understand that these Scriptures are basic and necessary for us to really know. As we go through and study the Bible, if something comes up in your mind that you don't quite understand then you've got a basic Scripture to go back to, to draw upon, so you can be able to have the Bible that interprets what you have read.

Here we find the account of Satan who fell from heaven; Revelation 12:4: "And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven…" Let's use a little bit of Bible interpretation: stars equal angels. We will see this re-interpreted.

Where do you go to show that a star equals an angel? You go to Rev. 1! Here is how you let the Bible interpret itself. In this case these are good angels; there are good and bad; evil and righteous.

Revelation 1:20: "The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, is this: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches…" Angel also means messenger, because they carry a message from God.

Let's see if we get a further confirmation of this Bible interpretation of a star. This is how you build 'precept upon precept.' We're doing this. Remember, we gave Bible studies on how to study the bible and how to use 'precept upon precept.' This is exactly what we're doing here. {note booklet: What Do you Mean "Born Again and Born of God"?}

Revelation 12:4: "And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven…"

• How do we know that these stars were angels?
• How do we know?
• Do we have an interpretation of this?

"…and cast them to the earth…." (v 4).

Talking about the result of sin; Jude 6: "And the angels who did not keep their own original domain, but deserted their habitation…"

How did they leave? By rebelling and going and warring against God! Apparently the angels were on the earth before man was on the earth.

"…He is holding in eternal bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the Great Day" (v 6).

Revelation 12:7: "And there was war in heaven…" I think that when this occurs, it's going to be a fantastic thing. There're going to be some signs in heaven that we know that something is taking place. I don't think it's going to be something that there will be no manifestation of it for us on this earth.

"…Michael and his angels warred…" (v 7). This tells us that Michael, who is call an archangel in another place, has angels under him. So, God has all the angels organized. We'll see a little about Michael a little later on—Michael and Gabriel.

"…against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels warred" (v 7). There we have it, if you put it all together. The angels that 'left their habitation' were the ones who rebelled. They're the ones who followed Satan. The righteous angels kept their habitation. Why? Because they are ministering spirits of God to minister unto those who are 'heirs of salvation!' These are spirit beings, angels.

Just for the sake of understanding the Greek language, angels in the Greek, is 'angelos.' The gender definition for an angel is 'ha'—which is the So, angels are categorized in the male sense—'ha angelos.'

What else does it tell us about angels? Is this not the same principle as to why they are called the sons of God? Yes, that's precisely so! That is exactly so.

Mark 12—this is after Jesus was questioned by the Sadducees who didn't believe in the resurrection—they asked a question concerning the resurrection. The answer is simple. They were wondering whose wife of the seven brothers she would be in the resurrection. That's a completely unknowledgeable question because physical marriage is binding until death. So, if they all die, at the resurrection, nobody's married to anybody.

Mark 12:24: "Then Jesus answered them and said, 'In asking this, do you not err, not knowing the Scriptures… [what an indictment against them] …nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels who are in heaven'" (vs 24-25). (also found in Matt. 22:30).

Angels, since they are spirit beings, live in what level of existence since they're made out of spirit? Eternity! The eternal level of living! Men have been made lower than the angels because we are made of flesh. In the resurrection we're not going to worry about whose going to marry whom, because we'll be as the angels and we won't need to be married. We will be greater than the angels because we will be the sons of God by the power of the resurrection.

There we have concerning angels, that they 'neither marry nor are given in marriage.' That answers the question when you go back where there were 'giants in the earth' (Gen. 6). People say that angels co-habited with women and there were 'men of renown,' etc. Well, angels do not have the capacity. You have two problems with that:

• angels are not made to have sex
• angels are of a different species and species do not crossbreed

You have both of those things. When you read that someone says, 'That's a result of angels co-habiting with human women, etc.' That's just a mythological fairy tale. It is not true.

Let's see what else we have concerning Satan; Revelation 12:7: "…and the dragon and his angels warred. But they did not prevail, neither was their place found any more in heaven" (vs 7-8).

