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The Spirits
What the Bible Teaches Booklet No. 5
AFRICA CHRISTIAN PRESS
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1975 AFRICA CHRISTIAN PRESS
First published 1975
Illustrations by Darwin Dunham
This booklet has been written for
Africa Christian Press by Dr. Byang Kato
ISBN 0 85352 164 6
Trade orders to these addresses:
P.O. Box 1689, Kitwe, Zambia
ACLA, P.O. Box 332, Roodepoort, Transvaal
S. Africa
Uzima Press, P.O. Box 48127, Nairobi, Kenya
All other orders to:
Africa Christian Press, P.O. Box 30, Achimota, Ghana
Made and Printed by Green & Co. (Lowestoft) Ltd.
Crown Street, Lowestoft, England
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As a child I used to be very afraid of a graveyard.
I am still not sure that I would be happy to spend a
night in a cemetery. I think this fear comes from my
pagan background, because I grew up believing that
the spirits of the dead come back to haunt the living.
This is a universal belief among heathen societies.But is it true? Do dead people come back as spirits?
In this book we shall be looking at what spirits are
and how they originated. But first we must see what
the Bible teaches us about God.
God is Spirit
The Bible declares that God is Spirit (John 4: 24).
God as Spirit is not a vague substance such as
energy. He is a Person. In fact there are three Per-
sons within the Godhead, although there is only
One God. There is God the Father, God the Son,and God the Holy Spirit. We call this 'Trinity'.
God as Spirit does not have a body. So in order
to be seen by man. God revealed Himself in Jesus
Christ. That is why Jesus Christ said, 'He who has
seen me has seen the Father' (John 14: 9). In Jesus
Christ, God who is Spirit has been revealed to man.
Because Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man,
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He was able to die, to be buried and to rise again
for our sins. As God He is Spirit, therefore He dwells
in the believer today. The Apostle Paul is very fond
of the expression 'Christ in you', or Christ who
'lives in me' (Galatians 2: 20).
The third Person of the Trinity is called the HolySpirit. God's nature is holiness and all the three
Persons are absolutely holy.
God as Spirit is absolutely different from all other
classes of spirits. He is the Creator. Every aspect of
His character is infinite; that is, without limit or
comparison. He alone knows everything. He also
can do everything that is not against His nature.
God alone can be everywhere at the same time. He,
therefore, belongs to a distinct category of the
spiritual world, though He is Spirit.
The Origin of Spirits
God is the Creator of all that is. He has no begin-
ning and no end. 'In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth' (Genesis 1: 1). God who
always IS, created the heavens and the earth and
everything in them. So in our dealing with the origin
of spirits, we must exclude God. Although He too
is Spirit, He is the uncreated Spirit since He Him-
self did the creating. All other spirits are created
beings.
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The Bible clearly teaches that all spirits were
created by God. The Word of God says, 'Praise
him all his angels, praise him all his host! Let them
praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded
and they were created' (Psalm 148: 2, 5). The
Apostle Paul writes, For in him all things werecreated, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
authorities -- all things were created through him
and for him' (Colossians 1; 16).
Material things are the objects that can be seen
and possibly handled. Men, trees, stars, water and
rocks are all visible things. The invisible are the
spirit world made up of both good and evil angels
or spirits. They are all created by God.
They may be stronger, wiser and faster than men,
but still they cannot do everything as God can.They do not know everything, nor can they be
everywhere at the same time.
When spirits were created is not given in the
Scriptures. It is possible that they were created in
the beginning before the six days creation of the
earth took place. Their creation may be included
with the record of creation in Genesis 1:1. One thing
we know for sure is that they were created some
time before the seventh day when God rested from
His creation. 'Thus the heavens and the earth were
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finished, and all the host of them (Genesis 2:1).
This concludes that no further creation took place
after the six days.
