Participants: David Shin and Steve Wohlberg
Series Code: BOF
Program Code: BOF000034
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00:15 I'd like to welcome you to Battles of Faith.
00:17 My name is David Shin and I'm here 00:18 with Steve Wohlberg, 00:20 that's the Director/Speaker 00:21 of White Horse Media based in Fresno, 00:22 California. He's the author of 00:24 several books and he's done extensive 00:26 research on this issue of the supernatural 00:28 from a biblical perspective. 00:30 I'd like to welcome you again 00:31 to our program here. 00:32 Thank you David, I'll shake your hand. 00:33 Yes, again and we've been delving 00:35 into some issues here, we've go into 00:37 the supernatural, now for those in our 00:39 viewing audience that have not seen 00:41 our previous programs lets set 00:42 the stage here. Why the supernatural? 00:44 Now there's been a fascination recently 00:46 in society delving into things like Wicca, 00:49 into magic, and so forth. 00:51 Why are we emphasizing this point at this time? 00:53 Because of that very reason. 00:55 Because our society is moving 00:57 towards the occult. The interest in magic 00:59 has reached unprecedented level. 01:02 There are teenagers all around the world 01:05 that are mixing potions, practicing magic, 01:07 joining covens, getting involved in witchcraft. 01:09 The Internet is just exploding with these 01:11 type of things, and because it's 01:12 happening all around us, we have chosen 01:14 to address it. The subtitle of our 01:16 series is called Magic Ghosts in the Bible 01:18 and we're looking at this from 01:19 the word of God, we are pointing 01:21 out the dangers that are all around us, 01:25 as we approach the close of time. 01:28 We're gonna show from the Bible 01:30 that this development has been predicted. 01:32 It's been predicted in many different places, 01:35 and so we're trying to equip you with 01:38 an understanding, with a biblical knowledge 01:40 and we're also trying to help you to just 01:42 become more aware of what's going on 01:44 and hopefully to be able to talk intelligently 01:47 to people that are into this movement. 01:49 I've had a lot of conversations, 01:51 I've received emails from people 01:53 that have family members that have 01:55 chosen to get involved in Wicca 01:56 and witchcraft and dabbling in the 01:58 occult and they, and they say 01:59 what do I do? You know how do I 02:00 relate to these people? And so, 02:03 we're talking about it, we want you to 02:06 respect other people and love them 02:08 and recognize that they have freedom 02:11 in this country and really, anywhere, 02:13 even if their governments don't allow them, 02:15 God gives people freedom 02:16 to make decisions, but hopefully we will 02:19 be enlightened so that we'll make the right 02:20 decisions and we'll do what's best for us 02:22 and that's what this series of Battles 02:25 of Faith is all about. It's enlightenment, 02:27 it's about warning, it's about power, 02:30 it's about God's power and ultimately 02:32 it's about His love and His ability 02:34 to change a human life. 02:36 Now, before we go to our biblical text, 02:39 I just have one question about your 02:41 White Horse Media, now, we've talked 02:43 about a lot, sure. Why the White Horse? 02:44 I'm just curious, I got to ask. 02:46 Yes, I've got my White Horse Media showed on 02:49 White Horse Media, we picked our name, 02:50 we're based in Fresno, California, 02:52 we picked the name, because of Revelation 02:53 chapter 19, it describes Jesus coming on 02:56 a white horse, and white represents 02:58 his purity and his righteousness and 03:00 we've just been inspired by that biblical 03:02 imagery and we want to help people to 03:05 prepare for the big day, okay for His return. 03:07 That's why we've chosen that name, 03:09 White Horse Media, okay. We communicate 03:11 through media, through TV, through the 03:12 internet and through radio and that's 03:14 what we're all about. 03:15 And one of the thrusts of White Horse Media, 03:18 I'm assuming is the supernatural, 03:20 because that is going to be a key player at 03:22 at the end of time, righ tbefore Jesus comes. 