CHAPTER 4: BE VIGILANT—STAY OUT OF DANGER!

As part of a prophecy describing the end of this evil age, Revelation 12:12 informs us, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” We should therefore expect Satan and demons to become more active in the days ahead.

The very next verse shows Satan intensifying his persecution of God’s Church (symbolized here by a woman), as part of his final, desperate attempt to thwart God’s plan. “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman.” Verse 17 also says, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

But while God’s saints will recognize Satan’s deception, others will continue to be deceived and will be seeking and even worshipping demons! “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons” (Revelation 9:20).

How can this be? In the end times, Satan will increase his efforts to deceive, using signs and wonders, and to attract humans in various ways.

There are basic things we can do to have protection from the dangers many other people will fall prey to. God’s law instructs us to strictly avoid a number of specific practices connected to the spirit world.

The most comprehensive list of these forbidden practices is found in Deuteronomy 18.

Many today believe the prohibitions described in this passage are obsolete, unwarranted concerns for our modern society. Nothing could be further from the truth. For millennia, these practices have been used to contact the dark spirit realm, and demons often respond.

These practices are becoming increasingly popular. Pagan, Wiccan and occult clubs are prevalent in colleges and other social communities. The Internet has made these materials more accessible than ever before. And bookstores often contain entire sections of books on these practices.

Christians should never participate in demonic practices and should, in fact, stay far away from them. One doesn’t need to become an expert in any of these things in order to avoid them.

Forbidden practices in Deuteronomy 18:9-14

“When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.

“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.

“For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.”

  1. Anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire: One who practices child sacrifice, a human sacrifice to idols. God loves children and holds parents responsible for protecting them from the evils of abortion, violence and abuse. He also expects parents to teach their children about the dangers of the spirit world.

  2. One who practices witchcraft (or divination): One who seeks to discover hidden (occult) knowledge and foretell future events by invoking contact with spirit beings or through use of lots, crystal balls, tarot cards or angel cards, tea leaf reading, palm reading, channeling, etc. Included in this today would be Ouija boards, fortune tellers, Wicca, “white” or “good” witches, psychics and black magic.

  3. Soothsayer (or observer of times): One who attempts to tell the future by interpreting occurrences, such as the position or motion of stars, planets, eclipses, clouds, etc. Included is prohibition of astrology, horoscopes, numerology and palm reading.

  4. One who interprets omens (or enchanter): One who practices magic, casts spells or practices divination by observing birds in flight or the entrails (organs) of animals.

  5. Sorcerer (or witch): One who practices magic, often by means of drugs or potions, intended to bring about events, healings, etc. by supernatural help. It can be either “black” or “white” magic (both are of Satan). This isn’t a reference to entertainment “magic,” such as seeming to make something disappear or sleight of hand, but to demonic presence and activity. Beware of Wicca, shamanism and shamans, levitation, psychokinesis, casting spells, séances, full-moon ceremonies, etc.

  6. One who conjures spells (or charmer): One who puts a spell upon someone, affects events by the use of magic, or chants a magical verse or formula. An object or piece of jewelry may be used for such magical purposes, such as tying knots for divination. Beware of occult rituals and symbols, talismans, crystals, reciting magical chants or spells, amulets, etc.

  7. Medium (or consulter with familiar spirits): One who requests revelation from a divining spirit (from a demon, Python spirit, etc.). Beware of channeling, spiritism, mediums, ascended masters, invisible spirit friends, Ouija boards, automatic writing, séances, divining rods, etc.

  8. Spiritist (or wizard): Either the masculine of witch or a student of the occult (supposedly “wise”). A male witch, sorcerer, magician, conjurer; one who uses magic to have control over another person. Also, someone who uses magic or magic potions to change natural events. Beware of sorcery, chanting mantras, astral travel, clairvoyance, etc.

  9. One who calls up the dead (or necromancer): One who claims to speak with those who have died. If contact is made, it could be communication with a demon masquerading as the deceased person. Beware of channeling, mediums, spiritism, Ouija boards, sorcery, voodoo, etc.

Involvement in these activities is not harmless interest in historical customs. They are practices that, if not repented of, will cause a person to forfeit salvation—eternal life in God’s Kingdom. Galatians 5 plainly declares that “sorcery” is one of the “works of the flesh” and states that “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (verses 20-21).

