Jezebel in the Church

In the book of Revelation, there was a very spiritual group named Thyatira that had the gifts and were very active. And you know what the Lord said?

“You suffer that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants.”

Could you believe that Jezebel could get into a charismatic prayer group? Shall I tell you, that's where she'd like to be most. And there are not a few charismatic prayer groups that are Jezebel-organized. It's good it's the last meeting anyhow.

A friend of mine phoned me long distance once. He said—he didn't introduce anything. He said, "Brother Prince, are there Pentecostal witches?" I said, "Yes, there are." I said, "They're charismatic witches too." He said, "What's the difference?" Well, I said, "Pentecostal witches operate in Pentecostal churches. Charismatic witches operate in home prayer groups and other places like that."

Well, we might as well go all the way through with it if we're going to talk about it. I've been in the Pentecostal movement over 30 years, see? So there's not much you can tell me about Pentecost. I've seen it all. I mean, I've never actually seen people swing from the chandeliers, but I heard that once.

And I thank God for what I've learned in the Pentecostal movement. They brought me salvation, they brought me the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they taught me all I ever knew about the Bible. But nevertheless, I know there are a lot of Pentecostal congregations which are dominated by a woman. And the woman is usually a powerful character who prophesies or gives interpretations. And when you analyze what goes on in the church, the pastor is just a figurehead. But she's the one with the power.

In 1963, my wife and I, I became pastor of a Pentecostal congregation in Seattle, Washington. They were the most dead-alive group of people you could ever hope to meet. And yet they were sweet Christian people. And this was one of the hardest situations I've ever been in in my life. If I hadn't found the answer in scripture, I wouldn't have known what to do.

I discovered that the previous pastor's wife had divorced her husband while they were still in the church, become entangled with one of the board members, persuaded the board member to divorce his wife, and the pastor's wife and the board member were just about to get married. And the amazing thing was that she'd convinced about 200 people in the Pentecostal congregation that it was all right for her to do that.

And people told me that she would stand behind the pulpit and say, "How many of you are with me?" And if they didn't put their hands up… This man told me, he said, "I was scared of the look in her eyes." I met that woman once. I looked in her eyes; it was like looking in the pits of hell.

And I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to handle that situation until I read Galatians 3:1.

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?”

And I discovered the Galatians were Pentecostals, because a little later on it says,

“received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

So I knew that a Pentecostal congregation could be bewitched.

And my wife and I are pretty tough people. I mean, we went to war against that thing, we stood together, and it was broken. But it has come as near as anything in my ministry to breaking me. And looking behind, I see the sinister force of witchcraft dominating a congregation.

Alright. I want to talk about one more thing. I forget when I started. I'm looking at the clock but I can't remember when I started now. Anyhow, let me talk about one more thing, and then we will come to action. Alright? We'll do something about it. It's not fair to preach this message without doing something about it at the end. Because I suppose, at a minimum estimate, 25% of the people in this audience are in some way implicated in what I've said, either directly or through your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents.

In many cases, there's a dark shadow in your life, an oppressive influence that you've never been able to analyze or lay bare, and I'm laying the axe to the root today. People say to me one thing. They say, "You know, Brother Prince, I'm saved, baptized in the Spirit. I love to worship the Lord. But when I'm closest to the Lord in worship and feel I'm nearest to him, something comes down over me and shuts me off."

And you know, by experience, I've learned to ask, "Did you ever go to a fortune teller?" And I found about three times out of four, the answer is yes. When that's renounced and broken, there's no barrier to worship.