Christendom and Western civilization are entering their final warfare before Armageddon. In these deliberate studies of principalities and powers, we will be exposing the occult, revealing knowledge of the doctrines, words, rites, eulogies, phrases, and definitions that demon worshippers use. The only intelligent way to interpret our times is to present a biblical interpretation.
Jesus prophesied that His church shall prevail. In Matthew 16:18, He said, "Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Today, the church must rise up to the greatest action of its entire history.
May I welcome you to our exciting class relative to principalities and powers. One would like to just eat peaches all the time, and that would be nice, of course. One would like to tell very nice and beautiful stories all the time, and that would be nice. But since the Garden of Eden, life is a reality. Mankind rebelled against God, and all the forces of evil in this world are related to man's rebellion against God. When man is not in rebellion against God, the forces of evil fall down flat; they are defeated.
In order to bring people to God, we must at least warn them and say, "Listen, there is a negative force in the world, but there is a positive force that is more powerful than the negative force." It is not being truly honest to say you will go through life on a bed of roses, because it is not true. When you have lived in many countries of the world, as I have, and you see people burdened down by demonology, it raises up something within you saying, "Wait a minute, man wasn't created to be like this; man must be set free." And when you read the Word of God, you see that God wants to set them free. Aren't you glad for that?
May I bless you? Father, bless these that study the Word. Let the Word come alive. Let it be strong and powerful, and we believe You for that. In Christ's name. Amen.
In Lesson 11, we are studying the significance of black magic and white magic. We hear so much about both of them, and we will explain the difference between the two.
In the book of Deuteronomy 18:10-11, it says: "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer."
In heathen religions, passing through the fire is still a very popular situation. When you have power over fire, you have supreme power. He also warns against anyone who is an observer of times, which would take you into the realm of astrology. This was given to God's people, and He said God's people shall not have these things. The heathen have them, but God's people shall not.
In our country today, there are multiplied thousands of these practitioners. We understand through a notice in a magazine that one great city, Philadelphia, has at least 3,000 registered witches. Our country today is going through a spiritual situation that you and I need to be aware of and be willing to do something about.
The devil wishes to divide up his works in many fashions and under diverse names, so we must know the tricks of the devil. We are often asked, "What is the difference between black magic and white magic?"
The word magic is from the Hebrew word cheret, which means to engrave. It has to do with the drawing of magical lines or magical circles.
Both black and white magic claim supernatural powers, and this is the crucial part. These powers, they claim, come from the spirit world or the netherworld. I would prefer to say that anything that comes from the devil is wrong. It can be purple or pink or whatever color they want to call it; it is evil. The art of voodoo claims to operate in both black and white magic. We have lived with these kinds of people in remote parts of the earth, and they carry different names for black magic (the most evil) and white magic (which is supposed to be kind and good).
We are very often asked if incense burning is a powerful thing in relation to black or white magic. We have discovered that all magic, whether black or white, always practices some form of incense burning. In Brazil, we discovered that in their magic, they smoke cigars. When the witch is under the power of her spirit, before communication is possible, she blows great big puffs of smoke through a cigar. I have seen them blow the smoke under the spell of the devil.
Both black and white magic use many kinds of religious paraphernalia to show and reveal their power. It can be a doll with pins stuck in it to curse an individual, or some kind of a little charm that you put around your arm, your neck, or in your hair. They all use some kind of fetish, and those fetishes are supposed to do remarkable things. I do not believe these things can do anything at all; they are inanimate and dead. But I believe they can call upon a spirit, and that spirit will do these things. The doll will do nothing, but the devil behind the doll can do very unusual things.
As far as God is concerned, all supernatural activity outside His divine operation comes from one source: the demonic. There is no neutral source; it is either divine or devilish.
Going to the devil for information disturbs God, and I don't know why people want to do it. Satan demands worship from those through whom he manifests himself. If you ask a courtesy or kindness of him, or if you want to know what is going to happen tomorrow, he demands that you bend your knee. The thing he wants more than anything else is for you to pour your spirit out to him and serve him.
All magic claims the power of working wonders beyond the ordinary powers of a human person. Whether in a domestic situation or a scientific operation, if it involves powers beyond the ordinary, it reverts back to magic. Both systems of demonism have their origin in early human history; they are not new. The Bible tells you about empires like Babylon and Egypt that had sorcerers standing around the king. The devil always starts at the top to destroy the leadership. In this country, he would like to destroy Washington first and then sweep across the land. We need to pray for our capital city, that God would get rid of the witches, soothsayers, and fortune tellers. They don't know a thing; they are a bunch of liars.
As far as God is concerned, this thing is all evil. It has no relationship to Him at all. When people rely on powers outside of God, it becomes idolatry, and God becomes very upset when we worship other gods.
There are multitudes of accounts of the use of netherworld magic in the Old Testament, and it is consistently condemned by the prophets of God. In the New Testament, there are strong words regarding magic.
