Evening Sermon - 25th October 2026 - Why the Occult Is Wrong

Now in our Bibles we're turning to Deuteronomy chapter 18.

We're going to break into the chapter at verse nine and we'll read to the end of verse 14.

Deuteronomy chapter 18 commencing to read at verse nine reading to the end of verse 14.

When you come into the land that the Lord your God has given you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations.

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, Anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead.

For whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.

And because of these abominations, the Lord your God is driving them out before you.

You shall be blameless before the Lord your God for these nations which you're about to dispossess.

Listen to fortune tellers and to diviners but as for you the Lord your God has now allowed you to do this.

Amen.

Now this evening we're addressing a question why is the occult wrong?

Why is the occult wrong?' and Kurt Koch the German Protestant theologian pastor and counsellor known for his extensive work on the occult drawing on thousands of counselling cases addresses the risks of both the ignorance of and the unhealthy preoccupation with occult realities and in his preface to his book Between Christ and Satan he quotes C.

S.

Lewis from the Screwtape Letters and C.

S.

Lewis observed this he said there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils.

One is to disbelieve in their existence altogether.

The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.

Elsewhere Neil T.

Anderson in his book Bondage Breaker uses a practical analogy that captures the same balance suggested here by C.

S.

Lewis.

He writes, Your relationship to demonic powers in the spiritual realm is a lot like your relationship to germs in your physical realm.

You know that the germs are all around you.

He then asks the question, should you live in constant fear of them?

He says if you did you would be a hypochondriac.

The only appropriate response to the swarm of germs around you is to eat the right food, get enough rest and exercise and keep yourself and your possessions clean.

Your immune system will protect you.

However if you didn't believe in germs you would be less likely to take those protective measures.

And then he says it's the same in the spiritual realm.

Demons are like invisible germs looking for someone to infect.

We are never told in Scripture to be afraid of them.

You just need to be aware of their existence and commit yourself to knowing the truth and living a life of righteousness.

So one error is to disbelieve and therefore have no precaution at all.

The other is to become excessively fearful or preoccupied and you become like a spiritual hypochondriac and both extremes leave a person vulnerable and the healthy response to the whole idea of the occult and the powers of darkness is a super awareness without obsession grounded in a living righteousness focused on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And you know the devil is content with us to live at the end of those extremes.

Both serve his purposes.

And Paul speaks about this in two Corinthians two eleven where he urges us not to be outwitted by Satan through ignorance of his designs.

And the occult is one of those designs an extreme unhealthy fascination with the demonic and draws people into deeper bondage.

Unpleasant of course as this subject is we must understand if we are to warn others of the dangers that are connected with it we too must understand something about it.

So looking at the question this evening why the occult is wrong, we want to look at this by asking another four questions.

First question is what does the occult involve?

Second question is what does scripture can, how does scripture condemn occult practices?

Secondly, why does God prohibit the occult so strongly?

And then fourthly, where can true knowledge and power be found?

So let's look at, this subject this evening trying to answer these four questions.

So let's address this first question here, what does the occult involve?

What does the occult involve?

Well the word occult comes from the Latin for secret or hidden.

Occult practices seek secret knowledge and the use of invisible powers to control events or perhaps to control people and that knowledge and power are sought from the unseen world of spirits.

And under this heading fall many activities fortune telling attempts to obtain hidden knowledge of the future through perhaps astrology or horoscopes, turret or ordinary cards, palmistry, reading tea leaves.

Communication with the dead whether through a medium, a Ouija board or a seance is likewise the occult.

Real magic distinct from the harmless sleight of hand or stage illusions seeks to control persons or circumstances through secret ceremonies or spells or incantations.

And at the far end of the spectrum stands of course the open worship of the devil and these are the sorts of things meant by the term occult and many treat such practices as harmless entertainment.

Horoscopes appear in newspapers and magazines and are read by millions who think nothing of it.

