There are a number of questions that have been asked on this subject that may not have been specifically answered to the satisfaction of the reader. A few of the more common questions that we have been asked while presenting this truth are given below.
What do I do if the spirits come to me?
A person once asked me the following question:
"I have had the spirits come and I don't listen to them. What do I do if they keep coming?"
Whether or not you have been responding to the spirits, it is probable that they will come to you again. Satan and his demons don't like to give up their control and will do their best to keep you in bondage to them. It isn't wrong to respond the Lord Jesus Himself responded to Satan. It is what you say that counts. In the end, it is the truth that will set you free. Following are Scriptural principles that will help.
1. Make sure you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are not, you are still in Satan's kingdom and you have no protection whatsoever. Please read Acts 19:12-16 for an example of unbelievers who tried to stand against a demon. They were beaten and had to flee naked and wounded.
2. Be completely finished with all the works of darkness. As we saw in Rom. 13:12, we must cast off the works of darkness before we can have any protection from the armor given to us. We also saw in Acts 19:19 that the believers burned the things connected with darkness in the sight of all men. So, we must be completely and publicly done with it all! As we are told in Eph. 5:11, we are to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." This means that the believer is to have no charms, roots or other objects buried or placed around the house for protection, is not to be involved in any way in community celebrations to the spirits, etc.
3. Do not rebuke Satan or his demons.
Many teachers today tell people that they should do this to get free of the spirits. The Lord Jesus could do this (see Mark 9:25), but that is His privilege, not ours. In Jude 1:9 we are told that Michael, the greatest of the angels, would not speak against Satan but said, "The Lord rebuke thee."
4. Resist and the spirits will flee. As we are told in 1 Peter 5:8, 9 and James 4:7, we are to resist Satan and his demons and they will flee from us. And we must resist steadfast in the faith, not relying on our own strength, but submitting ourselves under the mighty hand of God.
5. Confess Christ as your Lord with your mouth. We are told in Rom. 10:9 that salvation comes as a result of confessing Christ as Lord. We are saved from all sorts of evil in the world and from Satan when we do this. He hates to hear that Name, but recognizes His authority over all that are His own.
But, let us be very sure that the One whom we confess as Lord is truly Lord of our life.
Remember what He said in Luke 6:46: "why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"
6. Use the armor given to you. Read carefully Eph. 6:12-18 and make sure that you understand this important part of the Word of God that describes the armor given to every believer to stand against Satan and his angels. This armor is completely effective and the spirits have no way to prevail against it.
7. Use scripture in responding to the spirits. As we have already seen, the Lord Jesus used one of the pieces of armor, the sword of the Spirit, in responding to Satan (Matt. 4:1-11). This should be our normal mode of audible response whenever we feel that we must answer them.
8. Abide in the Word. The Lord Jesus said in John 8:31, 32, "If ye abide in my word, ye are truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." It is absolutely essential that we get our direction each day from the Word of God and live by it. We will constantly be confronted by deceit and lies, but the Word of God is truth (John 7:17) and that truth will set us free from all the bondage and deceit of Satan.
But Are Charms Really Wrong?
As we saw in Deut. 18:9-13, God's people were not to have one who made or used charms among them. "All that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD." This should be enough of an answer on this subject, but there is also a specific example given in Scripture. In Ezek. 13:18-20 we read of objects that were sewn on the wrists as charms. The Lord spoke in the strongest terms against them and in Ezek. 11:21 He said, "But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD." No, as believers, we must have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (Eph. 5:11) and cast them off (Rom. 13:12).
But Has Not God Put Power in Charms and Other Objects to Protect Us?
No, He has not. Every scripture given for us says that we are to trust Him alone. We have been told that, just like God put power in the rod of Aaron so that it became a serpent, so He puts power in sticks that are placed in fields to protect them against thieves. If a thief comes into the field, the stick will become a serpent just like Aaron's rod and bite the thief, killing him. Now this is a terrible perversion of God's Word we must never use the Word of God in that way. Search the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation to see if we are ever told to do such a thing. Instead, as we have already stated, we are told over and over again that the Lord is our protection and we are to trust in Him.
