The spirit of truth vs ‘plurality’ of spirits: a spiritual perspective!
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.” (Jhn.4:24).
INTRODUCTION:
What are spirits? Spirits are supernatural beings that cannot be scientifically explained. However, the various effects and consequences of their operations and activities are visible to the eyes. For example, in Mk.4:37, we saw how palpable the effects of a spirit can be when, even the disciples of Jesus Christ were visibly shaken at the near death that came close on them while Jesus was asleep in the same boat with them. The scriptures capture it thus, “and a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.” But for the timely intervention of Jesus Christ…it would have been a different story entirely on a day the spirit of the waters went violent!
FEATURES OF SPIRITS:
- Spirits are invisible to the naked eyes, “God is Spirit…”
- Spirits are worshipped by their various adherents. Believers worship their God unseen since He is a Spirit, “…and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Jhn.4:24). In a similar manner, it is customary to see such worshippers of other unseen gods at the grassroots, worship such deities on days set aside for such activities. For example, among the Yoruba of South West Nigeria, we have Ogun (the god of iron), Egungun (Masquerade), Sango (the god of thunder) and several other gods as the traditions permit and allow in several localities, globally.
- Spirits are jealous, “for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” (Deut.5:9).
Hence, during prayers and deliverance sessions, such spirits are rebuked and cast out. “…He rebuked the unclean spirit , saying to it, deaf and dumb spirit , I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” (Mk.9:25).
THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH:
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth,” however, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…” (Jhn.16:13). He has come to reveal spiritual truths and suppress other ‘spirits.’ He leads us to a deeper understanding of God’s will for us. Summarily, this verse is telling us that God has not left us alone, rather He has given us a Divine Helper, living inside of us, to teach us, comfort us, and guide us through the right path. Hence, the Spirit of truth is “One and non-contradictory.”
PLURALITY OF SPIRITS:
Plurality of spirits simply means ‘many spirits.’ It is an assembly of many, and probably uncountable spirits contesting for the attention of ignorant adherents. They are a myriads of spirits always in conflict and at loggerheads with the Spirit of Truth. This is a conglomerate of local deities that influence and affect the behavioral patterns of their worshippers. It is a pantheon of gods with localized regions in a particular space. The scriptures tell us of the demon-possessed man living in the tombs. He suffered from unclean spirit, such that no one could bind him. In this and some other cases, the spirits use the human vessel to speak / manifest- “my name is Legion; for we are many.” (Mk.5:9).
HIERARCHY OF SPIRITS IN OUR WORLD:
They are a multiple spirits that hold sway in any particular society such that most of them as human beings in their lifetime, were a representation and custodians of these spirits, but are now venerated by the reason of the belief that they had entrenched in the hearts of their family members. In this case, such beings are believed to be spiritual consultants to, and custodians of their families’ religious beliefs , up to the national level, the moment they transit to the hereafter. Their words, from the spirit realm, are laws that must be obeyed, as far as the living family members are concerned, with the fear of untoward consequences should they fail to heed or abide. At this point, we are now veering to deification, ancestor and ancestor worship- (this will be deferred for subsequent submissions) . It is pertinent at this juncture, to point out a parallel we have in the scriptures . That was when Saul, the first king of Israel, sought a similar ungodly alternative to be restored, after he fell out of favor with God / Samuel. At his lowest, he, (Saul), ran to the witch at En Dor, to summon Samuel’s spirit, for a likely solution. He said, “Please conduct a seance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.” (1 Sam.28:8). The rest is history…
In all, the import of this submission is to establish that most abnormal occurrences, irregular behavioral patterns, untoward happenings, in a person’s life, families, nations, are largely influenced by certain foundational establishments, that had been in existence from timeless prehistory. Such events eventually, overtime, metamorphosed into what we accept, as ‘norms’, that we now live by, due to sheer ignorance, until we embrace the LIGHT in the gospel. It is apt to say, the spiritual controls the physical. Essentially, these glorified venerated beings are now identified with various spirits manifesting in several ways using several objects in our environments, like: hills, rocks, trees, creeks, waters, and several other inanimate spatial occupancies to manifest. In some cases, they have habitations in human beings that are their actual victims. It is apt to say this is the reason man cannot be void of spirit. In other words, it is either a man has the Spirit of God in him or any of these many spirits. Few examples of such plurality of spirits are highlighted below.
THE MUTE SPIRIT:
This is an account of a young, innocent boy who was always thrown down while he always foamed in his mouth, gnashed his teeth, while he would be rigid at the same time. It was a spectacle too strong and turbulent for the disciples to handle. This is more of a spirit of epilepsy that has its origin in the foundation of the victim’s family. On inquiry by Jesus Christ from the father,“how long has this been happening to him?” (Mk.9.21), the father was knowledgable enough to identify it as coming from his root. The father answered, “from childhood.” (Mk.921b). From the vivid account given by the father, of what the experience of the son being thrown into fire, and water, each time he had this unpleasant situation, it was apparent that the spirit wanted to ultimately destroy his son. And truly that is the end aim of all evil spirits: to make a public mockery of the victims before destroying them. At the prompt of the LORD that all the father needed to get the son out of the dilemma was a simple ‘belief’ in the saving Power of the LORD. He succumbed , “LORD, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk.9:24). And by a simple command of rebuke of the unclean spirit, the innocent boy received his healing immediately with the command, “…come out of him and enter him no more!” (Mk.925). The phrase “enter him no more” , is expedient in the authority of deliverance, so that the spirit(s) is /are aware there is no room for it / them, anymore as far as the previous host is concerned.
