ISRAEL IN BIBLE PROPHECY | home
Demons in the Church | Publisher's Note | Dedication | Contents | Proverbs 24:11-12 | Introduction | The Battleground | First Encounter | Old Testament Typology | Battle Doctrine | Who Says It's Legalistic? | Hazardous Theology | Spirits In My House | Lying Spirits | Magic Show | Witchcraft | Mediums & Psychics | Deceiving Spirits | Satanic Visions | Facing Reality | Epilogue
Demons in the Church
Hazardous Theology
CHAPTER SIX
Hazardous Theology
Maybe we ought to look at the other side of the coin: Many
churches that disregard these commands claim to have the
"greater gifts" of the Holy Spirit, 1CO 12:31. But by their
disobedience to these statutes, these same churches are
showing to angelic majesties that they are unsaved, or are
Christians in rebellion to the Bible. Gifts of the Holy Spirit
and rebellion just don't go together. Would the Lord give a
spiritual gift to someone in open disobedience to His written
Word?
It's fine to believe that the gifts of the Spirit are for the
whole Christian Era; but it is spiritual Russian roulette to
ignore the commands that appear just before, and just after
them. 1st Corinthians 12 is like a "gifts highway," while chap-
ters 11 and 14 are like rules of the road. Running the wrong
way down a highway can get you killed. Running the wrong
way down a spiritual road can ravage your soul. 1st Corin-
thians 11 and 14 contain directives which regulate the exercise
of the gifts. It is hazardous to ignore them.
We can't have it both ways. If the Bible is really God's
Word, we can't go picking through the verses of 1st Corin-
Hazardous Theology 65
thians, accepting what we like, and rejecting what we don't.
If the gifts are for today, so are the commands. If the com-
mands are only for the 1st century, so are the gifts. Remember
that Satan's primary weapon is deception. Genuine spiritual
warfare is a truth battle. To win this battle, we have to be
intellectually honest:
2PE 3:15-16 ...just as also our beloved brother Paul. according to the
wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking
in them of these things, in which are some things hard to under-
stand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also
the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. (NASB)
And many do distort 1st Corinthians. Here is an example as
told to me by a brother who attends a large Pentecostal church:
"In a service last August, Pastor Vebb gave us a sermon on
obedience to the Bible. It sounded just great, and many
people told me later how they like our church because, 'They
preach straight from the Word here.' But Hurricane Andrew
was on its way, and Pastor Vebb said that there was a
woman in the congregation who had a prophecy for the whole
church on the subject. He invited the woman up front to
speak to the assembly. She prophesied something to the
effect that the safest place to be was in the eye of the storm.
People were saying, 'Praise the Lord, Hallelujah,' and so on;
but I doubt if those devastated and homeless people in
Homestead, Florida would have bought her idea."
Sounded great, but it was a false prophecy. Simple to recog-
nize without waiting to see if it came true: the submission
ordinance was not obeyed. The above "prophetess" did not
have her head covered when she prophesied, so the minute she
opened her mouth to speak, she was in disobedience to God's
command to cover her head when prophesying, 1CO 11:5-6!
But all these churches can't be wrong, can they? Well take
your pick. Either the churches are wrong, or the Bible is. If
that prophecy were of God, the Holy Spirit empowered that
woman to disobey 1CO 11:5-6, and that's impossible, NUM
23:19.
The vast gulf which separates a false prophecy from a true
one is best illustrated by contrasting the two. Listen to what
Leonhard Keyser, an Anabaptist, said in August 1552, on the
day of his death:
66 Demons in the Church
In the second year of his ministry, Leonhard Keyser was ap-
prehended at Scharding, in Baveria, and condemned by the
Bishop of Passau, and other priests and capilaries, to be
burned on Friday, before St. Lawrence Day, in August of the
same year. Having bound him on a cart, they took him to
the fire... When he came out into the field and was approaching
the fire, he, bound as he was, leaned down at the
side of the cart, and plucked a flower with his hand, saying
to the judge who rode on horseback along side of the cart:
"Lord judge, here I pluck a flower; if you can burn this
flower, and me, you have justly condemned me; but on the
other hand, if you cannot burn me and this flower in my
hand, consider what you have done, and repent."
