1. My message last Sunday was entitled, “The Love of the World.”  I mentioned that according to II Corinthians 4:4, Satan is the “god of this world.”
2. Furthermore, three times in the Gospel of John, our Lord referred to Satan as “the prince of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).
3. In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”
4. Satan “blinds” the minds of sinners (II Cor. 4:3, 4).  He uses the world and he uses the flesh to weaken men and keep them from God.
5. Last week, I really did not have the time to develop this, and so I will attempt to do so today.

I. THERE IS A SPIRITUAL REALM OVER WHICH GOD, HIMSELF A SPIRIT REIGNS.

1. In John 4:24, our Lord said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
2. We know from Scripture that there are innumerable spirits (angels) inhabiting the spiritual realm.
3. In Revelation 5:11, the apostle John wrote, “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand (one million), and thousands of thousands.”
4. There are too many for a man to number.  Human words cannot adequately describe the size of this immense host of elect angels.
5. Hebrews 12:22 refers “to an innumerable company of angels.”
6. When Peter attempted to defend our Lord with his sword, Jesus said, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?”
7. There were six thousand soldiers in a Roman legion.  Therefore, our Lord said He could have easily called upon 72,000 angels.
8. In Ephesians 6:12, the apostle Paul says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
9. From these Scriptures (and many others) we learn that there are good (referred to as “the elect angels” in I Timothy 5:21) angels that minister to believers; and there are evil spirits who continually seek to deceive and destroy.
10. There are multitudes of people who deny the spiritual realm.  They consider it superstition, or mythology, or foolishness.
11. But those of us that know the Word of God understand that the spiritual realm is very real.
12. Matthew 4:1, 2 says our Lord was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by the devil.  Matthew 4:11 says, “Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.”
13. During His earthly ministry our Lord was continually casting out demons.  It is impossible to take the Bible literally and not believe in the spiritual realm.
14. Nevertheless, there have always been skeptics that deny the spiritual realm, and many of these skeptics are even quite religious.  In our Lord’s day, there was a prominent group of religious leaders called the Sadducees, and these men denied the spiritual realm.
15. Acts 23:8 says, “For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.”
16. Regarding this invisible, mysterious spiritual realm, there is only one true, reliable, authoritative source of knowledge, and that is the inerrant Word of God.
17. All other sources are speculative and unreliable.  We cannot have confidence in the Koran, the strange utterances of physics and shamans, the weird delusions of false prophets, or the nonsense on television and in the movies.
18. There is in the Bible an air of absolute certainty when it comes to the unseen spiritual realm.  There is a consistent body of doctrine concerning Satan and the angelic realm, all the way from Genesis through the book of Revelation.
19. Think of it - a span of over 1,500 years with forty different diverse writers, and yet there is a remarkable unity when it comes to this important subject - and all subjects for that matter.
20. When men deny the supernatural realm, they fall into grievous error.  James Pike (1913-1969) was a bishop in the very liberal Episcopal Church.  Pike denied the supernatural realm, and just about everything else in the Bible.  He attacked the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus and the doctrine of the Trinity.
21. The Episcopal Church started heresy procedures in 1962, '64, '65, and '66, each growing in intensity, but in the end they dropped the proceedings and decided to merely censure Bishop Pike.
22. Pike was a chain-smoker, and a drunkard. He was involved in many adulterous relationships, including one with his secretary that led to his second wife divorcing him. (He was divorced and remarried three times.)
23. In 1966, Bishop Pike’s son Jim committed suicide in a New York City hotel room while experimenting with the drug LSD. Shortly after his son’s death Pike began to dabble in the occult.
24. In September 1967, Pike participated in a televised séance in an attempt to communicate with his dead son through the medium Arthur Ford, who was a Disciples of Christ (another apostate denomination) minister.  (A preacher involved in demonism!)
25. In the early 1970’s, following the death of Bishop Pike (1969) and the medium Arthur Ford (1971), his biographer Alan Spragett (who had hosted the television show during which Ford conducted his séance) discovered material in Ford’s papers which conclusively proved that Ford had faked the séance.
26. Much of the occult world is based on fakery, but there is also much demonic involvement.  This is why it very dangerous (cf. Deut. 18:9-12).  There are many other similar warnings in the Bible.
27. Bishop Pike wrote a book about his involvement in the occult, entitled The Other Side.
28. Merrill Unger wrote an excellent book (from a Biblical perspective) about Pike called, The Haunting of Bishop Pike.
29. Devils deceived Bishop Pike and they drove him out into the Israeli desert. After an extensive four-day search by the Israeli Army, Pike’s body was found in a deep gully.
30. Bishop Pike rejected the Word of God.  He was deceived by Satan and his seducing spirits, and they ultimately destroyed him.
31. Many people today put their trust in science, but science cannot explain the supernatural.  The devil has brainwashed people into rejecting the Word of God and accepting the theory of evolution.
32. The devil’s work is everywhere today - evolution, psychology, most of the entertainment industry (e.g., Harry Potter), yoga, environmental fanaticism, and much of public education.
33. The devil has various ways of luring unregenerate men into the occult world, not realizing they are being deceived by devils.
34. First Timothy 4:1 calls these demons “seducing spirits.”
35. In Shakespeare’s famous play, Banquo warned Macbeth,
    But ‘tis strange:
    And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
    The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
    Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s
    In deepest consequence.
36. King Saul went to the witch of Endor and it cost him his life.