Their Nature Originally
All that God created was perfectly good. 'And Godsaw everything that he had made, and behold ,it
was very good (Genesis 1: 31). Since God created
the spirits, every spirit then must have been very
good. This includes demons and even Satan him-
self. God never does a poor job since He is al-
together lovely and has the power and wisdom to
create things to His delight. A person may like fried
chicken and rice. But his pocket may not be able to
afford them, or his wife may lack the technique of
frying really good chicken. So man may fail to get
what he really loves. But it is not so with God Heis able to create the most beautiful thing to suit
His standard of beauty. That is what He did with
creation. Everything was perfect in every con-
ceivable way. Originally, both good and bad angels
were perfect. Even Satan was perfect. His name
Lucifer means the shining one or the morning star
(Isaiah 14: 12). He was probably the highest being
of all the created spirits. But things have changed
tragically.
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The Origin of Sin
Since everything that God created was good. He
cannot be responsible for all that has gone wrong
with His creation. You may ask why, if God was
good and all-powerful, did He allow evil to come into
His beautiful universe? This question bothers metoo. It has bothered philosophers and religious
leaders. The ultimate answer lies with God. 'The
secret things belong to the Lord our God; but the
things that are revealed belong to us and to our
children, for ever, that we may do all the words of
this law' (Deuteronomy 29: 29). So we do not know
fully why God allowed sin to spoil His beautiful
creation. But we must remember that the spirits
are intelligent, personal beings with the ability and
privilege to choose. The same thing applies to man.
I am certainly happy that I am not a car which canbe driven either into the ditch or on the street. As
intelligent beings, Satan and his angels are respon-
sible for their rebellion against God.
The actual time when sin came and turned some
angels and Satan into evil beings is not clearly
given in the Bible. But it is clearly stated that some
angels left their place of perfection and proper place
of living (Jude 6). It is clearly stated that they
sinned. Apparently sin first occurred in heaven with
some of the angels.
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Satan's pride and ambition were the root cause
of sin. Satan was the first sinner. Although he was
a 'commander-in-chief' of God's armed forces, the
angels, he aspired to make himself like God. The
result was that he was driven from the presence of
God. Other angels who followed Satan in sinningwere also expelled from the presence of God. They
lost their original holiness. The fallen angels became
unclean spirits or demons. Jesus sent His disciples
to cast out unclean spirits (Matthew 10: 1). Some
of them are still bound today in a place called
Tartarus until the day of judgment (2 Peter 2: 4).
Others are free to roam about. But all the evil spirits
will be judged and finally cast into the lake of fire
(1 Corinthians 6: 3; Matthew 25: 41).
The Good AngelsAngel is the term used in the Bible to describe the
created spirits, and the words 'angel' and 'spirit'
can be used interchangeably. The word 'angel'
means a messenger or agent of some higher being.
The Bible does not give us the classes of all the
good angels, neither does it tell us how many angels
there are, except to say that there are thousands of
them. Daniel describes the multitudes of angels
serving God in heaven. 'A stream of fire issued and
come forth before him; a thousand thousands ser-
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ved him' (Daniel 7: 10). Jesus said God could send
more than twelve legions of angels at one call for
help (Matthew 26: 53). One legion of Roman soldiers
was between 3,000 and 6,000. So Jesus could call
upon between 36,000 and 72,000 at one time and
that would not be all the angels there were at God'sservice. In Hebrews we read of 'innumerable hosts
of angels' (Hebrews 12: 22). The Word of God men-
tions several kinds of good angels.
The Seraphim. Their name means the burning or
the noble ones. We read of them only in Isaiah 6:
2, 6. They lead the heavenly hosts in the worship of
God. They also purify God's servants, at least in
the Old Testament period, for the worship of God.
The Cherubim. Their name means those who hold
fast, or the grasped ones. There are several re-
ferences to them (Genesis 3: 24; 2 Kings 19: 15;Ezekiel 10: 1-20; 28:14-16). They are the guardians of
the Throne of God. Their task is to guard the un-
approachable holiness of God and is illustrated by
their function in the Garden of Eden. 'He (God)
drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of
Eden he placed the Cherubim, and a flaming sword
turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of
life' (Genesis 3: 24). The word Seraphim does not
occur in the New Testament. The word Cherubim
occurs only in Hebrews 9: 5 where it speaks not of
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the angels themselves but of the representation of
winged figures that were carved and attached to
the aitar of the temple. There is no indication that
Christians should have any dealing with Seraphim
and Cherubim.
Some Christian groups pay uncalled for respectto Cherubim and Seraphim, but this has no biblical
basis.