What should we steer clear of today?

In conjunction with the warnings listed above, there are a number of areas to steer clear of in today’s world.

Parents need to be very discerning and wise in what they allow their children to watch or read, and in explaining truth to their children. Out of love and concern, parents have a responsibility to protect their children from the dangers of the cunning, appealing, dark spirit world.

The list below illustrates how broad the available arenas of the dark spirit world have become. Within this list are some general activities to avoid:

Never seek contact with any spirit but God!

Christ told us to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:6, 9; Colossians 1:3). We should not be seeking contact or experience with any other spirit beings. New Age practices, for example, involve efforts to “get in touch” with the spirit realm. (Most New Age practices are actually very old, with roots in ancient paganism.)

As stated earlier, sometimes these movements try to sugarcoat their practices in Christianity by seeking guidance from righteous angels, like Michael or Gabriel. But Christians should never seek communication or guidance from any being other than God the Father through Jesus Christ.

For millennia, people have known there is a real spirit world and have tried to contact it through various means. The holy, righteous angels do not answer humans’ summons. They serve God’s saints and only at His behest. Demons, however, are often willing to oblige human efforts to connect with them, hear them and see their impressive abilities. Below are several areas to be aware of.

The artist’s muse

Through the ages, some people have willingly turned to demons for assistance in their personal life or occupation. Anciently, poets, playwrights and musicians would seek a spirit—called a muse—and even pray for it and to it.

While the term muse is not used as commonly today, many artists have sought the same inspiration or assistance from the spirit realm. In interviews and biographies, they have related how something—or someone—came to their mind and assisted them in ways that they admit were beyond their personal capacity.

Perhaps this is where a spirit literally becomes a “familiar spirit.” God commands, “Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:31).

There are two different concepts taught regarding inspiration. One is for artists to allow themselves to tap into their innate creativity, and of course, this can be fine. But the other is to open themselves to the inspiration of outside spirits, elementals, mind of nature, etc.

The Bible instructs us to have nothing to do with that realm. “I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20-21).

Unrestrained religious displays

There are some religious groups that encourage participants to relinquish their mental and emotional constraints in order to become “slain in the spirit” (in which participants often fall uncontrollably to the floor) or utter incomprehensible sounds. In a religious context the spontaneous uttering of sounds is called glossolalia. Britannica.com defines it:

“Glossolalia, also called speaking in tongues, (from Greek glōssa, ‘tongue,’ and lalia, ‘talking’), utterances approximating words and speech, usually produced during states of intense religious experience. The vocal organs of the speaker are affected; the tongue moves, in many cases without the conscious control of the speaker; and generally unintelligible speech pours forth. Speakers and witnesses may interpret the phenomenon as possession by a supernatural entity, conversation with divine beings, or the channeling of a divine proclamation or inspiration . . . Glossolalia occurred among adherents of various ancient religions, including some of the ancient Greek religions.”

Nothing in the Bible endorses any such displays. When a person voluntarily relinquishes his or her emotional defenses of self-control, demons can take advantage of his or her vulnerable mental state to influence or possess that person, even if only temporarily.

The Bible tells us that true servants of God will always have control of themselves: “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32). A true minister of God will always have control of his mental state, especially when he’s teaching God’s Word, and will also lead people to maintain control of their minds.

(For the true meaning of speaking in tongues, see our online articles “What Is Speaking in Tongues?” and “Is Being ‘Slain in the Spirit’ Biblical?”)

What about demon possession and rebuking?

Some have seen or heard demons or demon-produced phenomena. In other cases, demons have pestered people or incited them to act or speak in uncharacteristic or destructive ways.

Some, however, have been actually possessed by a demon. This is when a demon enters and takes control of a human, so that the victim no longer has control of his or her body or mind. As we see from biblical accounts and modern-day anecdotal evidence, the demon will often use the person’s voice to speak what the demon wants to say.

In some cases, more than one demon enters the person, and when they speak through a human host, their different personalities are often apparent. Some are angry and hostile, some are always lying, some are despondent and morose, some are frivolous, some are sinister, some are silly, and some are deranged and wild. Sometimes one demon will be speaking through the human, when another interrupts him.

