John Hagee - Invasion of Demons
There were people in my church, who were acting like the devil. I was just wondering, could it be that the devil is in them? So I asked the Lord to teach me. I had been to several universities and graduated successfully, so I had a good education. But believe me: there are always things God can teach you that you can't learn in a university. The Bible says: if a man lacks wisdom, let him ask. And so I got down on my knees, and I said, "Lord, I want you to teach me the truth about this topic of demonology". I got up and I read Luke's account of the demoniac of gederah in Luke 8. The man was possessed. He was in chains.
And by the way, very few people you will ever meet are possessed. People, who are totally possessed are dysfunctional and are in an institution of some kind. But there are many people who have an area of their life that's totally controlled by an evil spirit. And it mars their life and torments them. He was in the asylum, this man of gederah. He had supernatural strength. People were afraid of him. The demon spoke through the voice of that man. Those demons knew who they were. They gave their name. They knew where they were. They feared Jesus. They knew who he was. So if you know who you are, you have a name, and you know your purpose, if you've had past psychology 101, you know you are a person. So this is a very real something.
I read that story several times, and all of those things began to click. The next morning, I received a call at my office at 8:00 A.M., and the demon from AT&T was ringing on my desk. I've often said, if I wake up in eternity and hear a phone ring, I'll know I died and went to hell. I heard a soft, female voice asking, "Is this pastor John Hagee"? And I said, "Yes". And she said, "Pastor Hagee,", this is how she opened the conversation, "I believe I have a demon spirit in me". And I said, as sarcastically as I could, "Really"? I said, "What's your name"? She told me. I said, "Do you go to my church"? She said, "No". And I said, "Thank God". And then she asked me something I couldn't have, "Would you come and pray for me"? I said, "You don't go to my church but you want me to come pray for you. Why"? She said, "Well, I pass your church every day going to work and coming home. And you have a sign out there, 'for prayer, call,' and I just thought I'd call". Snag. So I said, "Yes, I'll come pray for you".
So I got my Bible and I drove over to what I was sure was going to be a shack by the side of the tracks with all kinds of superstition things in the front yard. And I drove up, and there was this beautiful, immaculate home. It was a mansion. I rang the doorbell. She came. She was very neatly dressed. She looked at me, and said, "I know you must think I'm crazy". And I thought to myself, you do read minds. We went into the den. She sat down. A beautiful house. And she said, "For years, I've been fascinated by the occult and I have been playing with ouija boards and tarot cards".
Her husband was an executive, who went to New York, Monday through Friday, and came home on the weekends. She said, "Nothing has ever happened until last night. I was alone in the house. And I was sitting on this couch. And it was about midnight, and I heard the front door of my home open. And I could hear footsteps of something walking down the hall on the marble floor". I said, "Something or someone"? She said, "It was something". I said, "Okay". I said, "What did you do"? She said, "I called out, 'who's there?'" And I said, "So what happened"? She said, "It kept walking down the hall. I could hear every footstep, and it entered this room, and I could feel its presence. And suddenly, it entered me".
The hair on the back of my head starts to stand up. I said, "It what"? She said, "You heard me". She said, "It entered me and it's still there". I said, "What makes you think it's still there"? She said, "Because from that moment, my thoughts have been obsessed with the most vulgar, sexual scenes. I have started cursing violently at people for no reason. I have never cursed in my life. I think I am capable of committing cold-blooded murder without any regret. Can you help me"? I was stunned. And the Lord came to my rescue and said, John, you remember Luke 8, the demoniac of gederah? Whip it out.
So I opened the Bible. I called her by name. And I said, "I'm going to read to you a story of Jesus, who was in a similar situation. And let's see what happens". I started to Luke 8, and I started reading the story. And when I finished, I stopped reading. I looked up and the lady's eyes were as glassy as a snake. I knew that I was facing something that the professor failed to mention in abnormal psychology. I called her by name, and I said, "Notice, first, that Jesus commanded the demon spirits to come out of this man. Secondly, he commanded the demons to identify themselves". And I said, "Are you ready for the Lord to do this for you"? And in a calm, unemotional voice, I said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the shed blood, and the authority of Jesus' name, I command the demon spirits in this woman to come out".
What happened next made the hair on my head stand up. Mrs. Smith started to contort. One, she was about five ten, six-foot tall, athletic build. She put her head down between her ankles and put her knees into the air. Her head is here. Her knees are here. You would have to get a dozen surgeons to get me in that position. I looked at that cat-like face with those glassy eyes, and her head was moving back and forth, and I thought, lady, where would you like that new door in this brick house, because I'm getting ready to go right straight through the wall.