Michael and Gabriel. In the Old Testament, Michael
is called the chief prince, or one of the chief princes
(Daniel 10: 13, 21; 12: 1). His function seems to be
the protection of Israel.
In the New Testament his name occurs two times.
His dispute with Satan on the body of Moses is
reported in Jude 9. Apparently he is the one who
will announce the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
(1 Thessalonians 4: 16).Gabriel is another angel mentioned by name. He
was sent to Daniel to clarify the visions God had
given (Daniel 8: 16; 9: 21). He was also sent to
announce the birth of Christ (Luke 1: 19, 26). It
seems that his special task was to stand between
God and man, and to give God's revelation to man.
The work of Spirits or Angels
Their work may be summed up as follows:
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The worship of God. We read about tins in
Isaiah 6.
The working out of God's will. They explain God s
will to men. In Job 33: 23 an angel is called an in-
terpreter. When Daniel was puzzled about the dream
he had, an angel was sent to interpret it for him(Daniel 7: 16). They are also used to execute God's
judgment. The proud Herod Antipas was struck
dead by an angel. 'Immediately an angel of the Lord
smote him, because he did not give God the glory;
and he was eaten by worms and died' (Acts 12: 23).
Looking after God's Chosen People Israel. King
Nebuchadnezzar knew God had 'sent an angel
and delivered his servants that trusted in him
(Daniel 3: 28). The Archangel Michael was a special
bodyguard for Israel (Daniel 10: 13, 21).
Serving Jesus Christ. They predicted and cele-brated the birth of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1: 20;
Luke 1- 11). They served Christ in His temptations
and sufferings (Matthew 4: 11; Luke 22: 43). They
announced His resurrection and going to heaven
(Matthew 28; John 20: 12; Acts 1: 10, 11), and
they will announce the coming of Jesus Christ. For
the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a
cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with
the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first' (1 Thessalonians 4: 16). Jesus
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Christ will send the angels to gather together God's
children in the final day of judgment. 'And he shall
send forth his angels with a great sound of a trum-
pet, and they shall gather together his elect from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the
other (Matthew 24: 31).They will also help sort out the believers from
the unbelievers. So it will be at the close of the age.
The angels will come out and separate the evil from
the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire;
there men will weep and gnash their teeth'
(Matthew 13: 49,50).
Helping Christians. Good angels are described as
serving spirits to the Christians. 'Are they not all
ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake
of those who are to obtain salvation?' (Hebrews
1: 14). They minister to the Christians in variousways.
They protect and deliver believers from physical
hardship when God wants to give deliverance. The
apostles were put in prison for preaching about
Jesus. 'But at night an angel of the Lord opened the
prison doors and brought them out' (Acts 5: 19).
When Peter was in a condemned cell, waiting to be
killed for his faith in Christ, God again sent His
angel to deliver him. Peter himself testified, 'Now I
am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued
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me from the hand of Herod and from all that the
Jewish people were expecting' (Acts 12: 11).
The fact that Gods good angels guard
and deliver believers from danger should be a
great consolation to us. One day I was driving
from Kagoro to Kaduna with other pastors in thecar. I was driving in a thick fog on the road I had
never driven before. At a sharp bend I missed the turning and
headed into the bush. There was a huge tree right in
front of us. A fellow pastor sitting with me in front
offered the shortest prayer he has ever offered. He
simply said in Jaba language, ' Oh Nom ' repeatedly,
which means 'Oh God'. The car stopped just before
it hit the tree. We pushed the car back to the road
and drove on after a prayer of thanks.
I am convinced that the Lord sent his angel to
stand between my car and the tree for protection.
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It is wonderful to have the assurance that the Lord
is able to protect us and deliver us from danger
according to His good will.
Let me give a note of warning here. Nowhere in
the Bible are we told to pray to the angels or even
ask God to send us His angels to deliver us. As amatter of fact, angels themselves rightly feel un-
qualified to be worshipped since they are creatures.
When John wanted to worship an angel who had
brought him a message, the angel replied, 'You must
not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your
brethren the prophets, and with those who keep the
words of this book. Worship God' (Revelation 22:
9). We should pray to God and worship Him alone.
It is up to Him to use whatever means He chooses
to deliver us.