03:24 Yes, it is a key player. We mentioned 03:26 this previously. Here's an article, 03:29 from Religion Link, which is for reporters 03:32 to discuss trends in our society and to 03:34 help them to deal with them what's 03:35 happening and it says here, 03:36 throughout the country, Wiccans, 03:38 who are people that practice witchcraft, 03:40 are organizing congregations 03:42 and youth groups, they're training clergy, 03:44 they are pursuing charity work, 03:46 they are sharing pagan parenting tips 03:49 and fighting for their civil rights. 03:52 It says experts agree that Wicca is growing 03:54 from small towns to big cities to military bases. 03:57 And so its something we need to talk about. 04:00 I have something interesting here, David. 04:01 Somebody gave this to me, not too long ago. 04:04 This is a bulletin from a Protestant, 04:06 it says Protestant Chapel. 04:07 Just like when Christians go to church, 04:09 they get the church bulletin. 04:11 Well, this is a bulletin from a chapel 04:13 in San Luis Obispo, its inside a prison 04:17 and someone handed this to me 04:19 and it mentions various things that 04:20 happens during the church service, 04:22 such as the reading of the Bible in 04:23 Isaiah 45 and then it mentions the Wiccan 04:27 elemental blessing. So, what they've done 04:29 is that they've incorporated witchcraft 04:31 into a Protestant church service, 04:34 in a chapel, in a prison and this is typical. 04:37 And so, anyway, we're dealing with 04:39 something that's happening all around us. 04:41 We've previously talked about the book 04:43 of Exodus and how the battle in Moses' 04:46 day was God against the magicians. 04:48 The magicians were there, they represented 04:50 Pharaoh, and they did their miracles 04:52 too and they were real miracles, 04:54 but as time were on there eventually, 04:56 they were defeated by 04:57 the superior power of God. 05:00 And now we're gonna go to another 05:02 biblical book, to show that the 05:03 battle continues. It's not just in 05:04 the book of Exodus, it's in many different 05:06 places and we'll see it in the book of Acts. 05:09 So, we've basically gone through history, 05:11 we've seen that it's not only something 05:13 in the 21st century, it goes all the way 05:15 back to the book of Exodus, 05:16 with Moses and magicians 05:17 and we're going to see, that's 05:18 right. Not only Old Testament, 05:19 but New Testament references that 05:21 the battle goes on, it transcends time, 05:23 it transcends even space and people. 05:25 So, there's elements behind these 05:28 individuals that are playing and 05:30 jockeying for the power. That's right, 05:31 that's right and as we will see later 05:34 in the book of Revelation that the 05:36 battle will climax at the end. 05:38 And I believe we're at the end, 05:41 we're right at the edge and the forces 05:43 are at work all around us and very powerfully 05:46 and we need to understand this 05:47 and learn and get some biblical light 05:51 on this struggle that we're in. 05:53 So, let's go to the book of Acts, David. 05:55 We're going to look at the battle between 05:58 the Holy Spirit and the magicians 06:00 in the book of Acts. That's our focus, 06:03 in Acts chapter 1 verse 8. 06:06 It talks about how right before the Holy 06:08 Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost 06:09 Jesus promised his disciples. 06:11 He said, But ye shall receive power, 06:13 after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: 06:16 and you will be witnesses to me 06:18 both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, 06:20 and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 06:21 part of the earth. So, here David, 06:24 Jesus Christ promised that power would 06:27 come to his disciples. And it's a real power. 06:30 It is the power of the Holy Spirit. 06:33 And we can feel that power even as 06:35 we're here, conducting this seminar, 06:39 this series for you. God's power 06:42 is with us. Jesus promised that 06:43 power would be with His people. 