WWUTT 370 Q&A Blotted Head Coverings Cease Exorcisms?

What did God mean when He said He would blot somebody out of His book? Should wives wear head coverings in church?

Do the miraculous gifts of the Spirit still continue and are exorcisms still being done today?

The answers to these questions when we understand the text. You're listening to When We Understand the

Text, committed to the sound teaching of the Word of God. Find videos and more at our website, www .tt

.com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky, and greetings in the

Lord Christ. It is Friday. We are taking questions from the listeners. You can submit a question by email.

Best way to get it to us, whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com. Thank you once again to everybody who has been contributing books to our small library at church.

I put out a few weeks ago that if you've ever wondered how you can help when we understand the text, one way you can do that is by contributing books.

Whether they are new books or used books, we appreciate it. We've cleared out a room and we've decided we want to make a small library out of it, but we need some help putting books on those shelves.

We started with just like, I don't know, a dozen books. Maybe a little bit more than that, but hardly anything.

And we've since acquired books from authors like Jared C. Wilson, John MacArthur, R .C.

Sproul, Martin Lloyd -Jones, Sinclair Ferguson, John Bunyan, J .I. Packer. It was

Knowing God by J .I. Packer, by the way, and whoever it was that sent us that book. Great timing, because our women are just about to start a study of J .I.

Packer's book, Knowing God. And so in case we've got a gal that's joining the study that can't afford the book, we've got an extra one now that we can contribute, or it's just going to go in our church library and they can check it out anyway.

So thank you for those contributions. And once again, if you would like to send books, our address is

First Southern Baptist Church, 1220 West 8th Street, Junction City, Kansas, 66441.

And thank you so much for your contributions to this ministry and for your prayers. And in fact, one way that you can pray for us right now specifically is for one of the elders in our church,

Chris Solano and his wife, Adria. They are in Sierra Leone, Africa right now, and helping to serve at the orphanage where they have been doing missions since before they even came to our church.

And right now they're helping to serve the missionaries over there, sharing the gospel, doing some revisions, updates, repairs, renovations on the orphanage, and I think even one of the churches that was built there as well.

So they'll be back in a couple of weeks. In fact, Chris is preaching on March the 5th, and he's going to give an update of the work that they did over there.

So if you've been following our sermons online, Chris will be the one preaching on March the 5th.

So pray for Chris and Adria that the work that they do there will spread the gospel far and wide.

Sierra Leone, a place that's been torn by war, the Ebola crisis a couple of years ago.

And in fact, the orphanage where they serve, many of those kids have been orphaned because of the

Ebola crisis. So pray that the gospel goes far and wide. And we're looking forward to having Chris and Adria back with us again soon.

I'll be getting updates from Chris by email and everything there is going well so far. All right, let's get to our questions.

This first one comes from Kevin in Lawton, Oklahoma. And he said, hey, do you think you could do a video over Exodus 32, 23 and others similar to it?

It speaks of being blotted out of the book of life, which may seem like a contradiction to the perseverance doctrine that we hold to.

I think it would be beneficial. There is a similar verse in Psalms. Thank you, Kevin.

The verse specifically Exodus 32, 33 is, but the Lord said to Moses, whoever is sinned against me,

I will blot out of my book. And there are actually about a half dozen references to being blotted out in in Psalms.

But these are these references are not to be taken literally. Be careful about this reference, because this is something spiritual.

It's something metaphorical. It's not like there is an actual literal book in heaven in which things are being written down.

But we have these things to help understand how the Lord considers those who are his and those who will be sent to eternal punishment.

We have in Revelation 2012, and I saw the dead great and small standing before the throne and books were opened more than one book, many books.

Then another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what it is that they had done.

So we know that according to this picture of what John is revealing happening in heaven, that there's some kind of record being kept and people are going to be judged by those works.

Those who did the works that Christ did will receive eternal life. Those who did the works that are of the devil will be sent to eternal torment in hell.

And so this is the meaning. And the reference to being blotted out comes out multiple times.

The first time that we see it is when God is addressing Noah and he says that, I regret that I have even made man on the earth and I'm going to blot him out.