Thereupon the judge and the three executioners threw an
extraordinary quantity of wood into the fire, in order to burn
him immediately to ashes by the great fire. But when the
wood was entirely burned up, his body was taken from the
fire uninjured. Then the executioners and their assistants
built another great fire of wood, which when it was con-
sumed, his body still remained uninjured, only his nails and
his hair were somewhat burned brown, and, the ashes
having been removed from his body, the latter was found
smooth and clear, and the flower in his hand, not withered,
or burned in the least.
The executioners then cut his body into pieces, which they
threw into a new fire. When the wood was burned up, the
pieces lay unconsumed in the fire. Finally they took the
pieces and threw them into the river Inn. The judge was so
terrified by this occurrence that he resigned his office, and
moved to another place.
His chief servant, who was with the judge, and saw and
heard all this, came to us in Moravia, became our brother,
and lived and died piously. That it might not be forgotten,
our teachers have recorded this as it came from his own lips,
and now cause it to be promulgated and made known.46
The major requirement of a prophecy from God, is that it
comes true. Leonhard Keyser's did, that woman's didn't. But
more was amiss in that Pentecostal church during that Sunday
________________________________
46 Thieleman J. van Braght, Martyrs Mirror, (Scottdale, PA, Herald
Press, 1950) pp420-421.
________________________________
Hazardous Theology 67
service than just a "little" false prophecy. The pastor himself
invited his "prophetess" to disobey the following commands:
1CO 14:34-40 (excerpts) Let the women keep silent in the churches;
for they are not permitted to speak, but let them subject themselves,
just as the Law also says... it is improper for a woman to
speak in church.
1TI 2:11-12 Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire
submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise
authority over a man, but to remain quiet. (NASB
So much for his sermon on obedience. Teaching one way
while walking another. "But big deal," you say, "Whom did she
hurt? Nothing bad seems to have happened to anyone; and be-
sides, that's only three minor statutes in a couple of Pauline
epistles."46
Maybe, but speaking falsely in the name of the Lord is no
light thing. In the Old Testament, they stoned you for it. He
who is "above every name that is named, both now and in the
age to come" is an absolutely Holy God, who dwells in unap-
proachable light. In Him there is no shadow of turning. Why
aren't these people terrified? I sure would be. These assem-
blies are practicing exactly what got Moses, Nadab and Abihu,
Korah, and the elders of Israel killed: worshiping in a false
spirit... seizing authority... breaking types... Are such things
pleasing in the sight of the Lord of Sabaoth, Jehovah of Hosts?
1PE 1:17 And if you address as Father the One who impartially
judges according to each man's work, conduct yourselves in fear
during the time of your stay upon earth. (NASB)
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46 That a woman may pray and prophesy is obvious from lCO 11:5-6.
She may do so, of course, any time it does not break a type of Christ;
i.e., any time a Christian man is not present in the gathering. Since
Scripture mandates that a woman cover her head only when "praying
or prophesying," if she cannot pray or prophesy with men present,
why should she cover her head in church? 1CO 11:10 states "because
of the angels" and, as a type of the church, v.15, to hide her glory in
the presence of the Lord. When in church, women silently pray as do
all. When is there a better time to display this sign than when we
assemble? This is not to imply that women should wear a head-
covering during church only.
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68 Demons in the Church
It is one thing to talk about obedience; it is something else to
be obedient! Many today are deceived by the sound of sanctity,
while the reality thereof is far off. Many even say that these
commands were addressed to an unruly 1st Century Corinthi-
an church, but that is not what the Bible says. ICO 1:2 reads,
"...with all who in every place call on the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ." If that address includes you, then those
commands are to you. Not only that, but these principles were
taught in every church:
1CO 4:17 ...just as I teach everywhere in every church.
