Detecting Demons in the Pulpit

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons (1Tim.4:1).

The church of Jesus is currently in a mess, especially in the West. As a result it has lost its power and influence and its place of respect in the world. One major reason for this sad state of affairs is that the devil has seized our pulpits. He has usurped the ministry and had misrepresented both the message of Jesus Christ and hence the body of Christ. We have now been brought to the place where charges of hypocrisy and irrelevance are now commonplace.

The usurpation of our pulpits is not something unique to our times and as such we do not have to search for solutions. The apostle Paul faced similar challenges in his day (2Co.11:12-15). Prior to this Jesus had warned of demonic infiltration into the ministry as a sign of the end of days (Mt.25:4, 5, 11).

So what is the problem with the church seeing that we have been warned sufficiently about satanic penetration into our midst? The problem is detection. How do we detect these false prophets and satanically ordained ministers? The fact that thousands of Christians run after signs and wonders and are drawn by much emotionalism proves that many of us, if not most of us, cannot readily discern between a true minister and one who belongs to Satan. To the untrained eye they both look like ministers of righteousness. They both use the Bible. At its core the deception lies in the fact that we do not want to believe that demons preach.

This truth is made evident in the Acts 16 story. The demon that possessed the girl at Philippi was preaching. We could even say she was operating in gifts in that she declared to the people that Paul and Silas were true men of God. As far as the people were concerned this girl was a goddess with the power of discernment. And who knows if Paul was not taken initially by her declarations? After all it was after many days that he finally grew annoyed and charged the demon to leave the girl.

This brings us to some principles to apply in detecting true from false ministers.

1. Demons disrupt the ministry. In the case at Philippi the demon kept following Paul and Silas for days, interrupting their preaching and frustrating their ministry as a whole.

2. Their words sound agreeable but the effect is counter-productive. Demonically inspired preachers often garner great followings because they say what people want to hear. They make religion more alluring by focusing on love and abstaining from the need for holiness.

3. Flattery and self-promotion is a tactic of demons and not of the Holy Spirit. This demon kept praising Paul and Silas. These men are servants of the Most High God who show the way of salvation. Perhaps there is no faster way of detecting demons in the pulpit than in using these dual criteria of flattery and self-promotion. Sycophantism is a hallmark of contemporary ministry. So watch out for those preachers who are always full of high praise for you (2Pe.2:17-19).

4. Demons love to attach themselves to prominent ministers and ministries. This demon was fully occupied with making money for its hosts and had already gained notoriety for its host in the city of Philippi. The girl was popular and her handlers were making a good living from her services. So why did she break from her routine to follow after Paul and Silas? She realized that these were popular men, charismatic, and just to be associated with them was an honour.

Paul cast out the demon showing us the way to deal with Satan’s miracles and ministers. The solution is not denial, but discernment and domination (1Jn.4:2,3a).

More on this topic: Demon in the House (Amazon Kindle)