Can demons attack Christians?
Now although a demon could never possess a Christian, demons can attack us in other ways. How?
First of all demons can tempt Christians to sin! Although Satan and his demonic army's power were crushed at the cross, they still have the power of the whisper and the power of the roar. Let me explain:
The power of the whisper:
At some point in your cartoon-watching career you probably have seen some poor character with a little demon on one shoulder and a little angel on the other. The little cartoon demon whispers into the ears of his victim why he should and the little angel whispers in the other ear why he shouldn't. Well, this is not too far from the truth. Satan's power was totally obliterated at the cross. But he and his posse still have the power of the whisper. They whisper in our ears things like:
"Nobody will know if you and your boyfriend have sex."
"It's O.K. as long as you both really love each other."
"Everybody surfs these kinds of sites."
"Cheating is not a real sin. It's not like you're stealing a car or something."
"Go ahead it's just a little, white lie."
The power of a whisper is amazing. As a professional speaker I get pretty intense. When I am on a roll in front of a crowd my veins pop out, sweat pours out of my body and my arms flail in every direction. I hate to admit it but I am a spastic preacher.
But if I really want to get a crowds attention I whisper. Right in the middle of a lightning-fast, high-impact aerobics, arm-flailing talk if I throw in a whisper the crowd of teenagers almost lean forward to hear what I am saying. That's what Satan does to us. In the middle of our fast-paced, loud days he whispers his lies in our ears and, too often, we listen and obey.
The power of the roar:
Satan is called "a roaring lion" in 1 Peter 5:8. There is something interesting about roaring lions. Most of them are not hunters per say. They are usually the older, mature male lions with full mane, and oftentimes, few teeth. The lionesses are the ones who do most of the hunting in the plains of Africa. Here's how it works. The lionesses stalk their prey by hiding in the brush. They make sure that they are on one side of their victims and that the older male lion is on the other. At just the right time the lion roars and the animals flee in the opposite direction, right into the waiting paws and claws and jaws of the waiting lionesses. The male lion then comes and enjoys the already dead feast with his dangerous ladies.
The male lion doesn't hunt, he roars. And he scares his prey into the trap. That's exactly what Satan does to us. When he is not whispering lies he is roaring them. He himself can't hurt us. But his roar is still pretty scary. Sometimes when we hear it we run right into the traps that he has set for us. Let me give you some examples:
Hate:
Somebody hurt you and you want to get back at him. That raging roar of hatred you feel in your heart is from the Evil One himself. If you react to that roar you will run right into the waiting trap of sin.
Lust:
That burning you feel in your body for that member of the opposite sex (or in some instances same sex) is the roar of the Lying Lion. If you surge to that urge then the jaws and claws of compromise will sink deeply into your soul.
Gossip:
That story that you want to tell about somebody else's dark secrets is screaming to get out. Share it and you are Satan's lunch.
So what should we do when we hear that roar? We should stand firm in the armor of God and fight him in the power of Jesus. Because when Jesus died on the cross Satan was declawed and defanged. But he can still roar. Don't let Satan deceives you with his whisper and scare you with his roar!]