In the first part of the book of Job, we that Satan still has access of God. When this war takes place in heaven, they aren't going to have access to God, not at all.

Verse 9: "And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him." There we have the evil angels. We'll come back to those in a little bit and we will see that they are called 'unclean spirits.'

Let's see the angels of God doing the work of God. We're going to see about the angel Gabriel. We will see that in the book of Daniel, he is also called 'the man Gabriel.' They have power to do certain things

Luke 1:18: "Then Zacharias said to the angel…" Zacharias was there at the offering of incense at the incense altar inside the first part of the Holies in the temple, Zacharias being a priest. Gabriel came and stood right there before the altar and Zacharias said:

"…'By what means shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.' And the angel answered and said to him, 'I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God…'" (vs 18-19).

Here, in fact, was probably one of the cherubim, at least an archangel, standing there talking to Zacharias[transcriber's correction].

"…and I was sent to speak to you, and to announce this good news to you. But behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day in which these things shall take place, because you did not believe my words, which shall be fulfilled in their time" (vs 19-20). The angel had the power to just go ahead and put that penalty right upon him for his lack of belief at that particular point.

We find that the angel Gabriel was sent to Mary. What I'm able to discern out of the Bible—I'll let you read those places in the book of Daniel—is that the angel Gabriel, must have been the angel in charge of all of the things leading up to the birth of Christ. We find the angel Michael mentioned and we find that Michael has to do with carrying out the battles of God. Michael is going to stand and fight for Israel at the time that the forces of Satan want to destroy all of Israel (Dan. 12). Gabriel functions in the Old Testament and also in the New Testament.

Let's see how these evil spirits work. We'll see how Satan works. The reason people can be deceived on something like the trinity or the Holy Spirit being a person is because when it's presented to them, whoever presents it does not go back and once again, lay the foundation. What they do is come in they dismiss many of the basic things, sort of like flipping the hand. People just sit there and go right along with it. Why? Because:

• people don't know how to study
• people don't study
• the ministers are not studying

So, when they present something, they don't go back to the very foundations like we are doing here. For some people who have been well grounded and well schooled in the Bible, what we are going through is so basic, that it may seem like this is so rudimentary that everybody should know this.

Ephesians 2:2: "In which you walked in times past according to the course of this world…"—if you want to:

• be in the world
• accepted by the world
• accepted by the society
• be walking in it

Who is the god of this world? Right there! When you come to something like this, you have many different Scriptures that should fall right in line: Who is the god of this world? Satan is!

2-Corinthians 4:4: "In whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe…"

We saw that he fell. We saw that his angels fell. Ephesians 2:2: "…according to the course of this world…" he is the one who gives control politically to rule the world at this particular time (Matt. 4 and Luke 4).

What is he called? "…according to the prince of the power of the air…" (v 2)--prince there, is 'archon' and the seven heads and the ten horns that Satan has is the hierarchy of the angels that fell. We know that. We know that Gabriel and Michael have their angels. We saw the Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. So, there is a hierarchy. We'll see that a little more clearly defined in Eph. 6.

So, it is the 'power of the air.' He works through the air—able to communicate thoughts. We've heard it likened before to wavelengths. Just like we're sitting here right now in this room and there are all kinds of wavelengths going thorough this room. We have:

• radio wavelengths, how many ever stations there may be
• television wavelengths, how many there ever may be
• electricity and whatever that's coming from that
• recording machine going, all of these things are just all part of it
• the force of gravity

We have all of these things around us.

I heard one time that some people can actually—if the dentist works on their tooth just a certain way—be a radio receiver for stations. They'll walk around and hear radio stations in their heads. Can you imagine what it would be like if we were made in such a way that we could automatically pick up all these radio signals. We'd go 'stark raving mad.'

