↑
Yes, they do have an effect: They harden and damn the souls using them.
so wadr you have both wormed away from a real answer by choosing to deliberately misconstrue the question?
Can you make a "spirit candle" have an effect on me, as purported, or no?
Your question was general, not specifically about you. Therefore I gave you an answer that you prob were not expecting, it is both true, and sorta snarky. Within the spiritual realm, there are degrees of authority (think of how the Archangel Michael was hindered 21 days before he could get to Daniel [Daniel 10:13]) By the way, there are only 3 Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer, and there are no angels with greater authority. Of course, Lucifer is fallen, and the most beautiful--See Ezekiel 26 (or 28 for that).
The short answer is that can influence and cause a Christian to stumble and ruin their testimony just like what happened to Jerry Fallwell Jr. if the Christian leaves an "open door" whereby the demon can get the Christian to do something hideous. Jesus said that "no one can snatch the believer out of his hand (John 10:26) so Mr Fallwell, Jr. and his wife will go there, but meanwhile, their life on earth will be devoid of the gifts of Holy Spirit blessing and prospering their lives. In short, they will be without influence and miserable knowing that they wasted their latter years in remorse instead of having joy. I do not condemn them for their sin because like them, I am also a sinner, but my sins are different.
I could give you personal experiences where you can read about stuff I encountered; instead, first, I will refer you to both the OT and NT. Job is an example of a believer being demonized-- that is the proper term, because a believer cannot be possessed by a demon. Instead, they can be influenced. In the NT, there is the example of Simon, the Sorcerer.
It may be that he was a new believer when he asked to purchase the authority to do miracles, and was rebuked for that. But there is no doubt that that request did not come from Holy Spirit.
A while back, Merrill Unger a very good Christian author wrote a book called
What Demons can do to Saints. it is something worth while reading if you are interested in reading on those lines.
Should you wish to delve deeper, there are several books translated from German to English by the protestant Christian psychiatrist and exorcist Kurt Kotch.
Please do not argue with my experiences, and assume that I am some sort of freak, seeing a demon under every bush. But I will share this with you. Multiple Personality disorder, (now recognized as "DID" or "Dissociative Identity Disorder" is real, and it has its roots in ritualistic sexual abuse, is an example of demonic possession. (There is much more to this than I am letting on.)
In the church I pastored in the 1990s, there was a troubled 30-ish woman who was constantly stirring up trouble in her life. there are things I am sure she did in the church because previously Holy Spirit revealed to me in the same manner that a man in our church in another state incested his daughter, now in college, and was grooming his 11 years-old daughter.
An Evangelical Methodist pastor, and licensed psychologist warned me about her because she was in the church I pastored. Her father was an elder in our church because he was a "nice guy" but towards his daughter, he was a beast, hitting her with a 2 X 4 (make the connection above) and his wife held seances in their trailer.
The daughter wanted to come and talk, and be "counseled" by my wife and myself. So we met with her in our church. Prior to the meeting, we prayed, fasted and asked for the Lord to surround us with angels, and bind her demons from splitting to infect the church or us. Spiritually, we were prepared.
We sat down in chairs, had small talk, and I began by asking her the open ended question what she wanted us to do that day.
All of a sudden, she said "We cannot see you. There is something bright surrounding you and it makes us afraid." Catch the plurals?
With that, she ran as fast as she could to her car, and speedily drove out of the parking lot.
So, I did not "deliberately misconstrue" your question as you falsely accuse me of doing, nor am I angry with you for doing so. However, your reply did cause me to believe that you may not have a grasp on the way that demons make Christians trip and fall. It is also my belief (not directly found in Scripture) that their sinning on Earth will somehow lessen the rewards they could have in heaven.
Now you have what the Bible says, what happened to my wife and me, and the Fallwells from which to develop your own understanding of demons. I do not expect you to agree with me 100%. However, I DO expect you to understand that my experiences were accurately remembered, and that the Scriptures tell us many things, all of which accurately correspond to my experiences.
It goes without saying, that the understanding of what demons can do is so repugnant that some Christians absolutely refuse to look at them. That is a valid choice. But IMHO God has directed that some Christians to learn about demons so that they can teach others; that also is a valid choice. What is indeed wrong is for one side of that choice to throw rocks and sticks at the other side.
Each side is unique, but not better than the other. Each side is correct in emphasizing the positive works of Jesus Christ, and condemning the myriads of work of darkness and evil. Thus the question about studying demons or not must fall to the stewardship of gifts sovereignly given to each believer. Just as all of us do not have the same gifts, we do not all have the same ministry.
1 Corinthians 12:
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;
6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Therefore, just I cannot condemn you for being different than me, so also you cannot condemn me for being different than you. However, we ALL must answer to the same Master.