Explaining the Differences
Isaiah 28:15 You have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have hidden ourselves."
Luke 4:5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."
Victims of Demonic Possession
Mark 5:3-4 This man lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
Mark 9:20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
Acts 16:16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. 19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
In both cases, individuals are possessed by evil spirits, manifesting symptoms much like schizophrenia. They are driven to actions completely contrary to their true desires—engaging in self-harm, neglecting their own well-being, sleeping around with random people, and suffering severe mental and physical breakdown. Mary Magdalene, out of whom seven demons were cast and who had been forced into a life of prostitution, was exactly this type. (Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9)
All of these individuals are victims who have been overcome by evil spirits, and they desperately need someone to pray in the name of Christ to deliver them. In our modern world, when we see troubled women turning to sex work, cutting themselves, or becoming severely dependent on toxic men to the point of financial ruin and physical decline, it is highly possible they are suffering under the influence of evil spirits.
Notice how Jesus and Paul treated these possessed women with care, viewing them as victims, and cast out the spirits using Christ's authority. While many ordinary people and Christians tend to judge and condemn men and women who fall into extreme immorality or self-harm, it would be far more effective to follow the example of Jesus and Paul and offer a prayer of deliverance. If their lifestyle still doesn't change after that, we must continue to watch over them, offering whatever helping hand we can, and sincerely walking through life alongside them.
Selling One's Soul to the Devil
This is a completely different story. In this case, people are using their own free will to cut a deal with the devil in order to satisfy their cravings for money, status, or lust. Consequently, praying something like "Come out in the name of Jesus!" might have absolutely no effect. Furthermore, those who sell their souls to the devil rarely manifest the kind of schizophrenic, self-harming behavior mentioned above.
While women who resort to self-harm or get trapped in toxic male dependencies are clear victims, those who crave to become Hollywood stars, famous actresses, or high-profile Christian leaders for wealth and status are the ones the devil targets to fulfill their desires. Unlike those possessed by evil spirits who lose their minds, these individuals remain highly intellectual, articulate, and worldly-wise "success stories."
This is what it looks like to sell your soul to the devil. Demonic possession strips a person of sanity and tortures them from the inside. The fortune-telling girl who followed Paul might have had a tiny spark of her true self crying out from the depths of her madness, begging Christ for deliverance from that spirit of divination. That's why she was set free through prayer.
Isaiah 8:19 And when they say to you, "Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter," should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the teaching and to the testimony!
Ezekiel 13:22 Because you have disheartened the righteous with falsehood, when I did not cause him grief, and you have encouraged the wicked, that he should not turn from his evil way to save his life, 23 therefore you shall no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you will know that I am the LORD."
Revelation 2:20 "But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality (spiritual adultery through false gospels) and to eat food sacrificed to idols (worshiping and praising a false Jesus).
17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
18:7 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, "I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see." 8 For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.
Interestingly, it is prophesied that a queen named Jezebel will rule within the church, and that in the end times, many Christians will enter into a relationship of spiritual adultery with her—the Great Babylon, the Mother of Prostitutes. In the Old Testament era, there were female mediums throughout Israel who had either sold their souls to the devil of their own free will or operated under demonic influence.
Those female mediums who voluntarily sold their souls for worldly prosperity cared about nothing but self-preservation. They gave threatening, doom-laden prophecies (divinations) designed to cause psychological torment, thereby crushing the hearts and bodies of the righteous. The self-proclaimed "God's organization," the Jehovah's Witnesses, does exactly this, as described in Ezekiel 13. They threaten and expel sincere, true Christians who present views different from the leadership, claiming, "Jehovah is disfellowshipping you to discipline you."
Jehovah's Witnesses are just one part of Babylon the Great. I also heard about a radical leftist pastor from Portland who relentlessly intimidated a fellow Christian acquaintance, speaking ill of them and spreading malicious rumors. These people are false Christians carrying a completely different spirit; they only extend a helping hand to those who serve their own convenience, exactly as described in the scriptures. Unlike the victims of demonic possession who have lost their minds, those who harbor evil intentions and knowingly or unknowingly sell their souls to the devil to rationally manipulate and abuse others may very well reach a point where there is no forgiveness left.
Jezebel at Work in the Church
Let me tell you about an American woman I know. She came from a family of generational mediums, used to worship Shinto, and claimed she was given power by a mighty dragon deity. She flat out admitted that thanks to this dragon god, she had acquired actual wealth, fame, and power. Somewhere along the line, she supposedly became a Christian. However, when she prayed for her mediumship and clairvoyant powers to be removed and they didn't go away, she started taking it as a positive sign.
She began bragging that the fact this power remained must mean it has a purpose, claiming God told her to "use this gift in the church." She then started going around sharing all kinds of visions and dreams she claimed to see. In reality, everyone around her found it deeply unsettling. Instead of giving prophecies that built up or encouraged people, she would point out their past flaws and hidden mistakes. It was utterly pointless, and rumors quickly spread that she was acting completely demonic.
