MIRACLES AND THE DEMONIC

 


For starts, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to match those of the God of Moses. By the power of Satan, they were even able to change their staff into a snake. This shouldn’t be a surprise for those who know that Bible and know that the power of Satan is real. By this power, Satan killed the sons and daughters of Job and afflicted Job. He is also able to heal, possess, and has taken the world captive through his deceptions (1 John 5:19).

I have even experienced his powers of deception through the Ouija Board. Therefore, it doesn’t surprise me that he is still performing counterfeit unbiblical miracles, for example slain-in-the-Spirit to deceive. There are many examples of this:

Various schools teaching how to speak in tongue, to perform miracles, and prophesy, even though there is no such precedent in the Scriptures.

Many others claim supernatural experiences from alleged UFO abductions. However, it seems that these “abductions” were often terminated when the abductees cried out for Jesus to help them. https://www.facebook.com/DoreenVirtueForJesus/videos/380798094424296

How then can we be sure that various manifestations, miracles, and teachings are from the Lord rather than from demons. We are instructed to test and examine all things:

•    1 Thessalonians 5:20–22 Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

How then do we test everything? By the Scriptures, our ultimate authority! They must take precedence over miracles, charismatic speakers, and even our own feelings and inclinations:

•    Deuteronomy 13:1–4 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

The Word of God has to take precedence over all else:

•    Deuteronomy 18:19–22 “And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

In contrast, the demonic world places no “does” and “don’ts” upon its practitioners, who are free to continue to live according to their preferred lifestyle. Instead, it’s all about the results—obtaining a spirit guide and experiencing something transcendent. Sandra Ingerman, a shaman, writes:

•    As you read this book and wonder whether or not what I am talking about is real, I ask you not to enter into a battle between the right brain [reason] and left brain [intuition]. Simply read the material and experience it...Does the information that comes from the shamanic journey work? Does the information make positive changes in a person’s life? If so, who cares if we are making it up?” (Soul Retrieval, 3)

Even professionals are taken in by this “reasoning.” In “Mama Lola; A Voodoo Priestess in Brooklyn,” Anthropologist Karen McCarthy Brown explains how and why she took a leap into Voodoo”

•    “Although the Iwa [spirits] who possess Alourdes [the Voodoo priestess] are often called sen-yo (saints), they are not saintly types in the traditional Christian sense. For example, in stories about the soldier spirit Ogou/Saint James, he not only liberates his people but also betrays them. Ezili Danto/Mater Salvatoris, the mother, cradles and cares for her children but also sometimes lashes out at them in rage. The Voodoo spirits are not models of the well-lived life; rather, they mirror the full range of possibilities inherent in the particular slice of life over which they preside. Failure to understand this has led observers to portray the Voodoo spirits as demonic or even to conclude that Voodoo is a religion without morality—a serious misconception.” (pg.6)

However, McCarthy doesn’t explain why this is a “misconception.” It is amazing that while knowing that these spirits aren’t “saintly types,” she would subject herself to them. Nor does she attempt to think through the philosophical implications of her ill-conceived leap. If the spirits are the highest form of being and they aren’t very moral, then it would be pure hubris to try to be more moral. This might even be offensive to the spirits.

What happens to societies who have made this leap into spiritism? In the short run, they might find some immediate benefits. The spirit world is real and powerful. However, there is the fine print. It is no accident that we have no examples of spiritistic societies that have advanced, having hospitals, justice systems, and charities. Instead, these societies are horribly violent – a testimony to the type of beings that spiritism invokes.

Millions are uncritically taking hold of the spirit world through witchcraft and the New Age. Why? It feeds our self-respect and frees us from our drab life like sleeping with one of the Beetles. My involvement with the Ouija Board gave me access to a power and a wisdom which I had lacked, at least I had thought this way.

What protection do we have from such powerful allurements? Reason alone doesn’t seem to help. It should when we see the deplorable state of those cultures which have adopted paganism or spiritism or the rapid decline of the West as it has rejected its Christian roots. Instead, we demand results right now. In The Secret Ways of the Lakota, Black Elk, a Sioux shaman boasts   , “You don’t have to wait for five years [for your prayer to be answered]…The spirit comes and takes me somewhere.”

However, “Have Your Best Life Now” has taken over the thinking of a good portion of the Church, which no longer have patience for waiting or enduring. Instead of knowing God, we want to experience God right now, and have begun to practice the techniques of the “Desert Fathers” and other mystics to alter our brain states. Never mind that the Bible never speaks a word about “experiencing” God. Do we even know what we are experiencing when we claim to “experience” God.

Instead, the Scriptures warn us to not go beyond what is written. When we do, we are tasting forbidden fruits:

•    1 Corinthians 4:6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

In our pride, we are tempted to believe that we understand more than what we do:

•    Proverbs 3:5–7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

The demons are willing to always satisfy our immediate needs, whatever it requires to haul in their catch:

•    Isaiah 8:19–20 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn [light].

Who are we to trust? The spirit world is quite appealing. It understands our needs and knows how to satisfy them. I have dialogued with many unsuspecting witches. While they are aware of evil “entities,” they naively trust in their intuition