06:45 In Acts chapter 2, the power came on 06:49 the day of Pentecost, it says when the day 06:50 of Pentecost was fully come, 06:52 his disciples were together and in verse 2 06:54 it says suddenly there came a sound from 06:55 heaven as of a rushing mighty wind 06:58 and verse 4 says they were all filled 07:00 with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit 07:03 came down like fire on the disciples. 07:06 They had a supernatural influence 07:09 that entered their lives and then they 07:11 began to fan out and then they began 07:13 to preach the gospel, the good news 07:16 of Jesus Christ into the Roman world. 07:20 So, we be seeing the book of Acts that 07:22 they ought to wait for the Holy Spirit, 07:24 which is the power and basically the whole 07:27 book of Acts flows from this manifestation 07:29 of power. They didn't a phenomenal 07:32 feat of taking the gospel to the entire 07:34 world in one generation and so, 07:36 you see the Holy Spirit is the power that 07:38 is driving this movement 07:40 of the Christian faith, am I correct? 07:41 That's right Christianity exploded in the 07:44 first century because of power, 07:45 spiritual power, and the power of 07:46 the Holy Spirit. Now, this is what we want 07:48 to focus on. As you go on in 07:50 the book of Acts, you discover that 07:55 there is a counter power that fights 07:56 against the advancing power of the gospel 07:58 and the Holy Spirit and that is the 07:59 power of sorcery, the power of magic, 08:02 the power of the occult. And that's what we 08:04 wanna take a look at. So, let's take a 08:05 look at Acts, chapter 8. Many Christians haven't 08:08 seen this and I imagine that those that are 08:11 involved in witchcraft haven't seen this 08:13 either and if you are dabbling in that arena, 08:16 we encourage you just take a look at and 08:19 hopefully your eyes will be opened 08:21 and you won't just tune us out and 08:24 turn us off, but that your 08:25 heart will tune in. Acts, chapter 8, 08:29 that's right as the gospel was spreading 08:31 in Samaria, Peter was preaching 08:34 through the power of the Holy Spirit. 08:35 Verse 4 says they were preaching the Word 08:38 and in verse 9 it says, there was a certain man. 08:40 His name was Simon and before time 08:43 in the same city, which is the city 08:44 of Samaria, what did he use? 08:46 What was he practicing? Sorcery, 08:47 he used sorcery. That's right 08:49 he was a sorcery and it says he 08:50 bewitched the people of Samaria, 08:53 giving out that he himself was 08:54 some great one. Verse 10 says, 08:56 To whom they all gave heed, 08:57 from the least to the greatest, 08:58 and they said, this man is the great 09:00 power of God. They said God's power 09:03 was working through this man now, 09:05 was it really God's power? 09:06 But, there was power and that's the point, 09:09 there was power. Verse 11 says to him 09:11 they had regard, because that of a 09:12 long time he had bewitched them 09:14 with their sorceries. Right, 09:16 sorcery and witchcraft has been 09:18 around for a long time. 09:20 It's not something new. 09:21 That's right, it's not something new. 09:23 Well, as you keep reading, 09:25 Philip was preaching the gospel in Samaria 09:28 and this man apparently was really 09:30 a surface confession; he accepted the Word 09:33 of God and he confessed Christ 09:35 and he was baptized. In verse 13, 09:37 it says, Simon believed and he was baptized. 09:41 Well, after that, as word spread to the 09:44 Christian headquarters, the Jewish Christian 09:45 headquarters in Jerusalem of what was 09:47 happening in Samaria, they sent some people 09:49 down there to work with some new believers, 09:52 including Peter and John, in verse 14. So, 09:55 they went down to Samaria. 09:56 And verse 17 says, they laid hands 09:58 upon different people and they also 10:01 received the Holy Spirit. Now, verse 18 says 10:04 that Simon saw this. He was observing this 10:06 phenomenon of spiritual power coming to 10:10 the people that were receiving Christ 10:12 and then it says that he saw this 10:14 and so he offered them money. 