Hey,

Leah and I were reading in 1st Samuel and in chapter 16 it mentions David playing a harp for Saul to get rid of evil spirits.
In chapter 17 at the end of it Saul ask his lead captain to find out who this young kid was who killed the Giant. Also half way through chapter 17 the writer reintroduced David.

My question is would not Saul of known who David was seen as he played a Harp in his present before? being that close to the king you would think that he would of recognized David.

Steven

17 And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.
18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a
mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.
19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.
20 And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.
21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.

22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.

23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was
refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
…………

55 And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth?

And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.
56 And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is.

57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine
in his hand.
58 And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite

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Hi Steven.

Under normal circumstances, yes, Saul would have recognized David. But Saul was in the process of going in insane. Notice Saul’s increasingly erratic behavior throughout the rest of his tragic story.

The story of Saul is real to me because I have seen people resist God’s will so strongly that they go insane. In one extreme instance, decades ago, I warned one sister that we cannot manipulate God and that if she continued trying to force God to do things her way, as she was doing, she was going to drive herself insane. It was not long at all before I got a call from that sister’s distraught daughter very late in the night. I could hear her mother raging in the background, cursing one minute, speaking in tongues the next, etc.

My father said that every demon is insane, and I believe it. I also believe that those who listen to demons and follow them, and resist God’s merciful call to turn from that evil way, will at some point reach a place that, from God’s viewpoint, is spiritual madness, even if mentally, they stay somewhat balanced.

Pastor John

 

Hi, Pastor John –
I had a question about the translation of 1 John 4:2 that was on the first page of the “The Spirit of Antichrist” chapter that we went over a while back.  (The real spirit of God confesses Christ whenever it enters someone’s fleshly temple:

By this, the Spirit of God is recognized: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ when he has come into the flesh is of God…”)

I was reading through that chapter again the other day, and I had just seen that verse in ESV not long before, and the difference struck me.  I poked around on the web and came across the http://scripture4all.org/  website, which gives the original Greek and the literal and figurative translations. It showed elEluthota (“having-come”) as being masculine, so it doesn’t seem that it could be referring to “the spirit having come into flesh” but would have to be referring to “Jesus Christ having come in flesh” (since pneuma is neuter, which I learned from the Pneuma study that Amanda gave me a copy of a while back).  

Can you clear up my confusion on this?
Thanks!

 joe

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Hi Joe, and thanks for writing.

First, notice the phrase leading up to that Perfect Tense verb to which you refer.  “Every Spirit that confesses”.  “Every”, and “that”, and “confesses” are all neuter. So, we can be assured that it is the Spirit of God that is doing the confessing. John is not talking about a person claiming that he has Jesus in his heart.

Secondly, Jesus told his disciples that the Spirit was with them but would soon be in them (Jn. 14:17) and that when the Spirit came into them, both he and the Father would come into them, too (Jn. 14:23).  That is why John used a masculine verb instead of a neuter one when he said “has come”. He was talking about the spirit confessing that the Father and the Son have entered the heart.  In speaking of the Son of God entering a heart, of course a masculine verb should be used.

It should be pointed out that John’s entire point in those opening verses from 1John 4 was that without the Spirit testifying to the entering of Jesus in a heart, the confession of people that Jesus has come into them is evil.  No human being has authority to make that claim.  In the very next verse, John wrote,

Every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world.”

So, John leaves the reader with two choices: (1) receive the real Spirit of God that confesses that Jesus has come or (2) just claim it and be among the antichrists. Christianity is the religion that promotes the second of those choices.

Lastly, and on a lighter note, let me point out the obvious fact that Jesus himself is inside nobody’s flesh, no matter what kind of verb John used. (One person per body, please.)  I heard my father once say that the only person who has ever had Jesus on the inside was Mary his mother, and after about nine months, she was greatly relieved to get him out!

Do keep up the search, and stay in touch.  It is an important issue that you raised, one that everybody who cares about his soul will consider.

Pastor John

 

 

Pastor John,

The word, “Christian” is mentioned three times in the KJV. Then, why is it evil? And if it is in the word why is it wrong?

Jacob F  ======================

Jacob,

You can learn much about the term, “christian”, and why we do not call ourselves by that name from this:

http://www.pastorjohnshouse.com/comingout/allcomingout.html

Pastor John

Pastor John,

I do want you to know I received the Baptism and so confused at times with the so called preachers that say we must be saved before receiving the Baptism. John, Satan is taking me for whatever he can! I need help!!!

Jacob F

=====================

Hi Jacob.

I assume that you received the real baptism of Christ and spoke in tongues when you received it. If so, I am very happy for you. It is a wonderful thing to be born of God. I hope that you give God and His Son all the glory for it and that you escape the trap of thinking that the religious system called Christianity had anything to do with it. It did not. The holy Ghost is the gift of God, not of man.

You will feel better and avoid a lot of poison if you forget about church religion and just stay at home and have peace with God. I pray that Jesus will give you someone with whom you can have fellowship in the light, but even if you can find no one, it is better than volunteering to sit in a pew and listen to false doctrine taught in the name of Jesus. I know some precious saints who live happy and godly lives with no one near them who understands the truth. You can do it, too, if you have to. Christ is sufficient.

Pastor John

Name: Paul W

Comments: My wife left me and there is no contact at all. she goes to church and claimed to be a believer when I married her 2 years ago, but i see no evidence of salvation. there is no conviction of the Holy spirit in her life and I see none of the fruit of the spirit especially the fruit of love. She has dumped all the financial responsibility on me and will never answer any e-mails or texts. am I free to divorce her or do I have to wait until she divorces me. I have never been so degraded and dehumanized by a person in my life. cna you give me some guidance on this? Thanks allot, Paul

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Hi Paul.

Without more information, it would be impossible for me to know how to advise you on this. I know that you and your wife say that you believe, but Jesus has never accepted man’s testimony of faith (see. Jn. 2:23-25; 6:66-71;16:29-32). I’d have to know if God has borne witness to your faith by giving you the holy ghost (see Acts 15:8).

Secondly, I would caution you from ever judging by what you see and hear (see Jn. 7:24; Isa. 11:3). Just because someone claims to believe and just because a person “goes to church” does not mean that person belongs to God, or even cares about Him, for that matter. In fact, going to church may be a big part of the problem, since our heavenly Father despises church religion and is calling His children out of it (Rev. 18:4).

Jesus will take care of your finances. That is just one of the things God has promised to do for those who seek, first of all, His kingdom of God (the holy ghost – Rom. 14:17) and His righteousness (Mt. 6:33).

Have you or your wife ever been baptized with the Spirit, with the evidence of “stammering lips and other tongues”? (Isa. 28:11-12; 1Cor. 14:21-22). If not, neither of you are in the kingdom of God, and the first thing you should do is seek it. Otherwise, none of the instructions for married people found in the scriptures apply to your situation. If you have received that new birth experience, let’s keep this conversation going, and Jesus will show you his way of peace.

I hope that Jesus will give you and your wife peace. I know that he can, if we do our part.

Pastor John