(Acts 16:16-18 NKJV) Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. {17} This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” {18} And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.
Have you ever heard of a religious spirit? Whether you have or not, please pay close attention to these words.
Religious spirits come to us to deceive us. They look, sound and act like the real thing (the Holy Spirit), but they are not of God. They will speak words that are true in order to convince us that they are from God, but they are evil in their purpose.
In the scriptures above, this woman was inhabited by a religious spirit… a demon. This demon spoke words that were true. He proclaimed that the words Paul was speaking were true and that Paul taught the way to salvation.
Was this true? Absolutely. But why did it annoy Paul to the point where he cast it out of the girl? Because he discerned that this was not the spirit of God, but a spirit of divination and he knew that it had to leave if he told it to do so.
Many of us come into contact with religious spirits on a regular basis but never realize it. They speak to us from various sources. Many of them are even in the church!
This is not meant to freak anyone out or make you paranoid, but it’s high time for the body of Christ to get razor-sharp discernment and understand the realities of the spiritual world.
Much of what we see each day is the result of something spiritual, whether it’s God’s spirit or a demonic spirit. It’s up to us to distinguish between the two.
If a religious spirit was to come before us right now, would we be able to discern it correctly? Just some food for thought!
We wish each and every one of you a very happy resurrection day!
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808
401-377-5400
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