Angels are present at the time of death. If aperson is a Christian, an angel carries him to the
presence of God. Jesus told a story about a poor
man called Lazarus who was a Christian, and a rich
man who was not a Christian. 'The poor man died
and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom'
(Luke 16: 22). The wealthy unbeliever was not
carried by God's angel. 'The rich man also died and
was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he
lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and
Lazarus in his bosom' (Luke 16: 22, 23). It is
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possible that it was an evil angel who carried the
rich man to Hades.
Many Christians who have lost consciousness
during sickness have told of seeing angels and of
having a glimpse of a wonderful place beyond this
life. Not all testimonies are true, but the truth ofsome of them cannot be denied.
Angels have a particular ministry to infants.
Jesus Christ warned, 'See that you do not despise
one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven
their angels always behold the face of my Father
who is in heaven' (Matthew 18: 10). Although it is
possible that each infant may have his own guardian
angel, this passage does not clearly say so. It just
says that infants have angels in heaven watching
them. So it is wrong to seek to find out about your
child's angel or to plead with a particular angel toguard your child. All prayers and worship must be
directed to God through Jesus Christ alone. 'For
there is one God, and there is one mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus ' (1 Timothy
2: 5).
It also seems that angels are present at Christian
worship. Speaking to the women of Corinth con-
cerning decency in dress, Paul writes, 'That is why
a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because
of the angels' (1 Corinthians 11: 10). I do not think
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that Paul's concern was the immoral lusts on the
part of angels. If these angels were good ones, they
were sinless messengers, but things in the house
of God should be conducted decently and in order.
SatanHe is the head of all evil spirits and he has at least
12 names.
1. Satan. (1 Chronicles 21: 1); meaning adversary,
because he is the enemy of both God and man.
2. Devil, because he is a great accuser of God's
children (Revelation 12: 10).
3. Dragon, meaning a sea monster; and this des-
cribes his wild and ferocious activities (Isaiah
51:9).
4. Serpent, speaking of his deceitfulness (Genesis
3: 1).5. Beelzebub: the meaning is uncertain (Matthew
10: 25).
6. Belial, meaning worthlessness (2 Corinthians
6: 15).
7. Lucifer, meaning the morning star, and this
speaks of his beauty before he rebelled against
God (Isaiah 14: 12).
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8. Wicked one; this describes his character and
work (1 John 3: 12).
9. Tempter, because he always tries to get man
to sin (Matthew 4: 3).
10. God of this world; this name shows that he is
behind all the religious systems of the worldwhich oppose God (2 Corinthians 4: 4).
11. Prince of the power of the air speaks of his
authority by which he commands all evil spirits
(Ephesians 6: 12).
12. Prince of this world; this speaks of his possible
influence over the governments of this world
some of which oppose Jesus Christ (John 14:
30).
Demons
Satan operates all over the world. He travels be-tween heaven and earth (Job 1). But he is a
creature, and therefore he is limited. He cannot be
everywhere at the same time. However he has his
agents all over the world. Demons are his agents
The word daimonion (demons) in Greek is
wrongly translated devils in some Bibles. There is
only one devil, Satan, but there are many demons
or evil spirits.
Several views have been put forward as to who
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the demons are. We know that among the many
angels that sinned against God, one class is bound
in chains in a place called Tartarus. They will remain
there till the final day, when they will be judged and
cast into hell (2 Peter 2: 4; Jude 6). But there are
many fallen angels who are not yet bound inTartarus (Daniel 10: 13, 20; Revelation 12: 7; 9).
Since we have the evidence of there being a class
of fallen angels and that not all of them are bound
yet, it is most sensible to see these fallen angels
as the demons. God has numerous angels as His
messengers. Satan as a counterfeit god has vast
numbers of evil spirits to support him in opposing
God's work. Man is not alone in the universe. There
is a world of spirits, and they are fighting a severe
battle day and night. But, thank God, 'There is
therefore now no condemnation for those who arein Christ Jesus' (Romans 8: 1). What a wonderful
thing to be a Christian!
Work of Satan and the Evil Angels
Their work, which is aimed primarily to harm God's
plan, may be summarized as follows:
1. God may use them for the purpose of judgment
or testing of His People. He does so by permitting
them to carry on their wicked programme.