Now, notice that the "submissiveness" quote above is from
the pastoral epistle to Timothy. Timothy was in Ephesus, 1TI
1:3! Any contention that these laws were addressed to an
unruly 1st Century Corinthian church is just not true. There
is no hint from the sublime epistle to the Ephesians that the
Ephesians were unruly, or an assembly in disregard of authori-
ty.47 Woman's silence of 1CO 14:34-35 is affirmed, and to that
is added that a woman should not teach or hold authority over
a man, which reinforces GEN 3:16. GEN 3:16 is part of
creation law, and as such, is applicable to all mankind regard-
less of the time period in which we may be.
Satan Tempted Eve
So what is this all about? Why were these commands given?
Everything from creation on to our own time (including the
types) was designed to bring glory to the Lord Jesus, COL 1:16.
If our spiritual eyes are open, we see typologically that the
church should receive instruction from the Lord with quiet
submissiveness. Certainly the church cannot teach or hold
authority over the Son of God, 1TI 2:11-12.
1TI 2:13-14 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.
And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite
deceived, fell into transgression. (NASB)
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47 This letter to Timothy at Ephesus was written later than Paul's
epistle to the Ephesians. It is probable that 1TI 2:8-15 represents the
practical applications of the type of Christ and the Church which Paul
had already outlined in his earlier epistle to that church. See EPH
5:21-88.
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Hazardous Theology 69
In v.13: "Adam was created first," affirms God's govern-
mental order. In v.14: "the woman being quite deceived"
amplifies the reason for it, and is most important. It brings to
our attention a strange phenomenon of man's nature. It
appears that women are more sensitive to messages from
spirits than men are. They have better spiritual antennae, I
suppose. This is easily provable today. Mediums, fortune-
tellers, palmists and witches are rarely men.
That is why Satan tempted Eve... she could get the message!
When the first woman turned to a message from a spirit, and
shared it with her husband, it caused the fall of man. The
Lord is reminding us of the fall here, and telling men not to
listen to women who are listening to spirits... that it is not in
our best interest to do so. Can we hear that? Not a chance!
Our sisters' minds are filled with escaping male domination
and breaking cultural molds.
Despite these warnings in the Bible, some women are again
receiving messages from the spirits. About 90% of these
"tongues" are uttered by women, and men of the church are
listening. The first time, it led to the fall of man... this time it
will probably lead to the fall of the church, the great apostasy.
Impossible? Wait until you read the rest of this book before
you say so.48 A dear pastor's wife in the midwest expressed
the scriptural viewpoint when she wrote:
After a few disastrous attempts to spiritually "guide" my
husband, I quickly learned how susceptible I myself was to
being led astray, or to taking over the "headship" role. Now,
when I feel some spiritual revelation coming on, I pray,
"Lord, if I am hearing from You, then show/change my hus-
band. If I am not hearing from You, then show/change me."
I continue to diligently study the Word, and pray that
prayer, until the Lord brings about a change either in my
husband or me.
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48 The author has been criticized for homing in on the demonic
spiritual phenomena that are currently being exhibited within the
churches. But this book is not intended as a balanced doctrinal
exegesis of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Instead, its goal is to present
scriptural methods of unmasking and fighting against the kingdom of
darkness.
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70 Demons in the Church
Dear Christian wives, be very, very careful when you discuss
spiritual matters with your husbands. Be careful, because of
your wonderful, God-given, but spiritually dangerous sensitivity.
You could lead the man you love astray.
Husbands and Wives
The following quotes contain no specific rules which may be
typologically interpreted; nonetheless, they are tender little
spiritual glimpses of the beauty and the witness of the church
as the Lord would desire to see it. All Christians should be
able to see themselves mirrored here:
TIT 2:3-11 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior,
not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is
good, that they may encourage the young women to love their
husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at
home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of
God may not be dishonored.
Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show
yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine,
dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, in order that the
opponent may be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us.
Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything,
to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all
good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in
every respect. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation
to all men. (NASB)
What a blessing these verses are when we look at them as
the type of the church. We can see what the Lord desires the
witness of the saints to be before the world, and the angelic
hosts. The type of Christ and the church is again alluded to in
"that the word of God may not be dishonored."
A typological, word-by-word exegesis of the following passage
could take a whole chapter (not appropriate here), but it is a
wonderful subject for personal devotions:
IPE 3:1-4 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own
husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word,
they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as
they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. And let not your
adornment be merely external -- braiding the hair, and wearing gold
jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the
Hazardous Theology 71
heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which
is precious in the sight of God.
1PE 3:5-6 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who
hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their
own husbands. Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and
you have become her children if you do what is right without being
frightened by any fear.
It needs to be said right here, and will be repeated again.
None of these verses teaches male superiority.49 To believe
that they do, is one of the "doctrines of demons," part of the
deception of the enemy. Satan will use any lie he can to lead
us into rebellion. Remember that women (as a type of the
church) have the sacred duty of showing the spiritual condition
of the church to all creation. This chain of command is not
about male chauvinism; it's about God's government. Satan
rebelled against God's governmental order, and today he is
getting the church to do the same thing under the guise of
equality for women. The Bible states that men and women are
equal before the Lord, but this equality does not give us license
to disregard God's chain of command.
Let's look at a little earthly example: Is the governor of the
state, or the local policeman, any "better" than anyone else in
God's eyes? Of course not. They are men for whom Christ
died, just like the rest of us. Nevertheless, they represent an
earthly authority which we dare not disobey. If we openly
rebel against them, we can go to jail or get killed. God has not
"given them the sword for nothing," ROM 13:4. If we respect
man's governmental authority out of fear, what should our
attitude be toward God's governmental order for the saints?
On earth, when governments become brutal or repressive,
history shows that rebellion is soon to follow: The American
Revolution is an example. God's government is never repressive,
of course, but His delegated representatives can sometimes
be. If husbands are unkind or coercive, they should not
be surprised by the rebellion of their wives. Husbands, be in
fear if your wife submits to you because of the law of God
while you are abusive or immoral. If she is obedient while you
rebel. Here is why. If we have a Righteous King and a righteous
servant, and in between there is a steward who mistreats
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49 1CO 11:11-12 and GAL 3:28 make that quite clear.
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72 Demons in the Church
that King's servant, it will not be long before the Righteous
King punishes the unjust steward. That is the way good
government works, and the Lord's government is perfect:
MAT 24:48-51 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My
lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants,
and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he looketh not for him and in an hour that he
is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his
portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. (KJV)
Wife, pray for your husband if he mistreats you; please
forgive him, and fear for him. The Lord has not forgotten you,
and sooner or later God's disciplining hand will rest heavily
upon that man. He has broken a type of Christ. Jesus never
oppresses the church.
These are not new truths. They have been with us for
millennia. But what our fathers knew and taught in the
church is hidden from us now. Until a generation ago, the
submission ordinance was understood and observed the world
over. In some countries (where the church is persecuted) it is
still being observed, thus fulfilling 2TI 3:12, "All those who
desire to live Godly in Jesus Christ shall be persecuted."
Persecution accompanies standing for the Lord today, just as
it always has.
It is interesting to note that the explosion of the world-wide
charismatic experience did not enter the church until after
these precepts were generally disregarded. If that means what
it appears to mean, it would be to our advantage to get our
spiritual heads screwed back on straight, and our doctrines
and behavior back in line with what the Bible directs. In our
rushing headlong after each new spiritual experience and
phenomenon, we have forgotten to check with our guidebook,
the Word of God. We need to ask what has caused us to
become so lax that we allow all forms of worldliness in our own
lives, and in the church. Why have we permitted our children
to become addicted to rock music, drugs or satanism? What is
the relationship between the ordinance we are ignoring and
the falling away of the church?