10:16 He said, here's some money, 10:18 he said, give me that power. 10:20 Look at verse 19 He said give me 10:22 also this power that on whomsoever I 10:25 lay hands that he may also 10:27 receive the Holy Ghost. 10:29 So, Simon comes up, He's a baptized "Christian," 10:32 to this point and he sees Peter, 10:34 John laying hands on individuals he sees 10:36 the power there and he says 10:38 I want that power. I want to buy this power. 10:41 That's right, and what was the 10:42 response by Peter and John? 10:43 That's right yeah well, we'll take a 10:45 look at that, but first I want to stress that. 10:48 Number 1 that in this world of sin 10:52 that we're in, we all need spiritual power. 10:56 It's not wrong to search for power in itself. 10:59 We need power to cope with life, 11:01 to cope with the stresses of the world, 11:03 to overcome problems, to deal with all 11:05 the things that come at us every day 11:07 and the appeal of witchcraft, 11:10 really you know why is it growing so much? 11:12 Why are so many people getting into this? 11:14 It's because of the promise of power. 11:16 In this article that I've read earlier, 11:18 it says here, The promise of power 11:20 and control drives Wicca to its 11:22 current popularity. People are looking 11:25 for power. There's rumors, 11:27 there's books out there, there's movies, 11:28 there's TV shows, a lot of books that just 11:31 promote power as the appeal of witchcraft God. 11:35 There is one of them that is called 11:36 Power of the Witch and this is just a 11:38 sample of a lot of books showing that 11:40 witchcraft appeals to people from that angle. 11:45 There is one specifically called Spells Teen 11:47 Witch that shows that kids can get 11:50 their power through magic and this is just, 11:53 again, a sample. I'm not promoting these books, 11:55 but if they're very accessible out 11:58 there and it's very easy to demonstrate 12:01 that one of the main reasons 12:02 why people are getting into this 12:04 is because they're searching for power. 12:06 So, you're saying that the motivation 12:08 even as exemplified with Simon 12:10 saying I want that power is a driving 12:12 force even today, that's right with the 12:14 manifestations and the fascination 12:16 and the supernatural. That's right 12:17 I want that power, that's exactly what he 12:19 said and people do want power. 12:21 The problem David is that people don't 12:23 realize the nature of the power that 12:26 they're opening their hearts up to. 12:28 When they open up their hearts to the occult, 12:30 and to the witchcraft and to spells 12:32 and potions and magic, trying to get power 12:35 to improve their lives, they don't realize that 12:38 the powers that they are getting are really 12:41 the powers of darkness and that's what 12:43 the Bible tells us, that's what the 12:45 Bible reveals. Let's keep reading 12:46 what Simon said, I want power. 12:48 In verse 20 Peter said to him, 12:50 your money perish with you, 12:52 because you thought you could buy 12:54 the gift of God with money. 12:56 And then in verse 22, he said Repent 12:58 therefore of this your wickedness 13:00 and pray to God that, perhaps your heart 13:04 may be forgiven because of your sin. 13:06 In verse 23, he said, Peter said I perceive 13:09 that you are in the gall of bitterness 13:10 and in the bond of iniquity. 13:12 It's amazing that the occult of the Wicca 13:14 movement is offering people freedom, 13:17 but in this passage, Peter said that this 13:21 man who was Sin the sorcery, 13:22 who was bewitching people who wanted power, 13:24 he was really in bondage, he was in the bondage 13:26 of iniquity. And that's what sin does, 13:28 sin controls a person, sin binds them and they 13:31 offer freedom, but they don't really have, 13:34 they don't have true freedom, 13:37 because their lives eventually become 13:38 controlled by another power that moves 13:41 them even against their will. 13:43 Now, there's another chapter 13:45 that I want to look