Exodus 7:8-12 “Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, (9) "When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Show a miracle for yourselves,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.' “(10) So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. (11) But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. (12) For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.”
This brings us to the discussion of people laughing under demonic influence. Some teach that if you want to experience laughing in the Spirit, you should start laughing “by faith” in the natural, and eventually, the Holy Spirit will take over, causing the believer to laugh in the Spirit. This practice is not only completely unscriptural, but it is also illogical. It is the same as saying that if you want to prophesy, you should begin prophesying “by faith” in the natural, and eventually, the Holy Spirit will take over and you will prophesy in the Spirit. While the faith message is scriptural, when taken to extremes, it becomes unscriptural. Prophecy is initiated by the Holy Spirit, not by man, and laughing in the Spirit is also initiated by the Holy Spirit, not by man.
Those who try to conjure up laughter in the “spirit” by starting in the natural open themselves up to unclean spirits, which will accommodate them by causing them to laugh in a spirit that is not of God. You may wonder how this is possible. The above passage of scripture describes how the Egyptian sorcerers were able to perform the same miracle that Moses performed. Make no mistake, unclean spirits have real power and can easily produce a similar manifestation of laughter in those who yield to them, even if the individual believes they are yielding to the Holy Spirit.
Believers should avoid meetings where such behaviour is encouraged, because those who do not may leave with a demon attached to them that they did not have before.
1 Corinthians 14:32-33 “And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. (33) For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
We have already established that laughter in the Spirit is initiated by the Holy Spirit. This is an important point to note, as it helps us more easily recognize which spirit is responsible for causing people to laugh in certain meetings. There are instances when people laugh out loud while the minister is preaching the word from the pulpit. Such behaviour obviously disrupts the meeting and distracts from the preaching of the word of God. The above passage of scripture clearly states that God is not the author of confusion. The word translated as “confusion” can also be rendered as “disorder,” which is a more accurate translation in this context. God, the Holy Spirit, does not violate His own word and would not cause members of the congregation to laugh out loud while the minister is preaching, as that would create disorder in the meeting and distract the saints from hearing the word of God. Clearly, in these cases, the source of the disruption is demonic spirits. Unfortunately, there are “ministers” who encourage such behaviour in their meetings, causing it to occur frequently. These ministers are allowing demonic powers to control their meetings. Some false prophets do so knowingly, but others are deceived and allow unclean spirits to manifest in their meetings, thinking it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Believers would be well advised to avoid such ministers and their meetings, as simply being in that environment places them at risk of becoming contaminated by the unclean spirits present.
This brings us to the issue of people pretending to laugh in the Spirit. In most cases, when people pretend to laugh in the Spirit, it is painfully obvious to everyone that they are operating in the flesh, and so this practice is not commonly found in the church. Laughter, however, is contagious in the natural. What does this mean? It means that when people observe others laughing, a natural reaction is to at least smile, and in some cases, to begin laughing as well. In meetings where people are laughing in the Spirit or even laughing due to a demonic spirit, others in the congregation who observe such behaviour may themselves start laughing. However, their laughter will not be in the Spirit but rather in the natural, as they react to those around them laughing in the Spirit.
Michael E.B. Maher
Comments