Satan works just like that. He has the power to do it. In certain movies—like Return of the Jedi, and things like that—what you're seeing when you see that is a physical manifestation of how the demons work. I've often thought that Yoda probably is the closest of what Satan may actually look like. The demons cannot manifest themselves in clear images of human beings.

There can be an apparition, etc., like when Saul went to the witch of Endor. That's really going a long way down the ladder from having contact with God, to having to consult the witch of Endor to find out his fate.

There is a spirit that comes from Satan that 'locks in' or that is 'tuned into' the spirit of man, which is called the 'spirit of this world.'

1-Corinthians 2:12: "Now, we have not received the spirit of the world…" There is a spiritual power that comes from Satan that is the 'spirit of this world.' This is not possession. This is just control, if you could put it that way. It manifests itself in the:

• different organizations
• different governments
• different social clubs, i.e.: the Elks, the Masons, Knights of Columbus, all of that stuff

Those are all demonically inspired and controlled. That is 'the spirit of this world.' That comes from Satan the devil.

We are to not be 'of this world.' If you are 'of this world,' you're affected by 'the spirit of this world,' because Paul says that we have not received the 'spirit of the world' but we have received the 'Spirit which comes from God.' If you have the 'spirit of the world,' which comes from Satan the devil:

• being totally involved in demonism
• being influenced by the organizations that he controls (Eph. 6)
• whatever it may be

We are to not be 'of this world.' In other words, we are not to have the manifestation of Satan's way coming into our lives, because we have received the Spirit of God.

(go to the next track)

John 17 is one of the main reasons why in The Christian Passover book I make it clear that Jesus was not taught by any man in the world:

• He didn't go to the schools of the Pharisees
• He didn't go the schools of the Sadducees
• He was taught of God the Father

• Why? Because the schools of the Pharisees and Sadducees had the 'spirit of this world,' not the Spirit of God!
• What did Christ say of the religions leaders? You are of your father the devil!
• Is that not convincing that they had the 'spirit of this world' or where it comes from?

John 17:14: "I have given them Your words, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world…" Why are we 'not of the world?' Because we're not following the world! We're not following the spirit of the world.

See what's going to happen? The Worldwide Church of God sought accreditation for their college; in order to do so they must go back into the world sufficiently enough to show that they are not 'strange,' as the world views them. When they got accredited I'll tell you what happened. The Western Accreditation of Colleges on the West Coast are going to make it so that you cannot discriminate against homosexuals. So, you join the world, you get the world! What does it say: 'Come out of her My people.' Come out of this world. How we do that? By the Word of God!

"…just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You would take them out of the world… [there are times when I do wish that would be so] …but that You would keep them from the evil one'" (vs 14-15).

We get protection from Satan the devil. We get protection against the demons, provided that we stay out of the world. Is it no wonder that as the Worldwide Church of God sought to become part of the world, that the world is moving in and taking over within? And that they are absorbing the 'spirit of the world' with the theology of the world? It goes hand-in-hand.

Verse 16: "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in Your Truth; Your Word is the Truth" (vs 16-17).

This helps us to understand that we have not received the 'spirit of this world.' The 'spirit of this world' comes from Satan the devil who is the god of this world, who controls the politics, who controls the nations! This is why it is good to memorize these basic Scriptures. As you're going through and studying the Bible, immediately, these things will just fall right in place.

Ephesians 2:2: "In which you walked in times past according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience."

I think that a lot of the extreme criminology that is going on around us, has more to do with an evil, spiritual, influence than just the 'law of sin and death' within a person. Once they get involved with really getting into the spirit of Satan, getting into the 'spirit of this world,' even more so, then they become overtly more evil.

Verse 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct…" That tells you what Paul thinks of Pharisaism. 'Rabbi' Dankenbring thinks we ought to follow the Pharisees. Dankenbring quotes that Paul said that he was a 'Pharisee,' 'concerning the law, blameless,' but Dankenbring doesn't read the other Scriptures in which Paul said that that's all a bunch of dung, 'I count all of that but lost for the excellency of Christ.' So, Paul who was a Pharisee, is actually telling people, 'Don't follow the Pharisees. It's a bunch of dung, skubalon.' Among whom we all had our conduct in the times past:

"…in the lusts of our flesh… [the desires of the flesh] …doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world" (v 3).