They just read it and laugh at it.

Ouija boards have been sold as games.

Tesco's a number of years ago were selling it as a game until complaints were made and yet the occult is no mere make believe.

There is fakery yes and nonsense mixed in with it but genuine occult activity is real and it's dangerous and Christians affirm an unseen spiritual realm created by God and populated by spiritual beings and many of whom followed Lucifer into rebellion and became demons.

Ephesians chapter six in verse 12 reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers and authorities and cosmic powers of this present darkness and spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.

Occult practices tap into real and perilous powers.

And Scripture assumes this particular reality we can go to first Samuel chapter 28 and we know there we have a record about King Saul and he consults the witch or the medium at Endor and whatever questions the episode raises it shows that the medium contacted a spirit.

Egyptian and Babylonian magicians performed genuine wonders by their secret arts.

For example in Acts chapter seven they imitated the first two plagues.

And in Acts chapter eight, Simon the magician amused the people for a long time with his magic, not through trick cards but through the exercise of occult power.

In Acts chapter 16, a slave girl in Philippi possessed a spirit of divination and accurately told fortunes of course until Paul cast the spirit out on her in Jesus name and then after thereafter of course she never did it again.

And the Bible never dismisses these things as fairy tales.

They're real, they're dangerous, so that's what the occult involves.

And we need to remind ourselves of that fact that the occult deals with secret and hidden things.

It involves seeking secret knowledge and the use of invisible powers to control people or events by tapping in to the unseen spirit world.

And it includes these practices such as fortune telling through astrology and horoscopes and tarot or ordinary cards or palmistry or tea leaves, communication with the dead via mediums or Ouija boards or seances real magic distinct from stage illusions using ceremonies and spells and incantations and control of circumstances and at the extreme of course the open worship of the devil.

And although many do regard some of these things as harmless entertainment, genuine occult activity is real, it's dangerous, it's drawing upon demonic power.

And that's why Scripture affirms this spiritual reality.

That's why Scripture sets out very clearly here in Deuteronomy chapter 18, the things that are set before us.

And that's why elsewhere in Scripture we have the story of the witch at Endor.

We have the secret arts of the Egyptian magicians.

We have Simon the magician in Samaria mentioned in Acts 18.

And this girl, this slave girl with the spirit of divination in Acts 16.

So the Bible never treats these things as mere fairy tales.

They are real and they are perilous.

But let's move on and address our second question.

How does scripture condemn occult practices?

How does Scripture condemn occult practices?

And God's Word forbids any involvement in the occult.

That's why we read from Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses nine to 14 and really in many ways this is the definitive passage that deals with this, that gives treatment to this.

As Israel stood on the border of Canaan Moses warned them not to learn the abominable practices of the nations.

Then the verses read, When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of these nations.

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer, or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.

And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.

You shall be blameless before the Lord your God for these nations which you are about to dispossess listen to fortune tellers and the diviners.

As for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.

And Moses lists eight related activities: divination, fortune telling, interpreting, omen, sorcery, charm, charming mediumship, necromancy, and inquiry of the dead.

Now the precise boundaries of these things blur, but all seek knowledge ordinarily hidden by means of the spirit world and all aim at par over people and events.

And remember the king of Moab, he hired Balaam if you remember not merely for information against Israel but to curse them by occult means.

We're told about that in Numbers chapter 22.

And God calls these practices here an abominations.

He says they're detestable.

He says they're loathsome and the people who practice them become abominable in His sight.

The activities stand in the same category as burning children, as sacrifices to pagan gods.

Verse 12 here declares that the Lord destroys those who do them and that's part of why Israel was commanded to go in and possess the Canaanite land.

God saw what was going on.

God wanted to wipe this out and God forbids not only the acts themselves but even learning about them.

You shall not learn to follow the abominable practices.

Don't experiment on the fringes.

Don't dabble where it seems innocent.

