Have You Ever Seen a Demon?

“May angels be on your pillow tonight.”

The phrase was meant to comfort, to sprinkle a little peace on the end of a conversation. But instead of comfort, it sparked a jarring question Do we actually know what angels are? Or demons? Or the unseen world that Scripture insists is real and active?

In the Gospels, angels are not sentimentalized guardians but mighty warriors of God, messengers of judgment, and harbingers of God’s presence. One angel slaughtered 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a single night (2 Kings 19:35). That’s not a figure you want tiptoeing around your bedroom.

And yet, much of modern Christianity lives as if the supernatural realm were a symbolic metaphor an ancient way of speaking, no longer essential in our enlightened world.

Two Kinds of Christians

The church today often occupies one of two ditches. In the first, the unseen realm is downplayed, if not dismissed. The Christian life becomes a practical checklist: attend church, love your neighbor, maybe read your Bible. God exists, of course but demons? Spiritual warfare? They feel like relics of a pre-scientific age.

In the second ditch, the supernatural is everything. Demons are blamed for every struggle, and spiritual warfare is dramatized beyond Scripture. “Angels on pillows” become bedtime fantasies, and Satan becomes a cartoon villain lurking behind every bad mood.

But the Bible doesn’t let us off so easily. It describes a world more alive and more layered than either of these options. Nature and supernature, visible and invisible, intersect constantly. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against... the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Demons Are Real

The New Testament is unapologetically supernatural. Jesus cast out demons regularly. Paul warned of deceiving spirits. Revelation describes cosmic war in heaven. The Bible assumes the existence of a dark, intelligent opposition unclean spirits that harass, blind, deceive, and tempt.

Demons are not mythological constructs or metaphors for mental illness. They are fallen, personal beings who oppose God’s purposes and attack His people. They can oppress, possess, and influence. They prefer embodiment even if only in pigs (Mark 5:13). They tremble at Christ, but they’re still at work.

This is the world we inhabit. Whether we feel it or not.

The Devil’s Greatest Trick?

Perhaps the devil’s most cunning strategy is not to frighten us, but to bore us to make us forget he exists. Secularism isn’t just godless; it’s demonless. And as C.S. Lewis warned in The Screwtape Letters, Satan is perfectly happy for people to disbelieve in him, so long as he can go about his work undetected.

If we forget demons, we risk forgetting the Christ who conquered them.

Our Hero Is Greater Than the Horror

The point of understanding spiritual warfare isn’t to live in fear. It’s to remember that the battle has already been won. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). And destroy them He did.

Jesus is not afraid of demons. When He walked into a town, they begged Him to leave them alone. They recognized His authority before the religious leaders did. A legion of spirits once fell at His feet and whimpered, “Have you come to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29). They knew their fate was sealed.

On the cross, Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities and “put them to open shame” (Colossians 2:15). At His resurrection, the death blow was delivered. Now, we await the day when Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10), and all things will be made new.

So What Should We Do Now?

We don’t live in fear. But we don’t live in denial, either.

We live in faith. A firm, supernatural faith in a supernatural Christ who reigns over every demon and principality. We pray, not as a ritual, but as an act of war. We open our Bibles, not just for information, but for armor. We gather with the church, not just for fellowship, but for strength.

Because the enemy is real. But our Champion is greater.

And if your imagination for the unseen world has grown dim, let Scripture reignite it. Read the Gospels. See the spiritual world as Jesus saw it full of conflict, yes, but ruled by His sovereign hand.

The demons are out there. But so is the Lord of Hosts. And in Him, we are not only protected we are victorious.

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