And this is said three times prior to the floodwaters coming on the earth, that God is going to blot out man.

So it's merely a statement of, I'm going to judge him, I'm going to destroy him.

If you'll remember in Exodus chapter 17, God talking about how he is going to blot out

Amalek, I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

Well, it's not literally blotting out his memory because clearly we're reading about it.

It's in Exodus chapter 17 where God says that he is going to do this. So his memory is not blotted out to the point that we don't even know who

Amalek was because we read about him and we read about how God judged the Amalekites in what is written in the

Old Testament. So it's simply a metaphorical reference. It's not something that we take literally or we say, we look at this and go, well,

I don't know, I guess the perseverance doctrine isn't true because this person's name was written in the book of life at one point and then it was blotted out.

That's not how that goes because in Revelation chapter 13, we have it said that those whose name were not written in the book of life will worship the beast and those whose name was written in the

Lamb's book of life will not be duped by the devil's schemes. So that's simply the meaning of that.

It's a good question, Kevin. And if we get around to doing a video on that sometime, we will, because I have had that question asked of me a few times.

OK, this next one comes from Henry in Waterloo, Ontario. He says, hey, just recently, the pastor of the

Harvest Bible Chapel up here in Waterloo, Ontario, preached on First Corinthians 11, and he concluded that women should wear a literal head covering during worship.

How should this passage be understood? Well, let's first go there and read it and then we'll talk about it.

First Corinthians chapter 11, beginning in verse two, the apostle Paul says, now, I commend you because you remember me and everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ. The head of a wife is her husband and the head of Christ is

God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head.

But every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven.

For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short.

But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head.

For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image of the glory of God. But woman is the glory of man.

For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.

That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the

Lord, woman is not independent of man nor man of woman. For as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman, and all things are from God.

Judge for yourselves, is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is a disgrace for him?

But if a woman has long hair, it is her glory. For her hair is given to her for a covering.

If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God."

So, Henry mentioned that the pastor of this church presented to his congregation that women should wear a literal head covering during worship, or more specifically, wives, at least according to the context of this passage, that a woman who is married should wear a covering during worship in church.

Here's the problem that I have with his conclusion. I didn't watch the entire sermon. I watched a little bit of it, and I watched most of it sped up, so it wasn't like I was digesting everything it was that he said.

Everything it was that he said, but I will say that he had a conviction to want to obey the scriptures.

He wants to do what the Bible says, and so I commend him for that. It was well exegeted on top of that.

Here's the big problem I have with his presentation. Toward the end of the sermon, he mentioned that he had just come to his conclusion ten days ago.

He's been studying on this issue for 15 years, but just ten days ago had come to the conclusion that women, or wives in particular, should wear a literal covering over their head during worship.

I must say that I think that that was very ungracious of that pastor to do that.

Now, when I say that, this is a tertiary issue. I don't think that this pastor disqualified himself from ministry and he should step down.

I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that in terms of this issue and the way that he presented it before his congregation, he was very ungracious to have just come to this conclusion ten days ago after 15 years of study, and now here's what

I'm going to tell you. What he should have done graciously is presenting all the major viewpoints on this passage, 1

Corinthians 11, 2 through 16, and then he could have said, now I've come to the conclusion that a woman should wear a covering over her head, or a wife in particular, based on these reasons and then given his reasons why.

But I don't think that he should have presented it as, here is absolutely what this passage is saying.

I just came to this ten days ago. That's a problem. I think that's rather proud of him to do that, in fact, as well.

I'm going to be preaching on this fairly soon because we're going through 1 Corinthians right now in our sermon series.

And so when I get to this chapter in a couple of months, two or three months from now, how am I going to be preaching on this subject?

Well, I've taught on this chapter before and how I will be presenting it is all of the major viewpoints.

I will tell you that over my years of study on this particular issue, I can't say it's been 15 years.

It hasn't been that long. But in the years that I've put into studying this particular matter, here's what I can say the conclusion is on 1

Corinthians 11, 2 through 16. Who knows? It's really, of all of the notes that I have studied on this section, there is so much confusion over what is being said here.

