Many years ago when I was still a Jehovah’s Witness, I was going door to door with my mother offering literature. At one door, an older lady asked us to come into her house. I thought I was going to have a chance to give her my presentation, but she stopped me and said she didn’t want to hear it. What she really wanted to do was to tell me about a few of the many encounters she’d had with the Lord. She told me story after story of having her prayers answered in obvious and spectacular ways.
As JWs, we had been taught that members of “Christendom” (Christians) were deceived by the devil. Even so, I could not get this lady’s stories out of my head. I had a very hard time believing that she had been lying. My only option other than questioning my indoctrination, which I could not do, was to make myself believe that demons had been answering her prayers.
That encounter lived rent free in my mind for a long time. Actually, I never forgot it, and when I eventually began to question my allegiance to the Watchtower organization, like a dormant seed, it started to grow. I wish I could thank that lady now. She didn’t have to invite us in and tell us her stories. She could have simply ignored our knock or told us she wasn’t interested. Instead, she cared enough to make an attempt to reach our hearts.
In case you didn’t know, the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses is considered by many to be a dangerous, pseudo-Christian cult. The reason for that is two-fold. The first reason is that the level of control exerted over the faithful is extreme and, in some cases, even dangerous. The second reason is exclusive to Christianity. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach unscriptural doctrines that are so far outside what could be considered orthodox Christianity that it cannot be called Christian. They teach what most Christians would call “another gospel.” (Galatians 1:8) Many question whether or not JWs are even saved.
For JWs, waking up is dangerous. Depending on how long they have been associated, they stand to lose what to them may feel like everything they hold dear – their worldview, their family, and possibly all or nearly all of their friends. They are taught that dissidents, called “apostates”, are spiritual poison and must be completely shunned, which is why, if they have any doubts, they will often hide them at all costs. I remember feeling like I was bound and gagged. Once a JW is either expelled from the organization, called “disfellowshipping”, or formally disassociates themself, they are treated as if they had died, or worse, as if they had never even existed in the first place. This is unimaginably painful, often leading to severe mental illness or even suicide.
My Christian friends often ask me how they can talk to JWs in a way that might help them to wake up. First, remember what they stand to lose and be gentle and kind. Second, they probably won’t listen to you unless they are already questioning. If they are not ready to be intellectually honest, any effort at waking them up will probably prove fruitless. In that case, pray for them.
If you think your JW friend might be open to hearing you, try giving your testimony. (Revelation 12:11) Very rarely does arguing doctrine help, but it does happen. (I will write a future post on how to discuss doctrine with JWs.) Most JWs are well-trained to frustrate the average Christian with their labyrinthine eisegesis of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. A die-hard JW will reject even the most biblically sound, well-thought-out argument because they are conditioned to believe that no one can understand the Bible except for the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. But it is much harder for them to reject or explain away your encounters with God.
The above approach is my favorite because it bolsters faith in God. If a JW loses faith in the Watchtower organization before they have had a genuine encounter with God, they almost inevitably become atheist or agnostic. In fact, it has been estimated by some that up to 90 percent of ex JWs are unbelievers. So, if you decide to use any approach other than giving your testimony or discussing the Bible, do everything you can to help them hang on to their faith in God.
What kicked my own awakening into high gear was the Covid lockdowns. The emotional manipulation and spiritual abuse perpetrated by the leadership became so painfully obvious during that time that I finally felt that I had to question my beloved organization. Most JWs will not be able to question their indoctrination until they can clearly see that the organization is suspect and may not deserve their trust. They will defend the interpretations of the organization to their dying breath unless they at some point are able to see the humbug behind the curtain, the flawed, imperfect, and even devious men behind the impeccable facade.
If you decide to try to show a JW the truth about the organization, make sure that you stick to the facts. There is a lot of unprovable conjecture on the internet about the Watchtower organization. But hard, verifiable facts are available. JWs are extremely suspicious of outside information about the organization and will almost inevitably dismiss any negative information as “apostate lies” unless you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that what you are presenting is true. Even then, they may either claim you are lying or that your source is biased and unreliable. And again, emphasize that just because the Watchtower organization is untrustworthy does not mean that God is.