It is true that when Aaron's rod turned into a serpent that it was the power of God. God has often worked in miraculous ways throughout the centuries when He has been doing a special work. These things are called "signs" in Scripture. In Aaron's case, it was necessary to show Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that the Lord was the true God and Moses and Aaron were His servants. If you read in Ex. 7:8-12 you will see that Aaron cast down his rod and it became a serpent when Pharaoh asked to see a miracle to prove that their God had power. It also says that the sorcerers and magicians of Egypt did the same thing, for Satan has great power as well. But God is greater than Satan and so Aaron's rod swallowed up all their rods. If you were to read Ex. 8:6, 7 you would see further that Aaron made frogs come up over the land of Egypt (it was a judgment of God against Pharaoh) and the magicians did the same thing with their enchantments. But then, in Ex. 8:16-19, Aaron smote the dust of the earth with his rod and it became lice. The magicians tried to use their enchantments to do this but could not. Why not? Because God alone can create life from the dust of the earth. Satan does not have the power of life and so the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." Now, if people claim that it is the power of God that they use to have sticks turn into snakes, then why not use the power of God to turn dust into living things? It is because it isn't the power of God at all rather it is Satan's deceptive power! Those wicked magicians were defeated and soon after, in Ex. 9:8-11, you will read of them covered with boils so that they were no longer able to stand before Moses and Aaron and oppose God. Whenever you find such a thing as casting down a rod and it becoming a serpent in the Word of God it happened as a direct result of God's command. Whenever you find people using power to their own advantage like the magicians of Egypt, it is the power of Satan. Let us never mix these two things (Isa. 5:20).
What about medicine is it of darkness and are doctors evil?
The short answer is, "no, not necessarily." Medicine and doctors may be right and good, and they may be connected with the works of darkness. It requires godly discernment to know the difference. But, first let us look at Scriptures that deal with this issue.
In Ezek. 47:12, we are told about a tree that God will create in the future that will be for food and medicine. The prophet speaks of those that do not have healing medicines in Jer. 30:13. From these verses we learn that medicine can be legitimate and from God. But this kind of medicine reacts with the body and causes healing by direct interaction with the body part that is ill. An example of medicine that is used externally is given in 2 Kings 20:7 where a lump of figs was laid on a boil. An example of medicine that works internally may be seen in 1 Tim. 5:23 where the Apostle Paul tells Timothy, "Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities."
As to doctors, we see that the Lord Jesus recognized them in Matt. 9:12 when he said, "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." We also find in Col. 4:14 that Luke, the Apostle Paul's long-time companion in his travels, is referred to as the beloved physician. God has given men the wisdom to know about healing and how to apply medicines to the body to bring it about. But whether it is with medicine or physicians, we must be sure that there is no connection with the works of darkness. No matter how desperate we are, the option of going to the witch doctor is absolutely forbidden to the Christian.
Earlier we had considered the role of faith in the Christian's life we must live by faith! We must live by faith even when we are dying. If we don't live for the Lord when things are going well, then we will have a very difficult time when they aren't. Notice what it says in 2 Chron. 16:12: "And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians." Who is the first one we should turn to when we are sick? Do we just go to the doctor to get some medicine, or do we get on our knees and ask the Lord what He is saying to us? He wants us to come to Him for everything. It is often His way to send us to the doctors and to use medicine to heal us, but He wants us to come to Him first. If we go to the witch doctor, we cannot seek the Lord's help at the same time. That would be mixing light and darkness and they don't mix! Let us live our lives by faith and seek the Lord's help and direction as to what He would have us to do in every circumstance of our lives, even when we become ill. We are told in James 5:15 that it is "the prayer of faith" that will "save the sick" and it goes on to tell us Who it is that ultimately heals the believer: "the Lord shall raise him up."
What Protection Is There for My Crops and Possessions?
We previously considered how the believer is called to live a life of faith. But the fear that many have is of what may happen if their neighbors learn that they no longer go to the spirits for protection. They fear that, when it is learned that they have no protection, thieves will freely come into their fields and steal their crops. When it becomes known that there are no protecting charms, roots and fetishes buried or placed around their home, their possessions may be stolen or those who wish to do them harm may bewitch them and destroy their health. How is the Christian to deal with this fear?
