Defeating Dark Angels: Breaking Demonic Oppression in the Believer's Life

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This fact leads to a number of important truths that Christians should always keep at the forefront of their minds when the subject of demonization comes up. First, believers should understand Christ's position and His victory over the enemy. Scripture says, "He disarmed the rulers and authorities [demons] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him" (Colossians 2:15), and "what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:19–21). I, (Name), a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. Don’t listen to your doubts or thoughts, either! If you let your doubts or thoughts(intrusive or otherwise) they will consume you, they will. Remember, God is right there and he loves you more than anyone in the world. Ask him to take those doubts and thoughts away. Even if he doesn’t right away, it doesn’t mean he won’t. Fr. Fortea doesn’t recommend this step so that the Church can get your money or out of a sense of tradition. No—he recommends regularly attending church because it helps you to spiritually grow over time, and gives you the support you need to maintain those good choices we spoke of in the previous step. Next, not only is Christ seated above all the demonic realm (indicating his authority over them), but so are believers: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-6, emphasis added). This means that all Christians, by their position in Christ, have authority over Satan's army.

Our almighty sovereign God is there, He is right there with you even when it feels like He isn’t! The enemy definitely wants us thinking that God isn’t there, but He is and this is the hardest part to go through! But if you look to Him always, especially in your greatest times of need, you will find He is there and will come through for you, probably when you least expect it! Never cease praying, and never give up!!! That’s what the enemy wants!!! You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross. (Colossian 2:13–15, New Living Translation, emphasis added) Even though Jesus has demonstrated His power and glory on the cross, the devil is still hard at work. One of Jesus’ early followers wrote, “We know... that the whole world is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19, NIV).Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Another of Jesus’ followers, James, sums up the key to spiritual warfare: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you” (James 4:7–8, NIV). Like James and Peter, Paul’s concern is the ability of the believer to stand their ground. To illustrate how to do that, he invokes armor imagery. But it’s important to notice that the focus is on the protective, defensive nature of the armor. I am a sinner and I am sorry for all of my sins and I ask You to forgive me.By Faith I Receive Jesus Christ now as my Lord and Saviour. I believe I am saved and will spend Eternity with u! I am now a new creature in Christ. Thank You, Father. I am so grateful! In Jesus’ name, amen. Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.” (Matthew 12:25–30, NIV)

Demons are essentially fallen angels. Apparently, one third of the angels joined Lucifer’s rebellion in heaven and that old dragon, the Devil, took with him a third of the angels with him. These angels became demons while Lucifer became Satan (Rev 12:4). That sealed Satan and the demon’s fate as we read in Revelation 20:10 where “ the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” It appears that some demons grew so despicable that they had to be restrained , and still are as Jude writes that “ the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6). The Apostle Peter wrote something similar by writing that “ God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment” (2nd Pet 2:4) so both Jude and Peter tell us that some demons aren’t even allowed to be free. Perhaps they are so evil and dangerous that God had to restrain them in chains of darkness. By the way, this is also the fate of “ the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Rev 21:8) although not exactly the same level of punishment as Satan will have. One thing we do know; demons have been known to oppress people and some even possess people, but can a Christian be oppressed by a demon? Some people doubt the existence of the devil, believing that he is a human construct to explain the presence of evil. Others have perhaps an unhealthy interest in the demonic. The Church teaches that demons do indeed exist. What are demons, and who is Satan? I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Demonic possession, I would imagine, does not usually happen all at once. What typically are the steps or stages that lead to possession? The narrative of humanity’s fall introduces us to the devil, who is also called Satan, and the forces he has brought to the world. These forces were responsible for tempting humankind to stray from God’s will (Genesis 3) and have worked to undermine God’s plans at every turn. In fact, the Bible repeatedly shows that the world is a warzone, and humans find themselves in the middle of an ongoing battle between God and His enemy, Satan.

Is Oppression or Possession?

Demons usually start with a con game. They may pretend to be a dead loved one, a holy angel, the spirit of a child in distress, or another spirit. After they lure the person into communication, they usually offer success, power, money, protection, or something the person thinks he needs. Most demonic interference can be handled by a Catholic lay deliverance ministry, such as Unbound. Only extreme cases should be dealt with via the Rite of Exorcism, and as a last resort at that. In other words, once all other options are explored and determined to not be the cause of a person’s ills (e.g., psychological diagnosis, biological disease), exorcism should be sought. Most exorcists have a team of trusted people who act as consultants on various fields of expertise, including medical and psychological interventions. There is always a thorough evaluation for a person who is suspected of demonic possession, and when it is determined that there is no natural cause of the affliction, an exorcism is performed. (Note: Do not seek an “exorcism” from anyone other than a priest!) I recently spoke to a healthy 15-year-old girl who had experienced the incubus phenomenon," Blom said. "She found four miniature penguins dining at a table on her chest, and had been thrilled and amused rather than scared." There are roughly one to four possession cases going in a major city at any time. Most exorcists are doing an exorcism monthly, weekly, or more often. It’s usually best to have sessions weekly for each person.

We know that the poor souls in purgatory can benefit from our Masses and prayers to speed their time in purgatory. In the lives of many saints, the poor souls have appeared and made such requests. In rare cases, particularly with suicides and murders, they seem to be allowed to signal their presence and a need for prayer. Interestingly, I’ve seen this many times in churches and rectories where priests have died. This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things… and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ JesusThe belt of truth. In the same way that armor is held together and supported by the belt, the Christian life is supported and held fast by truth. If you understand the truth about who God is, your identity as His child and heir and the nature of spiritual conflict, you’re not easily taken in by the devil’s schemes. even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations. Therefore, so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me—so that I would not become arrogant. I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me. But he said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. Spiritual warfare is serious business. That’s why you need to be careful in the way you approach it. You need to be aware that God has an enemy who is committed to making you ineffective by whatever means necessary.