at. We're just gonna walk 13:46 through the book of Acts and illustrate 13:48 that's we talked about this before, 13:50 that the battle in Exodus was God 13:52 against the magicians, in the book of Acts, 13:54 as the Holy Spirit is moving out into 13:57 the Roman world, the battle is continuing 14:00 and eventually we'll get to the Book 14:01 of Revelation. If you look at Acts 13, 14:03 we have another contest, another conflict and 14:08 this time there was a sorcerer 14:11 and his name was, verse 8 says 14:12 Elymas the sorcerer. What was happening 14:14 was Paul was traveling on 14:16 the island of Cyprus and they were preaching 14:18 the word of God and there was a deputy 14:20 of that island that was very interested 14:22 in what Paul was preaching. 14:23 He wanted to hear the gospel. 14:25 He wanted to know about Jesus. 14:26 In verse 7 it mentions him He was the deputy 14:29 of the country, Sergius Paulus 14:32 and he desired to hear the word of God. 14:34 And then verse 8 says, But, Elymas the sorcerer, 14:38 for so is his name by interpretation, 14:40 he withstood them. Now look at this 14:42 you've got at the end of verse 7 14:44 a man who wants to hear the word of God. 14:47 And then in verse 8, you've got Elymas 14:48 the sorcerer, who is opposing them. 14:51 So, here's the battle, right? 14:54 Between the spreading of the word 14:55 of God through the power of the Holy Spirit 14:58 and a man who's practicing sorcery, 15:00 who says I'm going to stop this. 15:01 And he tried to influence the deputy 15:05 to it says at the end of verse 8, 15:06 He wanted to turn him away from the faith. 15:10 And that's the struggle that we're in. 15:12 These, you know people that are into 15:14 this they don't realize what they're doing 15:17 and many times they actually fight against, 15:20 against the word of God. Verse 9 says then Saul, 15:24 who also was called Paul, 15:25 filled with the Holy Ghost, 15:27 he set his eyes on this man, 15:29 this sorcerer and he said to him, 15:30 these are powerful words, 15:31 just straight forward words, 15:33 he said O full of all subtlety and 15:35 all mischief, you child of the devil, 15:38 you enemy of all righteousness, 15:41 will you not cease to pervert the right 15:44 ways of the Lord? Now, it's fascinating. 15:47 We're going to have a whole program on 15:48 this in the future, that those that are 15:50 into what's called the neo-pagan movement 15:53 or modern Wicca, modern witchcraft, 15:56 generally speaking, they don't believe 15:57 in the Devil. They don't think 15:59 there is a Devil. And in fact, 16:01 they use that as one of their major 16:06 arguments against the Christian concern 16:07 that there is something dangerous 16:09 about their movement. They say, hey, 16:10 wait a minute. You know we don't 16:11 even believe in Satan. Satan is just a 16:12 Christian concept. He's your creation, 16:17 not something we believe in. 16:18 And it's important for Christians to 16:19 understand that those that are in this 16:21 movement do not "consciously" 16:25 worship Satan. They're not Satan worshipers. 16:27 They don't drink blood. Very many of them, 16:29 some do, but not very many. 16:31 Most of them are nice people, 16:32 they may live right next door, 16:33 they may be your boss, your friend, your spouse, 16:35 your son or your daughter, 16:37 may be dabbling into this. 16:39 And they'll say: we don't believe in Satan. 16:42 But, the fact is there is a real Satan 16:45 and he works behind the scenes, 16:46 whether they believe in him or 16:48 whether they don't. And Paul, 16:50 in the book of Acts, chapter 13, 16:53 verse 10, he looked at this man, 16:55 who was involved in sorcery, 16:56 who is opposing the word of God 16:57 and he called him O full of subtlety, 17:00 full of mischief and a child of the devil. 17:02 He was an enemy of all righteousness, 17:04 so I don't think this person believed 17:08 that the devil was working through him, 17:10 but Paul had spiritual discernment. 17:13 And he recognized, he saw what was behind. 