She slowly lifted her head, hissing at me, with pure hatred pouring out of her mouth. She spoke in a deep, masculine voice, and she said, "I hate you, John Hagee". I thought, we only just met. It generally takes people a while. I knew, based on Luke 8, that the demon spirit was using her vocal cords to speak to me. It was not the woman speaking: it was the evil spirit that was in her. I was eyeball to eyeball with something I didn't think was in America, but it was in my backyard. I knew that this was a spiritual combat situation. I knew that the Word of God was all powerful. I knew that the blood of Jesus Christ was all powerful. I knew that the authority of Jesus' name is all powerful. We have power over the world, the flesh and the devil!
So I spoke to her in a very calm, rational voice. Believe me: you don't have to yell at a demon to make him come out. It's not how loud you talk: it's the God you mention while you're praying. And for you people, who are having all-night seminars chasing devils, I want you to understand the Bible says that they come out with the word. You don't interview demons: you cast them out with the word. It happens immediately. So I said to her, "In the authority of Jesus' name, I want these demon spirits to come out of", and I called her name. And that deep, masculine voice came back and said, "Leave us alone, John Hagee". I said, "I'm not leaving and I'm not leaving you alone. The Bible says: whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be delivered, and whom the Son sets free is free indeed, and the blood of Jesus Christ has defeated you at the cross. You are a conquered foe. Come out of her".
The lady screamed a blood-curdling scream that shook the house. She fell on the floor like she was dead. And in less than a minute, a radiant smile came on her face, and she started laughing for joy, saying, "I'm free! I'm free! I'm free! It's gone"! My point in saying this is there's a very real devil, and his objective is to destroy you and to destroy everything that's dear to you. He will attack your health. He will attack your marriage. He will attack your finances. He will attack your peace of mind. He will attack your children. He will attack any place where he thinks he can take you down.
Satan's goal has never changed. He will do anything that he can to separate us from the love of God. Sin separates man from God. It was a very real devil that attacked job. It was a very real devil that appeared to Jesus Christ in the wilderness, saying, if you are the Son of God, command these stones to be turned to bread. In the book of revelation 12, John writes about a very real devil. He calls him "That old serpent, the devil". "Old" because he's been around from the beginning of time. "Serpent" because he is crafty, he is deceitful, he is the master of deception. He can lie with perfect deception close to you. And when he sinks his deadly teeth into your body and releases that venom, you will die unless you come to the saving knowledge of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Now let's turn it to you. Consider satan's invasion of the home. The prince of darkness is after your children. Television cartoons, toys, games, books, presenting witchcraft, blood curses and the occult as harmless, this abounds on television. Young girls, three and older, are the target market for the secret spells barbie. Think about that, the secret spells barbie doll. Here's the marketing pitch for your children, "By day, they are just fashionable schoolgirls, but by night, they turn into magical enchantresses". Each doll is accessorized with a wardrobe of a spell book, a magic potions book, and a caldron to cast magic spells. Three years old and older.
Books from satan's library would include Harry Potter, sold in 400 million copies and packaged witchcraft as a harmless, delightful, fun experience with blood curses and the absolute adoration of witchcraft. Why? Because satan knows that when you train a child when he is young, when he is old, he'll not depart from it. You ever hear that before? The Harry Potter generation is now on the streets of America demanding more occultic movies. Satan worship is sweeping America's colleges and universities. They are now having black mass services in different places in America. The Air Force Academy has an occultic meditation place led by witches for young men, who are going to be future officers in the U.S. Air Force.
Satanic symbols are being placed on the grounds of state capitals. Satan's converts are waiting for their coming Messiah. And their coming Messiah is named "The Antichrist", whose number they're going to gladly receive, and whose image they are going to worship with absolute delight, because we, the United States of America are experiencing an invasion of demonic forces. It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to stand up and say, we are the Kingdom of God! We are purchased with the price of blood and the victory is ours! Not our family, not our church, not our nation, not now and not ever!
What are your children reading? What are they watching on television? The Bible says that satan is the prince of the air. And he's planting the evil seed in the fertile mind of your children to prepare them for his control of their lives when they become adults. Consider satan's invasion of America. Older children are being brainwashed by demonic video games. Can you imagine a video game in which the player, your child, generally a teenager, decapitates police officers, kills them with a sniper rifle, massacres them with a chain saw, and then sets them on fire? The people who can stop this are the God-given authority of parents, who can stop what their children are watching and what their children are reading. If it's occultic, if it's witchcraft, if it's hate based, if it's the murder of another human being, don't just throw it in the trash, burn it!
