Andrew Musch

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Jesus Tomb

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  I speak in tongues more than you all - A biblical exploration about the gift of tongues. Two pitfalls are pointed out: The dangerous error of counterfeiting the truth and the chilling error of a dead orthodoxy.

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Golden Lampstands of Iowa

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Bob MacLeod

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John Brokaw

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Exorcism is the practice of expelling a demon from a person who is controlled, or possessed by the demon.  Several examples of exorcism are mentioned in the Bible – all in the New Testament during the period of Christ’s ministry and the following years with the disciples.

The Christian should resist the devil, but not by exorcism.  Instead, the weapons we have been given are our ability to resist in the power of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives and by the liberating power of salvation through the proclamation of the gospel to the lost ones.

Examples of exorcism

Some of the examples include people who were casting out demons (Mark 9:38)," TARGET="_blank">Mark 9:38), Jesus commands to the 70 evangelists (Matthew 10)," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 10), the false accusation that Jesus was empowered by Beelzebul to be able to cast out demons (Luke 11:15-19)" TARGET="_blank">Luke 11:15-19) and Paul’s ability to cast the demon out of a slave girl (Acts 16:16-18)." TARGET="_blank">Acts 16:16-18).

Mark 9:38-40" TARGET="_blank">Mark 9:38-40  John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us."  (39)  But Jesus said, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.  (40)  For the one who is not against us is for us.

Matthew 10:8" TARGET="_blank">Matthew 10:8  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.

Luke 11:15-19" TARGET="_blank">Luke 11:15-19  But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,"  (16)  while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.  (17)  But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.  (18)  And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.  (19)  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

Acts 16:16-18" TARGET="_blank">Acts 16:16-18  As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.  (17)  She followed Paul and us, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation."  (18)  And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

Luke 10:17-20" TARGET="_blank">Luke 10:17-20  The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"  (18)  And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  (19)  Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.  (20)  Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Genesis 3:15" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 3:15  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

Ephesians 6:11" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 6:11  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

James 4:6-7" TARGET="_blank">James 4:6-7  But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."  (7)  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Ephesians 4:25-27" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 4:25-27  Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.  (26)  Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,  (27)  and give no opportunity to the devil.

1 Peter 5:8-9" TARGET="_blank">1 Peter 5:8-9  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  (9)  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Luke 4:18-19" TARGET="_blank">Luke 4:18-19  "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,  (19)  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Acts 26:18," TARGET="_blank">Acts 26:18, 22-23  To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (22) Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:  (23)  That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.

Shad Sluiter

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Please explain Judges 11:31" TARGET="_blank">Judges 11:31: “Shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”

We know the story of Jephthah’s vow. It has been the subject of much heart searching and enquiry. Certainly there is something mysterious about it as it stands. Was Jephthah’s daughter really offered up as a burnt offering? This has been taken for granted and the story has been quoted to show the low morality of the times and the general need of humanity for the blessings of further “evolution” in their religious beliefs and practices! That the daughter was ever offered up as a burnt offering, however, can be proved neither by the story nor the morality of the times, but only that she bewailed her virginity. That is, she is supposed to have been thinking of this,when she might well have been thinking of losing her life. It would be like a convict about to lose his head, bewailing that they had cut his hair too close. I think the morality of Jephthah and his fellow-Israelites would probably compare very favourably with that of London or any other great modern city, and would certainly be better than that of some of the evolutionary, modernistic teachers, who while accepting a salary to preach what at the most solemn moment of their lives, they declared they unfeignedly believed, are now using their influence to undermine—the foundation truths of Creation, the Fall, Atonement, the true Deity of Christ, etc. All that we learn is that Jephthah is said to have met his daughter, and to have exclaimed: “I have been brought very low.” This was because she was his only child and therefore the only one by whom his name could be preserved. No doubt he was deeply moved: “I have opened my mouth unto the Lord and I cannot go back,” and the daughter, a true woman of faith, accepts the situation, and only asks that she may be allowed two months that she may go up and down and bewail—her life? No, again, her virginity. She returns at the end of the time, and “her father did with her according to his vow which he had vowed,” with what result? that she had died bravely and was buried? No, again we say, but that she never entered the married state. One would think this an unnecessary piece of information, if, in fact, she had been burnt alive, as some would have us believe. I will give one or two further reasons for believing that this is not the true meaning. (i) Human sacrifices were abhorrent to God’s mind. As for passing children through the fire in his honour, it was absolutely foreign to His intention. Jehovah’s words of this very thing are, “I commanded them not, neither came into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin” (see Jeremiah 32:35," TARGET="_blank">Jeremiah 32:35, also Ezekiel 16:20, 21;" TARGET="_blank">Ezekiel 16:20, 21; Ezekiel 20:26," TARGET="_blank">Ezekiel 20:26, 3:). Can we suppose this man of God to do “such a thing”? (2) For Jephthah was, we see, a man of God, by verse i i, and also by the character of his remonstrance to the king of Animon. His name, too, occurs among the heroes of faith of Heb. ii. () It is distinctly said that “the Spirit of God came upon him” before this incident. Can we then suppose he would have been permitted to sacrifice his daughter in the way supposed, entirely out of harmony with the will of God? (ii.) I think the true solution is found in the margin of our Bibles, “Shall surely be the Lord’s, OR I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” Had it been his dog or other unclean animal, how could he have offered it up as a burnt offering? No, but he might have sold it and given the price to the Lord. This marginal reading is borne out by the disjunctive use of Waw (“and”) in Hebrew, which also has the force of “OR,” as in Exodus 21:6" TARGET="_blank">Exodus 21:6 (“selleth him, OR if he be found in his hand”), Ex. 21." TARGET="_blank">Ex. 21. 17 (“father OR mother”), Deuteronomy 24" TARGET="_blank">Deuteronomy 24: 7 (“maketh merchandise of him, OR selleth him”); and of “WHETHER R,” as in Ex. 21." TARGET="_blank">Ex. 21. 31 (“WHETHER he have gored a son, OR have gored a daughter”). In all these passages, “and” would be out of place. It would seem clear that in Jephthah’s intention, to be “the Lord’s”, entailed a life of celibacy. There may have been some such custom current, to judge from this passage, though we know not of any command to confirm it. It is interesting to note the marginal reading of “lament” in the last verse of the chapter—”talk with”—the same verb, ”tinneh” which is translated “rehearse” in Judges 5:11" TARGET="_blank">Judges 5:11