What is the 'spirit of this world'? What does it produce? We know the spirit behind it is 'Satan the devil, the prince of the power of the air.' What does it produce?

• self-centeredness
• faults
• they love lies
• they love to be lied to
• you can't talk them out of their lies

Every year someone's going to write an article on Christmas. Every year someone writes an article on Halloween. What do they do? The run out and do whatever they're going to do, because they love it! Don't people love flattering lies all the time? Yes, they do! That's what it's going to produce. This is very basic but we have to recognize that:

• there is the spirit world, which is evil
• there is the spirit world of God, which is righteous, with the angels

Then we're over here; God has called us out of the world. We have this battle.

Ephesians 6:10: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the might of His strength. Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age… [that's what the 'spirit of this world' produces] …against the spiritual power of wickednessin high places" (vs 10-12).

Wherever that is a 'great' leader like the pope, he's going to be ruled over by some prominent demon, if not Satan himself! They have their own hierarchy. They have their own way of doing things. That's why it's 'seven heads and ten horns.' Mark has a lot of these things pretty well condensed. Jesus came into the synagogue and there was in their synagogue:

Mark 1:23: "Now, in their synagogue there was a man with an unclean spirit; and it cried out." This is demon possession! What happens with demon possession? People are in varying degrees of insanity! Some may not appear to be insane, as we would call insane, but they're intellectual-type spirits. This one here, apparently wasn't insane.

Verse 24: "Saying, 'Ah! What have we to do with You, Jesus, the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know Who You are—the Holy One of God!'"

That's quite a testimony coming from a demon. When they say it is 'the Holy One of God,' they know! It tells us a couple of things, here. It indicates that they are going to be destroyed: "…Have You come to destroy us?…."

Verse 25: "But Jesus rebuked it, saying, 'Be silent, and come out of him.' And after throwing him into convulsions… [it violently threw him on the ground] …and crying out with a loud voice, the spirit came out of him.' Then all were astonished, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, 'What is this? What new teaching is this, that with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him?" (vs 25-27).

Mark 3:10: "For He had healed so many that they began to crowd around Him, as many as had plagues, in order that they might touch Him; And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried aloud, saying, 'You are the Son of God.' But He sharply rebuked them so that they would not make Him known. Then He went up into the mountain…" (vs 10-13)—calls those and ordains the twelve, etc.

Verse 22: "Then the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, 'He has Beelzebub; and by the power of the prince of the demons He is casting out demons.'" You know the rest of the story. He says, 'How can Satan stand if his kingdom is divided?' The reason Christ warned them of the unpardonable sin was because:

Verse 30: "He spoke these things because they said, 'He has an unclean spirit.'" They knew about demonism, even then.

Let's see what Satan can do. Here it's referring to Satan; Mark 4:15—concerning the parable of the sower: "Now the ones by the way, where the Word was sown, these are the ones who hear, but Satan comes at once and takes away the Word that was sown in their hearts."

It sounds like that happens every Christmas season that comes along. I think that one of the greatest things to happen to Christmas is that they sing the Messiah. In all this paganism, the Truth of the Gospel is preached through the Messiah every year. Yet, they go stand before the Christmas trees and do whatever they're going to do and sing the Messiah. Can you imagine that? Talk about having closed minds!

They can try and interfere with us, but with the Spirit of God, we need to recognize it and ask God to help us rebuke them in the name of Christ. We have the power. God has given us the power over them. We don't have to be subject to them. I was in on one session when we actually cast a demon out of a woman and believe me, she was really bad off. She was totally, absolutely, 'loony.' It was something to see her sitting, as the Bible says, 'in her right mind' a little later on.

