A very good point made by a very dear friend just this morning which proves the truth is quite simple once you have been given eyes to see it. (Ephesians 1:18)
Luke 8:27-29 / 35-36
27And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. 29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) ………..
35 Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his RIGHT MIND: and they were afraid. 36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.
Why is it that we see this demon possessed man, who was totally out of control, sitting at the feet of Jesus in HIS RIGHT MIND???? And yet we see “Christians” today who so call “worship” at His feet in their churches acting as the demon possessed man did before Jesus cast them out????
m'kayla's korner 
This is the second time in as many days that the Lord has brought this verse to me. I never used to question the “manifestations” going on all around me in church services; however, I did pray that God would protect me from anything not of Him. I believe as a result, I never had any strange uncontrolled manifestations – He is faithful!
I do have friends that display them quite regularly though, and so I pray with all my heart, “Lord, bless them with Your truth and don’t let them be deceived or controlled by the enemy. Amen.”
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and SELF-CONTROL. Against such things there is no law.” Gal. 5:22-26
“But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, WITHOUT SELF CONTROL, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” “But they will not get very far because in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.” 2 Tim. 3:1-5, 9
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, SELF-CONTROL; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-11
These and many more verses exhort us to be self-controlled – not yelling, “MORE, LORD, MORE!” when someone is losing self control over various manifestations.
LikeLike
Plumb the scriptures in Galatians 5 and in 2 Peter 1 are the very ones I felt the Lord lead me to when I was asking him how to lead/teach my IAHR team of intercessors. The “self control” was a kick in my rear! I didn’t get it at first, but soon I did, and realized with great agonizing horror what I had become. That day I was submitting to His lead and teaching through prayer and tho I was wrapped up in some very bad things He was there to answer me in truth! His Truth! Praise Him for His faithfulness and longsuffering, thank you for the comment! Whew! 🙂
LikeLike
Why is it that we see this demon possessed man, who was totally out of control, sitting at the feet of Jesus in HIS RIGHT MIND???? And yet we see “Christians” today who so call “worship” at His feet in their churches acting as the demon possessed man did before Jesus cast them out????
Great question, M’Kayla! I think John Bevere made a great point when he said that to whatever extent people (including Christians) allow spiritual darkness into their lives, to that extent their lives will be affected by it.
I have had real concerns about common manifestations in churches for several years. Before that, I wondered about them.
The problem is, “another spirit” (as Paul mentioned) is received as being the Holy Spirit. IMHO, this is the bottom line. Oh how we desperately need the TRUTH of God’s Word as our plumbline today!
LikeLike
Yes, we need to test all things, and unfortunately when we do that many think we are judging them and turn away. It gets to be quite futile at times.
This comment from Bevere concerns me and sounds more new age than it does biblical. Can you give us a scriptural reference, or your thoughts on that?
Thanks Claire!
LikeLike
This comment from Bevere concerns me and sounds more new age than it does biblical. Can you give us a scriptural reference, or your thoughts on that?
It’s been quite some time since I read his book in which he said this (The Bait of Satan), and I didn’t see anything in it which looked remotely new age-y. The book was replete with Scripture references. I am truly sorry that I do not remember specifics. His statement stayed with me, and I have observed many things since then which have brought it to mind, including weird maninfestations in churches; hence, my comment here.
My main thought about this is what the apostle Paul said (in Ephesians, IIRC). He admonished believers to “give no ground to the devil”. If we could not do that, the Lord would not have spoken through him to warn us about it. The Lord also warned believers not to be conformed to the world, but to be renewed in the spirit of their minds (Romans 12). There are similar warnings in the book of Hebrews.
I see a real difference between possession and oppression. The man you mentioned above was possessed by (completely controlled by) evil spirits until Christ Jesus set him free. I do not believe that is possible for a child of God who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. At the same time, I believe it behooves us to abide in the Lord and let Him abide richly in us so that the enemy cannot oppress us in any way (which is obviously his goal).
You said, “Yes, we need to test all things, and unfortunately when we do that many think we are judging them and turn away. It gets to be quite futile at times.”
Yes, the things the Lord prophesied have come to pass, and many (sadly, even professed believers) turn away from sound doctrine today, having itching ears. The words the Lord spoke to Ezekiel are encouraging to me — where He directed Ezekiel to warn those who are disobedient so that they have a chance to repent and, if they refused, their blood would not be on his hands.
LikeLike
P.S. I looked up the Scripture in Ephesians — it’s in Chapter 4, verse 27.
The KJV says “Neither give place to the devil.”
Other translations say “Give no opportunity to the devil.”
LikeLike
Hi Claire
Some very good points. Just for kicks, how do you see people who are believers and yet manifest – slain, jerking, twitching, shouting, ecstatic tongues, emotions, etc., etc. long is the list -would you say they are oppressed or possessed?
🙂 Thanks for the comment!
LikeLike
Oops – I meant to add that I read his book too long ago, loaned it and never got it back.
LikeLike
Just for kicks, how do you see people who are believers and yet manifest – slain, jerking, twitching, shouting, ecstatic tongues, emotions, etc., etc. long is the list -would you say they are oppressed or possessed?
Wow, I feel totally unqualified to answer this, really. Only the Lord Himself sees all things in the spirit realm which we cannot see, only He knows people’s hearts, whether they are truly His. At best we “see through a glass darkly” unless He gives us words of knowledge, wisdom, etc.
Years ago when this phenomena was first manifesting at John Arnott’s church in Toronto, I saw him on a TV program where he was asked about this. His answer was that when evil spirits came out of people, they made a lot of noise and caused a lot of havoc. At the time, that made sense to me. However, at this point in time, about 20 years later, it seems that once the evil spirits were gone, there wouldn’t have been such a hubbub anymore! Even realizing there were always new crowds of new people there, I do have serious reservations about a lot of it, particularly things which have been attributed to the Holy Spirit, including gold flakes, feathers, etc, etc, etc.
I do believe that some people have believed on “another Jesus”, “another gospel”, and “another spirit” which is not the Holy Spirit. This is serious business, as it means there has been gross and widespread deception throughout “Christendom”. God help us! I truly pray for a TRUE revival of His Holy Spirit everywhere, including the lives of people who have swept up in false “revivals”.
LikeLike
Yeah, see? I still wonder about it myself. I think it’s more than just oppression and certainly worth some study time. (As soon as I can find an open slot!) 🙂 The bible warns of another jesus/gospel. I’ve heard people just poo=poo this scripture and warning off as if it’s not important or not real. Wow – just Wow!
I plan on responding to your e-mail as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience and I am still holding your other comments. They aren’t deleted! 🙂
LikeLike
I am still holding your other comments. They aren’t deleted!
This is good to know. 🙂
I just saw a typo in my most recent post. I should have said:
I truly pray for a TRUE revival of His Holy Spirit everywhere, including the lives of people who have been swept up in false “revivals”.
LikeLike
Hi M’Kayla, This is a wonderful blog. I have learned alot from the comments. I came to the blog when I googled “false spirit of jesus”. Do you have any information on that? I heard there was a jesus spirit like when Jesus Barabbas was next to Jesus Christ also the seven sons of Sceva exorcised with a spirit of jesus.
LikeLike
Hmm, oddly and vaguely familiar, but I can’t quite place it. Got a teacher’s name or link? I’m sure it’s bogus tho. 🙂
LikeLike
I heard there was a jesus spirit like when Jesus Barabbas was next to Jesus Christ also the seven sons of Sceva exorcised with a spirit of jesus.
What do you mean by “jesus spirit” and “a spirit of jesus”?
Whom do you think “Jesus Barabbas” was? The only Barabbas mentioned in the Bible had not “Jesus” as part of his name.
Have you read the account of the seven sons of Sceva in the book of Acts? They said to the devils in a demon-possessed man, “We adjure you in the name of Jesus ‘whom Paul preaches’ to come out of him”.
They were not believers (tried to invoke the power the Lord had imparted to Paul), and so had no authority over demons. The demons jumped out of the man, attacked the seven, stripped them naked, and they ran for their lives.
LikeLike
Hi Mkayla, the problem today is that most who call themselves christians are thrown out the authenticity and authority of the bible. Its all about experiencing and feelings now. In the last days there will be what the Word says in 2 Thess 2:9 “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders and in every sort of evel that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie (antichrist) and so that all will be condemned who have not believe the truth but have delighted in wickedness”. ALthough I have just seen that this speaks much about “those who are perishing – the unsaved”, I do believe that in the church God is doing this because so many have been taken in by the ‘other gospel’.
LikeLike
Yep Linda, it is all very much about the flesh and “me”. There is very little to nothing of Christ being preached these days, just about power and position. Many will be lost.
LikeLike
Hi, In the last days there will be a great falling away, not a revival. So many are looking to this great revival. And the great falling away is in the Church of Jesus Christ.
LikeLike
It is the saved that are falling away and the unsaved never receiving the real Jesus because the gospel is not preached in the church anymore. Plus the fake Holy Spirit that is very deceiving. It is a strong delusion and many lies being taught to both the saved and unsaved.
LikeLike