And the reason why there's so much confusion on this passage is because this is the only place in the

Bible this comes up. It's not in the Old Testament. It's not anywhere else in the

New Testament. It's 15 verses. And people ask, you know, is this about the difference between Roman and Jewish custom that this has come up?

Does this only apply to husbands and wives? Is this only in the worship setting? Is this a symbol of marriage like our wedding rings, the substitute, the modern day substitute to the head covering?

You know, there are all kinds of different questions that get asked related to this passage. So here's the way that I present it.

If after going through this together, which we don't have time to do today, so I'm not going to go verse by verse through this and come to all the different explanations and nuances and possibilities of what's being said here.

But if after studying through this intently, you come to the conclusion that wives should wear a covering on their heads in church, then you know what?

Listen to the conviction in your heart. If the Holy Spirit is placed on your heart after reading this passage that you as a wife should wear a covering over your head in worship, then do that.

But if after you read this section, you do not feel that conviction to wear a covering over your head in worship, then don't.

And regardless of whatever conclusion you come to, be gracious about it. Because in my experience, those who have been convicted to wear coverings on their heads, they turn this into a serious issue.

This is my experience over this particular subject, over this question of, should a woman wear a covering over her head in worship or not?

Those who feel convicted to do so will turn this into a serious issue, and it becomes like a cage stage thing.

And they will start trying to convict people who aren't wearing coverings over their head that they need to come to the same conclusion and conviction that they have.

And this is not an issue of division, period. No church should ever come to a division over this particular matter.

There are plenty of other things that we argue about. Don't let it be head coverings. So once again, if you feel so inclined to wear a covering over your head in worship wives, then do so.

If you don't feel convicted to do that, based on what you study, all the different viewpoints and notes that have been written over 1

Corinthians 11, 2 through 16 in 2 ,000 years of church history, and even after all that study, you do not feel convicted to wear a covering over your head in church, then don't.

If anybody's asking yourself, hey, does Gabe's wife wear a covering on her head in church? No, she does not.

All right, let's go on to the next question. This one comes from Josh in Santa Clarita, California.

He says, hi, Pastor, my name is Josh, and I'm a senior in high school from Santa Clarita, California. Could have read that.

My school has its seniors write a thesis over the course of the year, and I have chosen to do mine on cessationism.

If you have time, I have a couple of questions you might be able to help me with. What is your stance on the cessationist versus continuationist debate?

And do you think the miraculous gifts still exist today? Yes, I do believe that miraculous gifts still exist today.

No, I do not believe that they happen with the same regularity that we see those things happening in the book of Acts.

Narrative is not normative. So just because we are seeing apostolic ministry happening in the narrative of Acts, that does not mean it is a normal practice.

It doesn't mean it was a normal practice in every church during the apostolic era, much less that it is, or much more rather, that it is a regular practice in every church in the world today.

The miraculous gifts were given for a particular reason, and it was to testify of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to show the authenticity of the message that was being carried to the

Gentiles. And speaking in tongues was one of those gifts, happens to be the one that we debate over the most, as well as healings and prophecies and so on and so forth.

But those things were to affirm the authenticity of the gospel during an apostolic era.

We see those gifts coming to an end even during the writing of the

New Testament. You have Timothy who had stomach ailments. Why didn't Paul heal Timothy of those stomach ailments?

Why was his recommendation to Timothy instead that he mix some wine in with his water? Because the apostolic gift or the authenticity of the gospel did not need to be affirmed to Timothy by some sort of miraculous healing.

Those healings were to affirm the seriousness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who were witnesses of the gospel being proclaimed.

It is not something that every Tom, Dick, and Harry who has the Holy Spirit in themselves can do on any given

Sunday morning between the hours of 11 and 12 o 'clock. And there are those who contend with the cessationist viewpoint, and they will say that, well, there's nothing in the

Bible that says that those miraculous gifts have come to an end. There's nothing in the Bible that says that they're continuing.

