say should line up with all of the truths outlined in the Bible. If they say something that doesn’t quite fit—then bingo! They need to take a hike.
A demon-possessed man can serve prominently in ministry (Judas Iscariot did), and a true believing man of God might murder an innocent man in order to ensure a marriage to that man’s wife (King David did), so the human capacity to judge good and evil is hampered already without adding the element of being dis- incarnate. It is possible that disincarnate spirits may want simple things, and some of them may even do good things, just as non-Christian people who are living may want simple things and even do good things—but the bottom line is that cursed, disincarnate spirits are not in heaven for a reason. This fact cannot be ignored, and neither can the warnings clearly outlined in scripture.
4.2.4. Advice for People Who See and Hear Spirits of the Deceased
For anyone with the spiritual gift of being able to see and hear spirits, this gift may be a powerful gift from God, with a God-given purpose. Simply reviewing all the spiritual gifts listed in scripture can give a clue as to what this ability might entail (1 Corinthians 12). For example, if someone sees or hears deceased spirits, then that should be a cue to pray with specific knowledge over people and places. In other words, if you see a demon possessing or manipulating someone, cast it out in the name of Jesus! That’s what Jesus did. He had the ability to detect spirits because he knew when Satan and demons were hanging around, manipulating people (Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33; Luke 4:8). He never wasted his time in casual conversation with such entities either. He cast them out and rebuked them left and right (Matthew 8:16, 8:31; Mark 1:34, 6:13, 16:9; Luke 13:32, and many more). We should do the same. I imagine such a gift would be particularly handy for keeping one’s eyes on the true enemy, rather than on all the pawns. One person I know personally who has this ability serves in deliverance ministry in my church, and conducts spiritual warfare of an unusual nature; the results are remarkable.
The ability to channel spirits is also a God-given gift, though it is intended only for channeling the power of the Holy Spirit, and none other. The satanic perversion of this is doing exactly the opposite. In today’s New Age climate, apparently anyone can learn how to channel spirits by following instructions in a number of widely available books. Mediums are magnets for demonic posses- sion—probably more susceptible to it than people without such gifts are. Demons seek out people who can perceive them because they can exude a greater influence through these people who are natural conduits. In essence the people whom God intends to use to free people from satanic oppression and possession can sometimes become slaves to Satan when they fall into the seduction of glorifying themselves and obtaining profit and prosperity by doing things with their spiritual gifts that are forbidden in scripture. The temptation to misuse powers is a constant temptation for many psychics, according to an article found in The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research.17
There is a prophet mentioned in the Old Testament who had powerful spiritual abilities, and he was tempted to do things with his spiritual gifts that were against the will of God (Numbers 22-24; Nehemiah 13:2). An interesting thing to note about Balaam is that he prayed and spoke with God, and God used him to bless the nation of Israel, which proves his gifts were originally from God and intended to bring glory to God. To suggest otherwise would be suggesting that God used a man with satanic power to bless the nation of Israel. Despite the fact that Balaam’s gifts were from God, Balaam ended up using them to serve his own purposes. His God-given gifts eventually became satanic because of this (Revelation 2:14; Jude 1:11; 2 Peter 2:15) and brought about his own
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