Jessie Penn-Lewis picked up the 1 John 4:1-3 exorcism
technique, reporting in The
Overcomer (pg. 9, January, 1910) an instance of its use; a demon was “tested” in Germany, and “answered through a child of God, in
‘tongues’: ‘Cursed, be Jesus Christ.’” (quoted by Panton, “Testing the Supernatural,” The
Dawn: An Evangelical Magazine, May 15, 1925
p. 64). By answering in this
manner, the demon was able to deceive many who would hear about the use of 1
John 4:1-3 as a test in Christendom and spread the lie that believers can be
possessed. Penn-Lewis also gave an
example of the 1 John 4:1-3 technique receiving support from demons by printing
an example of a 15 year old girl who was demon possessed but had the demon say,
“Now I am found out,” when the technique was applied (“The Working of Evil
Spirits in Christian Gatherings,” in War
on the Saints, Penn-Lewis). It is
consequently very probable that “the source of MacMillan’s use of the First
John 4:1-3 methodology [was] Penn-Lewis’ influence” (pgs. 271-272, A Believer with Authority, King). The practice was likewise adopted and
commended by partial-Rapturist D. M. Panton and the woman missionary Margaret
E. Barber, who was sent out from Panton’s congregation and was a mentor to
Watchman Nee (pg. 252, A Believer with
Authority, King; Pg. 50, Against the
Tide, Kinnear; when Nee traveled to
England to attend the Keswick convention, “he sought out Margaret Barber’s
friend . . . D. M. Panton, whose writings he had valued and . . .
demonstrate[d] his appreciation,” pg. 153, Against
the Tide, Kinnear). Panton taught:
technique, reporting in The
Overcomer (pg. 9, January, 1910) an instance of its use; a demon was “tested” in Germany, and “answered through a child of God, in
‘tongues’: ‘Cursed, be Jesus Christ.’” (quoted by Panton, “Testing the Supernatural,” The
Dawn: An Evangelical Magazine, May 15, 1925
p. 64). By answering in this
manner, the demon was able to deceive many who would hear about the use of 1
John 4:1-3 as a test in Christendom and spread the lie that believers can be
possessed. Penn-Lewis also gave an
example of the 1 John 4:1-3 technique receiving support from demons by printing
an example of a 15 year old girl who was demon possessed but had the demon say,
“Now I am found out,” when the technique was applied (“The Working of Evil
Spirits in Christian Gatherings,” in War
on the Saints, Penn-Lewis). It is
consequently very probable that “the source of MacMillan’s use of the First
John 4:1-3 methodology [was] Penn-Lewis’ influence” (pgs. 271-272, A Believer with Authority, King). The practice was likewise adopted and
commended by partial-Rapturist D. M. Panton and the woman missionary Margaret
E. Barber, who was sent out from Panton’s congregation and was a mentor to
Watchman Nee (pg. 252, A Believer with
Authority, King; Pg. 50, Against the
Tide, Kinnear; when Nee traveled to
England to attend the Keswick convention, “he sought out Margaret Barber’s
friend . . . D. M. Panton, whose writings he had valued and . . .
demonstrate[d] his appreciation,” pg. 153, Against
the Tide, Kinnear). Panton taught:
[I]t is the direct command of God “PROVE THE SPIRITS” (1 John 4:1): thus
we have no option: no spirit-movement or spirit-action must ever be accepted without
submission to, and authentication by, the Divine Tests. . . . “EVERY SPIRIT WHICH CONFESSETH THAT JESUS CHRIST IS COME IN THE FLESH IS
OF GOD: AND EVERY SPIRIT WHICH CONFESSETH NOT JESUS IS NOT OF GOD” (1 John
4:2—[Panton quotes the corrupt critical Greek text]). . . . For an adequate use
of the tests, it must be proved, by supernatural phenomena, that a spirit-being
is present; he must, to be tested, so appear that he can be isolated, in
conversation, spoken or written, from the human agent; it must be certain that he answers – not suddenly falling silent,
or withdrawing, so leaving (possibly) a Christian to give the correct answer,
nor must any assumption of any kind be made, in confronting (as we do) the
oldest and subtlest evil intelligences in the universe. I have myself discovered a demon by the test, and so I know that it works. . . . Tested, [a demon] may . . .
answe[r] through a child of God . . . ‘Cursed, be Jesus Christ.’ ” [—The Overcomer,
Jan., 1910] . . . In Irving’s day, a spirit challenged with: “Wilt thou not
confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?” replied loudly, “I will not!” and after being
expelled, says the narrator, it never returned.
