War Against Occultism, witchcraft and False Religion (7)

DIVINATION
Please, we have said so much on this subject that this column can not take. So, I suggest you quickly get our best-selling books Power of Midnight Prayer and breaking Generational Curses, to learn more. We will stop with this part for now. Now, another act of occultism that goes contrary to the word of God is divination. And this includes: mediums, fortune telling, horoscope, psychic, etc. Any person getting information from these sources is communicating with the demon spirits. Yes, sometimes they can see through the spirit and give you correct information. But they are still not from God but from Satan.

The possessed girl in Act 16:16-22, through the power of the demons said accurately who Paul and his company were. But Paul later identified the demon and promptly cast it out. This is one of the spirits that rule the false places of worship today. When they tell you everything about your life, you will be amazed and get hooked.

The game is, once they tell you anything and you believe it or become afraid, then it will happen as they said. But if you reject and rebuke them, you will be free from their hook. The occult groups will always want to tell you about the future and other secrets to hook you. But this is just Satan's way of countering the work of the Holy Spirit and the true prophetic gifts of God. Be careful!

SORCERY:
This involves magic, spells, incantations, charms, amulets etc. All these and more are used to manipulate people and also turn them away from putting their faith in God. We saw the examples of sorcerers in the New Testament - Simon and Elymas.

"Afterward they preached from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Pathos, where they met a Jewish Sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar Jesus. He had attached himself to the governor, Sergio's Paulus, a man of considerable insight and understanding. The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas, the sorcerer (as his name means in Greek), interfered and urged the governor to pay no attention to what Saul and Barnabas said. He was trying to turn the governor away from the Christian faith." (Act 13: 6 - 8)

"A man named Simon had been a sorcerer therefore many years, claiming to be somebody great. The Samaritan people, from the least to the greatest, often spoke of him as 'the great one - the power of God.' He was very influential because of the magic he performed." (Act 8: 9 - 11).

These clearly show the operation of sorcery, and that is what the devil wants to achieve with occultism - to divert people's attention from God and to dominate them. We will say more on these when we discuss witchcraft. God is strongly against this.

SECRECY
Another feature of the occult world is secrecy. They always have something to hide or keep away from the public. There is also always something to keep from the fresh initiates. The dark kingdom thrives in secrets and deceits. The occult world will always reserve certain information for certain levels in the group, and they will make sure that you get to a 'point of no return' before knowing them. And when you make any attempt to withdraw, they use fear of harm, destruction or even death to threaten you. Then, any place of worship you are told to keep anything secret, please begin to suspect something. Run away!

But when you are serving the true God, through His Son - Jesus Christ, you have nothing to fear or hide. The initiation into Christianity is clean and open. It involves no rituals. It is just accepting Jesus as your Lord and savior. Then the worship, services and scriptures are also very open to everybody. Any worship that involves secrecy and sacrifices cannot be the worship of the true God. Till next week, God bless you!

Rev. Agbo is the author of the book Power of Midnight Prayer and a minister with the Assemblies of God Nigeria. Tel: 08037113283 E-mail: [email protected]

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Articles by Gabriel Agbo