This Sunday in the pulpit I’m planning to close the series, Answering Accusations. Last week our text took us to the important topic of demons. I am convinced we underestimate their presence and influence, leaving the demons to the charismatics! This is a mistake as the Bible paints a clear picture that demons are everywhere, whether we acknowledge this reality or not. In the vein of Jesus being accused of a lot of things, one of the accusations is that Jesus is operating on demon-power. Doing miracles and the like.

In our series, Jesus was called a lot of things by a lot of people, and he still is today. Likewise, Christians are called to stand up and take the heat for Christ’s sake and glory as his representatives. God’s Word makes the case that demons are everywhere in our present age (cf. Eph. 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers…authorities…cosmic powers…[and] this present darkness”). We believe this to be true, though charismatics have caused the cessationists (those like me, who do not believe sign gifts are currently active) to practice Christianity as if demonic influence lies dormant.

On the contrary, the Bible says demons are alive and well, even though we do not regularly see or feel them in our physical world. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he often pulls the curtain back to show us they are there, even if we cannot see or feel them (at least on a regular basis). I admit there are times when I believe I have encountered demonized people, though they are not turning green, head-spinning, and frothing at the mouth. Nevertheless, demons are dangerous.

So, the question remains, if demons are usually tucked away in the background, then why should we be concerned about them, and can they really hurt us? I want to restate that because the Bible says, demons are everywhere and that if we “wrestle” against them, then we need to know how to respond to them. We need to see them as beings that are operating by stealth. 

A friend of mine told me that years ago when he and his family were attending their church in Texas that during a crowded Sunday service, something caught his attention. He looked down and noticed that a sizable snake had crawled up under the pews halfway up to the pulpit and stopped right under his feet. He supposed it had somehow made its way in through the back doors.

Like any good American citizen, this man immediately stomped down on its head, killing it instantly. And of course, after the sermon, he brought the snake (like a trophy) to present it to the pastor. I could see him saying something like, “What kind of attendees do you let in on a Sunday morning!” The snake being rather large surprised the pastor causing him to ponder how it could get so far inside the crowd unnoticed!

Nobody was paying attention to what was happening right underneath them.

By analogy, false teachers likewise remain unnoticed in the church. They also blend into the environment around them, working their way through the people in the church, who are not paying attention. When people do not use discernment to strip back this veneer, a false teacher remains hidden where he is most dangerous to steal souls away. Believers must exercise discernment and expose false teachers.

“But I thought we were talking about demons?” Throughout the New Testament, false teachers are always inside the conversation about demons because a false teacher is a demon preacher. False teachers teach what Paul called, “doctrines of demons” (cf. 1 Tim. 4).

1 Timothy 4:1-4 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 

Just notice how this demon doctrine is not espousing Tarot Cards and Ouija Boards but good old-fashioned legalism used to make people feel safe from God’s punishments, by being neatly tucked inside of their religion. A modern version of legalism and what I would call a demon doctrine is The Social Justice Movement or Woke religion!

I just finished reading, Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham. Baucham makes the case that the SJM and being Woke is the new cult religion of our day with a new lexicon that comes with an entire body of divinity.

It comes with its own cosmology (CT/CRT/I); original sin (racism); law (antiracism); gospel (racial reconciliation); martyrs (Saints Trayvon, Mike, George, Breonna, etc.); priests (oppressed minorities); means of atonement (reparations); new birth (wokeness); liturgy (lament); canon (CSJ social science); theologians (DiAngelo, Kendi, Brown, Crenshaw, MacIntosh, etc); and catechism (say their names). There is no soteriology; Antiracism offers no salvation-only perpetual penance in an effort to battle an incurable disease [Fault Lines, Baucham]. 

At its core, Woke thinking (ideology) flies in the face of any true accountability from God. The Woke world, blinded by Woke agendas has been blinded (even inside the church) from seeing that we are all equally born sinners in need of repentance and grace that is freely given by Jesus Christ. All in the name of trying to make a difference in society, leftist liberals promise a false salvation based in “good works.” This kind of “Do-Gooding” makes you right with yourself as a form of self-worship. 

You become right with yourself which is idolatry. What are believers supposed to do with Wokeness in our world that’s crept inside of the church?” Discern it, see it for what it is and protect yourself against being led astray by it. It’s got a strong under-toe because it is truly demon powered.

After securing your own oxygen mask, call people to come out from its grasp and redirect people to the saving grace found in coming to Christ alone! We are not victims, we are sinners, who have offended God. A God who says, if you turn to me, I will not cast you out!

As I said before, we do not regularly see demons in the physical realm, but we will see demons by hearing what they say. When you listen for false teachings, like Woke doctrines, then you begin to see that Demons are everywhere. Fight back by seeing through what is false and sticking with what is true.