I had a mother say, well, I threw it away, but they went in the trash and dug it out. You're the boss over at your house. You're not the butler. Consider satan's invasion of the church. Satan does not care if you own a Bible, just as long as you don't read it. Satan hates the Bible. Virtually every person that I've ever confront who was truly involved with the occult, when you pick this up, they have a cat-like resistance. They hate it, because it exposes satan for who he is. He's not an angel of light. He comes as a wolf in sheep's clothing. He's that old serpent whose mission is to rob, to kill and to destroy.
And one of the his top priorities is get the Bible away from your children. He's gotten it out of the public schools. Mission accomplished. No one would have ever thought that would have happened in the 50's and 60's, but it became a reality. This is the book that was used by our forefathers to teach their children how to read in the public school. This was the major book. George Washington, that would be the father of our country, for those of you who no longer take American history. George Washington said, "It is not possible to govern our nation without the Word of God". Now, it's being mocked. Now it's being ridiculed by professors and teachers, the length and breath of this country.
Listen to me. This book says: the nation that forgets God will be turned into hell. It says: blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Let this church and let every Bible-believing church in America lift high this banner of truth and preach it without fear and without favor! This is the Word of God and it can stop the prince of darkness!
In closing, how do I recognize demonic activity? Very simply. When any area of your life, your thought life, your emotional life, your physical life is beyond your control, emotionally you're given to anger, you're given to bitterness, you're given to resentment: your physical life, you're addicted to drugs, you're addicted to alcohol: you've tried to quit but you can't quit because you are driven to do it, you have a problem. You have a speech problem. You have a critical spirit. You are murmuring. You are fault finding. Open this book and see what God promises to people who go around finding fault with other people. No one died and made you God. You are not the general manager of the universe. You're just the general manager of you.
One, admit you have a problem: two, forgive all who have offended you. Some of you have a black page in your history, somewhere where you have been offended, you have been wounded by a parent, a friend, someone who has betrayed you. It may have happened years ago, but there is a bitter rage in you that will not go away. You need to get rid of that. You need to confess your sin. Why? Because only when you confess your sin can God forgive you of your sin. If we confess our sin, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of all of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then live in freedom, because you are free.
I know that some of you in this room and some of you watching by television have an area of your life that's out of control. And I want you to go home today free, free. Because the moment that you ask the Lord to set you free, he will do it. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God! Can we stand while our heads are bowed in the presence of God, and the organist is playing. Those of you that are watching by television, I want you to know that God can meet you right where you are.
And those of you that are here in this building, listen to what I'm saying. There's an area of your life that's out of control and you know you need the Lord's help. You have problems in your emotional life. You're compulsive. You have an anger that's out of control, bitterness, a resentment of things that have happened to you in the past. There is really no peace in your life. You are driven, looking for something that never comes. Or you have problems in your physical life. You are addicted to drugs, legal drugs or illegal drugs. It doesn't make any difference: you're a drug addict. You're driven to drink. You've tried to stop a dozen times, but you can't. I am here to tell you that Christ can set you free.
Some of you have a speech life that is constantly critical. You're a murmurer. You're negative. Nothing is ever good. You're full of depression and misery. You will never feel good until you get your mouth under control of the Word of God. You're in this room and you say, pastor, there's an area of my life that's out of control, and I want to be free today. I want you to slip your hand up right where you are. Dozens, dozens raising your hand. As they sing this song, I want you to come here and we're going to have a prayer. And when that prayer is over, that thing that drives you is going to be broken. As they sing, come. You're coming from the balcony: I'm waiting. This is your day. Sing. It reaches come forward.
From the highest mountain and it flows from the lowest valley the blood that gives me strength from day to day it will never lose its power people are still coming. Hundreds are coming. And I know many thousands of you watching by television are wanting to pray this prayer. And I am telling you, based on the authority of God's word, that if you call, heaven will answer, because we have a very faithful God. It's very important that you recognize that God is your source and none other will do. I believe we're all here. I want you to repeat this prayer, all of you who are in the sanctuary in addition to the hundreds who have come. If you're watching by television, I want you to pray this prayer right now.
Heavenly Father, I'm coming to your throne, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm asking you now to forgive me of all of my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. There's an area of my life that's out of control...
And that area is, and I want you to tell God exactly what it is. It's physical. It's emotional. It's spiritual. It's habitual. Whatever it happens to be, I want you to lay it out there in plain language. God knows what it is, but you need to say what it is, so that when it's gone, you'll know it's gone. Now continue the prayer.
...And now Father, in Jesus' name, by the shed blood of the cross, this thing is going to leave me forever, because whom the son sets free, is free indeed! And in the name of Jesus, I am free. I am liberated. Hallelujah for the blood of Jesus Christ.