Truth really can be stranger than fiction.
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La verdad puede ser más extraña que la ficción.
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Estudio bíblico que nos hace abrir los ojos en menos de cinco minutos! Acceda a todos los episodios aquí.
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Augenöffnendes Bibelstudium in weniger als fünf Minuten! Alle Episoden finden Sie hier.
Was There A Curse On Helen's Romantic Life?
The Third Man by Angela Sheffield is based on a true story. Read chapter one now!
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¿Qué tiene que ver conmigo? por Teófila Gottfried
Lo que leemos en la Biblia tiene que ver con todos los seres humanos, sean cristianos o judíos, ateos o agnósticos, budistas, musulmanes o adherentes a alguna de las filosofías o nuevas religiones que surgen en el mundo. ¿Por qué? Ver mayor información sobre este interesante libro.
Scripture of The Day - St. John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Escritura del día - San Juan 14,6
Jesús le dijo: Yo soy el camino, y la verdad, y la vida; nadie viene al Padre, sino por mí.
Bibelstelle des Tages - Johannes 14,6
Jesus spricht zu ihm: Ich bin der Weg und die Wahrheit und das Leben; niemand kommt zum Vater, denn durch mich!
Can Evil Spirits Be Transferred from One Person to Another?
Lay Hands Suddenly on No Man (1 Timothy 5:22)
Some teach that the Scripture of 1 Timothy 5:22 is biblical proof that devils can be transferred from one person to another through the laying on of hands. That's because in the Scripture, the apostle Paul says to Timothy, "Lay hands suddenly on no man." But is that enough to make such a strong statement? No, we do not believe it is. Although we do believe that evil spirits can be transferred from one person to another through the laying on of hands, 1 Timothy 5:22 does not explicity say that. We simply read, "Lay hands suddenly on no man." But, we're not exactly told why we are to be careful about laying hands on people. Nothing is said about the transfer of demons. Therefore, we must ask ourselves if the transfer of evil spirits from one person to another is possible and probable...according to the Scriptures as a whole. Answering this question will help us to understand real life cases in which it appears as though demons were indeed transferred from one person to another through the laying on of hands.
The Transfer of Demons: A True Case?
One night during worship service in church, a parishoner suddenly began to writhe and slither like a snake. As he hissed, he repeatedly stuck his tongue out and drew it back in. This shocking display was accompanied by forceful spitting. The pastor's wife made her way to where the young man was, laid hands on him, and attempted to cast the demon out. Later, to the surprise of others, she displayed similar behavior...behavior she had not displayed before that incident in the church. Did one or more demons that possessed the young man transfer into her? Let's turn to the Scriptures of the Bible for answers.
What Can Happen When We Lay Hands on Someone
Let us consider very carefully the truths that are revealed in the Scriptures in which someone lays his hands on someone else.
In 1 Timothy 4:14, Paul says to Timothy, "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery."
This Scripture reveals that a gift was given to Timothy through the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. The gift was from God, who is a Spirit (St. John 4:24). Therefore, something spiritual was placed in Timothy when hands were laid on him.
Leviticus 16:21 says, "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat."
In this Old Testament Scripture we see that by laying his hands on the goat, all the sins, iniquities and transgressions of Israel were--in the spiritual realm-transferred from Israel to the goat in order to spare Israel. By the way, the Old Testament goat is a shadow of the Lord Jesus who is the "scapegoat" for everyone in the entire world who will receive Him as Savior. Once we confess our sins, repent and are forgiven by God, our sins are transferred away from us to Him. But the point on which we're now focussing is that a spiritual transfer actually took place when Aaron laid his hands on the goat.
Now let us look at the passage of Luke 8:43-46 in which we see the correlation between one touch, and the actual movement of spiritual power. We read, "And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind Him, and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched Me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with Him said, Master, the multitude throng Thee and press Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched Me; for I perceived that virtue has gone out of Me."
Virtue is power. And the power that worked in Jesus was the Holy Spirit Himself. That means that through a touch, the Holy Spirit was moved to heal. In fact, we read that Jesus says virtue (power) went out of Him. While that does not mean that He lost power, it does mean there was actual movement of that power out toward the woman He healed. Yes, the woman had faith. Nevertheless, power went out of Christ when she touched His garment.
And let us consider the passage of Acts 8:14-17. We read, "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For as yet He was fallen upon none of them. Only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."
We are NOT saying that the Holy Ghost in Peter and John was transferred to the new believers. First, the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, so there's no need for a transfer. Second, this was not a transfer of any sort. However, there is a reason why the passage tells us that hands were laid on them. We see that laying hands on someone is no small matter, because a response from the spiritual realm might occur.
Now then, with the laying on of hands, we've seen the transfer of sin. We've seen that a gift from God was placed in someone through laying hands on him. We've seen power go out of Jesus, because someone touched Him. Note that although the Scripture says she indeed only touched the border of Christ's garment, Christ said He Himself was touched. He said, "Somebody hath touched Me." So, we don't really know whether touching His garment equated to touching His person, or whether she meant to touch only His garment, but ended up touching Him. The important point is Jesus said she touched Him. And that touch caused spiritual power to go out of Him.
We've even read the passage in which people received the Holy Spirit when hands were laid on them. In light of these Scriptures, there's no denying the spiritual power associated with a touch and the laying on of hands. Sin, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, divine gifts and healing are all very real in the spiritual world. And all these things moved, transferred or were granted through the laying on of hands. Nevertheless, does that give us a definite answer to the question of whether evil spirits can be transferred from one person to another through the laying on of hands?
Let's consider the case of a man in the Bible called Simon...a man who practiced sorcery. We know that the practice of sorcery definitely involves working with demons, devils and evil spirits of all kinds. We read, "There was a certain man called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one. To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God." (Acts 8:9-10)
It is known among witches, wizards, sorcerers and practitioners of every type of magic that evil spirits that possess a person can be transferred to someone else. And yes, the laying on of hands is practiced among worshipers of Satan. Why is that? Is this why we read, "And when Simon saw that through the laying on of hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost"?
In light of all the Scriptures we've considered as well as the true case in which the pastor's wife laid hands on a demon-possessed individual, and then later appeared to be demon-possessed herself, we do not doubt that it is very possible for the transfer of demons to take place through laying hands on someone. Is this why Paul warned Timothy, saying, "Lay hands suddenly on no man." (1 Timothy 5:22) Paul would not have said this to prevent Timothy from indiscriminately transferring the Holy Spirit to people, because God is the only One who controls His Spirit. Paul would not have said this to prevent Timothy from indiscriminately passing out divine gifts. God is the only One who grants heavenly gifts. Paul would not have said this to prevent Timothy from transferring any of his sins into other people. Remember that Timothy had received Jesus as His Savior, so his sins had already been transferred to Christ. The only conclusion to come to is that Paul wanted to protect Timothy from something evil that's associated with haphazardly laying hands on people. There is only good and evil. We do not protect people from what is good. Therefore, Paul aimed to protect Timothy from all sorts of evil that might be associated with the laying on of hands.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we should not be afraid to lay hands on someone, nor should we live in fear of someone laying hands on us. Remember that Scripture plainly shows us how the Lord works in the laying on of hands. And we do not want to reject anything from God. It's just that we should be fully aware that the laying on of a hands is NEVER to be taken lightly.
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Based on true events, The Third Man by Angela Sheffield, brings the Bible up close and personal as the characters face real issues of life: Betrayal, deceit, romance, bitterness, anger against God, hopelessness, will power, perplexity, triumph, unforgiveness, mental illness, and the "Alcohol made me do it" excuse. Read chapter one FREE now.
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