Bible Questions Answered:
“Can the devil tell the truth? I am thinking about Paul and the slave girl who called Paul and Silas servants of God.”
Walters/ Lincoln, England United Kingdom
Bible Answer:
Bible Text:
Acts 16:16-18 NLT (Paul and Silas imprisoned)
16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters.
17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”
18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.
Yes.
Oh, the devil is a liar and the father of all lies, that is certainly true, and he does not, abide in the truth!
John 8:44 KJV (Satan, murderer, and liar.)
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
There is an old saying “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar,” and how true that is. And the enemy of our souls is “not,' stupid, if you think so, you are defeated already!
The Devil, may at times use a small bit of truth to hook and deceive others! These are the “wiles of the devil.”
Ephesians 6:11 KJV
Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles* of the devil.
*Wiles - Greek- Methodeia (Meth-od-i-ah): Traveling over, i.e. travesty (trickery): wile, lie in wait.
Genesis 3:1 KJV
Now the serpent was more subtil* than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
*Subtil – Hebrew: Aruwm (Aw-room): Cunning (Usually in a bad sense.) crafty, prudent, subtil.
Did you see the “truth, the serpent told Eve?
Homily:
My dad always taught me from a young boy this saying “Read a page, and think an age.”
And that is just what the Old Testament word Selah* means!
*Selah – Hebrew: Celah (Seh-law): Suspension (of music), i.e. pause.
(That is, “Stop and think, on these things.” ed.)
What truth, did he tell?
By inference, he spoke of God, and His existence, without question.
How silly would it have been of him to deny the God, that walked daily with them in the cool of the afternoon in Eden!
Genesis 3:8 KJV
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..."
THEOPHANY
A visible manifestation of a deity.
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
The preincarnate Son of God.
No, the serpent, certainly could not deny, what they both knew, only too well! But he could deceive them as to what He had told them.
The slave girl of Philippi, spoke the truth …
Acts 16:17 NLT
“These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”
But she was a demon possessed girl who made her captives money by her fortune-telling.
When this demonic spirit spoke these words it was to hook, listeners into to following “her,” for all she might have to say. And that demon spirit would give them lie after lie, deceiving them, until they would be lost.
Evil spirits often spoke the “truth,” when Christ arrived!
Matthew 8:28,29 KJV (Read the whole story Matthew 8:28-34, Also Luke 8:28 KJV)
28 And when He was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Mark 1:21-26 KJV
21 And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day He entered into the synagogue, and taught.
22 And they were astonished at His doctrine: for He taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.
23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.
Mark 3:11,12 KJV (Read the account Mark 3:7-12)
11 And unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
12 And He straitly charged them that they should not make Him known.
Luke 4:33-35,40,41 KJV
33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.
40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them.
41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And He rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that He was Christ.
Acts 19:13-16 KJV
13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Yes, the Devil and his minions, may tell the truth, but if and when they do, it is only to lead that one into complete deception, and spiritual entrapment!
This is why Almighty God, has condemned such practices.
Deuteronomy 18:10-14 NLT
10 "...do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft,
11 or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead.
12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you.
13 But you must be blameless before the Lord your God.
14 The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.”
II Kings 17:16,17 NLT
16 They rejected all the commands of the Lord their God..."
17 "...They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the Lord’s anger.
II Kings 21:6 NLT
Manasseh...practiced sorcery and divination, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the Lord’s sight, arousing His anger.
Isaiah 47:8-15 NLT
8 “Listen to this, you pleasure-loving kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure.
You say, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other. I will never be a widow or lose my children.’
9 Well, both these things will come upon you in a moment: widowhood and the loss of your children. Yes, these calamities will come upon you, despite all your witchcraft and magic.
10 “You felt secure in your wickedness. ‘No one sees me,’ you said. But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray, and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’
11 So disaster will overtake you, and you won’t be able to charm it away.
Calamity will fall upon you, and you won’t be able to buy your way out. A catastrophe will strike you suddenly,one for which you are not prepared.
12 “Now use your magical charms! Use the spells you have worked at all these years!
Maybe they will do you some good. Maybe they can make someone afraid of you.
13 All the advice you receive has made you tired. Where are all your astrologers, those stargazers who make predictions each month? Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds.
14 But they are like straw burning in a fire; they cannot save themselves from the flame. You will get no help from them at all; their hearth is no place to sit for warmth.
15 And all your friends, those with whom you’ve done business since childhood, will go their own ways, turning a deaf ear to your cries.
Malachi 3:5 NLT
“At that time I will put you on trial. I am eager to witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, or who deprive the foreigners living among you of justice, for these people do not fear Me,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
(Also see: Acts 8:9-24; 13:6-11; Revelation 18:23 KJV)
Galatians 6:7 KJV
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
I Corinthians 6:9 NLT
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality,
10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
Revelation 21:8 NLT
“But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Be sure also to read the blog posting .....
Satan And His Work
Satan's Character
Salvation Prayer
