sidespin: PROPHETS WHO OPEN THEMSELVES UP TO FAMILIAR SPIRITS

Because prophets weren't set in the Church to lead and guide people's lives, they will get off-course spiritually if they try to do it. They will open themselves up to occult powers and familiar spirits.

For example, I was holding a meeting in a certain city, staying in the home of a wealthy businessman who was a member of the church where I was ministering. This man owned a shopping center and was extremely successful in business. This businessman asked me, "Brother Hagin, do you know So-and-so?" and mentioned a certain minister.

I didn't know the man personally, but I knew about him. I'm convinced the minister he was talking about was called of God and at one time walked uprightly before God in the ministry. But then he began yielding to wrong spirits. This businessman said, "Our church helped sponsor this minister in a meeting here in town. Nearly every day this minister would come into my office and we'd talk or go out to lunch.

"I had an heirloom — a seven-carat diamond ring — that I'd inherited from my father, which I very seldom ever wore. I had it wrapped up in a handkerchief in the back right-hand corner of the chest of drawers in my bedroom. "One day when this minister came into my office, he turned to me and said, "You have a seven-carat diamond ring you inherited from your father. It's wrapped up in a handkerchief in the right-hand corner of the third drawer in your dresser. God said you are to get it, and give it to me.'"

That's supernatural knowledge, isn't it? It's not only supernatural knowledge, it's spectacular knowledge. But, remember, the devil operates in the supernatural realm too. You'd better watch those folks who prophesy rings off your fingers and money out of your pockets into theirs. Don't have anything to do with people like that. The businessman said to me, "How did that minister know about that ring? I've never told anyone that. No human knew about that heirloom but me and my wife. Naturally I thought, That must be God. So I went home and got it, and brought it back and gave it to him.

"About a week later, the minister came into my office, and someone crossed him and made him mad, and he started cussing. The minister closed the meeting and left town. Shortly after he left town, two young men came to me, and said, 'While that man was in town, he got us off into homosexuality'" This businessman told me, "I thought to myself, Dear Lord, I missed God! That man's not even walking with God. He's off into sin! And now he's got my diamond ring!" Shortly after that incident, I was holding a meeting for a pastor, and this same minister came to visit the pastor's church. This minister was used in spiritual gifts, and at one time he'd had a marvelous healing ministry.

Doctors even attested to the supernatural healings and were amazed about them. But, you see, if a minister isn't careful, he can get lifted up in pride when God uses him, and he can walk and tell them their name and address. Then he would say, "I'll tell you exactly what you have in your pocket. You've got a pen and a package of cigarettes," and then he'd tell the congregation the brand of cigarettes.

But that wasn't the Spirit of God in operation. He didn't minister to the person and get him delivered from cigarette smoking by the power of the Holy Spirit! He just wanted to draw attention to himself by displaying spectacular supernatural knowledge. God knows all those things, too, and He could move through a prophet like that. But He doesn't very often demonstrate Himself like that, unless it serves a definite purpose to help someone, and it gives glory to God.

But often when familiar spirits operate through people, many dear folks think, Isn't that supernatural! And some folks do get healed because they start believing God. I saw some ministers operate through familiar spirits in the days of The Voice of Healing. They could tell you what you had in your pocket, your name, address, and so forth. But it wasn't divinely inspired revelation. Most of the time people who do that are operating by familiar spirits.

A minister once called me to ask about another minister we had both known in the days of The Voice of Healing. He asked me if I would recommend him. Without answering him directly, I asked, "Why are you asking me if I would recommend him?" He answered, "I don't know. I attended one of his services, and I didn't necessarily see anything wrong, but there's just something that doesn't seem quite right. He says he's a prophet.

He called me and wants my church to sponsor him for a meeting. But something down on the inside of me doesn't feel good about it. But I don't know why." Without saying anything negative about the minister, I said, "Follow your spirit. Your spirit is leading you right." I needed to say something to this pastor by way of warning him, because I knew this particular minister had caused trouble in other churches and would tear his church up spiritually too. But I didn't want to say anything critical about him, so I just confirmed what this pastor already had in his own spirit. This so-called prophet would sometimes operate in the Holy Spirit, but then he would yield to familiar spirits and begin operating by occult powers.

And before you knew it, he would be prophesying money out of people's pockets into his. Because of that, he left a bad record everywhere he preached, and he couldn't go back to any of the churches where he had ministered before. This man's ministry was suspect by the very fact that he had to try to get someone to sponsor him for a meeting. In my ministry, I've never had to call anyone yet to be sponsored. If you leave a good record whenever you preach, people will call you for meetings, and you won't have to go around trying to get people to sponsor your meetings.

If a person's ministry is built on the Word, it will eventually prosper. If a minister feeds the people the Word, his ministry will make a way for him. But if he tries to minister through spectacular demonstrations even when the Holy Spirit isn't moving that way, he'll get into trouble spiritually. And eventually his ministry will fail. Sometimes there is just a fine line between fanaticism and true spirituality, and between false and genuine manifestations of spiritual gifts. Many are not able to distinguish the difference, but the Body of Christ needs to be able to do so. The Holy Spirit will always draw attention to God, and exalt the Word and the Lord Jesus Christ, not man.

Recently my wife and I went to preach for a certain group of people, and after my message, I turned to the pastor and said, "I could be wrong because I'm human; I can miss it. And sometimes it's difficult in the Spirit to distinguish between some things. But you've either been going through a terrible physical battle or a tremendous spiritual battle for the last year. If I'm wrong, just speak up and say I'm wrong."

The pastor began to cry, and said, "Brother Hagin, I've been going through a great physical battle." I said, "Well, here's what I have in my spirit. I believe the Lord told me to tell you, 'This is the end of it. The battle is over!'" The pastor said to me and to the congregation, "I haven't said anything to any of you about it, but fifteen years ago I had some serious physical problems. I went to some of the best doctors in America and they diagnosed it," and he gave the name of a rare disease.

"The doctors told me, 'There is nothing that can be done for you. You'll grow steadily worse and die.' But I got on top of the situation by believing God for my healing. And for fourteen years I've been all right. But last year all the symptoms came back on me. I've been in terrible pain. But, Brother Hagin, when you spoke what the Lord said — that the battle is over — all the pain left!" I saw him at a convention a month later, and he was still completely healed and set free. That's the kind of spectacular demonstration of the gifts of the Spirit that are in line with the Word! When it's the Holy Spirit in manifestation, people are healed and set free. And God is exalted, not a prophet. (Kenneth Hagin)