Are Evil Spirits Real?

 October 31, 2024

Thursday

For the most part, Halloween is benign. It is a fun time for children to dress up and get candy. Some parents may object to the candy part. Candy is just one of the things we must do in moderation. The same goes for Halloween. Going too far can be dangerous.

Most people do not believe in evil spirits. The Bible says they are real. There are many testimonies in the Bible of those who have been possessed by evil spirits. Jesus speaks to the evil spirits. He cast them out. He sends them into pigs. He doesn't truly destroy them even though they may cast themselves into the sea. That time is reserved for the end when they shall go into the Lake of Fire. I really don't know what happens after that.

(I had surgery today and am on something called oxycodone. I really don't know what that stuff is but I understand a little more why the Greek word for sorcery is "pharmakea." Sounds a lot like pharmacy, right? It isn't evil in itself but it could easily become evil.)

So, do we still need to be concerned about evil spirits? There is no evidence that they have been removed from the world as of yet. Their possession of others is much more subtle than it was in the New Testament. Yet, some of the things we have called psychosis may indeed be evil spirits. Evil spirits cannot inhabit believers in Jesus for the Holy Spirit moved in when we became believers. We have no reason to worry about ourselves. We do have reason to be concerned for others. Jesus said it was to our advantage that He went away and the Holy Spirit would come.

I have only seen one person throw themselves on the ground and make growling sounds. I don't think this is the way evil spirits normally act unless they are confronted. After all, Judas had an evil spirit enter him to betray Jesus (Luke 22:3). Evil did not cause him to growl or throw himself on the ground but it might have been argued that it cause him to hang himself. Evil can surely have an affect on us without us being possessed by evil.

What do we do about it? If we are serious about attacking the areas Satan has claimed (even though he can only do what he has permission to do) we will come across  evil spirits. A lot has been made of casting out these spirits and I can't say that won't be what happens but movies have made it into magical incantations rather than battles in spiritual realms. There is more power in whom we are in Jesus than the words that we say to cast out demons.

Acts 19:13–16 (NASB 2020)¹³ But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!” ¹⁴ Now there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

So, as the oxycodone I took about forty minutes ago takes real effect, remember that evil spirits are real but you have nothing to fear because greater is the one in you than he who is in the world.