Demons

My Bible study group studied two women over the last 2 weeks: Lydia and an unnamed slave girl (Acts 16:11—18). Let’s meet Lydia first. The Apostle Paul and his fellow missionaries arrived in Philippi (in Greece today). As they searched for Jews to preach to, they met up with a small group of women, including Lydia. Naturally, Paul taught them the good news of Jesus. A miracle happened! The Lord opened Lydia’s heart, which means the Lord worked the miracle of salvation in her heart! At the same time, Lydia listened and understood the Word that Paul preached. She believed the gospel—and she was saved!

A week later, the missionaries encountered a slave girl who was a fortune teller—she predicted the future for money. How did she do this? Well, the Bible says she had a spirit of divination. What this means is that she was in contact with demons. So apparently, her fortune-telling skills were the result of her demon connections. You know, you may think that fortune telling is an innocent activity. It is not. Did you know that God considers fortune-telling and divination an abomination? “Abomination” means detestable, something that is absolutely hated. In Deuteronomy, you’ll find several lists of things that God hates. Here are a few examples: child sacrifice, divination, fortune telling, speaking to the dead, and sorcery (Deuteronomy 18:10, 11). Did you catch that? Child sacrifice and fortune telling are equally detested by the Lord. Are you surprised by that? You shouldn’t be—because God hates anything and everything satanic and demon-related. These demonic things go on today. I was shocked last fall when our grandson came home from school and said the mom of one of his classmates practiced witchcraft. Several years ago, I was stunned when a coworker talked about what it was like to talk to her dead father. ALL these things are just as abominable to God today as they were 2000 years ago. All these things are still as sinful.

What is done about demon-possession? Well, fortunately for the slave girl, a few days later, Paul commanded the demon to come out of her, and the demon obeyed. And while the demon departed from the girl, the Bible doesn’t tell us she was saved. In the gospels, Jesus often cast out demons. And though He gave that ability to His disciples, even they weren’t always able to cast them out (Matthew 17:16). Why not? Because it seems that the disciples became overconfident in these supernatural gifts and forgot that they were completely dependent on God for everything including the gift of casting out demons. The gift of casting out demons like the apostles doesn’t exist today as it did then, and deliverance from demons depends on exercising faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—in other words, believing in Jesus. Demons cannot remain in one who is truly saved. It is also possible through prayer, just as Jesus said (Mark 9:29).

Did you know that the demons recognize Jesus as the Son of God (Luke 8:28)? They know exactly who He is, and they hate Him. Perhaps you’re on the fence about Jesus…you know in your heart He’s the Son of God but you’re hesitating. Don’t hesitate. Come to Christ—He is truth and life. Be like Lydia…listen and understand and believe. If you need prayer or a Bible, let me know.