And when you look at this from a hermeneutical perspective, there are only certain periods in which God has affirmed a message that he is communicating through miraculous gifts.

You have it with Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, and Jesus and his apostles.

You don't have it happening anywhere else in the Bible with regularity except during those periods.

And once the last apostle died, which was John at the end of the first century, the apostolic era was over.

Those miraculous gifts for the confirmation of the gospel were done.

There wasn't a reason for them to be anymore. Now, I still think that the Holy Spirit can do miraculous things to share the gospel with a person or a group of people, but it's very, very rare.

It's not this thing that happens with regularity and charismatic churches every single Sunday morning.

So again, this is developing a hermeneutic. This is something that you see over the course of scripture, not pointing to a verse that says that these miraculous gifts are still going on or that they're not happening anymore.

And we do have it said to us in Ephesians chapter two, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the

Lord. In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit.

The apostles and the prophets are the foundation. What it is that they have said has already been affirmed, and we have it in the

Bible. So that is my word on the perspective of cessationism and continuationism.

And I believe that the way that Josh presented that email was he wanted me to respond so that he could ask a few more questions.

So, Josh, I will respond to you as well. Thank you for submitting that question.

One more here. I think I can fit one more in. Clovey from Sydney, Australia. He says, do you believe exorcism still applies today?

Because people like Bob Larson confuse me. Bob Larson is a charlatan and a heretic.

He charges money for doing exorcisms. I think I read somewhere that he does a

Skype exorcism for like 300 bucks. So you pay Bob Larson $300 and he'll get on and do an exorcism by Skype.

It's absolutely ridiculous. Don't listen to guys like that. But when it comes to exorcism, yes,

I do still believe that people can be tormented by evil spirits and that you can pray over a person that that evil spirit would leave them alone.

But this is something that if we have the Holy Spirit of God within us, we can do without need of somebody doing some sort of an exorcism on us, at least an exorcism.

The way that we think about it is what's portrayed by Hollywood or the Roman Catholic Church or the charismatic churches, the exorcism type of stuff that they do.

But just consider the Lord's prayer. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

You can pray to the Lord that God would protect you from the evil one. And if we are in the

Holy Spirit of God, if we are sealed in the Holy Spirit, we have the power within us to be protected from those evil spirits.

It's the Holy Spirit of God. A passage we just looked at a couple of days ago in Luke chapter 11, where Jesus says an unclean spirit is cast out of a person and goes through waterless places seeking rest, finding none.

It says, I'm going to go back to the house from which I came. And when it comes back, it finds the house is swept and put in order.

So it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself. And they enter and dwell there.

And the last state of that person is worse than the first because that person was not in the

Holy Spirit. So so if you could do, you know, some sort of exorcism or pray over a person and then for a little bit of time, it looks like their life improves.

But if they are not in the spirit, if they're not in step with the word of God, then they still have themselves open up to an attack from the devil.

And then the condition of that person is going to be worse than if nothing was done for them at all. We also have it said to us in James chapter four of a passage that I've read to you many times, even over the course of studying first and second

Peter. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts.

You double minded be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. Draw near to God and you will be far from the devil who will not be able to touch you because you are in the

Holy Spirit. We also have it said still in the book of James, beginning in verse 13. Is anyone among you suffering?

Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick?

Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him. Anointing with oil in the name of the

Lord and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. There's your exorcism passages right there.

Prayer drawing near to God, submitting to the elders of the church, confessing your sins.

This is how to flee from the devil's schemes and be protected by the power of the

Holy Spirit of God. Our commitment to the word of God and storing this up in our minds and our hearts will keep our feet on the path of righteousness and away from the snare of the devil.

Amen. All right, let's conclude with that. Our great God, we thank you so much for the words that you have given to us in the

Bible that they may be a guide for us and that they may be a protection that we are doing what is honoring and pleasing to the

Lord because of what is said in your word. Whatever we don't know or don't understand, we seek wisdom and we ask for it from you and knowing that the promise that has been given to us in the scriptures from James that if we ask of God, he gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given the wisdom of God through the word of God.

We ask these things in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. This is When We Understand the

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