The whirlpool will suck you in.

Another passages which reinforce this prohibition are two Kings chapter 17 and verse 17.

It lists divination and sorcery among the sins for which Israel and Judah went into exile.

Yes they went in, they cleared the land, they cleared the Canaanites, they put down the practices of occult and yet they themselves imbibed it eventually.

Isaiah chapter two in verse six rebukes the people full of diviners from the East and fortune tellers like the Philistines.

Galatians chapter five and verse 20 includes sorcery among the works of the flesh.

Revelation chapter 21 and verse eight places sorcerers alongside murderers, the sexually immoral and the idolaters who will have their part, we're told, in the lake of fire.

And the biblical verdict is unambiguous.

Any involvement in occult practices is an abomination.

So Scripture forbids every form of involvement with the occult in the strongest possible language and we see it clearly here in this passage of Scripture in Deuteronomy chapter 18 where Moses as Israel prepared to enter Canaan listed eight related practices and he calls them, he brands them abominations.

These activities stand in the same category as child sacrifice.

Those who practice them become detestable in God's sight and He destroys those who persist in them.

And all of them seek hidden knowledge and power through a spirit world as when the king of Moab of course if you remember hired Balaam not merely for information but to curse the nation.

And God forbids not only acts themselves but learning about them.

And we see it clearly set down here.

The biblical judgment is clear.

Any engagement with practices, occult practices is an abomination and note Scripture condemns occult practices unequivocally.

And we only have to read ourselves through Scripture to see how the Lord sees it whether it's second Kings, it's Isaiah chapter two verse six, whether it's Galatians five twenty or Revelation chapter one verse 18.

And now we come to our third question.

Why does God prohibit the occult so strongly?

Why does God prohibit the occult so strongly?

Well, two reasons stand out and the first reason is this, the occult is the denial of God's wisdom.

The occult is the denial of God's wisdom.

One of the great verses of the Bible is Deuteronomy chapter 29 in verse 29 and it states there, The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law.

And there are things God keeps secret.

They are not meant for us.

They're not meant...

They may not be good for us to know.

We might misuse the information and we might not be able to bear up to what we're about to find out.

And will it truly benefit us to know the day of her death?

Would it benefit us to know the death of the day of a loved one?

And God infinitely wise has revealed what we need to know.

And to pry into the occult means that you're basically saying, Well I don't trust your judgment.

I know better Lord.

And William Perkins writing away back in the sixteenth century wrote that those who join themselves to Satan renounce the Lord who made them, they do quite cut themselves off from the covenant made with him.

And on the contrary they give themselves unto Satan as their God.

And it's a deliberate reaction of course of God's deliberate rejection should I say of God's authority and wisdom.

And then secondly, the second reason the occult is dangerous for our well-being.

It's dangerous for our well-being.

The very means of obtaining the knowledge and power is demonic.

Fakery exists and is foolish yet genuine occultism however it appears to us is demonic.

The devil masquerades as an angel of light and the same lie he told Eve he repeats, You will be like God knowing good and evil.

God is withholding what is best for you.

I will set you free.

And Adam and Eve believed him and found bondage and they found misery and they found death.

And that pattern repeats itself.

Those who turn to the occult for healing, for guidance or contact with the dead may receive temporary relief.

They might receive information only to discover a deeper bondage, psychological torment, inability to pray or to read the Scriptures, dread, sometimes self harm, inexplicable death.

And the spirits give what will keep a person dependent like a dealer supplying the next dose of drugs.

And what looks like getting power is actually surrendering to it and demonic beings are smooth talking con artists who pursue people to hand over control.

Playing with the occult is like a child playing with matches, One spark can destroy the whole house.

So don't forget God forbids the occult for two reasons.

First, it rejects His wisdom.

As Deuteronomy twenty nine twenty nine teaches, The secret things belong to the Lord while the things He has made known belong to us so that we may live in obedience.

