From: heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com Sent: Thursday, November 6, 1997 11:42 PM To: Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup Subject: Re: Evil Spirit From God
From: John Baliga To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: Re: Evil Spirit From God Hi Eddie, Praise God for your Bible study and for your questions. It's awesome when brothers and sisters come together in God's Word and ask God to reveal the "Truth." Your question on (1 Sam. 16:14) is one we went over in our Bible study class one Monday night. I love that passage because it shows without a doubt, the True Sovereignty of God. God is God - He is the creator - we are only His creation. 1 Sam. 16:14 "But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit form the Lord troubled him." KJV Before we go on, we must define - "what is the Spirit of the Lord?" -> In Old Testament times the "Spirit of the Lord" empowered certain individuals for a particular service. Phrases such as "came upon" - "rested upon" - "is upon" - "was upon" - "put upon" and "made willing" illustrate the Holy Spirit's employment of an individual for a particular service or task. Certain leaders were said to be "filled" by the Spirit or that the Spirit "was in them." ie.) (Gen.41:38) ; (Ex.28:3) ; (Num.27:18) ; (Deut. 34:9) ; (Dan.6:3). However, the Holy Spirit did not deal with the Old Testament believers in the same way as with the New Testament Saints. We see this from such phrases as "d eparted from" - (1 Sam. 16:14) and "take not" - (Ps. 51:11). It was God's Mercy, whether, to have the Holy Spirit "come upon" one of His leaders or Prophets or not to have the Holy Spirit. Likewise, it was God's Mercy, whether He would remove the Holy Spirit form His servants or not. In other words, the Holy Spirit's indwelling was temporary. With Pentacost (Acts 2), however, God fulfills His promise, made by His Son Jesus - "But when the Comforter (Helper; Greek=Paraclete) is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me." (Jn. 15:26) KJV God gives us the Holy Spirit - Permanently - indwelling all who recieve Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior - "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission (forgiveness) of sins, and ye shall recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts 2:38) KJV This is where we get what John called the "Unction" from. "But ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and ye know all things."(1 Jn.2:20) KJV Everyone and anyone who receives Jesus into their heart is filled with the "unction" - the Permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. There is One God, One Spirit, One baptism - Amen!! What we need to believe without a doubt is that God is Sovereign. Not because I say so, or some preacher says so, but because God's own word says so! God's Word is the final authority - the Standard - by how we test all spirits - to see if they are from God or not. Knowing this truth, God controls ALL! Let's remember, He is the Creator and we are only the created. He is the "Potter" and we are the "clay." In this passage of 1 Sam. 16:14 - because of Saul's dissobedience to God, his consistent dissobedience to the one who called him to be King and ruler, God now chooses to "take away" His Spirit. God removes His Spirit from Saul. Remember, dissobedience, is really telling God that "Lord, thank you for what you've done, but I can take over from here. It's our selfish nature coming back, that sin of pride that says, hey, I'm in control now." Sound familiar? Amen! We would never come out and say it like that, but, that's the exact message we send to our Father in heaven when we dissobey. But thank God for His Mercy upon our lives, for His unfailing love, and His patience - that he wish none would perish. So what does God do after He removes His Spirit? He allows an "evil spirit" to come and trouble Saul. Notice, the small letter "s" in the phrase "evil spi rit." Whenever you read about God's Spirit, you will see the word capatolized. There is God, then there are gods. Same spelling, but two very different meanings. Remember, Satan can not do anything, unless God permits him to. Remember the book of "JOB" - chapter one. Satan could not touch Job, unless God gave him permission. In verse 10, Satan could not touch Job because God put a hedge around Job and his family - "hast not thou made a hedge (hedge of protection) about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance (possessions) is increased in the land." (JOB 1:10) KJV Again, because Saul chose to do things his way, God, because He loves him so much, takes away His Spirit so Saul will find out the hard way, that God's way is the only way! God loves us so much, that He will not force Himself upon us. Imagine how much that must hurt our heavenly Father. In Hebrews, He's the author and perfecter of our faith, He's got our lives mapped out, with tons of blessings, if we only would let Him rule us. So bottom line is - that God permitted this assualt of this "evil spirit," which eventually resulted in his death. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23) KJV Let us remember that this evil spirit is not the like the Holy Spirit at all. There is only one Holy Spirit - but many demons, or evil spirits - of which are all under the authority of God - Hallelujah!!! I pray God's wisdom and understanding and His discernment be with you all. And God Bless you and your group, for when the Saints gather in Jesus' Name, it's such a beautiful thing - and God becomes so Glorified - Amen!! Love you all, In His arms, John. **********************************************************************