17:15 He saw what was behind the scene, 17:16 that's right. He saw the undercurrent, 17:18 he saw the spiritual force that was 17:20 there and that force, what's that, 17:23 was the force of Satan. And then he pronounced 17:25 a curse on him. And verse 10, 17:29 11 and 12 says that a darkness came 17:30 upon him and he couldn't see and that 17:32 darkness was a reflection of 17:34 the spiritual darkness that was in his life. 17:37 And the deputy said wow, you know this is amazing 17:41 and he turned his heart to God. 17:44 I just find it fascinating. 17:45 The battle was containing. 17:46 Yeah that the battle is in the New Testament, 17:48 you don't the Holy Spirit being poured 17:50 out and you see the sorcerers that are 17:52 opposing this spreading the word of the god. 17:53 But here you see where Paul pronounces 17:56 a curse upon him and you see that 17:57 there is a superiority here again of 18:00 the Holy Spirit's power over the sorcerer's 18:02 power in this context as well. 18:04 That's exactly right and it's important 18:05 for us to realize that God identifies, 18:13 with Elymas, he associates it with 18:15 the devil himself and with subtlety 18:17 and with the perversion of the right 18:19 ways of God. Now lets go to Acts chapter 19. 18:22 We've seen chapter 8, we've seen chapter 13, 18:25 the battle between God and the magicians, 18:27 the Holy Spirit magic is continuing 18:28 and here it is again in Acts, chapter 19, 18:31 the word of God was spreading in the city 18:36 of Ephesus and in verse 17 it says: 18:39 The name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18:41 The Gospel was spreading in the city 18:44 of Ephesus and then it says in verse 18 18:47 that "many of them who believed, 18:49 they came, they confessed, 18:50 they showed their deeds. Many of them also 18:52 which used," the King James says curious arts. 18:57 Some other Bibles say magical arts. 18:59 Curious arts. They brought their 19:00 boks together, and they burned them 19:02 before all men and they counted the price 19:05 and they were very expensive. 19:06 And so here is a revival of the word 19:09 of God and of the preaching of Jesus Christ 19:11 and of the religion of God in this city. 19:15 And people are converted and they've 19:16 got their magic books. These are magic books. 19:19 They're magic books, right. 19:20 They're occult books. In the first century 19:22 they had their magic books. 19:23 I mean the magic books aren't just 19:24 out there today, They were back 19:25 there in their day. They didn't have 19:27 printing presses and the Internet, 19:28 so they weren't as popular and 19:29 as accessible, but they were there 19:33 and in the book of Acts, these people who 19:35 were converted, they got rid of them. 19:36 Those unawareness of the power behind 19:38 and they got rid of those books, 19:41 because they realized that those book 19:43 were dangerous. And look at verse 20, 19:45 it says so mightily grew the word of God 19:49 and it prevailed. Just like in Egypt, 19:52 when Aaron's serpents swallowed up 19:55 the magicians' serpents, God's words prevailed. 19:57 Same thing in the book of Acts. 19:59 God's word is prevailing and people 20:01 are giving up magic. So, we see it in Acts 8, 20:03 we see it in Acts 13, we see it in Acts 19. 20:06 The point is that the battle as 20:09 the Holy Spirit was falling and the gospel 20:11 spreading in the book of Acts, 20:13 the battle between God and the magicians 20:15 continue and we're going to see it in 20:17 the book of Revelation in a future program 20:20 and we see it right there. Now, let me mention 20:22 something else. And we've got a little 20:23 bit of time left in this program. 20:25 Go down to verse 27, this is very significant, 20:29 David. In verse 27, Acts, chapter 19:27, 20:32 as the word of God was growing in Ephesus, 20:34 he connects sorcery in Acts chapter 13 20:35 there was a group of people that were 20:37 makers of statues and they were concerned 20:40 that this was going to affect the sales 20:42 of their statues. And verse 27 says that 20:46 they said: not only this our craft is 20:48 in danger to be set at nought; 20:50 And also that the temple of the great 20:53 goddess Diana that it should be despised, 20:55 and her magnificence should e destroyed, 20:58 whom all Asia and the world worships. 