Jesus’ Teaching on Demons

This is an excerpt from:

Chapter 4 How Satan Influences Lives Today

From the book, I Believe in Visions by Kenneth Hagin

My third vision of Jesus occurred in December 1952 in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, where I was conducting a meeting in a Full Gospel church. During my two-week stay there, I stayed in the parsonage with the pastor and his wife and their 11-year-old daughter.

One night after the service, we had returned to the parsonage and were having a sandwich and a glass of milk in the kitchen. As we talked about the things of the Lord, time slipped away from us.

The pastor’s little girl was sitting there with us, and finally she became sleepy and said, “Daddy, it’s getting late, and I have to get up early in the morning to go to school. Won’t you come pray with me now?” It was their custom that he always prayed with her at night and then tucked her into bed.

The pastor looked at his watch and exclaimed, “It’s 11:30! Why, I never dreamed it was that late. We have been sitting here talking for two hours.” Then he said to his daughter, “Come here, honey. We’ll just kneel down here and Brother Hagin can have prayer with us. Then you can go to bed.”

As we knelt together in that kitchen, each of us beside a chair, I was in the Spirit before my knees ever touched the floor.

On this night in 1952 in the parsonage kitchen, my physical senses were suspended. At that moment I didn’t know I was kneeling beside a kitchen chair. It seemed as if I was kneeling in a white cloud that enveloped me.

Immediately I saw Jesus. He seemed to be standing above me, about as high as the ceiling is from the floor. He began to talk to me. “I am going to teach you concerning the devil, demons, and demon possession,” He began. “From this night forward, what is known in My Word as the gift of discerning of spirits will operate in your life when you are in the Spirit.”

I will show you how these spirits get ahold of people and dominate them—even Christians, if they allow them to.”

Jesus went on to say, “There are four classes of demons or evil spirits.” He said that they are divided into four groups as mentioned in Ephesians: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness [wicked spirits] in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

The Lord said, “There are four divisions: (1) principalities, (2) powers, (3) rulers of the darkness of this world, (4) and wicked spirits in high places or in the heavenlies. The highest spirits with which you have to deal are the rulers of the darkness of this world.”

He went on talking to me about the fact that the Word of God says that the whole world lies in darkness, but we who are believers are children of light and not of darkness. He referred to a number of Scriptures, including the following.

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14).

Believers are called light, and unbelievers are called darkness.

The Colossians chapter 2 tells of Christ’s death on the Cross and resurrection from the dead: “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (v. 15). In other words, Christ, in His death, burial, and resurrection, spoiled or defeated these same principalities and powers that we must deal with.

Rulers of the Unsaved

The Lord went on to say, “The highest types of demons with which you have to deal on earth—the rulers of the darkness of this world—rule all unsaved people, that is, all those who are in darkness. They rule over them and dominate them.

“That is why people do and say things they don’t intend to. That is why some good people say, ‘I would never do anything like that,’ and before a year has passed they have done something worse. This is because they are dominated by the rulers of the darkness of this world. They are in the kingdom of darkness. And whether you want to admit it or not, even your close friends and relatives or whoever it may be, if they are unsaved, are dominated by these spirits who are rulers of the darkness of this world.

“It is always one of these rulers of the darkness of this world that possesses a person. They rule not only those who are within the darkness of this world, but they also tell the powers what to do. Then the powers rule over the principalities and tell them what to do. The lowest type of demons have very little to do. They do very little thinking of their own and are told what to do.

“Now I will show you how these evil spirits get ahold of people when they are allowed to,” the Lord said to me. Suddenly in the vision I saw a woman. I immediately recognized her as being the former wife of a minister. I had been introduced to her and her husband on one occasion. Other than that, I didn’t know either of them and I had no communication with either of them in any way. I only knew that she had since left her husband.

“This woman was a child of Mine,” the Lord said. “She was in the ministry with her husband. She was filled with the Spirit, and the gifts of the Spirit were operating in her life. One day an evil spirit came to her and whispered in her ear, ‘You are a beautiful woman. You could have had fame, popularity, and wealth, but you have been cheated in life by following in the Christian walk.’ The woman realized that this was an evil spirit and she said, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan.’ The spirit left her for a period.

“By and by the same evil spirit returned. He sat on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, ‘You are a beautiful woman, but you have been robbed by taking this lowly walk of Christianity and living a separated life.’ Again she recognized this as Satan and said, ‘Satan, I resist you in the Name of Jesus,’ and he left her for a while.

“But he came back again and sat on her shoulder, whispering the same things in her ear. This time she began to entertain these thoughts, for she liked to think she was beautiful. As she began to think along the lines the devil suggested to her, she became obsessed with that thinking.”

Then in the vision I saw the woman become as transparent as glass, and I saw a black dot in her mind. “That dot represents the fact that she is obsessed in her thinking with this evil spirit,” the Lord said. “At first she was oppressed on the outside, but as she allowed the devil’s suggestion to take ahold of her thoughts, her mind became obsessed. She wanted to think, ‘I am a beautiful woman. I could have wealth and popularity, but I have been robbed in life.’ Still, it wasn’t too late. She could have resisted; she could have refused to think those thoughts. Then the evil spirit would have fled from her, and she would have remained free. But she chose otherwise.

