"Let no one deceive you
with empty words, for because of these things the
wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be
partakers with them.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light
in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all
goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the
Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather expose them.
For it is shameful even to speak of those things
which are done by them in secret.
...
"See then that you walk
circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
redeeming the time, because the days
are evil.
Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the
Lord is." Ephesians 5:6-17
"There shall not be found among you
anyone 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..."
Deuteronomy 18:10-12
Jesus
demonstrated God's victory of the power of Satan
"[Jesus and His disciples] they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He stepped out on the land,
there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time.
And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When
he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice
said, 'What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg
You, do not torment me!' For He [Jesus] had commanded the unclean spirit to
come out of the man. For it had often seized him....
"Jesus asked him, saying, 'What is your
name?'
"And he said, 'Legion,' because
many demons had
entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out
into the abyss.... Then the demons went out of the man and entered
the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and
drowned.
"When those who fed them [herdsmen] saw what had
happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. ...they...found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet
of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid....Then
the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to
depart from them, for they were seized with great fear....
"Now the man from whom the demons had departed
begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
'Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for
you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what
great things Jesus had done for him."
Luke 8:26-39
"Then they went into
Capernaum.... Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean
spirit. And he cried out, saying, 'Let us alone! What have we to do
with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You
are—the Holy One of God!”
"But Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be
quiet, and come out of him!' And when the unclean spirit had
convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.
Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying,
'What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands
even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.' And immediately His fame
spread throughout all the region around Galilee."
Mark
1:21-29
The occult is
rising, while churches turn from God's Word to the world.
"...he made his son pass through the
fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and
mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to
anger." 2
Kings 21:6-7
"And the person who turns to
mediums and familiar spirits,
to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and
cut him off from his people."
Leviticus 20:6
"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
"...do not listen to your prophets,
your diviners, your
dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who
speak to you.... For they prophesy a
lie..." Jeremiah 27:9-10
"...such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles
of Christ.
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself
into an angel of light."
2 Corinthians 11:13-14
"The diviners envision
lies, and tell false dreams; they comfort in vain.
Therefore the people end their way like
sheep; they are
in trouble
because there is no shepherd."
Zechariah 10:2
"I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no soothsayers."
Nahum 3:4
"But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in
the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone
great..."
Acts 8:9
"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."
Deuteronomy 18:14
"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I
also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit
the kingdom of God."
Galatians
5:19-21
"And they did not repent of their
murders or their sorceries
or their sexual
immorality or their thefts." Revelation 9:21
"The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom
and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great
men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived."
Revelation 18:23
God's
Victory for those who repent and turn away from evil
"I now send you to
open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive
forgiveness of sins...."
Acts 26:17-18
"...you shall no longer envision futility nor practice divination; for I
will deliver My people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the
Lord.
” Ezekiel 13:23
"Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and
burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it
totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver." Acts 19:19
"The
beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless
pit and go to perdition."
Revelation
17:8
"The coming of the
lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power,
signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception
among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that
they should believe the lie,
that they all may be condemned who did not
believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
“Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the
things of men.”
Mark 8:33