Good morning.
Jesus is stirring up a lot of rich, revealing prayers in me this morning.
Quick question….
are demon spirits all cursed by God? …and. . . do they know that they’re cursed? (. . i.e., damned?) And how can we tell the difference between the influence of a demon who has taken up residence, and merely a normal sinful person’s behavior?
BC
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Hi Brad:
Yes, all demons are cursed. And they certainly “know” they have been cursed when they come face-to-face with one who has been anointed with the power of God, such as Jesus Christ. God’s power makes them confess, loudly, both who they are and who is holy. As to what they know at other times, I cannot say.
There are profound differences between the sinful behavior of ungodly men and the behavior of demon-possessed men. Some demon-possessed men live as did the wretched man who lived in caves used as tombs and cut himself, but others, the “ministers of Satan” that Paul spoke of (2Cor. 11), live in stately mansions and bear lofty titles such as “Bishop”, “Cardinal”, or “Pope”. The former are Satan’s failures; the latter are Satan’s successes. Demon-possessed “sons of the devil” in Jesus day demanded the execution of adulterers (Jn. 8:1-11), and they would have chosen death over drunkenness, murder, and the like. On the other hand, ordinary sinners would blush to commit the crimes that demon-possessed men commit, whether the heinous wickedness of a Charles Manson-like butchery or the lovely wickedness of performing a Catholic Mass.
We are, by nature, so far from the knowledge of God that we need God to help us even to know who is demon-possessed and who is just a sinner. That is why Jesus warned us not to judge by appearances (Jn. 7:24).
Pastor John