Making JWs aware of their own history can also be a good way to wake them up. If the foundation is rotten, the building cannot stand. For many, all it took was to read some of Charles T. Russell’s original works and the scales fell from their eyes. Russell, the founder of the Watchtower organization who fancied himself a prophet of God, was very fond of setting dates for the second coming of Christ, and every date that he set was wrong. This made him a false prophet. For more on the history of the Watchtower organization’s many bizarre teachings and doctrinal flip flops, see jwfacts.org. In fact, that website is a treasure trove of information, not only on Watchtower history, but on all things JW.
Can you imagine being immersed in a reality that is really a mirage? Can you imagine then waking up to that fact? Can you imagine the disorientation and pain? The movie The Truman Show was an amazingly applicable parable about just that. There is a quote from that film that I find especially apt for helping people to understand JWs, especially those who were brought up in the organization. It is this: “We accept the reality with which we are presented.” That is true. But what happens when that reality starts to crumble? It can be both exhilarating and terrifying.
My Christian brothers and sisters, next time the JWs come knocking, maybe think twice about hiding in the back room or telling them to get lost. They are precious to God, and they need what you have. They are trapped and silenced in a cruelly seductive and demanding system of psychological control from which it is very difficult to escape. Many of them are genuinely seeking God, and what they have been taught by the organization really seems true to them. They deserve your love and compassion, not rejection or cruelty. “It is for freedom that you were set free.” (Galatians 5:1) JWs need the freedom that you probably take for granted. The most loving thing you can do is to learn how to speak to them effectively. And if your efforts are rejected, pray, pray, pray. Give them time. Give them grace. It could literally mean their lives.
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(All scripture citations are taken from the New King James Version of the Bible)
“We think caged birds sing when, indeed, they cry.” – John Webster
The enemies of God like to “kill, steal, and destroy.” (John 10:10) In my last post, I wrote about the freedom that Christ Jesus has given to his followers and explained how to experience and hang on to that freedom through strong faith in the promises and truths found in the scriptures. But some people find that even after coming to Christ and putting their faith in Him, they still feel as if they are under attack: depressed, anxious, angry, and stuck. Why is this? Often, it is because of unresolved trauma and deception from their past, which I believe was the case for me.
I am going to share my own very personal story of deliverance, knowing that it will likely bring much criticism, because I believe that true stories are powerful. I want others to experience the freedom and joy in the Lord that I have come to know. I want you to know that if you love Jesus, you do not have to live your life in continual struggle and defeat. There is freedom to be had right now, not sometime in the future.
After leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses and giving my life to Christ, I finally began to feel safe. I finally felt some measure of peace. But it wasn’t long before I started having episodes of deep depression. The intensity of these episodes did not make sense. They seemed to suddenly come out of nowhere. One day I got some clarity about this when I got fed up with what I was feeling and shouted, “get off me, Satan!” By the next day, I felt as if a massive weight had been lifted. The depression and heaviness disappeared, poof! It was replaced by a sense lightness and peace.
I wish I could say that that was the end of my battle, but it was just the beginning. The night that it was announced at the local Kingdom Hall that I was “no longer one of Jehovah’s Witnesses,” the spiritual warfare I had been experiencing intensified greatly. The enemy does not like to lose people, and he will fight tooth and nail when someone begins to escape his grasp.
Involvement with false religion is a major open door to demons. As a Jehovah’s Witness, I thought I had been serving the God of the Bible by serving the Watchtower organization. I was completely ignorant of the fact that I had been deceived by “doctrines of demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1) I thought that by my involvement with the organization, I had total protection from demons. But in fact, it was quite the opposite. Just like many occultists, I was not conscious of any overt demonic opposition while I was in the organization, although I was experiencing an enormous amount of anxiety and depression. It was not until I tried to leave and serve Christ that the wheels fell off and I was able to see the truth.
The warfare intensified even further when I started going to church. I had been taught as a JW that all Christian churches were demonic. Although that was something I no longer believed, the demons used that indoctrination to try to deceive me into believing that going to church was making me demonized. Saturday nights, I would often not be able to sleep at all so that it was extremely difficult to drag myself to church the next day. Sunday nights after church, I would wake up at around 3 AM and experience a barrage of negative, fearful thoughts. I would also sometimes hear knocks and taps in my room. For a short time, the deception worked, and I quit going to church thinking that it was making God angry.
What helped me was to hear the stories of other Christians who had experienced similar warfare after coming to Christ. Often, they had a background in the New Age, witchcraft, or in a false religion similar to the one I left. (See the testimony of Naela Rose) I started to realize that now, just as was the case after I officially left JWs, my experiences were not evidence that I was angering God, but that I was angering the demons.
That knowledge gave me the strength to fight hard. I decided that no matter what, I would not allow the demons to stop me from meeting with other Christians. But they were not giving up. I experienced all manner of attack – the nighttime attacks continued, my car broke down in multiple and bizarre ways, and I got hurt over and over in ways that made no sense. All of these things can be chalked up to coincidence if you take each incidence on its own, but taken together, it formed a bizarre pattern that could not possibly be blamed on chance.
Gradually, the Lord clearly showed me the path to freedom. He began to make me aware of the reality of demonization and how to find deliverance. I repented of anything I could think of that I had done that was related to occultism. I got rid of books that I had that were related to New Age practices such as meditation and yoga. I also got rid of crystals that I had used for healing. After that, I thought I was done purging. But there was one more health practice that the Lord himself had to warn me of personally, since I had not even considered that it could be dangerous.
One night, I had a vivid dream that woke me up to a pitfall I had been unaware of before. In the dream, I was being followed around by a big, ugly, scary-looking man. I came up to a bookcase and pulled out a familiar-looking book about homeopathy that I had used for years to help me prescribe remedies. I told the ugly man that I knew a lot about that book. Immediately, he attacked me, and then I woke up. I knew the dream was from God and that it meant something. As soon as I began to ponder the dream, in my mind I heard God say, “Get rid of all of your homeopathy books. Burn them!” I could hardly believe it! I had begun to understand that I had been involved in some ungodly health practices, but I was shocked to find out that homeopathy was one of them. I asked the Lord for confirmation, and I found it in this video. So, I took everything I had that was related to homeopathy, hundreds of dollars’ worth of books and remedies, and got rid of them. I tried burning a few of the books, but they were difficult to burn, and I ended up trashing most of it. After that, the knocking and tapping in my room stopped for a time, but I still had a long way to go.
One night, I prayed for help and relief and for God to provide someone to teach me about deliverance. The very next evening after I said that prayer, I was at church and a group of loving brothers and sisters surrounded me and prayed for me. I began to cry intensely and uncontrollably. I was feeling deep guilt and shame for the way I had raised my children. I was also in a lot of pain. One brother mentioned that he thought I might need deliverance. I realized in that moment that God had answered my prayer.
Although ultimately that couple did not feel able to directly help me with deliverance, they gave me a book and directed me to a church where I could find help. That book was Break Free by Vlad Savchuk, and the church was his church, Hungry Generation in Pasco, Washington. I knew about pastor Vlad, but I was afraid to go to his church. I had heard scary things about Pentecostals and about Hungry Generation in particular. My friend tried to reassure me, but I was not yet ready for something like that.
I knew I needed to find help, though, and although I was not ready for Hungry Generation, I thought maybe I could find some Christians to help me privately. Through Torben Sondergaard’s ministry, The Last Reformation, I found two ladies who were willing to take me through some deliverance prayers privately. The day that they prayed for me, I do not believe I experienced any true deliverance, although the process I went through may have set me up for what happened three days later.
