Chapter 3 -

Where have the gifts come from?

 

 

 

 

There are generally three ways how a person who has a false anointing from the false source and, for example, the gift of tongues or any other ‘gift’ that goes with the anointing could have become a partaker of the ‘gifts’. We will look at these below.

 

1. Man himself practises. The first way is that man himself has practiced occultism, read magic literature, and continuously worked with these issues. The most usual areas in this field are methods based on meditation and passive submission to a foreign spirit:

 

Methods based on meditation. Firstly, the methods based on meditation that can include concentrating the mind, breathing exercises, concentrating your thoughts into a vacuum of thoughts, and other similar methods are common sources of the false anointing. Most mediums have become mediums just by practicing some form of Oriental meditation for a long time – perhaps for some years – until they have finally become channels for untruthful spirits:

 

Of channels and mediums whom I have examined, almost every one had their initial connection with his or her guiding spirit when they practiced some form of Oriental meditation. The shamans also use some spell or mantra in order to get into a trance, whereby they get connected to the spirit world.” (Kenneth R. Wade, Uuden aikakauden salaisuudet: New age, p. 137)

 

Another example that we can consider is Rudolf Steiner, who is regarded the creator of anthroposophy and Steiner pedagogy. He received a certain kind of ability of clairvoyance (and his wrong teachings) when he practiced yoga which he had learned from the Indian religions for several years. He even believed that if someone practices passive meditation for a half an hour every day for seven years, the person will also receive a similar ability as he himself had received.

 

Passive submission to a foreign spirit. The second possible way is passive submission to a foreign spirit and turning to the spirits. Often, the worst cases faced by Christians are from this area. For example, Doreen Irvine tells of this kind of a case. She was a queen of black witches, a former prostitute, and striptease dancer, but she was finally freed from the demonic chains – after a seven-month fight. She writes in her book Olin noita (From witchcraft to Christ), p. 152-153:

 

Suddenly, I became aware of the evil spirits who lived in me. They really owned my body. The evil spirit spoke to me again, but only to me.

   "Do not tell him anything.”

   The evil spirits were not unfamiliar to me. How often had I called them to help me when I was a witch and a worshipper of Satan! For the first time I understood that these evil spirits were in me, and not outside of me. It was an astonishing discovery.

 

2. Inheritance. The second possibility is that the gifts have been passed on as inheritance. (It is good to note that the gifts of God are never passed on from one generation to the next.) It is ordinary that the parents or one of the grandparents have practiced these issues, let themselves be healed by magic, visited a person who has used a divining rod, or some mediumistic person, the abilities may have been passed on to the children and grand-children. They may have these abilities, of which they become aware often under surprising circumstances.

  Kurt Koch states this issue in his book Onko paholainen olemassa (Between Christ and Satan), p. 33. He brings up the important issue that these abilities do not necessarily disappear even in conversion and that some may confuse them with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. That is why  special prayer may be needed to be freed from these capabilities:

 

As we examine the history of families, we can see that in many cases the ability to use a divining rod or a pendulum – also mesmerism, clairvoyance, and dreams that come true – appear in people whose ancestors have been active spiritualists or have even practiced magic. These exceptional abilities are not gifts of the Holy Spirit and neither are they neutral or natural gifts, but mediumistic abilities. Many people have these abilities and they do not even know it. Sometimes they are noticed by accident. Every now and then a person who possesses mediumistic abilities becomes a Christian. Then, as a Christian, he or she can suddenly notice the rare abilities and imagine that he or she has received a gift of the Spirit. This is, of course, a misconception. Sometimes we can see that these mediumistic abilities disappear when people become converted, but very often they are carried into the new life. But if a Christian sincerely prays for freedom from these abilities, God will answer the prayers. They are a real burden for many Christians. Markus Hauser said that clairvoyance was rather a plague than a gift to him. Mediumistic abilities should never be confused with gifts of the Spirit. Even conversion does not sanctify them. The Holy Spirit never uses or sanctifies skills that the ancestors have received in service to Satan.

 

3. Transfer. The third way how one can become a partaker of the burden of occultism is transfer which, according to the Bible, is actually the demonic equivalent for the laying on of hands. Here, we can see the following models:

 

Ordinary close contact where a person goes to a spirit healer, lets someone with a diving rod move his hands, or is in close contact with a person who has the abilities and powers of a medium, can cause a transfer. Many may have received an occultist burden in this way.

 

Sexual intercourse, which is a similar kind of contact like visiting a spirit healer, can lead to demonic pollution because the spirits can be transferred from one person to the other. If someone has had these kinds of connections in their past, he can cancel their effect both by confessing his sins and by the name and blood of Jesus.

