what the bible teaches about the spirits

7/28/2019 What the Bible Teaches About the Spirits

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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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what the bible teaches about the spirits

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