Mark 6:7: "And He called the twelve to Him and began to send them out, two by two; and He gave them authority over unclean spirits." Here's what they were doing:

Verse 13: "And they cast out many demons; and they anointed with oil many sick people, and healed them." They were going out and doing the work that they were supposed to do.

It's interesting that you have a lot of sickness where there a lot of demons. They're called 'unclean spirits' but you also have a lot of sickness. All you need to do is just imagine in your mind India. Here's a place that it is just a receptacle of how many millions of demons.

• their terrible religion
• their terrible health
• sickness and disease
• leprosy

That is a pitiful, pitiful place.

Demons can affect children, too. Demons can possess children. I'm convinced that a lot of the early homosexual experience that kids get into—other than just curiosity—has to do with demons, where kids have allowed them control. Here's a case right here. Not exactly what I've just mentioned, but here is a case where a woman knew that her daughter was possessed of a demon.

Mark 7:25: "For after hearing about Him, a woman who had a little daughter… [that's generally below twelve] …with an unclean spirit came and fell at His feet. Now, the woman was a Greek, Syrophenician by race, and she requested of Him that He cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, 'Allow the children to be satisfied first; for it is not fitting to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs'" (vs 25-27). I always think that this is a tremendously, inspiring, example of honesty plus humility.

Verse 28: "But she answered and said to Him, 'Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.' Then He said to her, 'Because of this saying, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter'" (vs 28-29). So, it even affects children.

That's why you can have children who are incorrigibly wicked at a very early age. When there is not the teaching and there is not the training, then the demons can come around and bother the children. They generally come in the form of friends. I'm convinced today, they are around wherever there is all of this satanic, evil rock music. I'm sure they come around and they are the forces and spirits behind a lot of these cartoons that kids watch. They have got to be. I'm also convinced that most of these horror movies—which are put out by people who are controlled by Satan the devil—and the things that they depict there, in their own lives, probably, have actually seen something almost exactly like what they try and portray in the movies. That's why I don't watch those evil, abominable things. I watch boring things like The Discovery Channel, bung beetles, and things like that.

Here's a little bit different where this is showing the good angels.

Mark 8:38: "For whoever shall be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the Holy angels." I wanted to show the difference between the unclean spirits and the Holy angels.

There can be demon influence from the point of view of trying to bring about depression and evil thoughts and things like this. I am sure that the evil spirits gather around places where there would be the horror movies. Where they sell a lot of pornography. Then begin to possess people's minds. That's how a lot of these things take place. Some of the obsessions that people have, they're probably demonically inspired.

At what point demon possession takes place, I cannot tell you. I think in America, we have been relatively free from a lot of demon possession. There has been some demon influence, but they are where their gods are and where their religions are. If you go to a country like India, they probably have tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of cases of demon possession. Can a person have demons cast out of them and subsequently be converted? Yes!

Luke 8:2: "And certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary who is called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out." So, yes, they can! That is a tremendous healing that comes when they are cast out.

Let's find the one about the evil spirits going into the swine. What if the spirits are cast out, but nothing replaces it? Here's what happens:

Luke 11:24: "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it goes through waterless places, seeking rest; and when it does not find any, it says, 'I will return to the house from which I came out.' And when it comes, it finds it swept and adorned" (vs 24-25)—but empty.

If something is cast out, if a demon is cast out, you better put in the Word of God, which is the 'armor or God.' You'd better have the Spirit of God. You better not given in to those demons again.

Verse 26: "Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

Not only was this talking about just an individual, but I'm sure that this was also being applied to the Jewish nation at that time. So, here Christ came and was casting out demons. He was bringing the Word of God. They had an opportunity. They rejected Him! They refused Him! The demons came back and: 'Voila! Now we really got these people.' I think it has to do with that, too.

Let's go through the account with the pigs; Luke 8:27: "And when He went out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had been possessed by demons for a long time; and he was not wearing any clothes…" Can this tell you what's wrong with this idiot over here at the University of California who is running around naked? He's demon possessed!