God allowed Job to be tested by Satan. 'And
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the Lord said to Satan, "Behold he is in your power;
only spare his life" ' (Job 2: 6).
2. They may bring physical suffering or religious
persecution to the Christian to try to separate him
from the love of God, but they cannot succeed in
the case of a true Christian. ''For I am sure thatneither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come . . . will be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord' (Romans 8: 38, 39).
3. They oppose the good angels of God in their
work. That is why Daniel's answer to prayer was
delayed (Daniel 10: 12, 13). This may also be true
with our prayers today.
4. The evil angels co-operate with Satan in op-
posing God's work. Satan employs all kinds of
devices to accomplish his wicked act of opposingGod. He tells lies (John 8: 44), tempts people
(Matthew 4: 1), changes into an angel of light
(2 Corinthians 11: 14) and even inflicts physical
death and diseases (Matthew 9: 33; Luke 9: 37-42).
5. The evil spirits have a set of false teachings
that they spread. Such false teachings are taught
even by some Bible teachers. For example, some
of them teach that Satan is not real. Others, on the
other hand, bow to Satan and his demons in wor-
ship. Some claim that there is no real heaven or
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real hell. The Bible tells us that these false teach-
ings come from Satan and his demons and will
increase before Christ's return. Now the Spirit
expressly says that in later times some will depart
from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits
and doctrines of demons' (1 Timothy 4: 1).There is a revival of spirit worship today. This is
not limited to Africa but is found everywhere. To-
day there are 30,000 practising witches in England.
Witches claim to have dealings with the spirits. A
recent survey showed there were 10,000 witches
in Germany. There is even a church of Satan in the
United States of America today. They have Satan's
Bible and here is a verse from it: 'Blessed are the
strong, for they shall possess the earth. If a man
smite you on one cheek, SMASH him on the other.'
A Ghanaian football team was passing throughNairobi, Kenya. One of the players dropped an egg
as they were coming off the aircraft. A newspaper
report of the incident concluded that the team was
dealing with witchcraft. Whatever the truth may be
in this matter, a great deal of public life in Africa
today is connected with the spirits. That is what
Satan and his demons want. Through these activi-
ties the spirits are drawing even professing
Christians to their camp. Co-operating with the
evil spirits is enmity against God. 'You cannot drink
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the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons' (1
Corinthians 10: 21).
6. Demons have no body but they seek for bodies
to live in. When Jesus forced them out of a human
being, they asked for His permission to enter a
herd of pigs. He allowed them and they did (Mark5: 8-14).
Evil Power
I saw a Ghanaian witch and his team of dancers
who were performing in London. They claimed that
the short little man was 124 years old, and that he
had power to raise people from the dead. He
demonstrated it by slashing one of the lady dancers.
After dancing around for a while, he then raised
the dead girl to life. I could not tell whether this
was a true act of killing and restoring to life or ifit was a deceit.
Spectacular things do happen. Many of the claims
by magicians or witches are, of course, false. Cer-
tain people can do some clever things to deceive,
especially where rewards are involved. Some of the
fantastic stories we hear are big lies. Satan who is
the father of all lies, gives the people of the world
the encouragement to tell big lies for reward, sel-
fish pride or to impress others. So do not believe
everything that you hear.
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However, since Satan and demons are real, their
activities must be taken seriously. Some of the hap-
penings we hear about are true. It is possible for evilspirits to put on the appearance of a dead per-
son and come back to communicate with living
people. I have seen snake charmers with poisonous snakes
playing with the deadly creatures without being
bitten. I have seen actors cut their bodies with a
sharp sword and no marks are seen. The same
sword would be used then to slash branches from
trees. Some of your school mates may convince you
that some charms they have used have helped them.
Satan can perform miracles. When Moses and
Aaron performed miracles before Pharaoh in Egypt,the magicians working under the influence of Satan
were able to imitate God's miracles. 'So Moses and
Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord com-
manded; Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh
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and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then
Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers;
and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same
by their secret arts. For every man cast down his
rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod
swallowed up their rods' (Exodus 7: 10-12).God may allow Satan to do mighty things but
there is a boundary beyond which God will not allow
him to go. He can go only thus far and not farther.
