The Definition of Witchcraft

Now, I want to give you a little picture of what witchcraft is like. This is something that God has given me what I think I could call a postgraduate course in. I didn’t apply for it. I just got enrolled. Ruth and I got enrolled together.

As a matter of fact, I’ll tell you briefly how it happened. We were in a conference in the center of the United States in 1979, just about a year after we were married, less than a year. And it was a family conference. The theme was essentially dealing with family relationships, and so on. But in the middle, a young man stood up. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever met him. I don’t know who he was, but he gave a tremendously powerful prophecy, which was fortunately recorded on tape, so that I’ve seen the written version.

In this prophecy, God said that all that He had been doing against witchcraft up to that time was merely preliminary skirmishes. But from that point onwards, 1979, He was declaring total war on witchcraft. And He said,

“The reason is this, because witchcraft has millions of men bound whom I need in My end-time army.”

And then He also told us something else which we didn’t really understand at the time. He said,

“If you will join Me in this war,”

and we understood that He was calling us to join Him, and we did.

He said,

“You will encounter people who are under curses that have been passed down through families from generation to generation. But you do not need to be afraid. You will be able to release them.”

Well, at that time, that was just a statement to Ruth and me. But in the subsequent period of nearly 10 years, we have encountered thousands of people under curses passed down through families. And God has given us, by His grace, the ability to release them. This confirms to me that this prophecy was from God because it contained a prediction which we didn’t know anything about, which has been absolutely fulfilled.

So, that’s how I’ve come to know something about witchcraft. As a matter of fact, I had got involved somewhat earlier in brief encounters with witchcraft. At a certain point, I think I could say I was a kind of pioneer in the ministry of deliverance. And I was a very controversial figure at that time. Some people loved me, and some people hated me, but very few people were indifferent. A lot of the cases that I dealt with, the person who needed deliverance had a spirit of witchcraft.

I was a pretty orthodox Pentecostal at that time, and I’m still a Pentecostal, but maybe not quite so orthodox. The people that needed deliverance were somebody like, you know, the pastor’s daughter, or the deacon’s wife, or the church soloist. I mean, the last people who ought to have needed deliverance. And I really became concerned about this. I said, “God, I do hope I’m not getting into something that’s not right. So please,” I said, “would You tell me what is witchcraft?” And this is, I believe, the answer He gave me.

“Witchcraft is the attempt to control people and make them do what you want by the use of any spirit which is not the Holy Spirit.”

And then He said, as a kind of corollary,

“If any person has a spirit which he or she uses, it is not the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit is God, and no one uses God.”

I’ll say that first part again. Witchcraft, in its essence, is the attempt to control people and make them do what you want by the use of any spirit which is not the Holy Spirit. And when my eyes were opened to that, I saw why the church was full of witchcraft. Because there are a lot of people who feel they want people to do something, and they use any means they can do to get them to do it. Most of them don’t realize what they’re doing.

Now, I want to take three aspects of witchcraft. First of all, as a work of the flesh, which many people don’t realize. Second, as an evil spiritual power. And thirdly, the working of witchcraft within the church.