"…and did not dwell in a house…" (v 27). That tells you some of the problems with a lot of the homeless. Not all of them, but those who are just out there and consumed in evil all the time.

"…but in the tombs" (v 27). That's a terrible place to live. You think of it. Not in a cemetery like we think, but the tombs where it is kind of like a rocky cliff. They actually cut out caves in there and put dead people in those tombs. He could move away one of the stones and move in with the dead bodies. That's what you need to have in mind when you read this.

Verse 28: "Now when he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down in front of Him…" The strange thing is, the demons know what's going to happen. In a strange way, they think somehow that they can be saved. That's one of the reasons that a lot of the demons are religious fanatics. They feel that if they can get in the body of a person and that person can be saved, they will be saved.

"…and said with a loud voice, 'What do You have to do with me, Jesus, Son of God the Most High? I beseech You, do not torment me.' For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many times it had seized him, and each time he was restrained, being bound with chains and fetters; but after breaking the bonds… [that's a lot of strength. he just broke them] …he was driven by the demon into the desert. And Jesus asked it, saying, 'What is your name?' And it said, 'Legion,' because many demons had entered into him" (vs 28-30). A legion is actually 10,000. I don't know if this guy had 10,000, but that's something.

Verse 31: "Then it begged Him that He would not command them to go away into the abyss." Where do we find the abyss mentioned? It was called 'the bottomless pit' (KJV) in Rev. 9 and 20. There are spirits who are in prison in the bottomless abyss. You'll read in Rev. 9 that when God says they're going to come out, they're going to come out and all literal hell is going to break loose on this earth such as not has been seen in our lifetime.

• Are the ones that are in the abyss now, really more evil than the other ones? I'd have to say, yes!
• Are the ones that are on the earth now not quite as evil? I would say, yes!

I would say that we are going to see more and more evil. We're going to see that, if the spirits that control the Democratic Party take over. I'll just have to say that if you're a Democrat, don't be offended. If they've taken over that has nothing to do with you. We are going to see the spirit of Sodom and Gomorrah, homosexuality and all this sort of thing, sweep the nation as never before.

Do I think there are more in one party than in the other? I'd say that the demons control the different parties! All of them, because they are of this world. I'm sure that by choice—it would be my opinion—that there are perhaps more of the perverted-type demons that are in the philosophy of the ultra-left that are in the Democratic party. I would say you have more of the militant-religious right in the Republican party. I'm sure they're in different groups. The demons are constantly fighting against each other for control.

Please don't misunderstand by my saying that the Democrats are demon possessed. I'm just saying that there are more perverse demons that associate themselves with the Democratic party That's not say that one is right and it is better than the other. That's not say, as the Republicans did, 'We are God's party.' Nonsense! They are of this world! They are not God's party. Neither is the pope. God's party is sprinkled like salt around the earth and we're it!

Verse 32: "Now, there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and they begged Him that He would allow them to enter into the swine; and He gave them permission. And the demons went out of the man and entered into the swine, and the whole herd rushed headlong down the steep slope into the lake and were drowned" (vs 32-33).

Why did they do that? I don't know other than the fact that the unclean likes the unclean! It shows the futility of the demons. This helps explain a lot of the irrationality of the things around us, that they're demon inspired in the first place. When they were cast out there and said, 'Put us in the swine.' They drove the swine into the lake and they all drowned. That got rid of two unclean things at once: a herd of swine and the others. I think if they would use swine to clear the garbage problem, we wouldn't have near the toxins that we have. Did you know that swine can eat anthrax? It passes through their system and it's neutralized. What they need to do with a lot of these toxic places is put the pigs in there. Let them clean it up. Let them root it up.

Some of the Orthodox Rabbis in history are likely to do that today. Believe it or not they sell hog meat in Israel today. What they do is they have the hog farms east of the Jordan River. They have a big hog farm over there and they produce sausage. They seriously don't believe in considering them unclean meats. There's always a way around it. It shows the irrationality of the demons and the way that things are done.