Unusual things may happen, but that does not
necessarily make them the acts of God. So what
should be the Christian's attitude to these things?
Christian Attitude
The Christian should believe in the reality of the
world of demons, but should seek no contact with
them whatsoever. Many athletes pay a large sumof money to the fortune-tellers to know the ex-
pected results. I was told by a student in one univer-
sity that at least half of their students consult witch
doctors at the time of their examinations. Some
students order rings and other objects from India
and elsewhere to help them pass examinations.
The Bible condemns any dealings with evil spirits.
Evil spirits are behind the activities of witches and
diviners. As children of light we should have no deal-
ings with the works of darkness (1 John 1:6). Listen
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to what God said to Israel: 'Any Israeli who presents
his child to be burned to death as a sacrifice to
heathen gods, must be killed. No Israeli may
practice black magic, or call on the evil spirits for
aid, or be a fortune teller, or be a serpent charmer,
medium, or wizard, or call forth the spirits of thedead. Anyone doing these things is an object of
horror and disgust to the Lord, and it is because
the nationsdo these things that the Lord your God
will displace them' (Deuteronomy 18: 10-12, Living
Bible).
It is sin to consult a witchdoctor who in turn
consults the spirits to tell the future or to help you
in any way. Some Christians want to try out deal-
ing with evil spirits just out of curiosity. It is said,
'curiosity kills the cat.'
There is a film made in the U.S.A. called "TheExorcist". It deals with things connected with evil
spirits. Some Christians went to see it. Many of
them came out sick. One man committed suicide as
a result of what he saw in the film. Stay out of
Satanic things.
The Christian should not take part in idol worship
in any way. This includes eating what is sacrificed
to idols, dancing to the honour of pagan gods or
wearing dress that represents pagan gods. Demons
are behind the objects that pagans worship. ' What
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that, though they are dead, yet they live. Professor
John Mbiti calls them the living dead. Some people
feel strongly that African Christians should maintain
contacts with the spirits of the dead. They say the
Catholic churches pray through deceased saints .
But this is wrong for Christians to do.Listen to what the Bible says: And when they
say to you, consult the mediums and the wizards
who chirp and mutter, should not a people consult
their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf
of living? (Isaiah 8: 19).
I know that in 1 Samuel 28:7-25 we have the
account of Saul consulting a witch doctor of Endor
It is a difficult passage, but let us realize that Saul
was a backslider, a miserable and confused person
And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did
not answer him (1 Samuel 28: 6). Since the Lorddid not answer Saul, he turned to Satanic sources.
The end result was God's judgment by death for
Saul and his sons, and defeat for Israel. Let this
serve as a warning to those seeking help from
demonic forces.
In the New Testament we have the example of
Gods condemnation of the sorcerer in Cyprus. Paul
said, You son of the devil, you enemy of all
righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will
you not stop making crooked the straight paths of
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the Lord?' (Acts 13: 10). To consult with the spirits
of the dead is to deal with the demonic world be-
cause it is demons who assume the role of the
deceased.
There was once a bishop, called James Pike. One
of his sons committed suicide as a result of drugaddiction. Pike was so confused that he gave him-
self over to the devil completely. Through the help
of a wizard he claimed to be having dealings with
his deceased son. Each step of drifting away from
the Lord led to another. Bishop Pike finally died in
the desert in Israel.
May this serve as a warning against dealing with
the spirits of the dead. The answer to worries is not
found in dealing with dead people but in Jesus
Christ. Christ invites even the worst criminal to
come to Him for rest and peace. 'Come to me, allwho labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest (Matthew 11: 28).
Attitude to Satan
The Bible gives instructions to the Christian on his
attitude to Satan and evil spirits.
The Christian must be aware of Satan's devices,
otherwise Satan will take advantage of his ignorance.
Paul shows how he was aware of Satan's devices,
and would like the Christians in Corinth to have the
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same awareness. To keep Satan from gaining the
advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his
designs' (2 Corinthians 2: 11).
The Christian should be alert all the time, realizing
that Satan never takes time off from trying to per-
suade the Christian to do wrong. 'Be sober, bewatchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour'
(1 Peter 5; 8).
