Demon possession takes two forms: moderate and extreme (my terms). Moderate demonic possession manifests itself in ways that is often accepted as a “gift from God.” Examples of this “gift” from on high are witchcraft, fortune telling, spirit writing, seance performing, necromancing (contact with the dead), etc. In the past, two people were world famous for their ability to operate in that spirit world. Jean Dixon and Edgar Cacey were world famous for their supposed “gifts of prophecy” by which they were able to predict the future with considerable accuracy. Many church people believed that they and other such “gifted” persons were empowered by God to look into the future. Over the past few years several people have impressed ever larger audiences by telling people in attendance things about their lives they (the “prophets”) had no way of knowing outside the spiritual realm. A rule of thumb in religious circles is that if the activity is of a supernatural nature, takes place in a religious setting in the name of the Lord, THEN IT MUST BE OF GOD. The belief behind this assumption is that, because everyone in attendance was “saved,” Satan is not able to affect the proceedings. Nothing could be further from the truth. An all-important factor must be considered relative to what goes on in these meetings: none of the people involved in the activities are God’s people, making the entire scenario ripe for Satanic deception. And he does not let the opportunity go by. As is usually the case, the activities are presented in a “Christian” format in which God is given credit for having blessed the performer with whatever gift he/she has.

A scriptural example of the moderate type of demon possession is found in Acts 16:16-18. Here we find  that Paul and several other disciples had recently arrived in the city of Philippi where they had learned that a group of women met at a local river each Sabbath to pray. The apostles joined them and, following the conversion of a woman named Lydia, were led by God to remain in the city for several days. After a while people began to notice them. One of these people was a young girl who began following them wherever they went. “And it came to pass that, as we went to prayer a certain damsel POSSESSED BY A SPIRIT OF DIVINATION met us, who had brought her masters much gain by SOOTHSAYING–fortunetelling. The same (damsel) followed Paul and us and cried out, saying: ‘These are the servants of the most high God, which (the apostles) show us the way to salvation.’ And this she did many days. But Paul, being grieved (about what she was doing), turned and SAID TO THE SPIRIT (in the girl), ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And he came out that same hour.”

Note that the demon, speaking through the girl, WAS TELLING THE TRUTH. The same Satan empowering her empowers fortune tellers, witches and other spiritists to know the truth–information they have no humanly way of obtaining. Many church people do not believe in demons, witchcraft, etc. Having dealt with the spirit world on many occasions I can assure you that THEY ARE REAL. They do know things about people in their audiences that only that person can humanly know. In the Acts 16 incident, notice how the demon totally possessed the mental and vocal faculties of the damsel. Note also that Paul cast the demon out of her, causing her to lose the ability to foretell the future, which angered her handlers and put the apostles in danger. There is coming a time when I and others like me will do to modern day soothsayers, witches AND CHURCH MINISTERS what Paul did to the damsel. We will cast the demons out of them and render them unable to carry on. And these deliverances will not be done in private, but will take place ON THE AIR FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD TO SEE. To be continued. L.J.