THE DEMON POSSESSED MAN:
The victim of the spirit was a man living in the most unthinkable place: the tombs. It was another unclean spirit. This particular spirit was fierce, violent, and aggressive, so much that“…no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains” (Mk.5:4). The ease with which the victim broke and pulled apart the chains and shackles in pieces, made the tether looked like mere tissue paper ! In addition, no man was strong enough to tame him. Furthermore, all along in this afflicted state of mind, he was sighted nowhere else, other than the mountains and tombs, (where the spirit itself was actually located), day and night, crying out and afflicting himself with stones. This is obviously an experience of a man whose family origin, traditions and beliefs are entrenched in the worship of inanimate objects such as stones, mountains, trees, and the likes. The manifestations are usually apparent in unpleasant behaviors upon the generations down the line, as seen in this case, except they are delivered by the LORD.
Beyond this, like in the case of the ‘mute’ spirit, this spirit of the mountain and tombs recognized the Power in the name of the LORD, and submitted immediately. Using the human victim to voice its violent presence, the spirit fired the first onslaught at the LORD, “what have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? (Mk.5:7), while simultaneously pleading not to be tormented. At the command of the LORD for the victim to be set free, he responded to the question about his name, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” (Mk.5:9b) . Ultimately, he was delivered and had his sanity restored. Afterwards, the country men who were bewildered by the unusual deliverance, came to see him in company of Jesus, “then they came to JESUS, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.” (Mk.5:15).
REALITY OF OUR WORLD:
The reality of the foregoing is that we live in a world controlled by ‘spirits’, namely the Spirit of Truth and many other spirits, (plurality of spirits), with both, contending for human attention. The onus is on us to determine which side of both spirits we yield to, or we permit to control our situations and circumstances, either by reasons of our births, (which more often than not, is beyond our control), marriages, or associations. Essentially, the patterns of our livelihood, conducts, comportments, happenings, and occurrences, are a measure and function of which of the spirits we yield to, or is more dominant in our roots and foundations. The Spirit of truth is simply LIGHT and DELIVERANCE. His presence is to eliminate the dominant power of darkness orchestrated by evil spirit, granted that we permit Him to do His will in our lives.
SIDEBAR:
- Spirits do not die!
- Hence, the Spirit of truth is “One and non-contradictory.”
- It is apt to say this is the reason man cannot be void of spirit. In other words, it is either a man has the Spirit of God in him or any of these many spirits.
- And truly that is the end aim of all evil spirits: to make a public mockery of the victims before destroying them.
PRAYERS:
- LORD, I pray Your Spirit will take control of all abnormal situations and circumstances occasioned by strange spirits in our lives.
- LORD, I pray every contrary spirit permeating and polluting our world be eradicated completely.
- LORD, I pray every spirit that has taken root in our various families and foundations let go of our lives, by the Power in Your Name.
- LORD, I pray that whatever consequences these bad spirits have effected in our national history be uprooted now. Amen!
PRAYER OF SALVATION:
Peradventure you want to accept the LORD as your Savior, you may please pray thus: LORD JESUS, I confess, repent, and forsake my sinful ways. I surrender my life to You. From today, I accept You as my LORD and Savior. Amen !
CONCLUSION:
The one major force that rules our world is the unseen force called spirit. It branches into two major dimensions: of Truth (LIGHT), and other spirits. Both forces are recognized in our world. The Spirit of truth is the representation of God to deliver our world from the pollution and affliction the spirit of darkness tries to introduce and enforce, in an attempt to overshadow the power of LIGHT. This has been the attempt from the days of Genesis. With man at the center of both divides, God in His mercy deploys the Spirit of Truth to douse and neutralize all possible negative effects of such attempts, with the expectation that man would embrace the Saving Grace that abounds in His LIGHT. The scripture is apt, “for this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 Jhn.3:8).
Given the least unchecked forays of these dark spirits, virtually all human lives would have been lived in complete unwilling succumb to the power of darkness associated with the many spirits. Destinies would have been either locked up in the well fortified chambers of wickedness, or bastardized at their merciless altars supervised by libation spewing- representations. Knowing the LORD and coming to His Saving Grace has done so much well for those who embraced these kind gestures, for the battles in our world are not physical, “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4), and “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age…” (Eph.6:12). Yet, the still small voice still echoes, hence, “he who has ears to hear , let him hear!” (Mt.13:9). May the LORD help us!
Being the 58th edition of our Monthly Bulletin From The Desk Of:
Olusegun A Emosu (The Blessed, The Chosen, & The Favored).
B. A (Hons), M.A (Ilorin), MBA (Arizona)
The Redeemed Christian Church Of God, Rehoboth Parish,
2244, Panola Rd. Suite 2, (3 D Complex),
Lithonia GA 30058
www.rccgrehobothatl.org
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