“Finally she left her husband and went out into the world, seeking the fame and wealth which the devil offered. She took up with one man after another. After a time that thing got down into her spirit.” In the vision I saw the black dot move from her head to her heart, and then the woman said, “I don’t want the Lord anymore. Just leave me alone.”

I said, “Lord, why are You showing this to me? Do You want me to pray for this woman? Do You want me to cast the devil out of her?”

“No, I don’t want you to pray and cast the devil out of her,” the Lord answered, “because you couldn’t anyway. She wants that evil spirit, and as long as she wants it, she can have it.”

“Then why did You show this to me, Lord?”

“I have shown this to you for two reasons: first, so you could see how an evil spirit will get ahold of a person, even a child of God, if they will let him. Second, I want you to deal with the evil spirit that is operating through that woman and harassing and intimidating the ministry of her former husband.”

“How do I do that?” I asked. The minister was in the same state I was in, but the woman was in another state.

“There is no distance in the realm of the spirit,” the Lord said. “Simply speak to that spirit and command him, in My Name, saying, ‘You foul spirit that is operating in the life of this woman [calling her name], that is harassing and embarrassing the ministry of the servant of the Lord [calling her husband’s name], I command you to desist in your operations and stop in your maneuvers this moment.”

In the Spirit I said those words, and immediately that spirit ceased to operate through her to intimidate that minister. From that day forward the minister was never again troubled by her or that spirit.

“Lord, what will happen to her?” I asked.

“She will spend eternity in the regions of the damned, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth,” He answered. And in the vision I saw her go down into the pit of hell. I heard her awful screams.

“This woman was Your child, Lord. She was filled with Your Spirit and had part in the ministry. Yet You said not to pray for her. I cannot understand this!”

The Lord reminded me of the following Scripture: “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it” (1 John 5:16).

I said, “But, Lord, I always believed that the sin referred to in this Scripture is physical death, and that the person is saved although he has sinned.”

“But that Scripture doesn’t say physical death,” the Lord pointed out. “You are adding something to it. If you will read the entire fifth chapter of First John, you will see that it is talking about life and death—spiritual life and spiritual death—and this is spiritual death. This refers to a believer who can sin a sin unto death, and therefore I say that you shall not pray for it. I told you not to pray for this woman because she sinned a sin unto death.”

“This really disrupts my theology, Lord. Would you explain some more?” I asked. (Sometimes we need our theology disrupted if it is not in line with the Word.)

Jesus reminded me of the following Scripture:

HEBREWS 6:4-6

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

“Yes, I know that Scripture, but my denomination said that ‘those who were once enlightened’ does not refer to Christians—it means lost persons who get under conviction.”

The Lord said, “Remember, I told you this woman was My child. She was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she had part in the ministry. You will notice that the Scripture says, ‘It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift….’ I am the Heavenly Gift. A man under conviction is enlightened, but he has not tasted of Me.

“The Word of God says, ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16). I am the Heavenly Gift, and the man under conviction has not tasted of the Heavenly Gift. He sees his lost condition and he sees that he can be saved: ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord’ (Rom. 6:23). No one has tasted the heavenly gift, the gift of God, until he has received eternal life by accepting Me as Lord and Savior.

“Notice the words in this Scripture ‘… and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost [this woman had been baptized in the Holy Spirit], And have tasted the good word of God …’ (Heb. 6:4,5); or as the Phillips translation reads, ‘… who have known the wholesome nourishment of the Word of God….’

“In other words, baby Christians cannot commit the sin unto death. It is to be regretted that baby Christians live as they sometimes do, and they say and do some things they should not. But I do not hold these things against them any more than you would hold things against a little child he may do because he doesn’t know any better.

“The person referred to in this Scripture—and that includes the woman I am showing you—has tasted the good Word of God; that is, he or she has grown beyond the baby Christian stage of Christianity. One Scripture says, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby’ (1 Peter 2:2). This woman had grown beyond the sincere milk of the Word. She had tasted the solid meat of the Word. She already had tasted of the ‘powers of the world to come.’ That means she had the gifts of the Spirit in operation in her life.”

Jesus continued, “For one to commit ‘a sin unto death,’ he would need to have all five of these experiences:

1.Be enlightened (or convicted) to see his lost state, and to know that there is no way for him to be saved except through Jesus Christ.

2.Taste of the Heavenly Gift, which is Jesus.

3.Become a partaker of the Holy Spirit or be filled with the Holy Spirit.

4.Grow enough out of the babyhood stage to have tasted the good Word of God.

5.Have the powers of the world to come—the gifts of the Spirit—operating in his life.

“This woman had all these qualifications,” Jesus said. “And my Word says it is impossible ‘… If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame'” (Heb. 6:6).

I asked the Lord, “What sin is this, then?”

