Power over the Enemy: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds (14 page)

After the Lord rebuked me, I jumped up and called this woman and met with her. I expressed my alarm, rebuked the devil, and brought the Scripture to bear on the situation. I presented her with some of the truths I am sharing in this book. Praise God, the devil’s deception over her was broken, and she was delivered.

When she came to herself, she told me, “I don’t know what came over me. Why, it is unthinkable what I was about to do. I can’t imagine selling my home or being drawn into such false doctrine. Thank God that you cared enough to rescue me!”

That’s what pastors should do. It is our spiritual responsibility as church leaders to rescue our sheep. When we see the congregation drifting in the wrong direction, we must rise up and take action. I warn our flock when there is a false teacher in their midst. I refuse to let any of these deceivers have sway in our church services, because my responsibility is to guard the flock God has given me, to guide and rescue them from the enemy.

When you hear these ministers of Satan putting down your pastor or leaders, don’t listen. They are of the devil, and they will lead you astray.

If I had died every time someone prophesied my death, I would have had a thousand funerals. When false prophets and ministers of Satan come and find I resist them strongly, they start prophesying, “I pronounce upon you doom and destruction. Thus says the Lord, ‘You shall surely die.’ ”

I just stand up to them and say, “No, that’s not true. You are deceived.” I rebuke the enemy, turn them away, and get them out of the congregation.

Several years ago a fellow came to our church and tried to cause disturbances in the services, but I wouldn’t let him. He would try to stand up in a service, and I would sit him down. This went on and on. Finally, he came to me and said, “I am a prophet to the nations! Thus saith the Lord, ‘You shall die before this building is finished.’ ”

I responded, “No, you are not a prophet to anything. You are a poor deceived individual for whom Christ died, but the devil has gotten hold of you. I am not going to die. I am going to live, for with long life He satisfies me and shows me His salvation.”

I rebuked the devil in that man and turned him loose, and he never came back. We finished that building, then another building, and still another building after that, despite his predictions of my doom.

False prophets and teachers often bring messages of doom and destruction, especially for those who resist them. We must recognize that they are deceived and may actually think they are prophets, but they don’t understand the role of a New Testament prophet. They think they are like a prophet in the Old Testament, sent to bring the people a message of warning and destruction. But there are big differences between a message of prophecy in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.

In the Old, the prophet was the mediator between God and the people. He spoke for God in a very literal sense. His message was often one of judgment. But in the New Testament, this is not true. Because Christ died for us, we can all come boldly to the throne of grace. We do not need a priest or prophet to stand between God and us and speak to us for God. We can go directly into His presence (Hebrews 4:14–16). The Bible clearly states that the ministry of prophecy in the New Testament is to exhort, edify, and comfort others (1 Corinthians 14:3).

So don’t be deceived into believing these deceivers who step forward like Old Testament prophets with a message of doom. The message of those who have the gift of prophecy in our day—the New Testament day—is a message of exhortation, edification, and comfort.

Invariably, however, if you cross these false prophets in their revelation of new light, they will pronounce doom and destruction upon you. If you refuse to take them into your home, listen to them, or support them, their final word will always be, “You will find out that I am true. This church will be dissolved in destruction, and the pastors and elders will die. God will send them quick destruction.” Turn away from people such as that. Their very words mark them as ministers of Satan.

Not all false ministers come from distant places, but most do, and they strongly declare, “God Almighty has sent me to you with a message.” Now, we know God can send people to us with messages, and just because a person says, “God sent me to you,” doesn’t mean he is a minister of Satan. But more often than not this is a strong indication that such a person is a deceiver.

Watch out when a “prophet” comes from a far and distant place and says God has sent him to you. Usually he doesn’t have any money, needs support, and ends up staying in the homes of people in the church. When this happens, people need to be spiritually strong, because this false minister will try to deceive them.

Sadly, in some cases, these false messengers drag children along. Their homes have been broken up, because their husbands or wives wouldn’t put up with their false doings. These people drift around without any support. Because kindhearted church people have sympathy for them and their children, they take these deceivers in and let them use their home as a base. And many times these satanic
ministers deceive the people of that home. They work to get the sympathy and understanding of the family, and then they begin to spread their false doctrine.

The Bible says, “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). When these people come around me, I tell them, “Go get a job. Make your own money. Take care of your children and your family. Go back to your husband or wife and to where you came from.”

Beware of those who drift in, have no means of support, and want to stay in your home. Beware of those who claim they have been sent by God to give new light to you and your church. That is a sure mark of a minister of Satan.

Let me also add a word of warning about money. Usually false ministers talk a lot about money. They prophesy that you are to give them money, or that you are to open your home, or that you are to sell such and such to give to them. They may get very angry if you refuse to support them or give them money. Beware of these people. They are not of God, and they will deceive you if you are not careful.

The Bible says, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” (1 Samuel 15:23). It also says, “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive…” (Hebrews 13:17). God has placed authority and governments in the church. This does not mean that your pastor or an elder has a right to direct every detail of your life, but they do have the right to watch over and guide and protect you spiritually. They have the right to come and warn you or instruct you when it comes to error.

False teachers are so rebellious and unteachable in their spirits that they will not allow anyone to tell them what to do. They have stood up in my congregation, and I’ve had to say, “Please sit down.” No, they wouldn’t sit down. “Will you please be seated so we can go on with the service?” No. “Will you please be seated? I do not recognize that you have a message for this congregation.” No, they wouldn’t recognize my authority. These kinds of people are of Satan.

God has given me a call to be a pastor. The Holy Spirit has set me over my congregation. Yet these ministers of Satan would not recognize that I have any authority to
direct the service at all. At times when this has happened, I’ve simply had some of my people take the disturbers out of the service. Some of them stiffened up like a board, and we literally had to carry them out. But carry them out we did! I will not allow my services to be disrupted by those who have a rebellious spirit.

The minister of Satan recognizes no authority. He acknowledges no one as his leader. He is unteachable and will not yield to any sort of authority. Be quick to recognize that this is a minister of Satan.

There are supernatural, miraculous things happening in churches today that are not of God. A sure sign that a person is a minister or a tool of Satan is that, even though he causes supernatural things to happen, his life does not demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22–23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” One of the most important tests you can apply to a person to see if he is of God is to measure his life by his fruit.

Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:15–20).

Jesus didn’t say you would know the good from the bad by their works or their miracles or their supernatural signs. He did not say you would know them by their prophecies that come true or the supernatural things they know and do, or even by the strange, supernatural occurrences in their lives. No, Jesus said you would know them by their fruit.

In these last days, we are going to see more and more supernatural occurrences. Second Thessalonians 2:7–10 says, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish.” This states that Satan has the power to work signs and lying wonders.

Revelation 13:13–14 talks about Satan and the minister of Satan doing miraculous things: “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast.” Revelation 16:13–14 adds, “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs…” This is an amazing statement from God. He is talking about things that are going to happen.

These false teachers, false Christs, false apostles, and false prophets who come into the church and show supernatural signs deceive many people. They can work all sorts of false miracles and lying wonders to deceive people. These deceivers demonstrate the supernatural, but they do not have the fruit of the Spirit.

Jesus said, “By their fruit you shall know them.” What are the fruits of these false teachers? They may have a false piety that brings sympathy from your heart. At first, they seemingly have a humble attitude that draws people to them. But when it gets to the bottom line, what are the results of their being in your congregation, your group, and your town? What fruit do they cause to grow in those with whom they associate?