The different personalities witnessed by other people make it appear that the human host or victim has a split personality. But we should be careful not to equate all mental illness with demon influence. See our online article “What Christians Need to Understand About Mental Health.”

To understand demon possession, we should look to the Bible.

Mark 5:2-5 relates the account of a man possessed by demons, who were making him cry out and cut himself with stones. Let’s first notice the strength of the demons as exhibited through the man.

“And when He [Christ] had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him” (verses 2-4).

Imagine the power required to break iron chains and shackles!

In Mark 9:17-22, a demon inhabiting a child made him mute, threw him down on the ground and into fire and water, and made him foam at the mouth, grind his teeth and suffer convulsions.

Mark 1:34 says Christ “healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.”

Why were there so many people afflicted with demons in Christ’s day? (References to demons appear over 70 times in the Gospel accounts.) The Son of God had arrived on earth, in human flesh, to redeem humans and prepare for the replacement of Satan and the demons. Therefore, the stakes were enormously high. We can imagine Satan would summon all the assistance of his realm possible to try to wreak havoc and attempt to disrupt God’s plan.

The biblical accounts indicate demons desire to inhabit something. As we saw in Mark 5, Christ met a man possessed by many demons. The parallel account in Matthew 8:28-32 mentions there was a second demon-possessed man there as well. The demons caused the men to live naked, in tombs and in the wilderness, seizing them and forcing them to cut themselves with sharp stones.

The demons requested that if Christ was going to cast them out, He would permit them to enter a local herd of about 2,000 swine. Upon leaving the men, the demons entered the swine and proceeded to drown them violently in the sea.

This shows the desire of demons to inhabit someone, or something, as well as their violent and destructive nature. The New Testament indicates that demons who have inhabited a human “home” do not want to leave and will not unless forced to do so.

Obviously, Jesus Christ has the power and authority to make demons leave a victim at His command. (As James 2:19 says, “Even the demons believe—and tremble!”) Christ Himself cast demons out of many people. But He also conferred authority to His appointed representatives to cast out demons. “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases” (Luke 9:1).

On one occasion, Christ “appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go . . .

“Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name’” (Luke 10:1, 17).

Christ’s representatives were given the authority to command demons to leave, by doing so in His name—in other words, in His place, or by His authority.

After the time period of the Gospels, the indication is that the incidence of such affliction was never as prolific as it was when Christ was conducting His ministry. And subsequent accounts—to this day—have been relatively rare. Nonetheless, it does occur, and as the end of the age nears, it is possible there will be a spike in cases of demon possession and other related disturbances. It is our personal responsibility to do what we can to avoid these issues in our lives.

For example, we should not seek a relationship with a “familiar spirit.” We should not delve into occult materials. These are self-destructive personal choices that some people are making—and they must correct and want to change.

Also notice what Christ said in Matthew 12:43-45:

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

We should apply Christ’s words here to emphasize the importance of guarding our mental and spiritual house at all times, in order to avoid ever ending up being troubled by an unclean spirit in the first place.

Safeguard your house!

We don’t need to fear demons. However, we must be doing our part to avoid trouble. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

There are habits that make one more vulnerable or open to unwelcome demonic activity or possession. Ephesians 4:27 calls it giving “place to the devil”—in other words, behavior that gives Satan and demons an opportunity or open door to single us out as easy prey. The safeguards against danger are likewise habits—good, healthy habits.

Here are fundamental habits that we must follow to keep our mental and spiritual “house” in order:

  1. Have nothing to do with any of the prohibited practices listed in Deuteronomy 18.

  2. Pray regularly for protection! Among the points Christ listed for us to include in our prayers is to petition God’s protection from “the evil one” (Matthew 6:13). Recalling the biblical examples we’ve seen earlier, we should always realize that in Satan’s world, we are completely dependent on God’s protection for our survival and our welfare.

  3. Let go of anger quickly. Ephesians 4:26 advises, “‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” This means there is a time to be angry for the right reason (as even Christ was at times), but it should not be in selfishness, revenge or lack of self-control. And any anger should be addressed and let go of quickly. Unbridled anger often escalates into rage, which is extremely dangerous, and is like a “welcome” sign to Satan or demons.