II. ALL SPIRITS, WHETHER GOOD OR BAD, HAVE ACCESS TO MAN’S SPIRITUAL BEING.

1. There are two opposing hierarchies in the spirit world, and they are eternally at war.  Good angels (referred to as “the elect angels” in I Timothy 5:21, and called “ministering spirits” in Hebrews 1:14) are in alliance with God and all the saints.  They serve God and promote all that is good.
2. On the other side are the demons, frequently referred to as “devils” in the King James Bible.  Many preachers prefer to use the word “demons” (English transliteration of “devil”) because there is only one Devil (Satan).
3. There are two diametrically opposed kingdoms - the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.
4. Jesus referred to Satan’s kingdom in Matthew 12:26.  It is a vast kingdom.  Demons have a strange desire to take possession of lost sinners.  In the four Gospels, we see our Lord frequently casting out devils.
5. Mark 16:9 tells us Jesus cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene (cf. also Matt. 12:43-45).
6. When the the demoniac of Gadara was asked by our Lord, “What is thy name?” he answered, “My name is Legion: for we are many” (Mark 5:9).
7. According to the infallible Word of God, these demons or evil spirits are the instigators and abettors of all evil to man’s body and soul.
8. As far as we know from Scripture, Satan only entered into one man, and that was Judas Iscariot (Luke 22:3; John 13:27).
9. However, demons frequently take up residence in people.
10. I do not believe demons can take up residence inside a genuine born again Christian. They have access to man’s spiritual being, and can influence a Christian, and vex a Christian.  They can oppress a Christian, but they cannot possess him.
11. First John 4:4 says, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
12. Christians are indwelt by the Spirit of God.  We need to be filled with the Spirit of God.
13. Ephesians 5:18 says, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
14. Demons have power to afflict with disease. They are often referred to as “unclean spirits” because they promote filth - literally, spiritually, and morally.
15. These demons are the agents of Satan, and they are actively engaged in promoting his kingdom of darkness.  Demons are referred to as the dragon’s (Satan’s) angels in Revelation 12:7.
16. Like Satan, demons are masters in the art of deception.  They author and promote false religion.  First Timothy 4:1 says, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” 
17. “Some shall depart from the faith…” (I Tim. 4:1).  We think of Bishop Pike, and all the apostate clergymen who have departed from the true Christian faith and have been deceived by seducing spirits.
18. Oprah Winfrey says she was brought up Baptist but now she aggressively promotes “New Age” teachers and authors.  We need to understand that these teachers are teaching anti-Christian doctrines and they are possibly demon-possessed.
19. Jesus said to the unregenerate Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil” (John 8:44).
20. Demons assist Satan in his work of evil, and like their master, demons are doomed for everlasting destruction.  In Matthew 25:41, our Lord said hell was “prepared for the devil and his angels.”
21. This is why James 2:19 says, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”  They know their day of judgment is coming.
22. Unsaved friend, do you?
23. Wicked spirits are constantly looking for opportunities to harm people, to inflict physical evils, to corrupt intellectually, to pervert judgment, to weaken the will, and to lead people away from God.

III. SATAN IS THE GOD OF THIS WORLD.

1. Next week is Halloween.  It originated among the ancient Druids, who believed that on Halloween evening, the lord of the dead, called forth hosts of evil spirits.
2. That is why to this day, Halloween celebrates ghosts and devils and spooks and tombstones and witches, etc.
3. It is wrong for Christian parents to dress their children up as little devils and witches and send them out begging for candy.
4. Behind Halloween lies the influence of Satan and his fallen angels.
5. Behind all false religion, and idolatry, and witchcraft and sorcery lies the influence of Satan and his fallen angels,
6. Satan and his demons deceive the understanding.
7. Satan and his demons allure the heart.
8. Satan and his demons harden the conscience.
9. Satan and his demons entice men into self-indulgence and worldly pleasures.
10. Satan and his demons lure people into the degrading practice of idol worship.
11. In I Kings 19:18, the LORD told Elijah the prophet there were seven thousand in Israel that had not bowed to Baal and had not kissed him.
12. I am reminded of the idolaters visiting St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome who have literally kissed the big toe off the statue of St. Peter.
13. The Bible teaches that when men bow down before idols, they are really submitting themselves to devils.
14. First Corinthians 10:20 says, “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles (heathen) sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.”
15. This is why we must preach the second commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image” (Exodus 20:4).
16. The RCC has removed the second commandment, and substituted the third commandment for the second, the fourth for the third, etc. To avoid having only “Nine Commandments,” they have divided the tenth commandment in two.
17. This tampering with the Word of God is the work of Satan, the god of this world.

CONCLUSION:

1. The central office of the Church of Satan has recently moved from San Francisco to NYC (Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan).
2. The Church of Satan has what they call the “Nine Satanic Statements.”  I will not bother to mention all nine, but here are a few:

• Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence (Hollywood, public schools).
• Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek (contradicting what Jesus said in Matthew 5:39).
• Satan represents man as just another animal (evolution).
• Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification (selfishness).