In Acts 13:10, Paul speaks to a sorcerer, saying: "O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?"
What do magicians, soothsayers, and spiritists do? Look at what Paul said:
The first commandment commands us to serve the Lord only. The second commandment says not to make any graven image. These commands tell us not to serve demons or bow down to them. Yet, millions of people are doing this very night, even in this country.
In Galatians 5:20, the Apostle Paul places certain situations together. He lists idolatry, witchcraft, and hatred. When you have a bad spirit in you, you are loaning yourself to the devil. Hatred is not of God; there is no righteous hatred, only righteous forgiveness. If you hate somebody, you are on the devil's side. Hatred can become a spirit within you until it helps you hate others. Jesus said that the end of hatred is murder. Paul equates it with witchcraft and idolatry, along with variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, and heresies. This whole conglomeration of emotional problems has to do with the devil.
In Acts 8, we read about Philip, a deacon who God made an evangelist. Sometimes man can make you one thing, and God will make you something else. In Samaria, Philip encountered Simon Magus, a famous magician who had great power with the people. Simon had to be dealt with, and God's servant came and destroyed the thing that he thought he was supposed to do.
You can do it. I can do it. A deacon can do it. An evangelist can do it. Whoever we are in the work of the Lord, we have the strength, the power, and the authority to set people free. When these people set themselves up as having great power, they are lying.
A woman once came to this building from the western states to be prayed for. When I started to pray for her, a spirit spoke out of her throat in a man's voice and said, "I know you. I was in Manila when you cast that spirit out of that girl. I want to tell you I'm stronger than that spirit, and you cannot cast me out."
I said, "You are a liar, and you have to come out right now." In the spirit world, beings can be wherever they think; they are there by thought. He could have been in Manila, but he lied in saying he was stronger. The spirit cast out of the girl in the Philippines was a principality over that whole area.
That area in the Philippines had never had a revival in its history. It had been pagan, worshipping idols, until the Catholics came, but many people just mixed their animist religions with Catholicism. It wasn't until Dewey came with American forces and threw the Spanish out that Protestant missionaries went and established schools. Still, there had been no revival.
When that girl in the prison was set free by the power of God, doctors, attorneys, and the news media saw it. The head doctor rushed me to the mayor's office and said, "Mayor, the devil is dead!"
I looked at the mayor and said, "Mayor, he might be a good doctor, but he's not a good theologian. The devil is not dead, but that girl is healed."
The mayor told me I could have anything I wanted in the city. I asked for the opportunity to preach in the open air across from the city hall. In six weeks of meetings, we saw 150,000 people saved. We saw miracles that were hard to believe.
A young dentist found the Lord and got so excited. Passing by a Catholic church, he saw a beggar who had sat by the door for years, unable to walk. The dentist asked, "Are you tired of begging? Do you want to be healed?" The beggar said yes.
The clean, young dentist put the beggar's arm around his neck, picked him up, and carried him in his arms for about three city blocks, telling him about the miracles he had seen. When they got to the meeting place and the dentist lowered him to the ground, the beggar's feet touched the earth, and strength hit them. He hit the ground running! He ran through the crowds, shouting, "I'm healed!" The dentist followed him, turning on the PA system to announce to everyone that the beggar of Chiapo Church had been healed by the power of God.
When God moves in a sovereign way like that, you are close to heaven, close to the Bible, and close to reality. We are just entering the greatest moment in the history of the Christian church, where the gifts of the Spirit will manifest themselves tremendously. All I am asking you to do is to have a pure heart inside. God cannot bless uncleanness. Love the Bible. When the Bible says something, it means what it says. You don't need to ask your church if they believe it; the Bible is God's sovereign book.
God very carefully prohibits any kind of magical art that the devil concocts. The Israelites were commanded never to learn witchcraft or any abomination of the people around them. We are God's Israel today.
In my travels, I keep myself clean of wanting to see occult practices out of curiosity. People have been hurt just by going to these places to see what they are doing. It is none of your business what they are doing. You have only one reason to go there: to destroy it. If you go, you set up a spiritual warfare within yourself and command those spirits to cease. But never go just to be inquisitive.
Tens of thousands of Americans today go to palm readers, crystal gazers, and astrologers because they want to know the future. But we walk by faith, not by sight. I don't need to know anything about tomorrow. My hand is going to be in His hand, and I am going to walk with Jesus tomorrow. If I knew what was going to happen, I wouldn't need any faith. God wants us to walk in trust. If you ask for the future, you open a door for the devil to deceive you. The Bible says always to test the spirits to see whether they are of God, and Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice." We must know the voice of the Master and follow no other.
Father, we know that there is evil and demon power in the world today. But we must never forget that there are more angels on our side, leading us, guiding us, and assisting us. Let us be conscious of them and of their power to bless us. Amen.