For weeks, I had been slowly throwing away all of my old JW literature. I had an enormous amount of it, and I had been gradually adding it to the outdoor trash can week by week. The day that I went to those ladies for prayer, I had not yet been able to get rid of all of it. In fact, that day was trash day. When I returned home, the outside bin had been emptied, and I was ready to toss the rest of my literature. As I was throwing things in the bin, I hesitated when I came to my old New World Translation Bibles. I figured it would be fine to keep them since they’re just Bibles. But as I pulled them out of the box, I distinctly heard in my mind, “NO!” But even then, I doubted that the NO could have come from God. I convinced myself that it was okay to keep them.
That night, I woke up from a nightmare at 3 AM feeling sick and anxious. I was under attack again. I was so frustrated that this was still happening after I tried so hard to get delivered. I asked God to show me why he was allowing this attack to happen to me. In my mind, I saw the Bibles. I saw myself receiving one of them at the first annual meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses that we had been able to attend in our Kingdom Halls via video link. I saw how worshipful I had felt about the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses and about the newly revised Bible that we called the “Silver Sword.” The Lord was showing me that the organization had been my idol and that those Bibles represented my idol. I also knew by that time that the NWT is a very bad translation. There are many problems with it, but probably the most serious issue is that the translators made terrible translation decisions that reflect their denial of the deity of Christ. (Click here for a playlist of videos on the problems with the NWT.)
I was completely aghast. I actually argued with God, “But they’re BIBLES, Lord!” All I heard from him was “NO!” So that morning, I dutifully marched those Bibles out to the trash bin and threw them in. It was a little painful, if I were to be honest. Just a couple hours later as I was sitting in on a Zoom Bible study, I started to feel very nauseated. Soon, I was in the bathroom throwing up. This didn’t feel like a normal illness. I had not eaten anything that could have given me food poisoning and I did not have a fever. I felt sort of panicky as everything came out. Sitting totally drained on the bottom of my shower, I started to form a question in my mind about what had just happened. Immediately I clearly heard in my mind, “this is your deliverance.” Again, it was hard for me to believe that it was the Lord speaking. I had expected someone to lay their hands on me and I would maybe manifest a little and then be free. But this happened at home in my bathroom, completely spontaneously, apparently in response to my intense desire to be free and probably even more, to my willingness to rid myself of all vestiges of the bondage to idolatry and false religion in which I had lived my entire life. I thanked the Lord. I think my exact words were, “if this is really deliverance, thank you Jesus!” He said to me, “Never again follow anyone but me!”
I experienced quite a lot of relief from demonic attack after that experience. But soon, the Lord started to speak to me about going to Hungry Generation. For about 4 months, he never stopped trying to get through to me. I continued to resist out of fear and because I felt very happy and comfortable in my church. I didn’t want to have to start over in a new church, 45 minutes away from where I lived. I had already been rejected and shunned by my entire family and all my JW friends. I was just barely getting established in a new life and feeling like I had been given a new family. I just could not believe God would uproot me again. But when I said, “Lord, don’t you want me to go to my church?” He gave me a firm NO.
But when, after a period of time of feeling relatively free, I had a vile nightmare, I realized that maybe I wasn’t really done with deliverance. I also noticed that I was having a very difficult time being respectful to my husband. Then, I caught two severe viruses in a row and was sick for two months straight. So, I finally gave in and decided to go to Hungry Generation, not to the Sunday service, but to the deliverance service that they hold once a month, hoping that if I went just once and got some more deliverance, that I would be able to stay at my old church.