Miller’s “Irvingism,” vol. 1,
p. 94.] . . . . [A] Christian victim . . . [can be] fully under the influence
of the spirit . . . The idea that no believer can experience the on-fall of an
evil spirit is not only in itself
deeply erroneous, and contrary to actual cases unnumbered[.] . . . [For
example, a Christian woman was possessed, and when exorcism was attempted, the
demon said] he did not intend to go, we had better depart. Then the spirit began threatening the sister
in ‘Tongues.’ He was furious with her
that she had betrayed him, and he threatened to destroy her. The more we prayed, the more he raged, and
cursed and swore, and threatened us. I
am not at all an emotional man, but I had the impression that the room was full
of demons. The spirit flung the sister about the room, tore and bit her body in
a fearful way; we ourselves heard the spirit cursing and swearing in
‘Tongues.’ The words used were so awful
that I cannot write them down. I
understood a good deal without the sister’s interpretation, for at times the
spirit spoke in Latin, Italian, and some French. Unfortunately, I could only understand
fragments without interpretation, as the spirit spoke very rapidly. . . . [But]
an evil spirit . . . when confronted with this specific challenge [of 1 John
4:1-3] by the disciple of Christ, strategy or hate or Divine embargo compels a
self-revelation. (pg. 64, “Testing the
Supernatural,” by D. M. Panton. The Dawn: An Evangelical Magazine, May
15, 1925. Bold print, italics, and
capitalization have been retained from the source document. Compare. pg. 9, The Overcomer, January 1910)
we have no option: no spirit-movement or spirit-action must ever be accepted without
submission to, and authentication by, the Divine Tests. . . . “EVERY SPIRIT WHICH CONFESSETH THAT JESUS CHRIST IS COME IN THE FLESH IS
OF GOD: AND EVERY SPIRIT WHICH CONFESSETH NOT JESUS IS NOT OF GOD” (1 John
4:2—[Panton quotes the corrupt critical Greek text]). . . . For an adequate use
of the tests, it must be proved, by supernatural phenomena, that a spirit-being
is present; he must, to be tested, so appear that he can be isolated, in
conversation, spoken or written, from the human agent; it must be certain that he answers – not suddenly falling silent,
or withdrawing, so leaving (possibly) a Christian to give the correct answer,
nor must any assumption of any kind be made, in confronting (as we do) the
oldest and subtlest evil intelligences in the universe. I have myself discovered a demon by the test, and so I know that it works. . . . Tested, [a demon] may . . .
answe[r] through a child of God . . . ‘Cursed, be Jesus Christ.’ ” [—The Overcomer,
Jan., 1910] . . . In Irving’s day, a spirit challenged with: “Wilt thou not
confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?” replied loudly, “I will not!” and after being
expelled, says the narrator, it never returned.
Miller’s “Irvingism,” vol. 1,
p. 94.] . . . . [A] Christian victim . . . [can be] fully under the influence
of the spirit . . . The idea that no believer can experience the on-fall of an
evil spirit is not only in itself
deeply erroneous, and contrary to actual cases unnumbered[.] . . . [For
example, a Christian woman was possessed, and when exorcism was attempted, the
demon said] he did not intend to go, we had better depart. Then the spirit began threatening the sister
in ‘Tongues.’ He was furious with her
that she had betrayed him, and he threatened to destroy her. The more we prayed, the more he raged, and
cursed and swore, and threatened us. I
am not at all an emotional man, but I had the impression that the room was full
of demons. The spirit flung the sister about the room, tore and bit her body in
a fearful way; we ourselves heard the spirit cursing and swearing in
‘Tongues.’ The words used were so awful
that I cannot write them down. I
understood a good deal without the sister’s interpretation, for at times the
spirit spoke in Latin, Italian, and some French. Unfortunately, I could only understand
fragments without interpretation, as the spirit spoke very rapidly. . . . [But]
an evil spirit . . . when confronted with this specific challenge [of 1 John
4:1-3] by the disciple of Christ, strategy or hate or Divine embargo compels a
self-revelation. (pg. 64, “Testing the
Supernatural,” by D. M. Panton. The Dawn: An Evangelical Magazine, May
15, 1925. Bold print, italics, and
capitalization have been retained from the source document. Compare. pg. 9, The Overcomer, January 1910)
Out of what demons convinced Irvingites, Jessie Penn-Lewis,
and partial-Rapturists to believe, and the validation of how demons responded
to eisegesis of 1 John 4:1-3 when they were done flinging around rooms alleged
Christians whom they had possessed, MacMillan developed his exorcism procedure. However, MacMillan had no support from
Scripture—and thus, in practice, he was repudiating sola Scriptura—when he adopted his exorcism process.
and partial-Rapturists to believe, and the validation of how demons responded
to eisegesis of 1 John 4:1-3 when they were done flinging around rooms alleged
Christians whom they had possessed, MacMillan developed his exorcism procedure. However, MacMillan had no support from
Scripture—and thus, in practice, he was repudiating sola Scriptura—when he adopted his exorcism process.
