The Appearance of Evil

From time to time, I feel as though I am running out of things to write about.  I have written well over two hundred weekly articles since I retired from my day job.  But it looks as if God doesn't want me to retire from my writing because every time I think I'm starting to run dry, out of ideas, He speaks a word or a phrase into my heart.

So, here I go again, feeling like God is asking me to write about a subject that I haven't heard anyone talk about in 20 years or so.  I honestly believe my mother was the last person I heard speaking about ... "the appearance of evil."  I guess she could have been worried that the things I might be doing would reflect badly on how she raised me ... but no, I really don't think that was it.  She was just reminding me of what the Word said, and how she tried to live her life. 

1st Thessalonians 5:22 ... "Abstain from all appearance of evil."  So what is the Apostle Paul talking about?  Paul has just been speaking about how and when the Lord will return to earth.  He is telling the body of Christ, that they are not in darkness, but they are children of the light; therefore do not fall asleep spiritually and let the darkness overtake you.  I think we should take that to heart also, because the darkness will if you let it. 

Next Paul follows that up with ... how we should act while we wait on the return of Jesus.  Paul and most other believers thought the return of Jesus would happen in their lifetime.  That's why he wrote in his second letter to this same church, things like ... "When you see the man of sin in the Temple of God, showing himself as god ..." 

Paul expected to see the so called "Anti-Christ" himself.  Of course, time and 2,000 years of history has proven that wasn't to be ... showing we can't predict when God the Father will have redeemed the last person to be born again and saved by the Blood of His Son Jesus.  But that final number, whatever it is, must be getting close by now.

Paul's instruction on how to act in the last days while waiting for the return of Jesus, is truthfully how we should act every day of our life.  It's fairly simple ... well, honestly it will take a little effort on our part, just like overcoming temptation does.

Now remember, Paul is just the scribe with the pen ... the Holy Spirit is the real author of these instructions on our Christian lifestyle, that is witnessed by others.  And that is what this document I am writing is all about ... how we look to others, including the unsaved.

One thing he says not to do, is repay evil with evil; but rather aim to do good unto all men.  To be successful in following these principles you must never give up on prayer.

The old King James English reads ... "Pray without ceasing" ... which at first glance seems to infer that we need to be at prayer 24 hours a day.  Wrong.  It simply means, don't get dejected and give up or quit talking to God about things.  I enjoy my two girls sharing things with me.  God loves His children to share their hearts with Him.

So next Paul says, while you're at it ... in everything give thanks unto God.  That means in the hard times as well as in the good times.  Notice he does not say to give thanks "for" all things ... but "in everything" give thanks ... referring to whatever position or situation you may find yourself in, it's still the will of God that you praise and worship with thankful hearts.

I've said all this trying to put my key verse into it's proper context.  As I said, you don't hear these words much anymore ... "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

Let me break this scripture down and see if it is as simple to understand as it seems.

The word abstain in the original Greek is "apechomai" (pronounced ap-ekh'-om-ahee) and means ... "to refrain from, to hold oneself off."

In this case, the translation ... abstain ... is right.  In simple terms it is saying, "don't do it, hold off on that particular action."

The word from, or "apo" (pronounced apo') is a very common word meaning just what you think it means.  From ... "away from something near, a separation, a reversal, a departure  or cessation."

Next, the word all, or "pas" simply means ... "any, every, the whole thing, all."  That is simple enough for even me to understand.

Appearance ... the word this whole study is based on, it's the subject of this verse.  The Greek word it is translated from is "eidos" (pronounced i'-dos) and it means ... "to view, as if in a form or fashioned in a shape, with an appearance one can see."

Your actions may not be in a physical form, but they can form or fashion a judgment in the minds of the one who sees your actions which might appear to them as sin.

Lastly, the two words "of evil" are one, the Greek "pone-ros" (pronounced pon-ay-ros') and means ... "hurtful, bad influence, worthless, corrupt, evil."

So ... it looks to me that this scripture, translated into English, is right on target with the true meaning intended.  We are told throughout the Word of God to "sin not" and here we are also told to ... "avoid even the appearance of it."