I had the chance to speak with her myself. While she did seem to "accurately hit the mark" on certain things, she kept trying to peer into my past and read the spirit of my deceased father—it was honestly just creepy and spiritualist. She also had an obsessive preference for purple goods, luxury items, and highly revealing clothing. She didn't give off a Christian vibe at all; instead, she bore an uncanny resemblance to the description of Jezebel, the Whore of Babylon. As I prayed and looked into this, Deuteronomy 18—which strictly forbids dealing with mediums—suddenly came alive to me, sending chills down my spine. I realized something else shocking: she had "done absolutely nothing" to actually come to Christ. For instance, she openly boasts about selling her soul to a dragon god to gain a luxurious lifestyle, yet she hasn't given up that lifestyle at all. In fact, her husband currently makes massive amounts of money as a weapons dealer (profiting off war and people dying—what people call a merchant of death).
Ezekiel 14:1 Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 And the word of the LORD came to me: 3 "Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? 4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him as he comes, with the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols. 6 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7 For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the LORD will answer him myself. 8 And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the LORD. 9 And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the LORD, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike— 11 that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord GOD."
Acts 2:43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
Acts 19:18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
To even stand at the starting line of being a Christian, if you have previously used your free will to sell your soul to the devil for worldly gain, you cannot just say, "I'm saved by grace, so anything goes." You have to properly dispose of your idols, just like the early believers did. Failing to do so, and concluding that because your clairvoyant or medium powers didn't vanish when you commanded them in Jesus' name, it must mean "God wants you to use them in the church," is incredibly premature and dangerous.
Ezekiel 16:2 "Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth are of the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out into the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born. 6 "And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' 7 I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare. 8 "When I passed by you again and looked upon you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine. 9 Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. 12 And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. 14 And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD. 15 "But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his. 16 You took some of your garments and made for yourself colorful shrines, and on them played the whore. The like has never been, nor ever shall be. 17 You also took your beautiful jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself images of men, and with them played the whore. 18 And you took your embroidered garments to cover them, and set my oil and my incense before them. 19 Also my bread that I gave you—I fed you with fine flour and oil and honey—you set before them for a pleasing aroma; and so it was, declares the Lord GOD. 20 And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter 21 that you slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them? 22 And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood. 23 "And after all your wickedness (woe, woe to you! declares the Lord GOD), 24 you built yourself a vaulted chamber and made yourself a lofty place in every square. 25 At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring. 26 You also played the whore with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, multiplying your whoring, to provoke me to anger.
For her, I believe her "idols" are her massive, Hollywood-style mansion and
the staggering amounts of money coming from the weapons business. As Ezekiel
describes, these are "idols in the heart"—not just physical statues you can
touch, but human greed itself. While keeping and worshiping these things, she
shouts "Jesus!" Because of this, a false Christ draws near, turning people
into counterfeit Christians who lack sound judgment, which is why they end up
using clairvoyance and mediumship to channel the dead or show off visions to
manipulate others.
As Ezekiel 16 shows, there might be an initial
spark to becoming a Christian—a miraculous rescue, a vision, or some powerful
experience—but eternal salvation is never automatically locked in right then
and there. In fact, the text points toward a prophecy of apostasy. Looking at
Matthew 2, King Herod summoned the wise men because he wanted to pinpoint the
location of the baby Jesus, and Satan used the alignment of a star to guide
them straight to Him. However, an angel warned the wise men in a dream, so
they bypassed Herod on their way back. Furious at being tricked, Herod ordered
the slaughter of all the infants in Bethlehem.
From start to
finish, the actions of the astrologers were completely unnecessary and brought
nothing but tragedy to those around them. This example shows that even if a
former medium claims to be a Christian while retaining satanic powers, any
"divine warnings" or "lifelines" they claim to receive might actually drag
everyone around them into disaster. As 1 Corinthians 6:12 notes, "All things
are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful.
I heard from a
friend that this woman went around telling everyone she had a vision about
COVID-19 and received a revelation that everyone must get vaccinated. Because
her "fortune-telling" accurately hits on people's pasts, those around her
became terrified and rushed to get jabbed. Any way you look at it, this type
of person is a textbook example of someone who used their free will to sell
their soul for worldly luxury. She is a false Christian deceiving the church—a
modern-day Jezebel bewitching and destroying people with vaccine sorcery. Her
judgment will come.
Conclusion
If someone uses their free will to sell their soul and accumulate massive wealth, fame, status, and carnal pleasures, it is foolish to think they are guaranteed a ticket to heaven the exact moment they recite a sinner's prayer. This ties into what I want to cover in my next article, but because so many people treat salvation like an instant ramen package—claiming even a marriage with the devil can be solved in three minutes without changing a thing—the Christian world has ended up completely run by unhinged characters.
Those who chase wealth over God are called Jezebel, the Whore of Babylon. When the Apostle John was isolated on the island of Patmos, he saw a vision of the United States of America. Global Christianity today stems largely from America, and countless Christians are being deceived, walking straight through the wide gate toward destruction.
Today, the vast majority of Christians have sold their souls to the devil, completely oblivious to what they've done. People are quick to judge and corner the vulnerable, self-harming victims of demonic possession. Yet, we ignore the articulate, polished, and worldly successful people who have actually sold their souls. We desperately need discernment to see through the fake humility and lies of these pastors and counterfeit believers, so we can judge by the true substance of their fruit.
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