John A. MacMillan developed a three-stage exorcism
procedure of first asking the devil its name, then asking it if Jesus Christ
came in the flesh, and then telling the demon to leave, exercising an alleged throne-power
to make it happen, and then hoping that it worked. MacMillan’s practice of asking devils their
names in order to cast them out is not something not taught in Scripture, but
is a common pagan practice. In the
Bible, the names of a few good angels are clearly mentioned, but devils almost
universally remain unnamed (cf. the contrast in Daniel 10:13, “Michael” versus
the unnamed “prince of the kingdom of Persia.”). Mark 5:9 records the only event in Scripture
that could be employed in an attempt to provide exegetical support for
MacMillan’s practice of asking individual demons their names and then trying to
cast them out one by one. However, the
verse does not record Christ’s asking the name of evil spirits because He did
not know who they were or because He needed to get their names in order to cast
them out. On the contrary, in Mark 5:9
Christ asked the devils their name to get greater glory to Himself. Since the man in Mark’s Gospel was possessed
by many devils, the Lord’s power was more greatly glorified when, by a single
command, He cast out a “Legion” of devils, the number of which would have
remained unknown to the people witnessing the event had Christ not required the
devils reveal it. Neither Mark 5 nor the
rest of the Bible provides a tittle of support for asking devils their names as
a prerequisite in an exorcism procedure.
procedure of first asking the devil its name, then asking it if Jesus Christ
came in the flesh, and then telling the demon to leave, exercising an alleged throne-power
to make it happen, and then hoping that it worked. MacMillan’s practice of asking devils their
names in order to cast them out is not something not taught in Scripture, but
is a common pagan practice. In the
Bible, the names of a few good angels are clearly mentioned, but devils almost
universally remain unnamed (cf. the contrast in Daniel 10:13, “Michael” versus
the unnamed “prince of the kingdom of Persia.”). Mark 5:9 records the only event in Scripture
that could be employed in an attempt to provide exegetical support for
MacMillan’s practice of asking individual demons their names and then trying to
cast them out one by one. However, the
verse does not record Christ’s asking the name of evil spirits because He did
not know who they were or because He needed to get their names in order to cast
them out. On the contrary, in Mark 5:9
Christ asked the devils their name to get greater glory to Himself. Since the man in Mark’s Gospel was possessed
by many devils, the Lord’s power was more greatly glorified when, by a single
command, He cast out a “Legion” of devils, the number of which would have
remained unknown to the people witnessing the event had Christ not required the
devils reveal it. Neither Mark 5 nor the
rest of the Bible provides a tittle of support for asking devils their names as
a prerequisite in an exorcism procedure.
However, in contrast with Scripture, countless “magical
papyri” evidence “that to know and declare the name of a . . . spirit was
believed to give power over [it]” (pg. 228, The
Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the
Greek Text, R. T. France), and in “heathen nature-religions” exorcists
“know the names of the demons in their native tongue” so that “by invoking
these they cure the ailments” caused by the demons (pg. 152, A History of the Jewish People in the Time
of Jesus Christ, vol. 5, E. Schürer.
Edinburgh: T & T Clark,
1890). Compare pgs. 759ff., The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,
Alfred Edersheim, vol. 2.
papyri” evidence “that to know and declare the name of a . . . spirit was
believed to give power over [it]” (pg. 228, The
Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the
Greek Text, R. T. France), and in “heathen nature-religions” exorcists
“know the names of the demons in their native tongue” so that “by invoking
these they cure the ailments” caused by the demons (pg. 152, A History of the Jewish People in the Time
of Jesus Christ, vol. 5, E. Schürer.
Edinburgh: T & T Clark,
1890). Compare pgs. 759ff., The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,
Alfred Edersheim, vol. 2.
I'm afraid that many Charismatics don't understand that "trying the spirits" doesn't mean "trying them out to see which ones you like."
Dear Titus,
You are correct about that.
Communicating with demons in any way is extremely dangerous.
Unfortunately, this charismatic error has influenced Baptists–I am aware of independent Baptists who misuse 1 John 4:1-3 in this manner because they have read and adopted the view of Penn-Lewis and MacMillan. They are sincere and godly people who simply don't know where this view comes from and haven't taken the time to carefully study 1 John 4:1-6.