1 Corinthians 12:11 “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
The above passage of scripture clearly teaches us that it is the Holy Spirit that works the gifts, as He wills. And so, sadly it is on this point that many ministers get into error, for many have gifts of the Spirit operating in their ministries but wrongly assume that those gifts can be manifested through them whenever they choose. And so, when the Holy Spirit does not manifest Himself through their gifts, they try to operate in the gifts themselves. Bearing in mind that spiritual gifts are supernatural, and men have no power of their own but are completely reliant on the supernatural power of the spirit realm for these gifts to be displayed. And so, when ministers try to conjure up a display of supernatural power outside of the operation of the Holy Spirit, unclean spirits are always willing to accommodate them. Due to their ignorance, these ministers begin to operate in the supernatural by demonic spirits because demonic spirits will always show up, thus allowing them to display signs and wonders on call. In these instances, both the minister and the undiscerning believers in their meetings, experience supernatural encounters thinking that it is the work of the Holy Spirit, when in fact it is the work of demonic spirits. And so, what originally started out as a genuine gift of the Holy Spirit becomes defiled by demonic spirits. Initially the Lord is gracious and allows that minister to operate in the genuine gift for a time, but if they continue to operate by demonic spirits as well, the Lord eventually withdraws His anointing and gives the minister over to snare of the devil (2 Timothy 2:26). Anytime a minister is able to orchestrate supernatural manifestations whenever he chooses, you can be sure that minister is operating by demonic powers and not the Holy Spirit. As already mentioned, the consistent signs that these ministers are normally able to display, are either the prophetic or the miraculous, i.e. a display of supernatural power. And so, because of this constant display of the supernatural, people flock to those ministries because people are always looking for signs. In the same manner, churches that constantly display supernatural manifestations in every meeting are also displaying those manifestations by demonic powers, and not by the Holy Spirit. In the past there have been so called “moves” of the Spirit that have lasted for long periods of time (in one case for years) in the same church, and because of this constant display of the supernatural, people that are always looking for signs flock to those churches to experience the supernatural. Sadly because the spirit manifesting in those meetings are from this world, those seeking the signs come away having been impacted by unclean spirits.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments