Witchcraft and the Dark Side

I believe in this world you have two groups of believers when it comes to things spiritual. You have those that believe in its existence and those that do not. I don’t believe there is any grey area when it comes to that topic, except maybe those that don’t want to believe either way and say that though they don’t believe in a spiritual realm, but cannot definitively say that there isn’t one. It is almost like they are hedging their bet so if there is a time that it becomes definitive, they can say that they didn’t fully agree or not agree in its existence. For those that don’t believe in the spiritual realm and all that it holds I speak not to them. I will speak to those that believe in it and all that it entails.

So, before jumping right into witchcraft we will talk about the spiritual realm. I don’t think I will be able to cover it all in this sermon nor was that my plan for I want to speak mostly about the darker side of that realm. First, we will do a basic overview of some aspects of it that are of goodly side. We know that the scriptures at times speaks of God’s power or nowadays people call it the holy spirit, whole some translations, describe it more as wind or the breath of God. We first to look at in action in the beginning when man is made and God breathed life into him and he became a living soul. Everything living or not has the power of God in it or it would not even exist. That is why it can be said that God is the creator of all things because if it were not for God nothing would exist.

Nehemiah 9:6 “Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.”

Isaiah 44:24 “Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;”

(Side note man does not have a soul as the mainstream Christians speak of it, but that man is comprised of Flesh/Spirit one needing the other to truly exist. I may speak on that another time if I haven’t already)

Oh, and you will undoubtedly see me use power of God, Holy spirit, power, spirit of God, spirit, interchangeably or possibly a variation. That’s just me and hopefully you will understand what I am saying.

Now if everything’s existence is dependent on God and He is the source of power that allows the universe and the spiritual realm to be, then by what power does Satan use to perform his actions? And what sustains the wicked angels and demons? The only conclusion is that Satan, though evil had been given power from God before turning against Him and even to this day Satan still has that power. Biblically it is witnessed in the story of Sampson, who though turned from God still had access to that power. Even Jesus speaks of those that will powerful works in his name, yet he will deny ever knowing them.

God’s presence and control over the Holy Spirit is what also keeps Satan in check and as God pulls back His spirit and presence from the world Satan fills the void with his presence and power more and more. Another reason why, as the end draws near wickedness and the like will increase and the man of sin will be revealed. While God holds in check Satan’s power and influence the man of sin cannot come to fruition.

2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”

Another aspect to look at is using the Holy Spirit that you are given for wrong. Look at the case of Jesus’s warning to some of his disciples when they had asked Jesus if they should call down fire.

Luke 9:54-55 “And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.”

Jesus’ disciples were going to use what power and authority that they had received to call down fire. If you notice Jesus never said that they couldn’t or that it was impossible for them to do it, but simply said that they knew not what manner of spirit that they were of. If they had gone and called down fire from heaven, even if they thought that what they were doing was right, they would have placed themselves in danger of being corrupted and handing what gift they had over to Satan. I say this because for them to have done it they would have turned the power and authority they had over to Satan, since it was going to be an ungodly act.

Not only will Satan’s power and influence grow because of God withdrawing His Spirit back, but by the sheer number of people turning from God and following after Satan, knowingly and unknowingly. That is why he is known as the god of this world.

2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Ok now let us get to witchcraft. Knowing what we know now, all forms of witchcraft regardless of what people may say stems from and is empowered by one source. I say this because you will hear of white witches as if by some way they are good and do only good. There is no such thing as a good witch any more than you can say that there are good demons. Thinking you are doing good doesn’t mean the person is good if they do it outside of God’s authority and permission. Pretty much you can see most of the Christian world do this every December (Christmas) and April (Easter) to name a couple. You cannot use the Holy Spirit for bad and think that it is good you do and you cannot use the power of Satan for “good” and think that it is not bad. I guess you could think it, but you would be wrong in your thinking. I say this because of what the scriptures say about witchcraft and what it is connected with.

1 Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

2 Chronicles 33:6 “And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also, he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.”

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, [20] Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, [21] Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

I know that this can be or it is hard for you to understand, but I bring it up as a warning and reminder that we have to be very careful in our walk with God. We don’t want to be found outside of God’s authority and being unknown by Jesus in the end. Jesus’ example is one of complete unison with his Father. One way to make sure that we have that is to know what spirit we are of, so that we don’t find ourselves a disciple of the Devil in the end and not even know it until we get there.