On the drive to Pasco, I felt the Holy Spirit on me, showing me that I was doing the right thing. I really did not believe that anything was going to happen to me. But as I stood in that prayer line, I asked God to show me why He had me there. When the minister came and laid his hand on my head, I immediately started shaking uncontrollably. It felt as if my bones were going to come out of their joints. When he demanded that the demon inside of me speak out and answer his questions, I felt as if I was receiving clear answers in my mind, so I spoke out. It said that its name was Jezebel and that it had been in me since I was a baby. It said that it had ruined my health and my life. I don’t know if it was telling the truth about any of that, but what I do know is that something evil was in me and that that night it came out. It wasn’t long before I felt all the strength leave my legs and I fell down. I was declared free and sent into a room for counseling. (If this sounds bizarre, just remember the account where Jesus interrogated the demon who called himself Legion at Mark 5:9)
As you can imagine, I was very shaken by that experience. Afterwards, I felt like I’d drunk an entire pot of coffee. On the drive home, I asked the Lord, “Am I done now?”, and he said “no!” I asked him how much involvement he wanted me to have in that church, and he responded, “Total.” Even then, I thought maybe I could try going to both churches. But in the end, I had to obey the Lord and devote my time and energy to Hungry Generation.
For some people, deliverance seems to happen gradually, like peeling layers off of an onion. I have been one of those people. I think the reason for this is because demons hang on to us through mental strongholds, ways of thinking that are not in agreement with God’s truth. As we heal and bring our thoughts into agreement with truth, this removes whatever hold the demons have had, and they have to leave upon command. I had a lot of mental blocks which could only be dismantled through the process of renewing my mind. (Romans 12:2)
After my experience at prayer line, I actually experienced increased spiritual warfare for a time. The demons that I had given place to and which had not yet left me were angry and restless, likely knowing that I was on a journey that would ultimately lead to their ousting.
The friend and teacher that I had prayed for months earlier appeared the day that I stood up in church and shared my testimony. Ann Chojnacki is a mighty woman of God who answers the telephone prayer line for Hungry Generation. She has a passion for bringing people to Christ, praying for them, and building them up in the faith. She asked me to visit her in her home so that she could help me spiritually. This she did, praying for me, letting me talk, and helping me to understand my position in Christ. This considerably accelerated my spiritual growth. I also received more freedom through her prayers.
I enrolled in Hungry Generation’s Life Class, which is a 6-week-long discipleship program that ends in a three-day retreat where we received additional instruction, encouragement, inner healing, and deliverance. My experience there was beautiful. I received another deliverance when a friend laid hands on me and prayed that ungodly soul ties would be cut. Since I had received deliverance prayer the night before and nothing had happened, I assumed I was not in need of any more deliverance. But this illustrates the importance of pinpointing issues. As soon as she started praying, I instantly started to shake and cry and lose strength in my legs. Later, I got filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues for the first time. I can’t even describe the joy of that moment! The only thing that comes close is the joy a mother feels when she holds her baby for the first time. It is pure love!
Many have objections to the idea that a Christian could have demons. My question for those people would be this: since Jesus commanded his followers to cast out demons, from whom, then, do you cast demons out? I would submit that a Christian can have whatever they open themselves up to. It would be pointless if not dangerous to try to cast demons out of unbelievers unless they were willing to accept Christ before or immediately after deliverance because the demons are usually unwilling to leave a person who has given them permission to stay, and if they do leave, they will often come right back. It’s like a revolving door. But those who disagree feel that their objections to the ministry of deliverance are scriptural, ignoring or recategorizing the lived experience of Christians who have been through demonization and deliverance. I want to take a close look at two of those objections and scrutinize them in the light of scripture.
Objection #1: A Christian cannot be possessed by a demon because he is already possessed by the Holy Spirit.
This objection seems to be based on the fact that many translations of the Bible use the phrase “demon possessed” to translate the Greek term, daimonizomai. Literally, it means “demonized.” It does not signify ownership, but partial control of an aspect of a person’s life. A Christian cannot be possessed by a demon because he is, or ought to be, possessed by the Holy Spirit. But a Christian can be demonized, which means that there is some aspect of their life that is being unduly influenced by a demon or demons. How could this be?
Paul warned fellow Christians that they should not “give place to the devil.” (Ephesians 4:26-27) How might a person do that? Living a carnal life, given over to the works of the flesh, is an open invitation to demons. (Galatians 5:19-21) Some of the works of the flesh include:
Sexual immorality, including sex before marriage, adultery, and pornography.