But why be concerned about something we do that is not sinful for us, and may only appear to be sinful to someone else.  If it's not wrong or sinful ... what's the problem?

There are many things which in themselves, may not be wrong scripturally.  But since Christians seem to be held to a higher standard by the world ... "taste not, touch not, handle not" ... or we become hypocrites in their eyes and they use these things as an excuse not to become part of the Christian family of believers.

There are some outward visible things we may be certain of, that if done, our conduct will be regarded as improper for Christians.  Some things the "church" fifty years ago used to preach against, like smoking, drinking, dancing, going to movies and eating in places that had a bar in them ... I cannot say positively that they are "evil" ... simply because it's not spelled out as 100% sinful in the Word of God.  I try to let the Holy Spirit make those decisions for me personally.  I have enough trouble running my own life, to try and run yours.

Even though things like I just mentioned cannot be proven to be "in themselves" positively wrong or forbidden, they still might have "the appearance of evil" and will be interpreted as wrong by those who watch what we do and say.  Actions speak louder than words.  We are also told not to judge one another ...

The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 14:13 ... "Let us not judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man places a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brothers way."  

Paul's example was in eating meat.  If one thinks the eating of meat is wrong, then don't eat meat in front of him or ask him to eat meat.  You can be certain no harm or injury will be done by our actions if we abstain from such questionable deeds. 

My dear departed mother wouldn't want me to say this ... but the truth is ... it is impossible to abstain from everything that might look like the appearance of evil in another man's eyes. 

I can hear her now ... "Why can't you?  Just don't do it."

I can honestly say ... not once did I ever see "the appearance of evil" in her life.



Comments welcome.

Adam's Knowledge of Death

We find in the very first book in the Bible, this statement ...

"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Moses, the author of Genesis, does not intimate in any way that Adam had any knowledge of the nature of laws and penalties.  His written account of God's command to Adam was that he could eat from all of the trees in the garden of Eden except for one certain tree.  It was called the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."

Because he lacked a full understanding of the penalty, death; all Adam could have possibly thought would occur would be the loss of life as he knew it ... physical death.  We have no reason to think he would understand it as referring to anything more than the loss of this natural life.  I'm not convinced he knew even that much; for if he did, would he have eaten the fruit?

We can look back on our experiences of death ... not our own but other people we have known.  We found out when death comes there is no breath, no heartbeat, just a cold lifeless body.  Adam didn't have this experience to fall back on.  As far as we can tell from scripture ... nothing had ever died up to that point, plant or animal.

Some learned men have described Adam as possessing all the knowledge of a modern theologian.  They seem to believe that God just put all knowledge intuitively in Adam when he was created.  Yes, I understand that Adam was intelligent, how else could he name all the animals.  I believe that most, if not all of Adam's knowledge came from walking with the Lord God, talking with Him, and asking questions about daily life.  But some things, like death, are learned only through experience.

We now realize from reading the Word of God, that when God said to Adam ... "for in the day that you eat of that tree you will surely die" ... the death God was referring to is what we call spiritual death, not physical death.  How could Adam understand spiritual death when there is no recorded reference to death up till then.  But Adam became a fallen creature that very day.  Physical death was also pronounced upon him that same day, but it took another 930 years before physical death claimed him after he was driven out of the garden, away from "the Tree of Life."

I've heard it said that Adam was the most knowledgeable being ever created.  I question that statement.  Knowledge has increased over time.  The knowledge Adam had, when compared to the knowledge gained over the past 6,000 years, would be less than the average man has today.  But knowing "facts" hasn't helped mankind to choose good over evil.  Man is still as sinful as ever.

That the first man in the infancy of the human race should be described as being superior to its highest advancement of knowledge today, in my opinion is unfounded.  But what I will say is this ... because at first, he wasn't a fallen creature ... Adam most likely had the greatest potential intellectually of any man who ever lived, simply because he was hand made and endowed with all the knowledge and ability God wanted him to have.  Knowledge and intellect are two different things.

