Mark 1:23-26 “Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, (24) saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!" (25) But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" (26) And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.”
Luke 9:42 “And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.”
This now brings us to the more serious aspect, which is the actual demonic manifestation in this area. All of the demonic manifestations discussed in this area are forced upon the individual, i.e. the person loses all self control in this area, which in itself is a clear indication as to what type of spirit is being manifested. We looked at both of the above passages earlier to show that demons are the ones who throw people to the ground. Nevertheless these same passages also describe to us how it is, that demons are the ones that convulse people. Firstly, we will discuss the scenario where the person being prayed for, already has a demon. As we saw earlier, some people, even Christians, can have demons that are oppressing them in some way and those same people are unaware that it is in fact a demon that is afflicting them. And so, when believers that are filled with the Holy Spirit lay hands on them, very often the demon manifests by convulsing the person in some way. It can also happen that the demon manifests without anyone laying hands on them, purely because the person is in a Christian gathering. The more common manifestations in this area are, people shaking uncontrollably or violently, and or people thrashing about on the floor. Again if we look at the ministry of Jesus as our example, every time this type of manifestation happened in His ministry, Jesus cast the demon out of the individual. And so, it is incumbent upon either the person laying hands or the leaders of the meeting, to discern that an unclean spirit is manifesting and cast the demon out of the individual. But unless either the person laying hands or leaders recognises that it is a demon manifesting, nothing will be done to deliver that individual and they will remain oppressed. And so sadly many are never delivered, because both those laying hands and the meeting leaders have no discernment, and attribute the manifestation to the work of the Holy Spirit.
Michael E.B. Maher
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