21:02 Now look at this. This was talking 21:03 about Ephesians. They worship the great 21:05 goddess Diana and they said that she 21:08 was being worshiped all over the world. 21:10 It's no secret that the modern Wicca 21:13 movement is totally goddess centered. 21:16 The worship of a female deity, 21:19 the heavenly mother. There is just plenty 21:22 of quotes. If I can put my finger on one, 21:24 here it says. Here Wicca is a form 21:26 of neopaganism, a term used to 21:28 denote contemporary paganism as opposed 21:31 to ancient paganism. There are many 21:33 forms of Wicca, but most share a 21:34 worship of divine feminine 21:36 or the goddess and a reverence 21:38 for nature and its cycles. 21:40 And it says: Wicca is the largest 21:42 segment of neopaganism. Today, they're 21:45 worshiping the goddess and mother 21:47 earth and they're trying to get a 21:49 connection to the goddess. 21:51 I read an article some time ago. 21:52 It said what the goddess can't do for you? 21:54 That the goddess doesn't love you, 21:55 the goddess can't truly change your life, 21:58 the goddess can't forgive your sins. 21:59 I have a friend who was into witchcraft 22:02 and she got out and then she was 22:03 trying to get out, she saw some icon 22:06 appear on her computer screen, 22:08 supernaturally and then it exploded, 22:11 just not a physical explosion, 22:13 but exploded on her screen and the 22:15 message was, this is a message 22:17 from the goddess. Come home., goddess, 22:20 From the goddess come home. 22:21 So, the goddess was trying to 22:24 impress her. You know, don't leave me, 22:26 come back. And my friend, her name is Pam 22:29 eventually realized that the goddess was 22:31 really a demon. There is no heavenly 22:34 mother up there. It was a demon. 22:38 There was a spiritual power there that was 22:40 trying to control her and ultimately 22:42 destroy her life. And my point is 22:44 that goddess' worship is not new either. 22:47 It goes right back to the Bible days, 22:48 in Acts, chapter 19. Satan created 22:51 this Diana of the Ephesians, 22:53 the great goddess that it says 22:54 the whole world worships. And so, 22:56 what we're seeing today, the whole world is still 22:58 moving in that direction. 22:59 It's a revival of ancient occultism. 23:01 It's a revival of things that were practiced 23:03 a long time ago. And the goddess is not, 23:07 she is not real She is, it's a demon in disguise. 23:10 And the book of Acts describes the battle, 23:13 the conflict between the two sides and 23:17 it says ultimately that the word of God 23:19 prevailed and that is what we need. 23:21 We need the gospel, we need the power of God, 23:23 we need to realize that we're in a struggle 23:25 or conflict and its ultimately David, 23:28 a battle of power. There's one of the 23:29 verse that I want to look at in 23:30 the book of Acts. Chapter 26, verse 18. 23:36 26:18 this talks about the battle of 23:40 powers and that's what we see over 23:43 and over again in the book of Acts. 23:45 26:18, Jesus sent Paul out to preach 23:48 and he said, I'm sending Jesus told 23:51 Paul I'm sending you, to open their eyes, 23:54 to turn them from darkness to light, 23:55 and from the power of Satan to God, 23:59 that they may receive forgiveness of sins, 24:01 and inheritance among them who are 24:04 sanctified by faith in me. 24:05 The power of the Holy Spirit is 24:08 revealed in Scripture. The Bible reveals 24:10 the power of God, the power of 24:12 the Holy Spirit and the book of Acts 24:13 shows that battle of powers. 24:15 And we're in that battle today. 24:16 You're in that battle, I am in that battle, 24:18 we'll see later on in a future program 24:20 the battle between the flesh and the spirit 24:23 and we're in the middle of this. 24:24 It's not wrong to search for power. 