WATCH WHAT YOU READ

I remember the second year we had school here, a man called from another state because he needed help. He had been head of a psychology department in a leading university, but was now retired. He had taught criminal psychology. In his studies on the subject, he had read classified books on deviant sexual behavior among criminals.

He wasn't a Christian at the time, and as he had studied about people who are motivated by the devil, the devil got in him. He had gone out and molested little children. (That's the reason you need to be careful what you read. The devil can get into you through a book.) He told me that when he first retired, he hadn't read those books. He and his wife had gotten saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit, and for two years he hadn't had any problems. But he still kept the books, and eventually he got back to reading them. So by not staying in the Word and by reading about the sexual criminal again, he yielded to the devil and molested more little children. His wife found out about it and filed for divorce.

The man said to me, "Brother Hagin, that thing just got hold of me. I didn't want to do that. I know how I'll wind up; I'll wind up killing a child." As he was talking, I discerned by the Spirit of God that three demons were involved. I said, "Now, I can cast those things out of you. There are three demons. I know that exactly. I'll tell you their names. But it won't do a bit of good unless you do something."

Somebody said something one time that really registered with me, and I have never forgotten it. He said, "It's not what you do that counts. It's what you do afterwards. " Just stop and think about that. In the long run that's true. I've seen people who did good things, but they did them with the wrong motive. Afterwards they bragged on themselves, the devil got hold of them, and they backslid.

I've seen people who did wrong and knew it, but afterwards they repented and were mightily used of God. You see, it's not what you do or have done that counts. It's what you do afterwards. It's not what you do in that room where you're being delivered of devils that's going to count in the long run; it's what you do afterwards. What are you going to do after they're gone? We need to cover this whole field and not get carried away with casting out devils. You really might do a person an injustice to cast the devil out of him. You might do him more harm than good. If he doesn't do the right thing afterwards, that one spirit will go out and get seven more, and the last state of that man will be worse than his beginning!

So I told this man, "I know what the spirits are. I'll cast them out of you. I know I can do it. And as long as you are here with me, I can keep them out of you. But when you get away from here, I can't control the situation." (I've experienced this again and again in my life, not only with demons, but with sickness. I can control the situation as long as the person is under my authority, in my domain.) I said, "There's no use of my casting the spirits out of you and getting you delivered unless you're going to do something. Number one, you're going to have to leave those books alone. I'd encourage you to empty your library and burn them. Don't read one of them. And get in the Bible. Study the Word of God. Get filled up. Don't let the devil come back and find your house empty, swept, and garnished."

You see, when he had gotten saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit, God was blessing him, and he left the books alone. But he didn't get the Bible in him. So the devil came back and found him empty, and that same devil started acting up and threw him again. A person can get saved, but if he's not going to walk with God, read the Bible, go to church, and fellowship with fellow Christians, he'll never amount to anything. He'll wind up backslidden. It's what you do afterwards that counts. I talked to this professor for about an hour and 45 minutes, cast those things out of him, and sent him on his way. About a year later, he and his wife came to our prayer seminar. They were back together, smiling. He said, "I haven't had a bit of trouble. Praise God, I did just what you said to do. I'm staying in the Word, and we're just fine." You see, he did something about it.

But if a person allows them, the demons will try to return to the place they came out of. Many times I have seen this happen. Jesus told me that they will then stay in that person until they're discerned and cast out again, or until that person dies. When the person dies, they'll leave that body and try to get into another body. Evidently, in the incident related in Mark 5, this is what happened to those spirits in the swine. The spirits left because the swine died. Jesus said this will go on and on and on; thus, we have the same spirits here today that were here when Jesus was here. There's no telling how many people they've indwelt. (Kenneth Hagin)