10 Demon Manifestations : Pigs in the Parlor

Chapter 10: Demon Manifestations

When demons are confronted and pressured through spiritual warfare they will sometimes demonstrate their particular natures through the person in a variety of ways. These evil spirits are creatures of darkness.

They cannot bear to be brought into the light. When their presence and tactics are exposed they may become excited and frenzied. The manifestations which can come forth seem to be endless. We will have to limit ourselves to a few examples. satan and his demons are identified with serpents. "I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions"

(Luke 10:19). "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). It is not surprising that serpentine manifestations are sometimes witnessed. These may be in the tongue. They will cause the person to stick out the tongue or cause the tongue to go in and out very rapidly - exactly like a snake's tongue. The eyes may take on the characteristic of snake's eyes. (Most of the time the person being delivered will keep his eyes closed. The demons seem to know that the eyes of a person reveal their presence in a more readily observable way than any other.)

Another manifestation of the serpent is through the nose. The person is caused to blow air through thenostrils making a hissing sound. On a few occasions I have witnessed the person thrown to the floor by the power of the indwelling spirits and his body writhe like that of a serpent.

A rather common manifestation occurs in the hands.

The hands may become numb or tingle. Sometimes the lingers become extended and rigid. Demons that manifest themselves in these ways through the hands are usually demons of lust, suicide or murder. Other types of evil spirits, especially those associated with wrong use of the hands, may also manifest themselves in this way. Sometimes it is helpful for the person to shake the hands vigorously in order to dislodge the spirits.

Arthritic spirits often manifest themselves in the hands.

The hands will become very stiff and the fingers gnarled. This may happen in the hands of teenagers and young persons who as yet have had no visible indications of arthritis, yet the demon of arthritis is already at work on a long range plan. When the demon of arthritis is challenged the hands can take on the appearance of a person who has had arthritis for years and is crippled by it. The demon may also manifest itself by pain and twisting of the body. Many such ailments are aborted through deliverance ministry when the discerning of spirits draws out infirmities and diseases which have not even become evident.

A very awesome manifestation is that of the death spirit. I have found the death spirit present in caseswhere persons have been close to the point of death through severe sickness, serious operations or attempted suicide. One man who had a spirit of death had once been pronounced officially dead from drowning but had been brought back to life through a doctor's timely action. When the death spirit manifests itself the eye lids are open and the eye balls roll up into the head. The skin of the person takes on a waxen pallor of death.

A young woman about twenty five years of age came for ministry. She was a very gentle person and had a passive nature. Several demons had been cast out of her and then we were sitting quietly to see how the Holy Spirit would lead. Suddenly her countenance changed dramatically as the next demon surfaced.

There is no way to describe the manifestation which came forth - especially through her eyes. Without turning her head her eyes moved to stare at each person in the room. My wife and I were seated on a divan directly in front of her. Three other members of our deliverance team were present along with the woman's pastor and his wife. I had witnessed many demon manifestations, but this one was different. It gave one the feeling that he was face to face with a ferocious animal and was about to be devoured by it.

This manifestation immediately gave way to the manifestation of the spirit of death. Fortunately I had experienced this manifestation before and knew exactly what to do. Others in the room had not witnessed it before and thought surely the woman was actually dead. The demon came out and the youngwoman was all right.

Odors are another facet of demon manifestation. I recall one time when we were conducting a ministry in a parsonage. The house was filled with an unpleasant odor. It reminded me of cabbage cooking, which to me is an unpleasant odor. Someone even went into the kitchen to see if something was on the stove.

On another occasion I was casting a demon of cancer out of a woman. When the demon came out it was accompanied with a distinct odor with which I was very familiar. It was the same peculiar odor which one encounters in a cancer hospital. I recognized this odor from having pastored in Houston, Texas, where I often visited patients in a large cancer hospital.

Demons may cry out with loud voices. (See Matthew 8:29; Mark 1:23; Luke 4:41; Acts 8:7). We were engaged in a deliverance when a seventeen year old girl came forward. She remarked that she had been involved in witchcraft. I had her take a seat directly in front of me.

I opened my Bible and began to read from Deuteronomy 18:915, which declares that witchcraft and similar practices are an abomination to the Lord. As I was reading verse 15 which says that God will raise up a Prophet (Jesus) and "unto him ye shall hearken", a piercing demonic scream came forth from the girl. I looked up quickly to see her hands like claws coming at my Bible, Before I could react, her long fingernails tore through the page of my Bible on the very verse I was reading! We began to command the demons of witchcraft and relatedspirits to go in the name of Jesus, and she was soon set free from their oppression.

The spirit of pride may manifest itself in several ways.

It may cause the person to sit or stand very erect and fold the arms across the chest. It may cause him to tilt the head back with the nose very high in the air. A young minister confided in me that he talked too much.