W.H.

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If Hades be “in the heart of the earth,” as some have thought, how can we reconcile this with Jonah’s experience, who went down into the whale’s belly (symbol of Sheol), spirit, soul and body, while the Lord’s soul went to Hades (Sheol) and His body to the grave?

There is really no contrast, still less contradiction in the two thoughts. Though Jonah speaks of being “in the belly of hell” (Sheol), I think those are mistaken who deduce that he actually died in the belly of the whale, as I think the rest of his prayer shows. The Lord does not say that the prophet died, though so terrifying was his experience, that he might have imagined he was in the unseen world. But the death of the prophet was quite unnecessary to justify the Lord’s comparison between Himself and Jonah. Jonah’s disappearance in the belly of the whale was a figure of the disappearance of the Lord, when His body was laid in the grave and He in spirit descended into the place of departed spirits—Paradise——as it was for Him and for all of His own, who had already died. But the exact location of this it does not seem necessary for us to define, even if it were possible. Our Lord’s words were, “As Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40)," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 12:40), and this came to pass. W.H.

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Can a company claim to be an assembly of God, where Church truths and fundamental truths are not taught?

Of course, we understand that such truths are not denied, but simply neglected for others, such as exhortation, or prophetical and dispensational teaching. Where fundamental truth is generally denied in a company, such loses its character as an assembly, just as the individual does his character as a Christian. But what constitutes an assembly, is a company of true believers who seek to gather to the Name of the Lord, know no other Centre than He, and no other Leader than the Spirit of God (while welcoming those whom He has called to rule, or qualified to minister the Word), and no other rule than His Word.

But why should not these truths be taught? Are there not elders among the saints, who though not exactly “teachers,” in the sense of possessing a distinct gift, are nevertheless “apt to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2)" TARGET="_blank">1 Timothy 3:2) and able to explain both church and fundamental truths? There is a call for prayer that the Lord would raise up “gifts” in His churches able to instruct the saints. But it is not “light” which constitutes an assembly, but life in Christ of those composing it.

On the other hand, we need “all the counsel of God” as revealed in His Word, not merely certain favourite truths, for “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good
works” (2 Timothy 3:16, 17)." TARGET="_blank">2 Timothy 3:16, 17).

W.H.

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Please explain 1 Samuel 28:15-19" TARGET="_blank">1 Samuel 28:15-19 in the light of Ecclesiastes 9:5." TARGET="_blank">Ecclesiastes 9:5.

Does this give ground for to-day’s teaching of Spiritism?

The story of 1 Samuel 28" TARGET="_blank">1 Samuel 28 in no way justifies the practice of Spiritism in this or in any other age.

As for Ecciesiastes 9:5, it expresses the general rule, “The dead know not anything”; the above story of the witch of Endor is the exception, by God’s special permission, as I shall seek to show. “The dead know not anything,” i.e., of what is going on on the earth, but they know what is going on where they are, as the story of the ex-rich man and Lazarus shows (Luke 16)." TARGET="_blank">Luke 16). The former and Abraham knew each other, and the former recognised Lazarus and remembered his own five brethren.

I have not the slightest doubt Samuel was really permitted by God to respond to the call. This was less, I doubt not, of a surprise to Saul the dupe, than to the witch, the deceiver. To her the attendant spirit was familiar, but she seems to have been completely taken aback by the appearance of the strange visitant that Samuel was, for “she cried with a loud voice,” and did not know him, though by some peculiar intuition she at once became aware of the identity of Saul. Samuel was a true prophet, and could foretell the morrow’s happenings, but we have no justification for supposing that wicked spirits can foretell the future.
That this response to Saul’s evil action does not justify modern Spiritism is clear, from the fact that it did not justify his own recourse to this medium, for it is specifically mentioned in 1 Chronicles 10:13" TARGET="_blank">1 Chronicles 10:13 as one of the two causes of his final downfall: (i) “his transgression” i.e., in sparing Amalek, and also (z) his “asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it. And he enquired not of the Lord, therefore He slew him.” He did ask of the Lord (sha’al), as indeed of the witch, but he did so in a merely formal way in the former case and he did not enquire (dãrash) of Him, as he did of the witch; for in her case he put himself to all pains to get information. Saul knew perfectly well the distinct prohibition of Jehovah to any kind of occult practices—consulting spirits, etc. (see Leviticus 19:31;" TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 19:31; Leviticus 20:6, 27;" TARGET="_blank">Leviticus 20:6, 27; Deuteronomy 18:9-12)," TARGET="_blank">Deuteronomy 18:9-12), and had as we know, acted thereon, till he found it convenient to transgress!

W.H.

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