The gift of [page 40 – direct quote] “clairvoyance, mind reading, medical diagnosing, reading of hearts and lives of people both living and dead, and other powers. A few months later I received another faculty; the ability to take away pain merely by the imposition of hands. I could eliminate or alleviate any sort of suffering…” He goes on to say that he knew it was off because it wasn’t from God. He wasn’t living a changed life for God. He was “quick to anger, slow in pardoning, easily resentful, and given to take offense at nothing.” Realizing he wasn’t being gifted by God with abilities, he knew the only other source was the devil himself. His “gifts” were not divine from God to do ‘good’ but rather diabolical and from Satan! He'd been deceived! As soon as he was prayed over and asked God for help the “gifts” disappeared.
That is VERY interesting, especially in light of all the *miracles* we see from televangelists.
I know of many Christians who think that all healing is from God because the devil couldn't heal. There is a denial in Christianity today that the enemy is capable of any good and that *If it's good, it's from God, and if it's bad, it's not* but that just does not square with Scripture.
I think one of Satan's best ploys has been to convince the church that all miracles validate the preacher as being from God, but one look at the lifestyles of people like Benny Hinn, and you know that can't be true.
With this form of preaching/teaching today it does appeal to the masses because they are already primed to respond to “sensationalism” via every form of communication and visual stimulation that is out there.....whatever appeals to the emotions and moves them, good bad or somewhere in between.
The idea is “feeling” based....”Signs and wonders” and anything to “touch” the spiritually dead and entice them to “another way” of spirituality rather than through Christ Alone.
Unfortunately many churches are feeding this stuff to Christians who are unfamiliar with Gods word and “eat at the table” of whatever Pastor is preaching that tickles their ears..... They rarely “dine” one on one with Jesus exclusively and intimately....or even dare to consider He'd welcome that.
Having a charism does not equate to character, and thus while the Corinthians came behind in no gift, they much came behind in character. Some Christians may have a gift but be of poor character, while many imagine they have a gift, and others deny such exist today. But thank God He is a miracle as well as character working God, and thus by faith some escaped the edge of the sword, while others of life faith were saw asunder. (Heb. 11:34-37) But assured infallibility somehow was left out of any of the lists of gifts.
Meanwhile, the devil seeks to gain the glory and honor due to God alone, and thus seeks to mimic what God does in seeking to mislead and distort God's creation and ultimately destroy man .
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (2 Thessalonians 2:8-9)
Note that the devil copied the first three miracles done thru Moses. Faced with such, some choose to take the safe but somewhat sterile route, that of the disallowing all miracles, or at least those done through man. On the other extreme of those who open the door so wide that both souls of God as well as demons could work such in the church.
However, , God through Moses overcame them with good in showing greater power, and and gave the law. God will never be outdone by the devil, and and provides good laws for the use of things.
And in testing all things by Scripture, there are some extraordinary things which we can readily see as demonic.
Zé Arigó (pseudonym of José Pedro de Freitas; 18 October 1921 – 1 November 1971) was a self-proclaimed psychic surgeon. He claimed to have performed psychic surgery with his hands or with simple kitchen utensils while in a mediunic trance, therefore he was also known as the Surgeon of the Rusty Knife. During his operations he supposedly embodied the spirit of Dr. Adolf Fritz.
Zé Arigó was born José Pedro de Freitas on a farm located 6 kilometers from Congonhas, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. His family was very poor and he could only study up to the third grade of school. At the age of 14 he began working at a mine where he worked for 6 years. According to his autobiography, around 1950 he began to suffer from strong headaches, insomnia, trances, and hallucinations. One day he felt that the voice that had been pursuing him took over his body, and he had a vision of a bald man, dressed in a white apron and supervising a team of doctors and nurses in an enormous operating room. This entity identified itself as "Dr. Fritz."
After claiming to have channeled Dr. Fritz, Arigó began to perform operations using scalpels and needles. His reputation soared and spread throughout Brazil after it was alleged that he had removed a cancerous tumor from the lung of a well-known Brazilian senator. . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%A9_Arig%C3%B3
Here is more on this Catholic (which did judge him to be a heretic): http://www.scribd.com/doc/16005722/Arigo-Surgeon-of-the-Rusty-Knife