What they thought was going to happen would be far worse than going into the swine. They said, 'Have You come to torment us and destroy us?' So, they figured, 'Oh, well, let us go into the herd of swine over here. Instead of going into the abyss, they went into the swine and still, they ran down the hill and into the Sea of Galilee and died; the pigs did, but they didn't. I think the lesson  here is that demon thinking and demonism is never going to work. They're going to have to face the judgment of God! That's the lesson that is here. I think that is clear. What happened to those who owned the herd?

Verse 34: "Now, when those who were feeding the swine saw what had taken place, they fled; and they went and reported it to the city and to the country. And those who heard went out to see what had taken place; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, clothed and of a sound mind, seated at Jesus' feet. And they were afraid" (vs 34-35).

The other account says that the man wanted to follow Jesus and Jesus said, 'No. Don't follow Me. You just stay here and tell everyone what good things God has done for you.'

That is really quite a testimony for the power of God; also, the power of demons and what it does to people. Also, this is a proof of the Holy Spirit rather than of a proof of demonism, which is:

• superstition
• uncleanness
• evil

all of these things in varying degrees depending on which demon that there is:

• there are demons of dumbness
• there demons of insanity
• there are demons where people can actually be possessed and their whole physical bodies change

Luke 10:17: "Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us through Your name.' And He said to them, 'I was watching when Satan fell from heaven like lightning'" (vs 17-18). Note that he fell from heaven and drew a third part of the stars in heaven (Rev. 12:4). That's when that occurred.

Verse 19: "Behold, I give you authority to tread upon serpents… [probably demons] …and scorpions…"—another form of demons. This is interesting that all of these unclean things: scorpions, snakes, all this thing all the time.

"…and upon all the power of the enemy…" (v 19). We have power over them; they have no authority over us! No authority over us at all. They can come along and try to do things to us, but as long as we have the whole armor or God, there's nothing they can do. Furthermore, we are kept from the evil one.

"…and nothing shall injure you in any way. Yet, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven" (vs 19-20). That's the rejoicing, here.

We'll see some things here when the Church was growing.

Acts 5:12: "And many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the apostles; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch)."

You see how they had authority over all the unclean spirits, over the diseases and over these things? That's why we don't need to be afraid. You don't have the 'spirit of fear.' You don't have the 'spirit of the world,' but we don't need the devices of the world and have our minds glued on these things, through television, movies and things like this.

Verse 13: "And none of the others dared to join them, but the people magnified them; And believers were added all the more to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,) Insomuch that the people were bringing out the sick into the streets…" (vs 13-15).

Don't you think that this was rather a notorious thing in Jerusalem? Don't you think the Solomon's Porch, right at the temple with all of this going on, wasn't there standing room there? Looking out with little demon eyes watching what was going on? No wonder that they went after them the way that they did.

Verse 15: "Insomuch that the people were bringing out the sick into the streets… [not just at Solomon's Porch, this was all over Jerusalem] …and putting them on beds and stretchers, so that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them"—so that they could be healed. This was a near mob scene. This was thousands and thousands of people.

Verse 16: "And a multitude from the cities round about also came together to Jerusalem, bringing sick ones and those beset by unclean spirits; and they were all healed…. [a fantastic occurrence] …Then the high priest rose up, and all those with him, being of the sect of the Sadducees; and they were filled with anger" (vs 16-17).

They should have been happy that all of these people were being healed. They should have been happy that they were all being freed from the unclean spirits. No! These Sadducees and Pharisees were filled with indignation. They were of their father, the devil. That's why they were mad.
Verse 18: "And they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the public hold. But during the night an angel of the Lord came and opened the doors of the prison; and after bringing them out…" (vs 18-19). A nice neat little trick. You can read the rest of the story, there.