He could not keep from butting in on others' conversation. He could not discipline himself to let others speak. He felt that what he had to say was so much more important than what others might contribute to a discussion in conversation. The spirit was commanded to name itself. It identified itself as a spirit of importance. The man was seated in a folding steel chair. The spirit caused him to put his nose straight in the air and to lean in his chair backwards. It was necessary for me to hold the man in the chair to keep him from turning it over. The spirit of pride or importance will make a person "think more highly of himself than he ought to think'' Evil spirits sometimes reveal their presence and nature by pantomiming. During a pre-ministry interview a young minister disclosed that he had been obsessed with worldly dancing and that he would "rather dance than eat". When the demon of worldly dancing was called out, the man began a rhythmic pantomime. His body began to sway rhythmically, his hands moved back and forth in a clapping motion, and his mouth was moving as though singing although no sound was coming forth. The demon then spoke and said, "I'msinging "Power in the Blood". The man then picked up a wet bath cloth which we had been using to wipe his face (the previous demons had been coming out with vomiting) and he began to twirl the cloth around and around in cadence. Finally he let the cloth go... it hit the ceiling and fell to the floor, whereupon the demon laughed fiendishly.

On other occasions we have seen rhythmic and dancing spirits manifest themselves through motions of the body, especially in the swaying of the hips. One young woman whose body vibrated from the manifestation of the rhythmic spirit, disclosed afterward that she had been a professional dancer and worked for a while as a "Go-Go" dancing girl. This spirit proved to be the ruling spirit within her. The devil has his counterfeit and perversion for all that is good and right.

An interesting manifestation came forth when we were ministering to a mother who had a twelve year old Son.

The Son had a crippled arm and hand which she told us had resulted from brain damage at birth. The boy's wrist was bent and his hand withered and useless. The mother had a tormenting spirit which vexed her continuously over the condition of her Son. It would not let her rest but kept her mind concentrated on the Son's condition. When this tormenting spirit was commanded to leave it caused the mother's arm and hand to assume the exact appearance of her Son's arm and hand!

Pain is a very common manifestation. Many, manytimes when persons have made appointments for ministry ahead of time, they will report that they acquired a very severe headache, although they are not normally given to headaches. During ministry the demons will often cause headaches or severe pains in various parts of the body. Spirits of nervousness and tension may cause pain in the back or neck. Usually the deliverance minister will lay hands on the area of pain and command the demon to release, whereupon the demon is cast out and the pain is instantly alleviated.

Other manifestations that may be witnessed during deliverance ministry include cramps in the legs and arms, nausea, crying and laughing. The laughing is often a mockery spirit trying to make light of the ministry. A novice might think that the person receiving ministry is lacking in seriousness, but the l laughter is entirely separated from the person's own feelings.

I would estimate that demons speak through one out of twelve persons that we minister to. The average would be higher if we encouraged their speaking. They do not show much variety in what they say. They speak defiantly that they do not intend to leave. They may contend that the person wants them there or threaten to come back if they are cast out. At times they plead not to be cast out, seeking sympathy over what they will do and what will happen to them. It is obvious that demons are tormented by hearing of the blood of Jesus and of the everlasting fate that is just ahead of them.

Indwelling demons show a very definite fear of theirsuperiors in the demon ranks. Their talk is sometimes designed to confuse the deliverance minister or to level accusations against him to cause him to fear. For example a demon may say, "I know something about you. Do you want me to tell it right here in front of the others?" But these are only threats and accusations and they never follow through on their threats. Overall, the talking done by demons seems to be a delaying tactic and a possible way of escaping being cast out.

When demon spirits are cast out they normally leave through the mouth or nose. Spirits are associated with breathing. Both the Hebrews and Greeks had only one word for spirit or breath. The Greek word is pneuma.

The Holy Spirit is associated with breath also. After His resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples and "he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost (pneuma)" John 20:22.

Many Christian hymnals contain the hymns "Breathe On Me: Breath of God" and "Holy Spirit, Breathe On Me". This gives us the idea that we are to breathe in the Holy Spirit and to breathe out the evil spirits.

When evil spirits depart we normally expect some sort of manifestation through the mouth or nose.

Undoubtedly the most common manifestation is coughing. The cough may be dry but is often accompanied by the bringing up of phlegm. Phlegm may be brought up in excessive amounts.

Similar material may be brought up through vomiting,drooling, spitting or foaming. Persons who receive ministry immediately following a big meal, have been observed to gag and retch violently and throw up large amounts of mucus without any traces of food. Rarely have we seen food substances brought up from the stomach. Infrequently small amounts of blood may appear. It is not unusual for this material to flow out of a person for an hour or longer.

Other manifestations through the mouth include crying, screaming, sighing, roaring, belching and yawning. Air may be blown through the nose or the person will blow his nose continuously for awhile as though he were having a severe sinus drainage. These various manifestations can vary widely in intensity from something very mild to something quite dramatic. The degree of manifestation is not indicative of the effectiveness of the deliverance. Persons who yawn or sigh out their demons, are just as delivered as those who have the more violent manifestations.