So Adam, being acquainted with this one commandment and what the effects of the transgression of that law would be ... death ... and even with that knowledge, it is obvious he did not understand what the consequences would be.  Or could it be that he was just like we are today ... sometimes we just don't care.

The account by Moses is simple.  Adam was told not to violate this one simple law, or he would die.  He did it anyway; and God announced to him that the sentence of death would be inflicted on him, and that he should return to the dust of the earth that he came from.

What else this might involve, what other consequences sin might introduce to the world were unknown to Adam.  To think that all the consequences of the violation of a law must necessarily be foreseen in order to make the law and the penalty just ... is wrong.

It is sufficient that the law only be known; that it's violation is forbidden; and that the consequences of the violation of the Law of God ... are left to God.

And it was.

Adam's knowledge of death was not ... intuitive ... it had to be learned.


Comments welcome.

Discerning of Spirits

Today I'm going to address a subject many people don't understand or are afraid to deal with ... but it's in the Bible ... therefore it's given for a purpose.

My title is a phrase in 1st Corinthians 12:10, speaking of one of the nine gifts given and operated by or through the Holy Spirit.  I have come to the conclusion that many times the common teaching given to the meaning of this phrase is not in keeping with the intended operation of this spiritual gift.

Most of the time people teach that when a person has this gift in operation in their life, the person with this gift can discern evil spirits, commonly called demons ... hence the phrase in the old English ... discerning of spirits.  It is taught that those who have this ministry gift are supposed to be able to tell if someone is demon possessed or oppressed and can even name which type of demon it is.  All we have to go on is their word, without any other proof they are correct in what they say.  When they say ... "God told me" ... what are we going to say?

I don't know ... it just seems to me that all we have to go on is either the guidelines that are in the Bible or else we blindly take by faith that person's word who says a certain type of strange activity or action within a person is a demon or evil spirit of some kind and needs to be cast out or dealt with.

I was reading 1st Corinthians 12:10 in the Amplified Bible, and noticed it stated this about the gift of discernment.  "... to another the ability to discern and distinguish between the utterances of true spirits and false ones ..."  Notice the wording again, "... between the utterances ..."

This is stated right before Paul mentions the last two vocal gifts, unknown tongues and the ability to interpret such tongues.  When you put these three together, as they are given in Scripture, (three sets of three) then should not the so called ... "gift of discerning" ... be used to discern whether the utterance given in tongues or the interpretation of those tongues are of the Holy Spirit or a false one.

This gift, operated by the Holy Spirit can also discern the motive of the speaker or interpreter.  It seems to me that this is one of the intended purposes of this gift.

It is my understanding, the true purpose of this "gift of discernment" ... given as a tool to be used by the Church, the body of Christ ... is to help judge the vocal gifts; including tongues and their interpretation, as well as the preaching of the Word to the Church, to discern whether it is coming from the Spirit of Truth or the spirit of error.  Because the mind of the flesh cannot be trusted, 1st John 4:1 instructs the Church to ... "prove, test the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God" ... because it just might be only coming from the heart of a well intentioned man.

According to the commentaries of Albert Barnes, Adam Clarke, John Gill, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, and Vincent's Word Studies; they all agree that ...

"This must refer to some power of searching the heart, of knowing what were a man's purpose, views and feelings.

It may relate either to the power of determining by what spirit a man spoke, who pretended to be inspired, whether he was truly inspired or whether he was an impostor.  It may refer to the power of seeing whether a man was sincere or not in his Christian profession, an evangelist, teacher, etc.

This gift can also be used to distinguish between true and false prophets, or to discern and discover the inward workings of the mind and soul by the Holy Spirit, and of those holding an office in the Body of Christ.  This gift could in some measure, discern the hearts of men, their thoughts, purposes and designs."

One example of the operation of this gift, given by God for the intended purpose of distinguishing the Spirit of God from the lying spirits in men, would be Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11.  In this case, demons or evil spirits had nothing to do with the plain old sinful nature of these two people.  It was the same base, carnal flesh that we all have to fight against as long as we are in these earthly bodies.  Their's just happened to be the love of money.