 

- (1 Cor 6:16-18) What? know you not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body?  for two, said he, shall be one flesh.

17  But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

18  Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body.

 

Unreliable people. Sometimes also saved people may have drifted into the bondage of an occultist burden or may have received the ‘gift’ of prophecy, speaking in tongues, healing, words of knowledge, or other similar gifts (Rebecca Brow and Kurt Koch tell examples of this in their books) when they have let some unknown and unreliable person put their hands on them. This kind of a transfer is possible even in churches, because all people who visit churches are not servants of God or they may be bound themselves. Everyone should, therefore, obey the verses in James Chapter 5, where it is said that only the elders of the church or other reliable persons should anoint them and pray for them. (The second possible mistake we can make is that we are too eager to place our hands on people. If they are not ready to give up their sins and to repent or if they are even directly possessed, this mistake can be made. However, Jesus said, "they will drive out demons" and by no means that they will put their hands on them.)

   The following warning by Yonggi Cho refers to the same issue. He stated that many who have been pursuing the baptism of the Holy Spirit may have been forced under this yoke just because they subjected themselves to the wrong person. However, the consequence of this has usually been them encountering unnecessary suffering and becoming shipwrecked in their lives:

 

People who pray earnestly and eagerly for receiving the Holy Spirit should not allow anyone to place their hands on them while they pray. An evil spirit is very contagious, as are diseases that spread like epidemics. I have seen how filthy spirits have been transferred into people when someone who is possessed by evil spirits has placed their hands on them. When such a spirit gets into them, they suffer terribly until they are freed from it. If someone wants hands to be placed on him in prayer, he should always be sure that the people who do this are full of the Spirit of Truth. (15)

 

TESTING THE SPIRITS

 

- (1 John 4:1-3) Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

2  Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

3  And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

 

In the above-mentioned Bible verses we are advised to test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because all spirits are not from Him. Therefore, if you are uncertain about with which power you are in connection and an angel or spirit continuously appears to you (also a spirit who appears as Jesus or as the Holy Spirit) or if you doubt speaking in tongues that you have received or other gifts, you can test these powers.

   If it is a question of God’s angels or the Holy Spirit, they will always glorify Jesus Christ in the flesh and His godliness.

   However, if they are evil spirits and they are asked: "Is Jesus Christ (= the Messiah), who came in the flesh, who is God Almighty, who died on the cross and rose from the tomb on the third day and now sits on the right side of the Father God, is this Jesus Christ their Lord?”, you will see that they normally deny it, fall silent, or otherwise give a vague answer.

   Neil T. Anderson states this in an excellent example. He brings up the issue about how the enemy can easily imitate normal gifts of God. He refers to a person who received the gifts of speaking in tongues and prophecy from the false source through false teachers. However, he was freed from these imitated gifts:

 

Recently a man in his thirties was directed to me. Alvin was depressed and felt defeated. He had thought for several years that he had received a special gift of prophecy from God. He was called many times to the churches to speak like an oracle of God; he prophesied in his own unique way. But over the course of a few months, his life started to break down. Alvin finally came to a point where he could not act in the society anymore and he started to completely draw back from the company of others. When he came to see me, he had been unemployed for two years. His father took care of him and he was the slave of prescription drugs.

   I read 1 Thess 5:19-21 with Alvin: “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” I said, “Alvin, I don't resist prophesying; it is a gift. But Satan may imitate these gifts and mislead us to believe that they are from God. That is why the Bible says: test everything.”

   During our conversation Alvin admitted, “I feel that my problems began when I didn't test the gifts of tongues and prophecy which I had received through wrong teachers. I was deceived, but I have also deceived other people.”

   “Would you now like to test your gift of speaking in tongues,” I asked. I assured Alvin that I wanted to test the spirit, not him.

   Alvin really wanted to be freed from the deceit and amend his relationship with God. “I would,” he replied.

   I told Alvin that he must pray aloud 'speaking in tongues'. When Alvin started to repeat an incomprehensible prayer, I said, “In the name of Christ and obedient to the word of God, I command you, spirit, to tell who you are.”

   Alvin stopped in the middle of his rhythmic repeats and said, “I am Him.”

   At this stage, a novice would have had the temptation to take off his shoes and imagine that he stood on Holy Land. But I continued testing the spirit, “Are you Him who was crucified during Pontius Pilate, buried, rose from the dead on the third day, and who now sits on the right side of the Father?”

   Alvin almost shouted his reply, “I am not! I am not Him!” I advised Alvin in prayer to forbid the activity of Satan in his life, and so Alvin was freed from that deceit. (16)