And God does withhold certain knowledge from us for our own good, for our own well-being.

Secondly, the occult is harmful to our well-being because it's the true source of demonic power and we have got to stay away from it.

And we are not being set free in any way.

And it's important that we stand against such things and those who pursue the occult for whatever reasons.

It's only a short term answer and it'll take you to hell.

It's as simple as that.

And to dabble in the occult is to play with fire that can quickly consume a life.

And then we come to the fourth and final question, where can true knowledge and power be found?

Where can true knowledge and power be found?

Well the occult is a counterfeit gospel.

It promises knowledge and power but it delivers to us slavery and death.

And the true gospel offers genuine knowledge not trivial details of the future but knowledge of God, ourselves, of that which is true and good.

And that's what the true gospel gives us.

It offers us genuine power, not the power to manipulate others, but the power to love God and to love our neighbor and to live in fellowship for which we were actually created.

And how do we receive this?

Well we confess our ignorance.

We confess our weakness.

We admit we don't understand as we ought to and we can't act in our own strength.

And when we come to God that way, He opens up our eyes and He shows us that our strength is really His strength.

That's why Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

That's why Paul said in Romans chapter six and verses 10 to 12, he calls us to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might putting on the whole armour of God so that we might stand against the devil's schemes.

And then in first John chapter four and verse four, it's declared there, He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

And Scripture repeatedly displays this greater power.

Pharaoh's magicians turned rods into serpents, Janus and Jamberees, yet Aaron's serpents swallowed theirs.

They imitated only the first two plagues and then it failed.

Balaam tried four times to curse Israel and each time he finds himself pronouncing a blessing including one of the most glorious prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself if you remember cast out demons with one word legion.

A multitude of unclean spirits pleaded not to be destroyed because they were were powerless before Him.

The apostles continued if you remember the same ministry, In the end the devil and all who practice the occult arts will be cast into the lake of fire.

He who is in us is infinitely greater.

And the power is not confined of course to the pages of Scripture.

God still delivers people from the power of Satan to God.

And the same Lord who described Paul's mission as opening eyes, turning them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God still does the same thing today.

Even if you're deeply entangled, maybe there's someone listening on this on Amazon or whatever, even if you're deeply entangled in the occult, Jesus is able to set you free and to call us away from that and to deliver us.

The Apostle John says the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

If you've never received Jesus Christ as Savior, whether you have dabbled in the occult or never touched a horoscope, you remain under that power.

Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter two, without Christ we are children of wrath.

We're children of the devil and decent churchgoing will not save you.

You will share the devil's destruction unless you are delivered.

And let's be very clear, the occult is a counterfeit gospel that promises knowledge and power, but delivers slavery and death.

And the true gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the genuine knowledge of God, a knowledge of ourselves and all that is good together with the power to love God and to love our neighbor and to live in the fellowship that we were created to live in.

And you know we see again and again God moves and God is all powerful.

Why?

Because the one who is within us is greater than any other person and that's Christ Jesus.

True knowledge and power is found in Jesus Christ.

So we draw this all together this evening that the gospel is for you.

And whether you're steeped in black magic or merely a respectable person who's never bowed the knee to Christ, you're under the power of the evil one.

The Lord Jesus came to release captives.

And He offers true knowledge and true power, knowledge of the living God and power to live for Him through His death and through His resurrection.

He is greater than every occult force, and He can bring you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

And I plead with you, don't remain where you are this evening if you're not saved.

Don't experiment with what God calls an abomination either.

Don't trust the empty promises of the devil.

I say come to Christ, confess your ignorance and your weakness and your sin and your need and ask God to save you.

Ask Him to open your eyes, to turn you from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to himself and He'll give you that forgiveness of sin and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in Christ.

He who is in us is greater than He who is in the world.

Ask Him to save you and that's the greatest thing you can do, deliverance from the bondage of Satan and sin.

May God bless these words to our hearts.