The answer is FAITH and confession of that faith. Tell everyone that your trust is in the Lord. He is protecting your things now and no one can do anything to you unless He allows it. Then, trust in Him! We trust Him for our eternal wellbeing. Can we not trust Him for everything here?
But many teach that God is not interested in our day-to-day affairs. This-is wicked teaching that comes from Satan. The Word of God tells us in Prov. 29:25, "The fear of man bringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his confidence in Jehovah is protected." We learn in Prov. 30:5 that, "he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him." The life of faith requires FAITH. As it says in 2 Cor. 5:7, "we walk by faith, not by sight." But, given the difficulty of things around us, it is often hard to live out our faith. This was the case of a man who had come to the Lord Jesus asking Him to heal his daughter who was about to die.
Before the Lord Jesus could come, someone came to the father and told him not to bother the Lord Jesus further for the girl had died. This is often what we do. The problem is too great, or we think that He is not interested or willing to help us, so we don't go to Him and instead seek help or comfort from others. What the Lord Jesus said to that man is so instructive for us. He said in Mark 5:36, "Fear not; only believe." No matter what, we must trust Him. As we are told in Prov. 3:5,6 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
What about those who have powerful charms and the evil power in them is so great that they can come back from the dead as a wild animal like a hyena and kill people?
There are many stories like this and people who claim to have seen those who have died in this way. If a wild animal like a lion or hyena kills people shortly after some person who was known to be a witch (mfiti) has died, then the work of the animal is generally attributed to the witch. These things are all superstitions that are created by the deceptions of Satan. In Eccl. 8:8 we are told that, "There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it." When death comes, the wicked die just like anyone else. Their spirit goes to the prison of torment called hell that we considered earlier. They have no special power in the day of death and this verse tells us specifically that their wickedness can do nothing to help them in their evil way. Satan uses these things to keep people, even believers, in fear. It is the truth that will deliver us and set us free from Satan and his bondage of fear.
But what about the story of Saul calling up Samuel from the grave and speaking with him? Doesn't that indicate that we can communicate with ancestral spirits?
This story, which is found in 1 Sam. 28, does not support the idea that the living can communicate with their dead ancestors. Back in those days, the Lord spoke to His people through dreams, Urim or by prophets (verse 6), but He would no longer answer Saul. So Saul, who was an unbeliever (the Lord had become his enemy verse 16) did exactly what the Lord had commanded his people not to do. He went to a witch to inquire of a familiar spirit and try to speak to Samuel who was a prophet who had recently died. When the woman did this, she did not find the familiar spirit. Instead, Samuel himself came up. It was not a spirit but Samuel specially raised up in body to speak to Saul. There are many other instances given in the Bible of God raising people from the dead to live again for a time on the earth. God raised him up to deliver a special message to Saul and after that message was delivered we don't hear anything more from Samuel. We should also point out that Samuel was not Saul's ancestor. Finally, it tells us in 1 Chron. 10:13 that "Saul died for... asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it." So, even if this story supported communication with the dead (which it doesn't), we see again that God expressly forbids attempts at such communication.
But doesn't the story of the disciples who saw Moses and Elijah on the mountain with the Lord Jesus (Matt. 17:1-8) indicate that the spirits of those who have died are able to communicate with the living on earth?
No it doesn't here we have a special revelation of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ that was given to the disciples as a preview of that coming day when He will come again to this earth in glory (2 Peter 1:16). The disciples saw Him in His glory and Moses and Elijah with him it was no dream. Another thing that marked this special occasion is that one of those with Him, Elijah, had never died. Neither Moses nor Elijah was their immediate ancestor and they did not speak with any of the disciples or say anything about their lives. Instead, like all believers that leave this earth, they were with Christ and occupied with Him. When Peter saw them he made a mistake that many make regarding those who have died. He made a suggestion that put Moses and Elijah on the same level as the Lord Jesus. Immediately God spoke from a bright cloud and said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." When they looked again it says that, "they saw no man, save Jesus only." In just the same way, He is the only one that we are to go to. He is the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5) and trying to put anything or anyone else in that position is completely wrong and idolatry.