  4. Avoid resentment and bitterness at all costs! “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice [hatred]” (Ephesians 4:31). Bitterness is a poison that will destroy the one harboring it. Notice what Hebrews 12:14-15 instructs: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord . . . lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” There are cases where a person’s demon possession was preceded by a bout of rage or bitterness.

  5. Develop the habit of focusing and thinking more on biblical and spiritually uplifting things (Philippians 4:8). Most people give little regard to deciding what to think about. It does take some effort to deliberately control our thoughts. We need God’s help to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). Satan is not looking for victims who are physically weak as much as for those whose minds are undisciplined and easier to influence or possess.

  6. Avoid any practice that creates an open space for a demon to inhabit. This can include unbiblical forms of meditation that encourage a person to clear his or her mind of active thoughts or to allow thoughts to enter and leave the mind outside of the person’s active control. It can also include hypnotism. We must fill our mind with God’s Word, not leave it empty (Matthew 12:43-44).

  7. Consider the music you listen to. Music is a powerful medium that can stir emotions and affect our mental state. A biblical example showing the effect of music is that of King Saul and his young successor, David. In departing from obeying God, Saul began being troubled by a demon spirit. “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him” (1 Samuel 16:14). “From the LORD” means God allowed this spirit to trouble Saul, as one of the consequences of his prideful departure from God.

Young David, a skillful musician, was summoned. Notice the effect his calming music had: “And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him” (verse 23).

  1. Resist the devil and draw near to God. Remember James 4:7-8: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” How do you “resist the devil”? By following the steps listed above. How do you “draw near to God”? By developing the habit of regular prayer, Bible study, biblical meditation, occasional fasting and spiritual fellowship. Learn more in our free book Five Tools for Spiritual Growth.

On one occasion, Christ said that there were extra requirements for casting out particularly strong, stubborn demons: “So He said to them, ‘This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’” (Mark 9:29).

The spiritual influence we should seek: God’s Holy Spirit

While we should avoid the evil spiritual realm, there is a spiritual influence God wants us to seek and be led by.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).

Earlier in the chapter, Paul made this comparison: “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (verses 6-8).

The Bible contrasts two mindsets: the normal, human one (the fleshly, carnal mind) and the one led by the Spirit of God (the spiritual mind, verse 9). Thus, having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and leading us is a prerequisite for pleasing God.

Leading up to the passage in Romans 8, the apostle Paul explained his own experience with the two mindsets. As challenging as he shows the process of change to be in Romans 7, Paul makes it clear that Jesus Christ will deliver us (verse 25) and that as a result of the change we will become beloved “children of God” (8:16-17).

In Acts 2:38 the apostle Peter summarized the process God has set for us to follow to receive His Spirit: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Study more in our online article “How Do You Know You Have the Holy Spirit?”

What should you do if troubled by a demon?

Some people have been visited or terrorized by demons. Such encounters have often included inexplicable footsteps, voices or other noises in one’s home, moving objects, lights or other items turning on or off by themselves, sudden foul odors, sudden changes in room temperature, visible appearances, etc.

In some of these episodes, people also feel the presence of a dark being.

Anytime you experience any of the above unnatural occurrences, you should immediately pray to God, that He would rebuke any evil spirit that is present. Because we do not have authority over demons (only God and Christ do), we should cry out to God and beseech Him to quickly rebuke any such spirit and stop it from troubling us further. We can also call for Christ’s ordained ministers to rebuke evil spirits.

Additionally, it would be wise to quickly get your Bible and begin reading God’s Word. Reading positive words from Christ (for example, Matthew 5-7) helps to focus our mind on God’s wavelength. Demons are more attracted by a mind focused on negative, angry, vengeful, destructive or lawless thoughts. We should also pray for God to help us control our thoughts and to think on more positive, godly subjects.

Resistance to evil spirits is key. This means appealing wholeheartedly to God and truly wanting nothing to do with the demonic presence or realm. Remember again the promise in James 4:7-8: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” This certainly applies in our prayers to God for deliverance from any troubling evil spirit.

If we have invited demonic trouble by sinful actions, thoughts or involvement in any of the forbidden practices mentioned earlier, we should wholeheartedly repent of such to God. God listens to prayers of repentance and is eager to help us when we cry out to Him.