Let's see that Philip went and did the same thing. He went down to Samaria; Acts 8:7: "For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out ofmany of those who had them; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city" (vs 7-8).

Simon the magician wanted this. What did he use? Sorcery! He bewitched them! He wanted the Spirit of God. Now, if the Spirit of God were a person—ah ha! Now you see we're beginning to clear these problem areas where they say the Holy Spirit was a person. Simon Magus wanted this power.

There are the spirits of divination. We have them today. You can read of it in Star Magazine and National Enquirer Magazine. The last two weeks before Halloween, what do we have? The prognosticators of all of the witches of this world! What is this spirit of divination? What are you to do? You know why they sell so many Enquirers, Stars and all that? Not because of 'inquiring minds'! It's because people love lies!

Acts 16:16: "Now, it came to pass that as we were going to prayer, a certain damsel who had a spirit of Python met us; and she brought her masters much gain by divining…. [also called 'augurs'] …She followed Paul and us and cried out, saying, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, and are preaching to us the way of salvation'" (vs 16-17). There are demons who want to be saved. They don't want to be destroyed, but they're not going to have the 'way of salvation.'

Verse 18: "Now, she did this for many days. Then Paul, being grieved, turned to the spirit and said, 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.' And it came out the same hour."

What did they do? They hauled them up before the magistrates, the judges!

Again, we find miracles brought by the hand of Paul. I think this is quite an account here, of what the power of God can do and also the power of demons over people who think that they're going to fool the demons.

Acts 19:11: "And God worked special works of power by the hands of Paul, so that even when handkerchiefs or cloths were brought from his body to those who were sick, the diseases departed from them and the wicked spirits went out from them. Then certain vagabond Jews, exorcists…" (vs 11-13).

That's what most of these exorcists are. They're people who use the power of Beelzebub to cast out demons. Did that happen? Yes!

"…took it upon themselves to pronounce over those who had wicked spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, 'We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.' Now, there were certain men, seven sons of a Jew named Sceva, a high priest, who were doing this. But the wicked spirit answered and said, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I have knowledge of; but you, who are you?' And the man in whom was the wicked spirit attacked them, overpowered them and prevailed against them, so that they escaped out of that house naked and wounded" (vs 13-16).

Verse 17: "Now, this became known to everyone inhabiting Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified."

That's the good, the bad, the ugly and the evil out of the Bible about the spirit beings. It is not from God. It comes from Satan and is the 'spirit of this world.'

The police are going to some of these prognosticators, some of these detective stories where they have this séance in there, they chant and all this stuff. That's something!

All Scripture from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• John 4:24
• Isaiah 57:15
• Daniel 7:9-10
• Hebrews 1:1-7, 13-14
• Genesis 19:1-2
• Numbers 22:22-35, 41
• Psalm 68:17
• Psalm 78:49
• Revelation 12:4
• Revelation 1:20
• Revelation 12:4
• Jude 6
• Revelation 12:7
• Mark 12:24-25
• Revelation 12:7-9
• Luke 1:18-20
• Ephesians 2:2
• 2-Corinthians 4:4
• Ephesians 2:2
• 1-Corinthians 2:12
• John 17:14-17
• Ephesians 2:2-3
• Ephesians 6:10-12
• Mark 1:23-27
• Mark 3:10-13, 22, 30
• Mark 4:15
• Mark 6:7, 13
• Mark 7:25-29
• Mark 8:38
• Luke 8:2
• Luke 11:24-26
• Luke 8:27-35
• Luke 10:17-20
• Acts 5:12-19
• Acts 8:7-8
• Acts 16:16-18
• Acts 19:11-17

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Hebrews 13
• Matthew 22:30
• Genesis 6
• Daniel 12
• Matthew 4
• Luke 4
• Revelation 9; 20

Also referenced:

• Book: The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• Booklet: What Do you Mean "Born Again and Born of God"? by Fred R. Coulter

FRC: nfs
Transcribed: 07-31-17
Proofed: bo—8/22/17