The Christian must actively resist Satan. 'Resist
the devil and he will flee from you' (James 4:7)
Although it is God Himself who enables the Chris-
tian to escape from temptation, the Christian needs
to take an active move to gain victory over sin. The
Christian is not a machine, but an intelligent being
with the will to do or not to do something. The
story of Joseph provides an illustration of what theChristian attitude toward Satanic attack should be.
When a pagan woman tried to get Joseph to sin,
he not only refused but ran away from the place.
'She caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with
me". But he left his garment in her hand, and fled
and got out of the house' (Genesis 39: 12).
It is natural for a young man to talk to a young
lady. But you should know that wherever you are,
Satan is there to tempt you. The best way to resist
him is not to be where you can easily fall into his
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hands. Do not try to see how far you can go in your
bodily contact before you resist the Devil. There is
a point of no return in sex relationships.
The Christian should not play with Satan's name.
The common saying, 'Talk of the devil and he shall
appear' is a wise saying indeed. To spend timetalking about Satan is to invite him in. Even an angel
did not think it wise to spend time talking to Satan.
'But when archangel Michael, contending with the
devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not
presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him,
but said, "The Lord rebuke you'" (Jude 9).
The Christian should be well armed by depending
on the Lord for victory over Satan and his forces.
'Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be
able to stand against the wiles of the devil'
(Ephesians 6: 11). But there is a difference betweendemonic influence and demon possession. The
unbeliever does not have the Holy Spirit of God,
and therefore he can be possessed by the demons.
The Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor-
inthians 6: 19). The Holy Spirit and an evil spirit
cannot both dwell in the same body at the same
time. The believer may be influenced by an evil
spirit, as happened to Paul himself when 'a mess-
enger of Satan' harassed him (2 Corinthians 12: 7).
But demons cannot possess the body of the
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Christian. Even at death they still have no claims
on a Christian's body (Jude 9).
Thank God, the Holy Spirit of God who is in the
Christian is stronger than Satan and his angels who
are in the world. 'Little children, you are of God, and
have overcome them; for he who is in you is greaterthan he who is in the world' (1 John 4: 4). It is
wonderful indeed to have Jesus Christ in my life.
But it is even more wonderful that Jesus Christ
owns me as His child.
God also provides angels to protect Christians
from physical danger. They, together with the
glorified saints, probably constitute the 'cloud of
witnesses' who cheer up the Christian in his spiritual
race in this life (Hebrews 12: 1). These are com-
forting facts indeed for the Christian. But he is not
commanded anywhere in the Scriptures to worshipangels or allow them to come between him and God.
Any superstitious worship of angels is against the
teaching of God's Word.
This leads me to my final point. The written Word
of God should be the final test of any action. Even
if an educated man, though he is a Christian leader,
says something that does not agree with the Bible,
do not believe him. Listen to what the Bible says:
'Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the
spirits to see whether they are of God; for many
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false prophets have gone out into the world By this
you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which con-
fesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of
God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus
is not of God (1 John 4: 2, 3).
Always compare every teaching or practice withJesus Christ. Some questions you can ask are: Does
such practice or teaching recognize that Jesus Christ
is truly God and truly man? Does it uphold the fact
that He was born of a Virgin, died and rose again as
the only Saviour of the one who accepts Him? Does
it teach that Jesus Christ went up to heaven and
that He is now praying for the believers?
Does it acknowledge that He is able to take care
of all our problems now, whether they have to do
with examinations or health? Does it allow for the
possibility that Christ may even permit us to failexaminations or be ill and yet He still loves us?
Does it recognize that the wicked may even prosper
in this life through their dealings with evil spirits
but the day is coming when Jesus Christ will put
down all principlities and powers, and become Lord
of Lords and King of Kings? Only the teaching that
answers these questions positively is in line with
God's Word.
If you are trusting in Jesus Christ alone to be
saved from your sins, be assured that you are now a
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child of God and that you do not need to fear evil
spirits or seek any help from them through magic
or charms.
'And therefore I suffer as I do. But I am not as ham-
ed for I know whom I have believed, and I am sure
that he is able to guard until that Day what has beenentrusted to me' (2 Timothy 1: 12).
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[Permission to publish this on CD granted by the Africa Christian Press]