But yes, there are satanic spirits or demons, what I call disembodied spirits that can't operate in this physical world unless they can express themselves through a person's flesh, who willingly, or even sometimes unknowingly allow them to work in them.  These people are in bondage, giving in to entertaining thoughts and desires they shouldn't have; lust, hate, etc.

The Word of God speaks about some of the type of people and things we need to watch out for ...

Matthew 24:24 ... "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

Ephesians 6:12 ... "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

1st Timothy 4:1 ... "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils ..."

2nd Peter 2:1 ... "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

There are many more ... these just came to mind.

The Holy Spirit gave to the Church, the Body of Christ on earth some tools to use in ministry.  Even though we may not fully understand how all these tools operate; things  like the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit ... they are still given for us to use and allow to operate as the Lord directs.

Never forget ... the Spiritual battle is real.


Comments welcome.

What Can Angels Do

The other day, I was asked to respond to this question.  "Can angels, whether God's or the fallen spirits, move objects like doors, drawers and so forth like ghosts are portrayed in movies as doing?"  My response was as follows ...

Concerning your question about what angels can do ... you must remember there is a big difference between God's angels that He assigns to each of us and the so-called "fallen angels," usually called demons, which are sent to tempt and bother us in what ever way they can.

God's angels are still as they were created.  They still have their angelic body, in which they can present themselves in material form if need be.  They don't take up residence in your body and become part of your life like the Holy Spirit does; but yet as a spirit being they can and do walk with you, stand guard over you, and even bring things to you from God.  They are called "ministering spirits" to believers in Jesus.  They can do whatever God instructs them to do, and nothing today can hinder them in their duty like what happened in the Book of Daniel where there was a spiritual battle for 21 days.  The "cross of Jesus" took care of that problem once and for all time.

Some of the fallen angels are locked up by God in the deepest abyss of Hades, a prison called "Tartaros," and the ones that aren't, (the demonic spirits) are allowed to tempt man and bring sickness and all sorts of evil to our lives ... which means most likely, they can do or are allowed to do certain things in this physical world.  Why and how that is ... I have no answer that I can find in God's Word.  But this I do know ...

Satan is the "one who lies in wait," (that's what his name means) one delighting in ... the permission ... to inflect tortures on man, and who goes as far in producing misery as he is allowed, restrained only from destroying man by the express command of God.

Albert Barnes, the old American Presbyterian biblical scholar and theologian from the 1800's said this about the permission needed to inflict misery and evil on man ...

"It is to be observed, that Satan, and the other fallen spirits, are subject to the will and command of God, and although he and his fallen angels desire and love to injure and hurt man, Satan is described as bound with a chain, and he never dares to touch man unless God relaxes the reins ... which through observation in life ... God seems to do often."

As I have written many times before, I believe without a doubt, that ...

God, as the Creator of all things, upholds, directs, disposes, and governs ... all ... creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest event to the least, by His wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, goodness, grace and mercy ... forever.

Many believers are quick to agree that they have no problem accepting the statement above as true concerning eternity and Heaven, but struggle with the thought of God operating life today in this manner.  So I ask ... if it's okay for eternity, why is it not okay now?

God governs the world, but ... the truth is ... we cannot always see the reasons of His conduct, nor know why He does one thing, omits another, or permits a third thing.  We will never know or understand the depths that are involved in the government of God; but even so ... according to Ephesians 1:11 ... "God works all things."

The affirmation here is not merely that God accomplishes the designs of His own will, but that He does everything.  Every spirit, person, object and event ... is under His control ... accordingly for His eternal plan.  God is the author of all things but sin; and works all these happenings according to His will, as He so chooses.

I will bring this to an end by saying ... if any of the fallen angels or evil demonic spirits can do anything in our physical realm, it is because God has given them permission to do so.  If God has a reason to allow a fallen spirit to move an object, slam a door shut, or torment and harass any human beings ... then I suppose it is possible that they just might be able to do that.  But I really don't believe my Maker and Keeper gives permission all that often.

John Wesley said ... "The Spirit World is dark unto us, but we lie open to it."

I hope this helps explain ... the unexplainable.

 

Comments welcome.