[10/31/19]
I want to touch briefly on the topic of spiritual phenomena while we are considering spiritual beings. Phenomena, of course, are not beings in and of themselves, but the works of beings, the acts of beings which are of a spiritual nature. What are we to make of such things? For many, the conclusion will be reached that a rational mind must reject the very idea of such phenomena having anything other than a reasonable explanation. That is to say that while they may seem spiritual or supernatural, they are nothing of the sort. Of course, those having such a mindset are likely to reject matters of faith as well. Yet, I do find, even in myself, a propensity for dismissing the so-called supernatural even while holding to the validity of the Biblical record. To large degree this is right and proper, but one must take care not to become so skeptical of such phenomena as to reject them out of hand.
On the other hand we find those who suppose that anything of a spiritual nature, any sort of supernatural phenomena, must by its nature be a good thing, the act of angels from God. But, Scripture does not permit so benign a view. I could simply return to the example of that woman of En-dor that Saul consulted. Clearly what transpired there was supernatural, and I might even go so far as to observe that the being she drew across from the spirit-world into our own was in fact the soul of a godly man – godly, not perfect, although perhaps now perfected in death. Again, we do not know the details of the transition on that side, nor even so much how time flows, if it flows at all. My point is this, the circumstances and specifics of the occurrence change nothing about the evil of the one involved. That holds certainly for Saul, who sought a message from God when he had long since demonstrated unwillingness to heed God unless it happened to suit him. It holds as well for the woman, for God has determined that such practices are unholy.
We might ask why this is so. I think that is permissible. And I will offer a bit of an answer. First, those who dabble in these supernatural pursuits are not, as a whole, God-fearers or the least concerned with righteousness. If they give God a thought at all, it is likely they dismiss Him in favor of whatever beings have granted them these apparent powers. And, for the sake of the current line of thought, let us accept that the deeds they perform are in fact valid; that is to say, that they are not mere charlatans, but are actually producing supernatural phenomena, by whatever means. So, then, their pursuit is not the pursuit of God, but of whatever being produces those phenomena at their request. It is pursuit, then, of power, and power not authorized by God. Thus, it is pursuit of illicit power, unauthorized power. It is the pursuit of idols.
I will observe as a second issue that even if one supposes a generally godly disposition in the practitioner; let us say this person, in their misguided pursuit of a life of faith, suppose that somehow these supernatural practices, although they violate the mandate of Scripture, can still be bent, as it were, to Christian purpose, can be made to serve the believer’s and therefore God’s purposes. Okay, well, let us acknowledge that God can and does most assuredly turn every event and activity in Creation toward His purpose. That doesn’t render the event good. It renders God’s good irresistible as to outcome. Assyria may have served God’s purpose in being the tool of discipline toward Israel, but that was not their intention, nor was their use in this purpose excuse for their actions. I could think as well of Joseph’s pardon of his brothers. “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good” (Ge 50:20). Joseph could forgive them, and why not? He was doing rather well, and he now saw opportunity to be reunited with his long lost family, and reunited in such fashion as left him securely in control of himself, and to some degree, of them. But, the outcome did not somehow justify the original sins. God’s purpose in it did not alter their intent, nor what their intent said of their hearts.
What I am saying in all this is that the one who thinks he can, by dint of force or by strength of faith, handle things forbidden and bearing the taint of demons and turn them to holy purpose fails to understand himself, to understand the demonic powers with which he plays, and to understand holiness. There is a passage I would bring to bear here, but I cannot at present put my finger on it. The gist of it is, however, that light and darkness can have no co-existence. Holiness and idolatry can have no co-existence. Think of the many times God speaks of the harlotries of His people because they have thought this was not the case.
I think the greatest danger, and one that is clearly prevalent in the present-day church, is that fascination with spiritual phenomena leaves us to ready and willing to accept false witness as true, false signs as evidence of true faith and power. There is something of a lack of discernment that assails us as we become overly impressed with ‘the supernatural’. It is not God and holiness that have our attention anymore in that pursuit, although we will be careful to speak of Him and praise Him no end for whatever it is that is experienced. This is dangerous! We are very likely, in such a mindset, to find ourselves giving praise to God as being responsible for things He abhors and rejects! Will we truly sing out the praises of God for the activities of the devil? Again, I grant that God, being God, is able to turn those activities to good purpose, and to that degree, yes, God is to be praised. But, to give Him credit for the evil deeds of evil beings and shout about that as if that made those evil deeds good is malignant. It is an absolute affront to God, and an utter lie as to His character and being.
I look back to an event from a few years back, chatting with the inn-keeper at the place we were staying, and he was all excited about this gardening community that had taken to communicating with angels to learn how best to care for their plants. Oh, angels! Well, that must be okay, then, mustn’t it? We can rejoice with this gentleman and his nearness to God and encourage him by all means to try and speak to the angels in charge of his plants, right? Wrong. Look, I cannot tell you the whole thing is a hoax and nothing more. It does seem that indeed this group obtain stunning success with their gardening, whatever the source and whatever the reason. But, that does not mean we can condone their practices and join them in it. A brief look into the group when I was back home showed that the beings they were consulting were not in fact angels, but rather the idols of ancient Egypt. Are you still ready to count this an acceptable practice? Are you still ready to accept that any claim to angelic existence necessarily implies goodness? Are you still ready to suppose that any supernatural phenomena that provides benefit must be evidence of the good spirit behind that result?
Look, we are warned about this. “For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” (2Co 11:14-15a). Signs and wonders, supernatural phenomena, are insufficient to prove anything. That does not require us to reject all such things as fakery, although I dare say a fair amount, probably the vast majority, is just that. This is nothing new. Egypt’s magicians could produce things that by appearance matched what Moses was doing, but they were shown inferior and fake. The magicians encountered by the Apostles were doing something, but it wasn’t anything good, and it may very well have been fakery, too. They certainly seem to have recognized that what the Apostles were doing was the real deal, and in recognizing this, there is tacit acknowledgement that their own deeds were not real, but clever acts to fool the rubes. Hey, it’s a living.
The believer, however, has no business playing with this junk, nor being over-impressed by it. Having just spent several years contemplating the text of 1Corinthians, I could note that such inappropriate fascination with spiritual phenomena was the primary issue for that church. They thought their gifts made them something. They thought their gifts effectively meant they could do no wrong. They were quite incorrect on both counts. Their gifts said nothing about them, and everything about God. Their abuse of those gifts, whether supernatural phenomena or the common means of grace, said quite a bit about them, and none of it good.
Now, I need to emphasize that there are indeed real spiritual phenomena transpiring. We do ourselves no favors by pretending they do not happen, or by rejecting every such claim. We do, however, need to have a high degree of skepticism, I think, and we need to have an even higher degree of discernment. First, is this a legitimate phenomenon, or fakery meant to impress the impressionable? Too many charismatic leaders have become adept at playing the spirit-filled role, and I do mean playing. To many purported spiritual healings are either staged, or temporary alleviation of symptoms due to little more than the power of suggestion, such as that has power, or simply distraction. By the latter I mean to say that an over-attentiveness to matters of healing may leave one pursuing health as an idol, rather than recognizing God’s hand in the circumstances of life. It leads to a mindset of sickness = sin, health = holiness. This was wrong amongst the Jews of Jesus’ day, and it’s no closer to being right now. There is no direct linkage, and to claim otherwise is to call Jesus a liar. That can’t be a good thing, can it?
Yet, there are in fact those who have experienced physical healing quite apart from the involvement of any medical professional, nor even any practitioner of alternative medicines. There are those who have known stupendous recovery from injury or disease quite beyond the capacity of man to produce. There are, then, those who have been, as it were, touched by the finger of God for purposes known only to Him for the most part. They are, to be sure, a witness to His goodness and His power, or can be. But, the phenomena are not proof of the man. They are proof of God if they are proof of anything. To reject, then, that which God is doing is surely just as bad for us as to accept the devil’s false claims of godliness. To pretend there is no such thing as a legitimate spiritual phenomena leaves us open to significant attack by the devil and his minions, who, being spiritual beings, can most assuredly produce spiritual phenomena. To pretend that all such phenomena are to be accepted at face value leaves us open to significant misleading by men of low morals. To pretend that all such phenomena are by very fact of existence good is to reject the clear instruction of God’s Word, and once more fall prey to the devil’s lies.
Where I wind up, then, is at a need for cautious acceptance as to the possible reality of such activities, and a definite need for discernment in assessing the value of that which might prove valid. I dare not reject out of hand, nor could I, really, having come to faith in the charismatic wing of the Church. I have seen that which I cannot write off as counterfeit. I have known those who were healed of things that by nature admit of no healing. Shall I tell these folks that they aren’t healed after all, and should stop acting like they were? I’ll tell you what, the temptation to do just that is strong. Why? Because these things are not easy to accept for somebody that values logic and reason. They aren’t reasonable expectations, on the face of it. But, when the evidence indicates that something has happened, it is equally unreasonable to insist that it hasn’t.
At the same time, I cannot condone undue fascination with such things, the pursuit of them as somehow an exercise of godliness. If God gives, then praise God for it. If He does not, then praise God for that, too. The gifts are gifts and nothing more. If they are of use to the body, God will give them to individuals within that body, to be used for the benefit of the body. They are not tools for personal improvement. They are not rewards for services rendered. They are not proof-positive of being an agent of God, a faithful servant in His household. They are what they are and nothing more. They are not safely ignored, neither are they safely exalted above their true station. They are not the badge of approval upon the man of God, for as we see too often, the one demonstrating such signs (think the false prophet of Revelation for example, or Simon the magician, or that other one over on Crete, who clearly oppose God; think the magicians of Ephesus, who, apart from those who repented, again firmly opposed God) is not serving God or God’s people, but rather seeks their destruction.
