Unfortunately this second category of signs can be counterfeited by the devil, and so it is possible for unclean spirits to try deceiving the church in these areas. If you read the account in Exodus, when Moses performed various signs before Pharaoh, you will see that Pharaoh’s magicians were able to perform some of the same signs. And so, just because the encounter is supernatural, it does not always mean that it is from the Holy Spirit. Of the nine gifts of the Spirit, the ones demons more commonly counterfeit are; the prophetic gifts, i.e. the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge given through prophecy. They also counterfeit the working of miracles, by exposing people to their power which is obviously supernatural. There are four main evidences that help us to identify supernatural manifestations as not being the work of the Holy Spirit. The first is consistent manifestations, the second are manifestations that do not confirm the word of God, the third is indiscriminate manifestations, and the fourth is the absence of faith. In this section we will discuss the evidence of consistent manifestations. One of the clearest evidences that supernatural signs manifested through a ministry are the work of demonic spirits is consistency. In other words, if the minister in question is able to perform these signs at will, i.e. in every meeting they hold, then we can be assured that this is not the work of the Holy Spirit. For if we go back to the account in Exodus again, we see that Moses was only able to perform the signs that God gave him to perform, when God told him to do them. In other words, God performed His signs when He chose to and not when Moses chose. The magicians on the other hand, were able to produce the same signs at will, i.e. when they chose to.
Michael E.B. Maher
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