Evil spirits / demons exist.
Searching for “witchcraft,” “black magic,” “voodoo,” “séance” on the internet affirms
their existence. Quite a few practice these and there are others who consult
these services for evil purposes.
Black magic and witchcraft (terms
that I use interchangeably) employ supernatural powers for evil purposes. Let
us consider some instances of witchcraft in different parts of the world:
In December 2013, ‘Livescience’
the science news website reported a Bahraini parliament official Mohammed
Buqais demanding his government to crackdown on witchcraft. Buquais narrates a “story
of a wife who consulted a witch doctor for help in making her husband obedient.
The sorcerer gave her a magic ritual to follow — one that included
contaminating his meals with her blood. The result, Buqais claimed, was that
the man became paralyzed and has remained so since 2006.” 1
If witchcraft is prevalent in
Bahrain - a tiny Arab kingdom with a million people, then one can only imagine
the presence of this evil practice in larger countries.
‘National Geographic’ reported the
killing of albinos in Tanzania for their body parts to be used by witch
doctors.2 These witch doctors supposedly assume the presence of
magical powers in albino body parts such as limbs, heart, tongue etc.
Black magic is prevalent in India.
Maharashtra, a western state, approved a bill to curb such activities.3
Black magic is existent in China,
the world’s largest populated country. The black magic practices are grouped
under the term ‘ku.’ 4
Media has reported instances of black
magic practice in the USA and UK. For more information, you could refer to this
article.5
Practice of witchcraft / black
magic include:
Use of voodoo dolls for evil
purposes. They can make a voodoo doll of their enemy and prick the doll with
needles so to inflict pain and even death.
People interacting with spirits
through Ouija boards for sinister purposes. (Interaction with spirits is termed
as Séance.)
Demonic rituals performed by sacrificing
people (including children) and animals for evil purposes.
This video describes
the evil of human sacrifices during the celebrations of Halloween in America.
It is reported that even corporates
take to witchcraft.6
The demonic threat is real in
every life. It takes one person to resort to black magic and then there are
innocent victim(s). So the possibilities of invoking the demonic are quite
large.
Not surprisingly, the Bible talks
much about demons.
Demons are often described as
spirits (Matthew 8: 16; Luke 7: 21; Acts 19: 12, Revelation 16: 14 et al.). These
wicked forces in heavenly places are invisible (cf. Colossians 1: 16). The
Christian struggles“…against the rulers,
against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the
spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6: 12,
NASB).
Since angels obtain their great power
from God, their powers are limited by the will of God. In other words, angels, good or evil, cannot
exercise their powers without God’s permission (cf. Job 1: 12, 2:6).
Satan is the chief of demons. He
opposes God and the work of Christ through temptation and deception. Satan
opposes and hinders Christians in God’s service (1 Thessalonians 2: 18) through
all available means, and blinds the minds of unbelievers “so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4: 4, NASB).
Demons inflict diseases (Matthew
12:22; Mark 9:17; Acts 8: 7) and oppose the spiritual progress of God’s people
(Ephesians 6: 12). They incite one against another, kill, and destroy property
(Job 1: 13-19).
Since demonic existence and
attack on mankind is factual, we then wonder if all people are vulnerable to
demonic attacks or only a few. If only a few are vulnerable and fearful of demonic
attacks, what separates these few from the others?
Common sense suggests that the
weaker is destroyed by the stronger. From a creational perspective, angels are stronger
than humans; so humans are weaker than the good and evil angels. Therefore, all
humans are susceptible to demonic attack from the evil angels.
However, humans can prevent
demons from attacking them, if they are, in some way, stronger than the demons.
How? Employing a stronger demon is unwise for it is equivalent to inviting a
more powerful hazard into our lives.
The other option is to get behind
a good force that is more powerful than the most evil demon. This seems to be
the only safe and a viable option.
The good force is God – the
Almighty being, the ruler of heaven and earth. Since God created angels, HE obviously
is more powerful than HIS creation.
The sovereign God (because of HIS
grace, goodness, love, mercy, compassion, and justice) protects HIS creation
against the schemes of the evil one. HE protects those who love and those who
reject HIM. This is HIS common grace.
Occasionally HE removes the hedge
of HIS protection and permits the demons to attack us. Why? Because God is
good, HE removes the protection for a good reason. We may be aware of some general
reasons, but we may be mostly unaware of the specific reason.
Although man is vulnerable, can
he get under the protective umbrella of God’s presence to live a fearless life?