Occultism, including certain New Age practices such as astrology, reiki, and yoga.
False religions.
Antisocial and narcissistic behaviors such as rage, jealousy, envy, and abusive speech.
Addictions, which are a form of idolatry.
Getting high or drunk.
Murder, including abortion.
One of the most prevalent ways that Christians give place to the devil is through unforgiveness. Jesus was very serious when he said that we must forgive in order to be forgiven. (Matthew 6:14) Very often, when a person needs deliverance, but no progress is being made, it is because that person harbors unforgiveness in their heart towards someone. When true forgiveness is expressed, that opens the way to freedom.
Objection #2: Holy Spirit and an evil spirit cannot exist in the same vessel.
2 Corinthians 6:14 states “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” This scripture is often used to teach the idea that a Christian cannot have a demon. But is it saying that light and darkness cannot coexist? Or is it saying that it should not? Can a Christian be unequally yoked together with an unbeliever? Of course, it happens all the time. Should they? Absolutely not! So, this scripture cannot be used to defend the position that an evil spirit and the Holy Spirit cannot exist in the same vessel. They shouldn’t, but they can. If it were true that the Holy Spirit could not coexist with evil spirits, He would have to leave the earth entirely, as it is overrun with evil spirits.
Jesus made it clear that deliverance is for the children of God in his conversation with a Canaanite woman who wanted him to deliver her daughter from demons. Here is the passage:
“And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.” – Matthew 15:22-28
During his ministry, Jesus considered the Jewish people the children of God. (Deuteronomy 14:1) His death and resurrection paved the way for Gentiles (non-Jews) who believe on the Lord Jesus to be grafted into the rootstock of Israel and to be called God’s children. (Romans 11:17-18) As the children of God, we are entitled to the bread of deliverance. It is “the children’s bread.”
The casting out of demons was a prominent part of Jesus’s ministry. (Mark 1:34) And he commanded his followers to do likewise. (Matthew 10:8; Luke 10:17, 19) We have ‘authority over…all the power of the enemy,’ and we are expected to use that authority.
When I was a JW, I used to wonder, if Jesus cast out so many demons, why weren’t we doing as he did? It didn’t make any sense to me to believe that demonic activity had ceased since the first century. In fact, it seemed that it had only increased. It was a major revelation to me to find out that there are modern day Christians who cast out demons just as Jesus did, and that demonization is not, in fact, rare, but just as common nowadays as it was in Jesus’s time, maybe more. Although at first the idea of seeing a demonic manifestation made me very uncomfortable, I knew that Jesus dealt with that very thing all the time, and that his willingness to deal with it resulted in freedom and sanity for the people he ministered to. (Luke 8:35)
I am no longer uncomfortable with deliverance. In fact, I often pray deliverance prayers and command demons to come out in Jesus’s name. I have seen many demons cast out. Sometimes they manifest in ugly ways, crying, screaming, or causing a person to gag, cough, or vomit. Notice in the following scriptures that it was not uncommon in Jesus’s day for demons to cause a raucous as they came out: Mark 1:23-26; 5:2-13; 9:25-27; Acts 8:7. But once the person being prayed for receives their freedom, it is a beautiful thing to behold. There is such joy and relief. It is a miracle from God. If you would like to see a striking example of what I am talking about, watch this video.
People need deliverance. It is vital that as Christians, we receive our full freedom in Christ and that we also help others to receive their freedom. In my next post I will go into greater depth on how people can become demonized, how they can close doors to the demons so that they can be fully delivered, and how, afterward, they can remain free.
The first time I ever attended a Christian church, the pastor prayed that those in attendance would speak in tongues (the phenomenon where a person is miraculously able to speak in another language) and that someone there would also have an interpretation (1 Corinthians 12:10). Having been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, I had been taught that spiritual gifts such as tongues had passed away after the first century and that any supposed miraculous gift was actually the work of the Devil. I panicked a little. I was beginning to believe that JWs were wrong about the gifts, but I was still very nervous. What if this pastor was actually inviting demons into his church?