24:27 We need power, but the important 24:29 thing is to tap into the right power, 24:32 the right one. The power of God that is safe, 24:35 that is pure, that is uplifting, 24:38 that wants what' best for us, 24:40 and not the power that is really connected us, 24:44 Peter said and Paul said, connected to the Devil. 24:47 That's full of mischief and all subtlety 24:49 and that perverts the right ways 24:51 of the Lord and that power that wants 24:53 to bring us down. In Ephesus, 24:55 they got rid of those books, 24:56 they burned their magic books. 25:00 I'm not going to tell people what to do, 25:02 sure but I don't have any interest 25:05 in those books. I may just mention in my 25:09 programs that people are reading these books, 25:11 you're not promoting. But I'm saying 25:12 these are not books for us to be reading. 25:14 This is the book that God wants us to read. 25:17 This power is a safe power, 25:20 the power of the Holy Spirit. 25:22 So, you're saying that what is driving 25:24 the Wiccan movement, what is driving the 25:26 supernatural into these or the movement 25:28 that phenomenon taking place is this 25:30 fascination with power and the book of Acts 25:33 is showing if you want power, 25:34 if you want the real power, 25:36 you want the safe power, it's the Holy Spirit 25:38 power that is able to deliver you 25:40 and give you truth and peace 25:41 and happiness in this life. 25:42 That's exactly right. In one of our previous 25:45 programs, I mentioned something 25:47 that the magicians finally confessed 25:49 in the book of Exodus, when the battle was 25:52 going on between God and them, 25:54 as the plagues were falling. 25:56 The magicians eventually ran 25:59 out of steam, they couldn't do 26:01 all the miracles that God was doing 26:03 through Moses and Aaron. In Exodus chapter 8, 26:08 verse 19 it says, the magicians 26:10 said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God. 26:12 The finger of God. And David, 26:14 I've thought about that. The finger of God, 26:19 the finger of God is connected to a hand 26:22 and that hand has a hole in it. 26:25 And that hole is from a nail, 26:27 from a nail where Jesus Christ was nailed 26:31 to a cross 2,000 years ago. 26:33 There is a verse somewhere, 26:35 I think it's in the book of Zechariah 26:36 or Haggai, I can't remember exactly, 26:39 but it says that the hiding of his power 26:41 is revealed through those holes 26:43 in his hand. Through love. That's right, 26:45 and the greatest power of God is the 26:48 power of His love. And that love is 26:50 reaching out to you, it's reaching out to me, 26:53 it reached out to my friend Pam. 26:55 No matter how dark our lives, 26:57 no matter how deep we've gone into sin, 27:01 no matter how much Satan has come 27:04 in to take over our life, it controls us, 27:06 if we dabble with the supernatural 27:08 and if we make wrong decisions 27:10 and gotten ourselves into a big mess, 27:13 God's love is reaching out, 27:14 God's power is reaching out. 27:16 And his power is greater than the power 27:18 of darkness, the power of Satan 27:20 and it's the power of love that can 27:22 forgive and transform and change our lives 27:25 and bring hope and happiness to us. 27:27 And that's what this series is about. 27:30 Magic and Ghosts and the Bible 27:32 is all about to bring hope 27:34 and love to everyone of us. 27:36 Well thank you so much for sharing 27:38 with us Steve. I can see that you're 27:40 passionate about this topic and for those 27:43 in our viewing audience that have joined 27:44 us there for the first time, 27:45 I'd like to invite you to join us again. 27:48 We'll be looking at the supernatural from 27:50 a biblical perspective. We want to uphold 27:52 the Bible and at the same time give 27:54 some warnings to those individuals 27:55 about was is happening in society, 27:57 this phenomena of the supernatural. 28:00 And it's our prayer for you that you'll be 28:01 faithful in Scripture and join us again next 28:04 time for another edition of Battles of Faith, 28:06 may the Lord bless you and 28:08 keep you to the end. |
Revised 2014-12-17