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.

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