Satan unmasked!
By Helen Jesze, 24th August 2018
“Once when we (Paul and Silas) were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.’ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!’ At that moment the spirit left her,“
Acts 16:16-18 NIV
The Great Deceiver!
Since my husband’s health has not been so good, three times a week somebody comes to help me care for him. We often get into conversation and today was no exception. This carer was new to us and introduced herself by saying: “I am C., the pregnant carer!” She began to tell about her partner and her sons, and that she had been to a ‘medium’ who told her she was going to have a baby daughter, which had now been confirmed by a scan. “Of course, I don’t believe in all that, but everything she told me was correct and she could not have known those things about me!”
In this incident with Paul and Silas, the young girl who told fortunes and followed Paul and Silas, was telling the truth that they were servants of the most High God and were showing the way of salvation. Why then was Paul ‘annoyed’? Because he knew that the evil spirit which possessed the girl told her this, for satan and his demons know a certain amount of truth, and if it suits their purpose, they will use it. But when they have gained enough foothold in that person’s life, then one day they will show their real face and the evil source from which they gain their power.
The Great Deliverer
When the Word of God is being preached and when His power is being manifest, shown forth, satan often comes and stirs up the situation. He may do this by distracting the listeners with natural means and drawing their attention away from God, or causing them to be deceived by something that sounds good, but is in fact, a lie. This is what happened here. Paul silenced that ‘python’ spirit in the girl by casting it out in the Name of Jesus. Suddenly ‘something’ left her, and the girl was no longer able to tell fortunes. The one who had given her that knowledge of partial truths, had been cast out by a greater power – the power of Jesus!
No contact with the spirits!
I shared this with the carer, and also something that happened when I was a teenager. My parents and I travelled by train every Sunday morning to church. One day we noticed two young women passengers, carrying guitars, and then how one took out a Bible and began to read. Thinking they must be Christians we began to talk with them. They were two friends from Norway, who had come to England as “au Pair” girls, and were looking for a church and Christians to have fellowship with.
We invited Asa and Rijden – for that was their names, and during the year they were in England, they came to our church. But they told us of an earlier experience, which fits with our theme for today. Not speaking much English, when they saw a notice-board which advertised ‘services’ and ‘spiritualist church’, they went along. There was no singing, everybody was very quiet, then a man came onto the platform and closed his eyes for several minutes, as though he was waiting.
Suddenly he began to look along the rows of people and said,” I can’t get in contact with the spirits. There are some people here who are hindering that!” He then pointed out Asa and Rijden and asked them to leave! They were very glad to go, for since coming into that building, these young women had felt sick and perturbed in their spirit, knowing something was wrong there. The Spirit of God was living in them, and He was hindering the flow of satanic power in that place.
In a simple way we tried to show C., that although it seemed true, the source of the medium’s knowledge (this is somebody with a psychic gift, not to be confused with a Spirit-filled Christian operating in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit!), was not from God but from satan, and pointed her to the only real Source of Truth, Jesus Christ, the son of the Living God! C. is a seeker, so we gave her a Christian newspaper and an invitation to Church, and with a very quick, loving prayer for Mum and Baby, she left, surprised but pleased.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thankyou that your Son is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that he has revealed Himself unto us. Help us to discern what is true and what is false, even in those things which seem, at first sight, to be in order. May we show forth your love and your truth to those with whom we come in contact.
If there is any place in our lives where satan has succeeded in deceiving us, reveal it to us, we pray, by your Holy Spirit. Help us to be willing to renounce that thing and for the light of your truth to shine in every dark or shadowy place, driving out what should not be there! Thank you, Father, in Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen
“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony!!”
Revelation 12, 11a
Leave a Reply