Jehovah’s Witnesses are not the only religious group that teaches cessationism (the idea that the miraculous spiritual gifts spoken of in the New Testament have passed away). Many denominations that are in other ways considered doctrinally orthodox are also cessationist. As far as I can see, this teaching is not at all scriptural but seems to be based upon the fact that over the centuries, the church appeared to have largely lost the ability to operate in what many call the “sign gifts” (speaking in tongues, prophecy, miracles, and healing).
The first question to ask is this: is it actually true that the sign gifts ceased after the first century? The quick answer to that question is an emphatic no. We have record of the fact that the gifts were still in operation centuries after the apostles passed off the scene, although they seem to have become less commonly reported. Another important question to consider: if operation of the gifts did become more of a rarity as time went on, why would that have been? Was it because God had always meant to remove those gifts at that time, or because of something else? Is it possible that as Christianity became more mainstream and accepting of pagan traditions, that God withdrew those gifts from the majority of professed Christians because of their lukewarmness and/or idolatry?
Some cessationists claim to have biblical backing for their beliefs. The scripture they often use to back their claim is 1 Corinthians 13:8:
“Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.” (LSB)
Taken out of context, this text does indeed seem to indicate that spiritual gifts would cease. But the question is, when would they cease? Read in context, the meaning of this text becomes clear:
“Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” – 1 Corinthians 13:8-12, LSB
What is “the perfect” spoken about in that passage? Some cessationists claim that it refers to the completed canon of scripture. They say that once the scriptures were complete and available for Christians to read, there was no more need of the sign gifts. But does that make sense? Do the scriptures anywhere teach that once all the inspired writings were compiled and canonized that there would be no more need of the miraculous? Do the scriptures anywhere explicitly state that “the perfect” referred to in 1 Corinthians is the completed canon of scripture? Of course not. But in the very same chapter we see a clear clue as to what is being referred to by the phrase, “the perfect.” In verse 12, we see that when the perfect comes, we will be able to see “face to face.” See who? Well, who is it that is prophesied to return to earth? Who are we going to see face to face? Matthew 5:8 says that “the pure in heart…shall see God.” Revelation refers to God as “the one who is and who was and who is to come…” In Revelation 3:11, the glorified Jesus is recorded as having said, “I am coming to you quickly…”
What can we conclude? It seems very clear to me that 1 Corinthians 13:8 is stating that when Jesus returns, there will be no more need of the gifts because we will be with him. Jesus has not yet returned; therefore, the gifts have not yet ceased. They are still available and in operation in the church today. And it is my opinion that the reason why we see the gifts operating so much more today than in the past is because we are getting very close to the return of Christ and those gifts are needed to empower the body of Christ to accomplish and to accelerate the work of the great commission. (Matthew 28:19, 20; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8)
Another argument that cessationists often use is that because people in pagan religions experience supernatural experiences such as speaking in tongues, that the supernatural experiences of charismatic Christians must also be demonic. This is the argument that affected me the most and took the longest for me to overcome in my own mind.
It is true that demons are able to give power to their followers. Witches and warlocks do have supernatural experiences and can cause others to have supernatural experiences. But are demons the only spirit beings that have power? Of course not! The Bible is very clear about the fact that our God is much more powerful than Satan and that he does intervene miraculously in the lives of humans. (1 Kings 18:20-40) Throughout the Old Testament and the New we see example after example of God’s miraculous power and His desire to use that power to help His people.
When Moses and Aaron performed miracles before Pharo in Egypt, Pharo’s sorcerers were able to imitate some of those miracles. When Aaron threw down his staff and it became a snake, the sorcerers also threw down their staffs and they also became snakes. Does this mean that Aaron’s power came from the same source as the power displayed by those sorcerers? The answer became clear when Moses’s snake swallowed the snakes of the sorcerers. (Exodus 7:8-13) The devil may be able to imitate the works of God, but he will never be more powerful than God. And that is all he can do: imitate, and weakly at that.
If both Pagans and Christians can speak in tongues, does that mean that all tongues come from the same source? What was the source of the tongues spoken by the first century Christians? The Bible clearly states at Acts 2:4 that the Spirit, that is God’s Holy Spirit, “gave them utterance.” If the gifts of the Spirit have not ceased and they are all available for Christians now, then it logically follows that God must be the source of the miraculous tongues spoken by true Christians today, and that the same principle applies to all of the miraculous gifts. Satan’s weak imitations do not nullify God’s genuine displays of power.
The gifts of the Spirit are not an optional bonus that some Christians have access to but not others. We all have access to all of the gifts. We need them. Jesus instructed his followers to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. They had already been given the authority to preach the gospel and cast out demons. So why did they need to wait in Jerusalem for the power?
We see a clue to the answer in what actually happened after the disciples received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. (Acts 2:5-13; 40-47) Three thousand people were saved and baptized because of what they saw and heard. Likewise, today when people hear miraculous tongues or see miraculous healings and deliverances, those experiences are often what convinces them that God is real, that he loves and helps people, and that they should listen to the gospel of Jesus Christ and be saved.
I have a friend who is a Christian now because he witnessed the miracle of deliverance from demons. He attended a church service where demons manifested and left people in response to commands for them to come out in Jesus’s name. Going into that service, he doubted even the existence of God or of the supernatural. He came out a believer.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit also endues Christians with great power and boldness to declare the gospel. (Acts 4:31) We need that power and boldness in order to accomplish our assignments as Christians. It is not natural for us to desire to speak to strangers about something that may make them angry or uncomfortable. But with the power and direction of the Holy Spirit, we both desire and are able to clearly and lovingly speak out.
Since I left the Watchtower organization and have become a born-again Christian, I have experienced the supernatural power of God in ways that I never thought I would. I have appreciated the reassurance I have received from those experiences because as a Christian, I am in a constant war with “the rulers of the darkness of this age.” – Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV). We have a powerful enemy, which is one of the reasons why our much more powerful God fills us with His power.
The first time I experienced a healing miracle was on a day when I felt the most powerless. I had severe pain in my hips which made it excruciatingly difficult to walk. In fact, I had to crawl even to get to the bathroom. But it was a Sunday, and I desperately wanted and needed to go to church for encouragement. I said a very bold prayer. I told God how much I wanted to be at church and asked him to put the bones in my hips back in place and take away all the inflammation. By that evening, I was walking without pain and was able to attend the evening Bible study at church. After the service, one of my friends informed me that the whole church had been praying for my recovery. It brought tears to my eyes to think of the great love of a God who would do something like that for me.
Since then, I have heard of, witnessed, and experienced many more miracles, but there is one in particular I want to share. Last Summer, I attended a Christian conference where many miracles occurred. I myself felt the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit while I was there and experienced the healing of my hip pain. But what was really amazing was the experience of one woman who had suffered from MS for 30 years with many, many symptoms. Several weeks after the conference, she came to my church and gave her testimony. She reported that before the conference, she could barely walk, needed oxygen to breathe, and was in enormous pain. This woman encountered the power of God at that conference in such a way that she fell down. She reports feeling heat all over her body and that when she got up, her pain was gone, her breathing was normal, and she could walk normally. Weeks later, she was able to report that she was off all medications but one which had to be tapered, she still did not need supplemental oxygen, and she was still pain free and able to walk normally. She shared doctor’s reports from before the healing and after and the documented changes were miraculous. God did that in response to her great faith, the faith of the minister who prayed for her, and the faith of the many who attended that conference. And I can confidently say that this is not a once in a lifetime experience. I regularly hear amazing healing testimonies from people that I know and trust.
The gifts of the Spirit are real, they are for today, and they are for you if you are a believer. The teaching that the gifts have ceased is a wicked lie designed to disempower God’s people and dampen their faith. Our God loves us very much and He wants us to enjoy all that He gave us when he sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