Yes it is surely possible. But there is
a condition. The condition is that we should not be fragile; instead we should
be strong in God.
The parable of the sower in
Matthew 13 describes fragile Christians. These fragile Christians exhibit three
fatal traits:
1. They do not understand the
Word of God.
2. They fall away when persecuted.
3. They succumb to the worries of
this world and deceitfulness of wealth.
Exhibition of one or more of these traits exhibits the
fragility and the enormity of the distance between this individual and God.
Instead of
consciously and intentionally remaining in the Lord, this person consciously
and intentionally drifts away from God. The reason for the occurrence of these
three traits in a Christian life is due to man’s separation from God.
When man is separated from God,
he is very much vulnerable to demonic attacks. He is both actively and
passively open to the demonic. He can either actively employ the demonic to
hurt others or be passively hurt by those employing the demonic.
In contrast, there is a Christian
who hears the Word, understands it, bears fruit, and remains strong in the
Lord. He does not employ the demonic to hurt others, for he loves everyone (Mark
12: 31).
This strong Christian is not
vulnerable to demonic attacks. Or is it so?
Being strong in the Lord does not
guarantee a 24x7 protection from the demonic. Even though this man devotedly opposes
the evil, there are moments when God removes the hedge of HIS protection to
permit a demonic attack on this strong Christian.
So we have two groups of people.
One group remains intimate and strong in the Lord. The other group is separated
from God.
Although both these groups are
vulnerable to the demonic, they live differently.
Which of these groups of people are
more likely to fear the demons? The answer is obvious; the group that is
separated from God is the one that lives in fear of demons, and will surrender to
the demonic, even to the point of death.
The strong Christian who
understands God and HIS Word does not fear the Satan or his demons for he is
deeply rooted in God. The strong Christian will remain in the Lord even when
there is a demonic attack against him.
The strong Christian will victoriously
live through the demonic attack and will finally emerge victorious by the power
of the living God – the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
Apostle Paul was given “a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment…” (2
Corinthians 12:7, NASB, Emphasis Mine). The Lord did not remove the demonic from
Paul’s life although Paul pleaded with the Lord. Did Paul then lose hope or
faith in God? No!
Instead he thundered, “most
gladly, therefore, I will rather
boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
Therefore I am well content with
weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when
I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12: 9b-10, NASB, Emphasis
Mine).
Although Paul was under a demonic
attack, he was glad, he boasted about his weakness, he was content, and
importantly he was strong. What a fascinating testimony of a man under a demonic
attack. He did not fear demons, but he endured and remained victorious even
through the demonic attack.
Job is another classic example. To
begin with, the demons robbed him of his family and possessions. Then they
inflicted painful sores upon him.
But his wife, who should have
been a pillar of strength to Job, incited Job to curse God and die.
But Job the Gentile, not even a
member of God’s chosen race – the Jews, displayed a monumental faith in the
Lord and said, ““You speak as one of the
foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept
adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2: 10, NASB).
Although Job was under a severe
demonic attack, he did not lose faith or hope in God. This is yet another
marvelous testimony by a powerful man of God.
Powerful Christians neither fear
the demonic nor lose hope or faith in God during the demonic. Why? Powerful
Christians know and trust their God too well that they are in constant
communication with God through prayer. Thus they overcome the demonic. They even
disregard their life for the sake of God and HIS glory.
How could one gain this power? It
is rather simple. Accept the Lord Jesus, love HIM with all your life, live in
Christ always. Seek Christ with an incessant hunger by the reading and
understanding of HIS Word and constant communication (prayer).
What do you do if you are under a
demonic attack? Pray to Jesus and request your strong and gifted Christian
friends to pray for and over you, for it is only the Lord Jesus who can drive
away the demonic from your life and offer you a victorious life even through
the demonic. Amen.
Endnotes:
1 http://www.livescience.com/41938-black-magic-crackdown-bahrain.html
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/652454-when-corporates-take-to-witchcraft.html
2 http://news.nationalgeographic.co.in/news/2013/10/131011-albino-killings-witch-doctors-tanzania-superstition/
3 http://www.ibtimes.com/indian-state-adopts-bill-against-superstition-black-magic-first-time-after-anti-superstition-1509722
4 http://www.biroco.com/yijing/ku.pdf
5 http://thetruthwins.com/archives/the-fastest-growing-religion-in-america-is-witchcraft
&
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-dark-side-of-halloween-is-the-kind-of-stuff-that-real-life-nightmares-are-made-of
6 http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/652454-when-corporates-take-to-witchcraft.html
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