The Lord referred me to the following Scripture:

HEBREWS 10:26-29

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

The Lord said to me, “The sin that this Scripture speaks about is that of the believer who turns his back upon Me. Notice the words in this Scripture, ‘He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy … Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God.

“Because of great persecution, the Hebrew Christians referred to in this passage were tempted to go back to Judaism, but if they went back, they would have trodden under foot the Son of God. They would have counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, for they would be saying that Jesus is not the Messiah; He is not the Son of God. They turned their backs on Me. This is why Paul warned them that if they did that, it would be impossible to renew them unto repentance.

Forgiveness for Adultery

“It is sad that this woman left her husband for another man, but adultery is not the unpardonable sin. If she had turned back to Me in repentance, even though she might have had a hundred men, I would have forgiven her. Whatever she might have done, if she had asked Me to forgive her, I would have.

“Even if she had been a baby Christian when she said, ‘I don’t want Jesus anymore; leave me alone,’ and didn’t actually realize what she was doing, I would have forgiven her If she had done that because she was tempted and pressed into it beyond measure, I would have forgiven her. But she knew exactly what she was doing, and she acted willfully when she said, ‘I don’t want Him anymore.’ Therefore, I tell you not to pray for her. I merely showed you this so you might see how the devil can get ahold of Christians if they will permit him to.”

Then in the vision I saw a man. I didn’t recognize him. Jesus said, “I will show you another example of how demons get hold of a person and how to deal with them and cast them out.”

I saw an evil spirit come and sit on the man’s shoulder and whisper in his ear. This man was not a Christian, he was not born again. The man entertained the thoughts Satan gave him. Then I saw this evil spirit go into the man’s mind.

Jesus said, “This evil spirit is one of the higher rulers of their world. They are the ones that get ahold of a man and eventually possess him. There are degrees of possession, and these spirits will bring other evil spirits with them.”

Then the Lord reminded me of the passage in Mark’s Gospel which tells the story of the maniac of Gadara.

MARK 5:2-7

2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit [notice here that the man had just one unclean spirit],

3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:

4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.

5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,

7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

Notice that the evil spirit knew Jesus. When Jesus asked him his name, he replied, “… My name is Legion: for we are many” (v. 9). When Jesus cast the demons out they entered a herd of swine nearby, “… and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea” (v. 13).

Although only one evil spirit possessed this man from Gadara, as many as 2,000 were cast out and plunged headlong into the sea after entering the herd of swine!

In the vision, the evil spirit got ahold of the man and seemed to open his head like a trap door. Then I saw other spirits come and enter the man. Jesus said to me, “From now on when you come into the presence of anyone who is fully possessed with the devil, he will recognize you, just as the man you read about in Mark 5 recognized Me when he came into My Presence. Now walk up to this man, and when you do, the evil spirit will recognize you.”

In the vision I walked up to the man, and immediately the demon that possessed him called out, “I know you.”

I said, “Yes, I realize you know who I am, and I command you to be quiet right now in the Name of Jesus!”

The Lord went on to say, “These spirits will know you. Through the gift of discerning of spirits you will know what kind of spirit it is. You remember that in dealing with the man from Gadara I said, ‘Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.’ I discerned it was an unclean spirit, and I commanded him to come out.”

In the case of this unsaved man in the vision who had the evil spirit, I knew immediately what kind of spirit possessed him, and I commanded that spirit to come out of him, but he didn’t.

Jesus said, “To cast them out you sometimes have to know not only the kind of spirit they are but also their name or number. Notice in dealing with the man from Gadara, I said, ‘Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit,’ but he didn’t come out.”

This was something I had completely overlooked, but on rereading Mark 5 I noticed it was true: “And he [Jesus] asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many” (v. 9)

Jesus brought something else to my attention concerning this passage. “If you had been present,” Jesus said, “you would have heard what the evil spirit said, because he used the man’s voice—the evil spirit talked through the man. When I asked what his name was, he replied, ‘My name is Legion, for we are many.’ Then he begged, ‘Don’t send us away out of the country.’ That was the first unclean spirit that possessed the man’s body who was doing the speaking—he used the man’s voice.

“Then you will see in Mark 5:12, ‘And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.’ All of the demons cried out at once. Had you been present at this time, you wouldn’t have known what they were saying, unless you had the gift of discerning of spirits to see and hear in the spirit realm.

“I could hear all these evil spirits cry out because the gift of discerning of spirits was operating in my ministry. All of the demons besought Me—all of them spoke at once. They weren’t talking out loud; that is, they weren’t talking as a man would speak. They were speaking in the spirit realm.”

I then walked up to the man in the vision. I discerned the kind of spirit that possessed him and commanded him to come out. Nothing happened. Jesus then said to ask his number, so I said, “How many of you are in this man?” He said, “Nineteen more besides me.” I spoke to them, saying, “I command you and all 19 others to come out,” and they came out. Then I asked the Lord, “Where do demons go when they come out?”

“They walk the dry places seeking rest, and they find none,” He replied. Then I remembered the following Scripture:

MATTHEW 12:43-45

43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first….