January 20
Job 5:1-7:21
I personally know of two people whom I shared the gospel message with and who had repented and accepted it who shortly after, experienced a terrifying experience. It was either both of my nephews (they are both close to my age), or one was my nephew and the other one of my friends. They described with exquisite accuracy the experience of being in bed at night and being unable to move, yet aware. They both knew they were being pinned down with something evil, as though this being was sitting or hovering directly above them. They felt helpless and powerless to do anything. At least one of them, if not both remarked that it was only when they prayed and spoke in the name of Jesus that this being departed and they were released from this paralysis. I explained to them that these were demonic spirits who are as real as you and me. That though they are powerful, they are powerless against our God. So real is this experience, that it has been written about for centuries. An artist, Henry Fuseli, in1781, in a painting called, "The Nightmare" depicted a demon sitting on the chest of a sleeping woman. In Brazil ,they refer to this demonic entity as "Pisadeira", in Spain as ""Pesanta", in Newfoundland, Canada, as the "Old Hag", in Japan, they refer to the phenomenon as "kanashibari", etc. As modern science often does, they give this spiritual attack a name, "Sleep Paralysis" and attempt to explain the spiritual side away by explaining it physiologically. Though I haven't researched the specifics surrounding many of these events, what I find interesting, is that in the only two personal cases that I know of, both occurred to people who were embarking on a decision to turn their lives over to Jesus Christ. I find this more than coincidental. Explain away the spiritual world and we do ourselves a tremendous disservice. They are real, both angelic and demonic, and just as they are real, their influence on humanity is also real.
The Bible is so amazing in that no matter how many times we read it, God continues to open Scripture to us in a fresh way. We read in Job 4:12-16, from Eliphaz (one of Job's friends), "Now a word was secretly brought to me, And my ear received a whisper in it. In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men, Fear came upon me, and trembling, Which made all my bones shake, Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair on my body stood up. It stood still, But I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; There was silence; Then I heard a voice saying:". Eliphaz begins his argument from physical observation, then moves onto his "spiritual revelation". Though some of what he recants is true, some of it is not, and the conclusion is false, essentially that Job is being punished as he is because he deserves to be, based on his own actions. But this is the reality of spiritual attack. If it were off the wall, no one would take the time to listen or follow. But much more dangerous is when a little truth is mixed with a little false. That people will follow. Realize a partial truth is still a lie. Paul writes in Colossians 2:18, "Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels,...".
John, knowing the reality of this, issues this warning in 1 John 4:1-3, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world." There are many who participate in seances or necromancy, where one tries to reach the spirit of a former loved one, who has passed away. They will hear truths that only the dead one could have known in vivid detail. Realize that some of these mediums are frauds, but others are tapped into the demonic world. Demons are excellent observers are in a perfect position to recant details that the seen world could not have known. The words may be real, but they are not of God. Our world is confusing, and it is more so for those who choose to continue to go through this world defenseless in a state of Biblical illiteracy. There is no way to test the spirits unless you are familiar with the source of truth. When Jesus was on the cross, he said in Luke 23:34, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Though it is not spelled out, I'm sure the demons were swarming around the cross that day taunting the onlookers, blinding them in the process. They were swarming, believing they were witnessing their victory over Jesus. Little did they know that 3 days later, when Jesus rose from the grave, Jesus would strike a victory that would change the world, Jesus rose from the grave and conquered death once and for all, freeing us from it's bondage if we accept His offer of salvation. On the cross, Jesus saw what so many of us are blind to or choose to dismiss and discount. He knew firsthand the reality of the spiritual world. We would do well to realize it as well.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: