Jesus is quoted in Acts 1:8 saying "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The reason for the Holy Spirit coming upon these disciples was so that they could have power to be a witness to Jesus.
A witness is someone who has seen something and has firsthand information. This to me is intriguing. If, as it is commonly done, we apply these verses to all Christians making us all witnesses - which I too think is correct, what are we firsthand witnesses of? Certainly not Jesus as He was in Israel. We, like Paul, are witnesses of the exalted Jesus.
But why would we need power for this? Why would we need the power of the Holy spirit coming upon us for this? I don't think that what Jesus was simply referring to was some synchronization with what we say and the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the listener, although true as far as it goes. But the power is given so that our claim that Jesus is Lord of all could be demonstrated with action, not in words alone.
This is why Paul wrote in 1 Cor 2:4-5 NIV "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." It is an essential part of our witness to demonstrate the veracity of our claim that Jesus is Lord. This is demonstrated by the Holy Spirit, who is supposed to be on us, seen by the acts and signs of power. Without this supernatural demonstration our witness is just another ingredient in the plurality soup.
The Jesus we have come to know is indeed Lord of all. This is our eyewitness claim. We declare that he is exalted to the Father and to prove it He has poured out the Holy Spirit upon us. (please note the italicized words - on not in) These supernatural gifts of the Spirit and the resulting love of the Spirit reproduced in our lives is our gift to the world to demonstrate the living reality of Jesus. We are witnesses.
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Spirit. Show all posts
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Purpose of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit
I was having a conversation yesterday with a friend of mine. Not odd in itself. We were talking about what some people mean by revival, by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It seemed to him that if all that was expected was a lot of commotion and stuff going on for 6 months then the purpose of the whole thing was not fulfilled; that purpose was a life of love lived in the power of the Spirit.
He wondered why moves of the Spirit only seemed to last for a short time. My response was that to my way of thinking they stopped or slowed because people would grieve or quench the Spirit by refusing to live life according to the nature of the Holy Spirit. Instead of living a life of love they would be jealous, angry, divided, controlling, fearful, dishonest, thieves, liars, and the like.
I told him the story of how, when the Spirit was outpoured at Asuza street the very early 1900's, a guy named William Seymore was then the pastor. He was a poor guy of African heritage and had experienced the segregation common to the era. It was at this church where the move of the Spirit began that many of today's Pentecostal denominations find their roots. Seymore used to say that even though many people experienced the supernatural power of the Spirit manifesting in the gifts of the Spirit, the greatest manifestation of the Spirit he saw was that white and black people, rich and poor, men and women, would sit on the same pews together, work in the ministry together, and generally behave like they loved one another. This to him was the point of it all.
But, like I said, it didn't last. The Assembly of God were the white folks, the Church of God in Christ were the black folks, and they parted ways. This had to have grieved the Holy Spirit. This was just one division, there were others. Like 1Corinthians 13 says, without love we are nothing.
So when I say I want to see people baptized in the Holy Spirit and experience the power of the Spirit, it is for this end: that we Christians would find the power and presence of the Spirit of Christ filling our hearts with love like the scripture speaks. I am looking for a loving and powerful Christianity; first of all in me then in those I know. This is the kind of Christian that will be a true witness with a true testimony of our risen Lord.
He wondered why moves of the Spirit only seemed to last for a short time. My response was that to my way of thinking they stopped or slowed because people would grieve or quench the Spirit by refusing to live life according to the nature of the Holy Spirit. Instead of living a life of love they would be jealous, angry, divided, controlling, fearful, dishonest, thieves, liars, and the like.
I told him the story of how, when the Spirit was outpoured at Asuza street the very early 1900's, a guy named William Seymore was then the pastor. He was a poor guy of African heritage and had experienced the segregation common to the era. It was at this church where the move of the Spirit began that many of today's Pentecostal denominations find their roots. Seymore used to say that even though many people experienced the supernatural power of the Spirit manifesting in the gifts of the Spirit, the greatest manifestation of the Spirit he saw was that white and black people, rich and poor, men and women, would sit on the same pews together, work in the ministry together, and generally behave like they loved one another. This to him was the point of it all.
But, like I said, it didn't last. The Assembly of God were the white folks, the Church of God in Christ were the black folks, and they parted ways. This had to have grieved the Holy Spirit. This was just one division, there were others. Like 1Corinthians 13 says, without love we are nothing.
So when I say I want to see people baptized in the Holy Spirit and experience the power of the Spirit, it is for this end: that we Christians would find the power and presence of the Spirit of Christ filling our hearts with love like the scripture speaks. I am looking for a loving and powerful Christianity; first of all in me then in those I know. This is the kind of Christian that will be a true witness with a true testimony of our risen Lord.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Being Testy For Christ
Let me give you an example of what I mean by testing the spirits. Let’s pretend that one day the world was at war again. Someone had released a pathogen that was killing off hundreds of thousands of people a week. It looked like mankind was really going to destroy themselves this time.
In the midst of all this strife some scientist noticed on his telescope that an object, very small, was coming towards earth at an incredible speed, faster than any comet. The militaries of the earth were alerted. Talk shows had experts tell us of the devastation that a small object could do if it struck the earth. This object was coming straight for earth. They calculated that it would hit the earth in two days. The people of the earth wondered if it was judgment from God.
Just hours before the object was to hit, radio messages were received all over the earth that were purported as coming from the object. “Stop the war! I am coming! Stop the war! I am coming!” This was repeated over and over.
The object turned out to be some kind of spacecraft. It landed in the Middle East, in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives. It landed with such force that a small earthquake resulted, cracking the mount in two. The spacecraft was so hot that it glowed.
It took only a few hours for the craft to cool. As it did, camera crews, the curious, military people, and politicians gathered to it. After it was cool, a door opened, and a man walked out. He was bearded, wore blue jeans, and smiled a lot.
He said he was Jesus.
People who were dying from the plague were brought to him, and he healed them. Many miraculous signs were done. An uneasy peace began to pervade among the warring nations.
What would you do? Everyone seemed to be amazed. The question you would ask yourself is, does what this person say square with what is written? If it did not, even if you could not explain how these miracles were done, you would not accept this person as Jesus. Yet you would review all you had previously understood. You would make sure.
Then came the announcement. “All nations are to worship me, or judgment will follow!” The Islamic nations that would not bend had fire come upon them from what seemed like outer space. All governments were abolished. The control of all the world's money was unified under his command. Allegiance had to be sworn in order to participate in any way in society. Now your life and the lives of your children depended upon your decision. Would your decision hold? Could you be swayed?
This may be an extreme example. But every day we have to make similar decisions, yet on a much smaller scale. Jesus taught us that if we’d be faithful with little we’d also be faithful with much. I’ve noticed that this works in all areas of responsibility. In discernment there are just a few elements that need to be balanced.
Is what I see consistent with the scripture or not? If what I see challenges my understanding of scripture, after further review do I find it consistent or not? Who gets the glory? Is it consistent with the God I know? What is or would be the fruit? Do I have peace? What is the Spirit saying inside me? What do others, whom I regard as spiritually mature, say? What are the immature saying? In essence, is this activity consistent with the Spirit and the Book?
Unless you are convinced that the Spirit stopped doing the things we see throughout the Bible, there will still be, from time to time, miraculous signs and wonders done by God’s people today. The gifts of the Spirit are manifested still.
Let’s look at a test case. Take the stuff that went on at the Toronto Airport Vineyard (now Toronto Airport Church). I went to see it for myself. I was negatively predisposed. At first I was bored, yet after observing those around me have experiences from which they would come away with the praise of God on their lips and with a fervor to serve Him, I wondered. At one point there was a general call for those with lower back pain to come forward to be prayed for. I laughed to myself saying maybe everyone is going to go forward for this one. Since I had back pain, and had for years, I went forward, pressured by my wife, despite my skepticism. I stood in a circle around the platform with many others. As someone came near me to pray for me, and as that person lifted their hand to lay upon me for prayer, yet before I was touched, I found myself ejected backwards in a ‘graceful’ arc, landing on my lower back.
My back pain was gone, and stayed gone. I had other encounters with the Holy Spirit throughout the week, yet none of them were particularly emotional.
I remember one afternoon, while standing on a balcony at the back, being asked by the Holy Spirit if I would want this fruit in my ministry. Would I want people to more willing to serve God and make positive strides in their confession of faith? I said that yes, I would. But what if it came with all these different reactions, I was asked? Then I saw what was going on. The things that people did, the falling, laughing, groaning, etc., were their reactions to the Holy Spirit, not manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of these encounters with the Spirit was not the reactions, but the strides people made in their faith.
The fruit of these encounters with the Holy Spirit in my life gave me faith to believe God for the time and money for short term missions. This is with 5 kids still at home. Sometimes my wife or one of my children would accompany me. Beautiful fruit for me and my family. I can trace this fruit back to my encounters with the Holy Spirit at the Toronto Airport Church. Does this mean that I endorse all that went on? Of course not. Few do. But after testing I can keep the good and avoid the evil.
This is what Paul was steering us towards with these words in his letter to the Thessalonians. Paul wanted us to discern the intent of God in what is happening around us. This will take a familiarity with God has said and done in the past coupled with a openness to the Spirit. Even if we are not 100% correct in all our judgments we can at least move ourselves out of the place of debilitating deception into the range of non-dangerous differences of opinion.
In the midst of all this strife some scientist noticed on his telescope that an object, very small, was coming towards earth at an incredible speed, faster than any comet. The militaries of the earth were alerted. Talk shows had experts tell us of the devastation that a small object could do if it struck the earth. This object was coming straight for earth. They calculated that it would hit the earth in two days. The people of the earth wondered if it was judgment from God.
Just hours before the object was to hit, radio messages were received all over the earth that were purported as coming from the object. “Stop the war! I am coming! Stop the war! I am coming!” This was repeated over and over.
The object turned out to be some kind of spacecraft. It landed in the Middle East, in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives. It landed with such force that a small earthquake resulted, cracking the mount in two. The spacecraft was so hot that it glowed.
It took only a few hours for the craft to cool. As it did, camera crews, the curious, military people, and politicians gathered to it. After it was cool, a door opened, and a man walked out. He was bearded, wore blue jeans, and smiled a lot.
He said he was Jesus.
People who were dying from the plague were brought to him, and he healed them. Many miraculous signs were done. An uneasy peace began to pervade among the warring nations.
What would you do? Everyone seemed to be amazed. The question you would ask yourself is, does what this person say square with what is written? If it did not, even if you could not explain how these miracles were done, you would not accept this person as Jesus. Yet you would review all you had previously understood. You would make sure.
Then came the announcement. “All nations are to worship me, or judgment will follow!” The Islamic nations that would not bend had fire come upon them from what seemed like outer space. All governments were abolished. The control of all the world's money was unified under his command. Allegiance had to be sworn in order to participate in any way in society. Now your life and the lives of your children depended upon your decision. Would your decision hold? Could you be swayed?
This may be an extreme example. But every day we have to make similar decisions, yet on a much smaller scale. Jesus taught us that if we’d be faithful with little we’d also be faithful with much. I’ve noticed that this works in all areas of responsibility. In discernment there are just a few elements that need to be balanced.
Is what I see consistent with the scripture or not? If what I see challenges my understanding of scripture, after further review do I find it consistent or not? Who gets the glory? Is it consistent with the God I know? What is or would be the fruit? Do I have peace? What is the Spirit saying inside me? What do others, whom I regard as spiritually mature, say? What are the immature saying? In essence, is this activity consistent with the Spirit and the Book?
Unless you are convinced that the Spirit stopped doing the things we see throughout the Bible, there will still be, from time to time, miraculous signs and wonders done by God’s people today. The gifts of the Spirit are manifested still.
Let’s look at a test case. Take the stuff that went on at the Toronto Airport Vineyard (now Toronto Airport Church). I went to see it for myself. I was negatively predisposed. At first I was bored, yet after observing those around me have experiences from which they would come away with the praise of God on their lips and with a fervor to serve Him, I wondered. At one point there was a general call for those with lower back pain to come forward to be prayed for. I laughed to myself saying maybe everyone is going to go forward for this one. Since I had back pain, and had for years, I went forward, pressured by my wife, despite my skepticism. I stood in a circle around the platform with many others. As someone came near me to pray for me, and as that person lifted their hand to lay upon me for prayer, yet before I was touched, I found myself ejected backwards in a ‘graceful’ arc, landing on my lower back.
My back pain was gone, and stayed gone. I had other encounters with the Holy Spirit throughout the week, yet none of them were particularly emotional.
I remember one afternoon, while standing on a balcony at the back, being asked by the Holy Spirit if I would want this fruit in my ministry. Would I want people to more willing to serve God and make positive strides in their confession of faith? I said that yes, I would. But what if it came with all these different reactions, I was asked? Then I saw what was going on. The things that people did, the falling, laughing, groaning, etc., were their reactions to the Holy Spirit, not manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of these encounters with the Spirit was not the reactions, but the strides people made in their faith.
The fruit of these encounters with the Holy Spirit in my life gave me faith to believe God for the time and money for short term missions. This is with 5 kids still at home. Sometimes my wife or one of my children would accompany me. Beautiful fruit for me and my family. I can trace this fruit back to my encounters with the Holy Spirit at the Toronto Airport Church. Does this mean that I endorse all that went on? Of course not. Few do. But after testing I can keep the good and avoid the evil.
This is what Paul was steering us towards with these words in his letter to the Thessalonians. Paul wanted us to discern the intent of God in what is happening around us. This will take a familiarity with God has said and done in the past coupled with a openness to the Spirit. Even if we are not 100% correct in all our judgments we can at least move ourselves out of the place of debilitating deception into the range of non-dangerous differences of opinion.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Spirit's Fire
One of my deep disappointments regarding the emerging church movement is its apparent rejection of the practice of the gifts of the Spirit. In its effort to distance itself from the excesses, doctrinal immaturity, exclusiveness, and fundamentalism of some of the previous ‘Spirit’ movements in the church, it has turned a deaf ear to many of the more dramatic types of genuine Spirit manifestation. This is not without justification. Yet Paul’s exhortation to us that we should not despise prophecy is applicable to us here.
The passage in Thessalonians reads like this: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”
As with all of Paul’s exhortations, there are good reasons for giving them. If we could not put out the Spirit’s fire, why he would have exhorted us not to put it out? But what did Paul mean by the Spirit’s fire? Does anyone besides me hear the echoes of the words of the prophets? Without the fire of the Spirit the distinction between the holy and the profane would be blurred. Fire marks the line of that which is totally devoted to the Lord and that which is not. The concept of radical zeal and devotion applies here. But it is the Spirit’s fire, a fire not of our own generation. Yet that cannot mean that the Spirit’s fire can burn without our consent and complicity. If it could burn in such a way, without our consent, how then could we put out the Spirit’s fire? So then for the fire of the Spirit to burn in us we need to agree with the Spirit. This results in a passion for the things of God – love, holiness, compassion, forgiveness, truth, justice, fidelity, and so on. By agreeing to live in these things we agree with the nature of the Holy Spirit. The more we are consumed by these virtues the more we are ‘on fire’ by the Spirit.
Yet there is an aspect of the Holy Spirit that manifests itself in the supernatural - things that happen that defy natural explanation. This will bug the confirmed rationalist that must have all things explained in a causative way. The difficulty in explaining the supernatural is that it ain’t natural. How come everyone isn’t
healed, or why did God answer that prayer but appears not to have answered this other prayer? The rationalist wants rules so it will work each time the same way. There probably are rules and purposes governing the manifestation of the supernatural power of the Spirit of God, but they are not natural rules. This is not magic. It is a relationship with the Being who made it all who desires to share His person and power with His children. God makes the rules and does what is holy and right every time.
In addition to rationalism, the mystical approach leaves much of what God is giving into this relationship still on the table. It receives well enough but seems to be weak on cooperating with the Spirit in the Spirit’s desire to express himself through people to other people. Jesus said that if we want to be his disciples we must take up our cross and follow him. This means, among other things, that we are to enter into Jesus’ work. This work is the work of giving our life to others through the power of the Spirit. God wants to do this work with us, not just pour into our lives. There is a difference between a friend and a siphon.
Here, in entering into the work of God, we discover the Spirit’s fire. The gifts of the Spirit are birthed in us by faith and compassion, also of the Spirit. The gifts are given to us so each of us can give a supernatural manifestation of the Spirit to someone else. As we participate in the Spirit’s desire to touch the heart of people at their point of need, the Spirit works in and through us, both with virtue and with power. By closing ourselves to either the Spirit’s virtue or power, we begin to put out the Spirit’s fire. We drift back into the gray area between light and darkness.
Why would we ever want to close ourselves off to the Holy Spirit, quenching the Spirit’s fire? Few of us willingly close ourselves off to the Spirit’s virtues. It is the Spirit’s power that is the sand in our sheets. Like with natural fire, we only feel safe if it is controlled. Yet the Spirit will not be controlled by us. Who is the Lord here anyway? The Spirit is the Lord, not us.
In the past the Holy Spirit had the people of God do many strange things. Ezekiel laid on his side for much too long, enacting the siege of Jerusalem. Hosea married a harlot. Jesus spat on people sometimes when healing them. How can we tell what is of the Spirit and what is because someone is nuts? Worse yet, what if I prayed for someone and they were not healed? What if I declared something in faith, waiting for the mountain to cast itself into the sea, and it didn’t go? What if I looked foolish and other people thought less of God because of me? Because of this many say that going down this ‘Spirit’ road is not worth the risk.
It is in this way prophecy and other Spirit manifestations are devalued. Because of the problems, the craziness, and the doctrinal uncertainties, the teaching and practice of the power of the Spirit is reconfigured to avoid these pitfalls. One way to reconfigure the teaching is to say that these gifts are no longer for today. Another is to say that they are not necessary, but you can practice them at home if you like. The problem is that it is by these very gifts, and the loving context in which they are supposed to be used, that God’s word is confirmed to those who are yet to believe. Additionally, it is also by these gifts that God intervenes in peoples lives to help them know Him better, to meet their needs, and to help people participate in the work of Christ.
So then how are we to differentiate between the Holy Spirit and the kooks? Do we need, like some early Pentecostals and some modern Charismatics, to accept everything that says it’s from the Spirit of God? Including barking? Do we need to accept all kinds of fanciful exegeses that say they are Spirit inspired? How do we ‘test everything’? To describe that will take another article. For now it will be sufficient for us to know that we can test everything, we should test everything, and that God wants us to test everything. There are controls on the gifts which need to be in place. These controls, when properly used, will not put out the Spirit’s fire. Indeed, these controls are themselves Spirit inspired. These controls are not controls on the Spirit, they are on us. The problem is not with the Holy Spirit’s manifestations, the problem is with our ‘manifestations’.
Because we are participating in the Spirit’s work, there are, at least, two sources for our activity: the Spirit and us. Since the Spirit wants to work with us and through us, we are always involved. The plan is for us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Yet when people are involved, mistakes will always be made. It is important to remember that the supernatural does not come naturally. To some, it will always look wrong and be offensive. Jesus did get nailed to a cross. And so will we who, through the Spirit, endeavor to participate in Jesus’ work.
Just because some people are put off by the power of the Spirit does not mean that we are to abandon the fire of the Spirit. Paul exhorted us to hold on to the good. Today he might have said “Don’t through out the baby with the bath water”. The gifts of the Spirit are intended to build up, to encourage, all those who are seeking God. Surely this is a work that still needs to be done. The gifts are intended to confirm the source of our message, the gospel. They are intended to heal people who are ill, deliver people who are in bondage, to reveal the plan and purposes of God, to cut through satanic opposition, to reveal some of the power of the kingdom of God.
Now what is wrong with that?
The passage in Thessalonians reads like this: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”
As with all of Paul’s exhortations, there are good reasons for giving them. If we could not put out the Spirit’s fire, why he would have exhorted us not to put it out? But what did Paul mean by the Spirit’s fire? Does anyone besides me hear the echoes of the words of the prophets? Without the fire of the Spirit the distinction between the holy and the profane would be blurred. Fire marks the line of that which is totally devoted to the Lord and that which is not. The concept of radical zeal and devotion applies here. But it is the Spirit’s fire, a fire not of our own generation. Yet that cannot mean that the Spirit’s fire can burn without our consent and complicity. If it could burn in such a way, without our consent, how then could we put out the Spirit’s fire? So then for the fire of the Spirit to burn in us we need to agree with the Spirit. This results in a passion for the things of God – love, holiness, compassion, forgiveness, truth, justice, fidelity, and so on. By agreeing to live in these things we agree with the nature of the Holy Spirit. The more we are consumed by these virtues the more we are ‘on fire’ by the Spirit.
Yet there is an aspect of the Holy Spirit that manifests itself in the supernatural - things that happen that defy natural explanation. This will bug the confirmed rationalist that must have all things explained in a causative way. The difficulty in explaining the supernatural is that it ain’t natural. How come everyone isn’t
healed, or why did God answer that prayer but appears not to have answered this other prayer? The rationalist wants rules so it will work each time the same way. There probably are rules and purposes governing the manifestation of the supernatural power of the Spirit of God, but they are not natural rules. This is not magic. It is a relationship with the Being who made it all who desires to share His person and power with His children. God makes the rules and does what is holy and right every time.
In addition to rationalism, the mystical approach leaves much of what God is giving into this relationship still on the table. It receives well enough but seems to be weak on cooperating with the Spirit in the Spirit’s desire to express himself through people to other people. Jesus said that if we want to be his disciples we must take up our cross and follow him. This means, among other things, that we are to enter into Jesus’ work. This work is the work of giving our life to others through the power of the Spirit. God wants to do this work with us, not just pour into our lives. There is a difference between a friend and a siphon.
Here, in entering into the work of God, we discover the Spirit’s fire. The gifts of the Spirit are birthed in us by faith and compassion, also of the Spirit. The gifts are given to us so each of us can give a supernatural manifestation of the Spirit to someone else. As we participate in the Spirit’s desire to touch the heart of people at their point of need, the Spirit works in and through us, both with virtue and with power. By closing ourselves to either the Spirit’s virtue or power, we begin to put out the Spirit’s fire. We drift back into the gray area between light and darkness.
Why would we ever want to close ourselves off to the Holy Spirit, quenching the Spirit’s fire? Few of us willingly close ourselves off to the Spirit’s virtues. It is the Spirit’s power that is the sand in our sheets. Like with natural fire, we only feel safe if it is controlled. Yet the Spirit will not be controlled by us. Who is the Lord here anyway? The Spirit is the Lord, not us.
In the past the Holy Spirit had the people of God do many strange things. Ezekiel laid on his side for much too long, enacting the siege of Jerusalem. Hosea married a harlot. Jesus spat on people sometimes when healing them. How can we tell what is of the Spirit and what is because someone is nuts? Worse yet, what if I prayed for someone and they were not healed? What if I declared something in faith, waiting for the mountain to cast itself into the sea, and it didn’t go? What if I looked foolish and other people thought less of God because of me? Because of this many say that going down this ‘Spirit’ road is not worth the risk.
It is in this way prophecy and other Spirit manifestations are devalued. Because of the problems, the craziness, and the doctrinal uncertainties, the teaching and practice of the power of the Spirit is reconfigured to avoid these pitfalls. One way to reconfigure the teaching is to say that these gifts are no longer for today. Another is to say that they are not necessary, but you can practice them at home if you like. The problem is that it is by these very gifts, and the loving context in which they are supposed to be used, that God’s word is confirmed to those who are yet to believe. Additionally, it is also by these gifts that God intervenes in peoples lives to help them know Him better, to meet their needs, and to help people participate in the work of Christ.
So then how are we to differentiate between the Holy Spirit and the kooks? Do we need, like some early Pentecostals and some modern Charismatics, to accept everything that says it’s from the Spirit of God? Including barking? Do we need to accept all kinds of fanciful exegeses that say they are Spirit inspired? How do we ‘test everything’? To describe that will take another article. For now it will be sufficient for us to know that we can test everything, we should test everything, and that God wants us to test everything. There are controls on the gifts which need to be in place. These controls, when properly used, will not put out the Spirit’s fire. Indeed, these controls are themselves Spirit inspired. These controls are not controls on the Spirit, they are on us. The problem is not with the Holy Spirit’s manifestations, the problem is with our ‘manifestations’.
Because we are participating in the Spirit’s work, there are, at least, two sources for our activity: the Spirit and us. Since the Spirit wants to work with us and through us, we are always involved. The plan is for us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Yet when people are involved, mistakes will always be made. It is important to remember that the supernatural does not come naturally. To some, it will always look wrong and be offensive. Jesus did get nailed to a cross. And so will we who, through the Spirit, endeavor to participate in Jesus’ work.
Just because some people are put off by the power of the Spirit does not mean that we are to abandon the fire of the Spirit. Paul exhorted us to hold on to the good. Today he might have said “Don’t through out the baby with the bath water”. The gifts of the Spirit are intended to build up, to encourage, all those who are seeking God. Surely this is a work that still needs to be done. The gifts are intended to confirm the source of our message, the gospel. They are intended to heal people who are ill, deliver people who are in bondage, to reveal the plan and purposes of God, to cut through satanic opposition, to reveal some of the power of the kingdom of God.
Now what is wrong with that?
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Taste and See that the Lord is Good
I've been thinking about Heb 6:4-8 NASU which reads:
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
Here the writer of Hebrews is attempting to define what marks a Christian. Five things are listed:
1. enlightened
2. tasted the heavenly gift
3. partaker in the Holy Spirit
4. tasted the good word of God, and
5. tasted of the powers of the age to come.
The question is, how do these concepts relate to each other? Do they all refer to the same thing, are they sequential, or something else?
Enlightened must refer to coming into a knowledge that you didn't have before. A light bulb just turned on over your head. The same writer uses this term to refer to conversion in Heb 10:32. Paul in Eph 1:18 prays that the eyes of our understanding be enlightened. So not only does this term relate to conversion, but to our ongoing relationship with the Lord. John 1:9 tells us that Jesus is the true light that enlightens (gives light to) every man. It means to receive the knowledge of the truth. So being a Christian means being enlightened.
To what does 'tasting of the heavenly gift refer'? Justification - the forgiveness of sins - is a gift. Salvation is a gift. The Holy Spirit is a gift. The gifts of the Spirit are a gift. Jesus himself is God's gift to us. We are to eat his flesh and drink his blood, metaphorically speaking of course. So it could relate to communion. Maybe our attention needs to be on tasting instead of gift. Since in Heb 2:9 Jesus tasted death for us all, tasting cannot mean a brief, shallow, experience. Peter tells us (1Pet 2:3) that we have tasted the kindness of the Lord. The Psalmist (Ps 34:8) exhorts us to taste and see that the Lord is good. To taste is to experience, to know through experience. We've tasted - experienced - the salvation that God has given to us in Christ. It would be hard to nail it down any finer than this. But notice the emphasis on taste - experience.
A partaker in the Holy Spirit is someone who has experienced the Holy Spirit. The Samaritans and the Ephesian disciples lacked this, and it was noticeable. We are all given the Holy Spirit to drink, but drink we must. And when we do drink, we experience.
Tasted the good word is to experience the gospel.
And taste the powers (dunamis) of the age to come. This seems to refer to those powers or gifts of the Spirit that the Spirit gives to us all. I like what Hughes says in his commentary on Hebrews. "These powers may confidently be identified with the signs, wonders, and miracles mentioned earlier in 2:4 as accompaniments of the preaching of the gospel. They are the dynamic evidence of the activity of the Holy Spirit within the community of believers, manifested particularly perhaps in miraculous healings and deliverances. As such, moreover, they testify to the fact that "the age to come" is already upon them, since its powers are operative in their midst."
It seems that according to the writer of Hebrews that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is part of what makes a Christian a Christian. Yet so many have not drunk what they have been given to drink. Or maybe the land that drinks is not producing fruit? I hope not. Like the writer goes on to say, we are convinced of better things of you. The exhortation is to experience what God has given. Mental assent is not what it is all about. A theoretical belief is inadequate. Experiencing the reality of salvation, the gospel, and the Holy Spirit is our portion of the edible God.
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
Here the writer of Hebrews is attempting to define what marks a Christian. Five things are listed:
1. enlightened
2. tasted the heavenly gift
3. partaker in the Holy Spirit
4. tasted the good word of God, and
5. tasted of the powers of the age to come.
The question is, how do these concepts relate to each other? Do they all refer to the same thing, are they sequential, or something else?
Enlightened must refer to coming into a knowledge that you didn't have before. A light bulb just turned on over your head. The same writer uses this term to refer to conversion in Heb 10:32. Paul in Eph 1:18 prays that the eyes of our understanding be enlightened. So not only does this term relate to conversion, but to our ongoing relationship with the Lord. John 1:9 tells us that Jesus is the true light that enlightens (gives light to) every man. It means to receive the knowledge of the truth. So being a Christian means being enlightened.
To what does 'tasting of the heavenly gift refer'? Justification - the forgiveness of sins - is a gift. Salvation is a gift. The Holy Spirit is a gift. The gifts of the Spirit are a gift. Jesus himself is God's gift to us. We are to eat his flesh and drink his blood, metaphorically speaking of course. So it could relate to communion. Maybe our attention needs to be on tasting instead of gift. Since in Heb 2:9 Jesus tasted death for us all, tasting cannot mean a brief, shallow, experience. Peter tells us (1Pet 2:3) that we have tasted the kindness of the Lord. The Psalmist (Ps 34:8) exhorts us to taste and see that the Lord is good. To taste is to experience, to know through experience. We've tasted - experienced - the salvation that God has given to us in Christ. It would be hard to nail it down any finer than this. But notice the emphasis on taste - experience.
A partaker in the Holy Spirit is someone who has experienced the Holy Spirit. The Samaritans and the Ephesian disciples lacked this, and it was noticeable. We are all given the Holy Spirit to drink, but drink we must. And when we do drink, we experience.
Tasted the good word is to experience the gospel.
And taste the powers (dunamis) of the age to come. This seems to refer to those powers or gifts of the Spirit that the Spirit gives to us all. I like what Hughes says in his commentary on Hebrews. "These powers may confidently be identified with the signs, wonders, and miracles mentioned earlier in 2:4 as accompaniments of the preaching of the gospel. They are the dynamic evidence of the activity of the Holy Spirit within the community of believers, manifested particularly perhaps in miraculous healings and deliverances. As such, moreover, they testify to the fact that "the age to come" is already upon them, since its powers are operative in their midst."
It seems that according to the writer of Hebrews that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is part of what makes a Christian a Christian. Yet so many have not drunk what they have been given to drink. Or maybe the land that drinks is not producing fruit? I hope not. Like the writer goes on to say, we are convinced of better things of you. The exhortation is to experience what God has given. Mental assent is not what it is all about. A theoretical belief is inadequate. Experiencing the reality of salvation, the gospel, and the Holy Spirit is our portion of the edible God.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Particle or Wave, Part 2
Nowhere is the particle or wave dichotomy more evident than in the different stories that John in his gospel and Luke in the book of Acts give for the reception of the Spirit. All throughout the gospel of John the Holy Spirit is given prominence. Jesus promised the Apostles (and through them us) another Advocate or Comforter just like him. By this name Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit. John 7:39 even makes mention of the Spirit not being given yet because Jesus is not yet glorified. Thus John builds an expectation of a reception of the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus’ work in the world with and through the disciples.
This expectation reaches a climax when Jesus, after his resurrection but before the ascension, breathes on the disciples in a prophetic act and commands them to receive the Holy Spirit. If they did receive it then, then the disciples received the Spirit again after Jesus’ ascension as recorded by Luke. Putting John and Luke side by side produces two receptions of the Spirit by the disciples. Many modern commentators try to harmonize these two stories by making what John wrote a metaphor for what happened in Luke/Acts. By my way of thinking this is very unlikely because it runs uncaringly over the plain meaning of John’s words.
Yet this leaves us in the uncomfortable position of having the disciples receive the Holy Spirit two times, the second of which was called the baptism in the Holy Spirit by Jesus as written by Luke. So far every resolution that tries to harmonize these two stories is based on speculation. I do not mean by this that these two stories cannot be harmonized. I just mean that without interviewing both Luke and John personally the harmonization may be beyond our grasp. So I am not saying that different authors of books in the Bible have conflicting theologies. I am just saying that from our view of 2000 years later we do not have enough evidence to produce a full harmonization.
But we can still draw insight from this. We have two different stories regarding the reception of the Holy Spirit that are treated as harmonious. I find evidence for this kind of two and three part harmony all throughout the gospels. Jesus Himself was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit mediated the presence of the Father and the Son to Mary. Christians too are born of the Spirit when they receive Jesus. One cannot say that a person born of the Spirit does not have the Spirit. Remember how tricky it is that Jesus could be both in heaven and in our heart at the same time. If Jesus is in our hearts through the Spirit, then the Spirit must be there too. Yet receiving the Spirit, personally, is different than receiving Jesus. Yet by receiving Jesus we also get the Father and the Spirit.
In John 14:23 (NIV) Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” So when we get the Son we get the Father too. But it is the Spirit who mediates both the Son and the Father to us, making them present within.
Whew, this is a puzzle. One for all and all for one!
This expectation reaches a climax when Jesus, after his resurrection but before the ascension, breathes on the disciples in a prophetic act and commands them to receive the Holy Spirit. If they did receive it then, then the disciples received the Spirit again after Jesus’ ascension as recorded by Luke. Putting John and Luke side by side produces two receptions of the Spirit by the disciples. Many modern commentators try to harmonize these two stories by making what John wrote a metaphor for what happened in Luke/Acts. By my way of thinking this is very unlikely because it runs uncaringly over the plain meaning of John’s words.
Yet this leaves us in the uncomfortable position of having the disciples receive the Holy Spirit two times, the second of which was called the baptism in the Holy Spirit by Jesus as written by Luke. So far every resolution that tries to harmonize these two stories is based on speculation. I do not mean by this that these two stories cannot be harmonized. I just mean that without interviewing both Luke and John personally the harmonization may be beyond our grasp. So I am not saying that different authors of books in the Bible have conflicting theologies. I am just saying that from our view of 2000 years later we do not have enough evidence to produce a full harmonization.
But we can still draw insight from this. We have two different stories regarding the reception of the Holy Spirit that are treated as harmonious. I find evidence for this kind of two and three part harmony all throughout the gospels. Jesus Himself was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit mediated the presence of the Father and the Son to Mary. Christians too are born of the Spirit when they receive Jesus. One cannot say that a person born of the Spirit does not have the Spirit. Remember how tricky it is that Jesus could be both in heaven and in our heart at the same time. If Jesus is in our hearts through the Spirit, then the Spirit must be there too. Yet receiving the Spirit, personally, is different than receiving Jesus. Yet by receiving Jesus we also get the Father and the Spirit.
In John 14:23 (NIV) Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” So when we get the Son we get the Father too. But it is the Spirit who mediates both the Son and the Father to us, making them present within.
Whew, this is a puzzle. One for all and all for one!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Lake Louise Michigan
Here is a story of something that happened to me regarding the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
In the summer of 1972, I was a camp counselor at Lake Louise in northern Michigan. It was a Baptist camp for 7th and 8th graders, both boys and girls. An ordinary camp with exercises first thing in the morning, games, food-like-stuff to eat, swimming, campfires, all with very normal people. At the Wednesday night campfire we were singing “Give Me Oil in My Lamp’, (you know the song about gas in the Ford™) a song that must have been sung billions of times at campfires all over the world, when one of the counselors started yelling at the top of his lungs that God was pouring out His Spirit. He kept repeating this at the highest of volumes.
I was near the outer edge of the group and watched to see what would happen. Within seconds two things started to happen. The first was that all the young kids that I could see began to either cry, or hold onto one another, or fall on the ground, or pray, or speak in tongues (that is a language they did not know). It was very chaotic and the leader looked panicked. At the same time it also began to rain. I looked up and saw no clouds overhead, but I did see a few off to the side in the moonlight. I wondered where the rain was coming from.
After a while the leader got us all back to our cabins. The boys in my cabin were writing a group poem to Jesus on a long length of paper towel. The boy next to me just said out loud, to no one in particular, “I get it now. Jesus is God.” You could hear shouts from one cabin to another of “Jesus is Lord”, or “Praise God!” These were 12-14 year old boys. Normal, fun-loving, physically hyper, trick playing, boys. No one coached them. It just poured out of them.
The next morning, the camp director, who was a conservative Baptist pastor from Bad Axe, Michigan, cornered me and one of the other counselors and accused us of being ‘holiness’. No, I said, I am a Christian. I didn’t know the terminology. He told us that there was going to be a meeting for all the counselors shortly and that we must attend.
At the meeting, he was very upset. The camp had gotten out of control. Kids were doing crazy things, like having spontaneous prayer meetings without counselors present. Who knows what trouble they could be getting into? What would their parents think?
We got into a discussion if what had happened was from God or not. At the end of the meeting the director agreed to pray and ask God if what was happening was from God or not.
All I remember is that I was abnormally tired that afternoon. My arms and legs felt like lead wire. I had made my way to the front door of my cabin and I was just standing there. The camp director was slowing walking over towards me. As he came close I noticed that it looked like someone had thrown a bucket of water onto his face. He explained that he had been crying. Then he just told me that he never had understood the power of prayer. When he asked in prayer if this episode the night before was from God or not, he evidently experienced the same thing all the kids had. Then he knew it was indeed from God.
Other remarkable events continued to happen that week. Some girls wanted me to come to a prayer meeting they were having in the dinning hall. About 6 kids or so were there. As we prayed I had a vision of Jesus. I remember wrapping my arms around his knees as he stood in the center of our group. It was like a waking dream, only additionally tactile. I could see and feel, yet it was like a dream, only I was awake. I now call it a vision. I remember that when he put his hand on my shoulder I cried and cried because I knew that he knew me as I was in the very depths of my heart and loved me.
Another time my friend, George, and I were leading the kids through a hike in the woods. We were chatting as we walked. Suddenly my friend turns to me and asked me if I had just said “Oregon”? No, I responded, why? His face blanched and he said that God had just spoken to him out loud and told him to drop everything he is doing and go to Oregon.
Years later I met people who were affected by that camp meeting. One of the girls who was at the camp later came to our church in Port Huron. She told of how when she went home what had happened to her happened also to her parents. They wound up going into the ministry because of it. The pastor from Bad Axe was called to account for the stuff that happened at the camp. His congregation voted 51% for him and 49% against him. He left, I do not know where.
In the summer of 1972, I was a camp counselor at Lake Louise in northern Michigan. It was a Baptist camp for 7th and 8th graders, both boys and girls. An ordinary camp with exercises first thing in the morning, games, food-like-stuff to eat, swimming, campfires, all with very normal people. At the Wednesday night campfire we were singing “Give Me Oil in My Lamp’, (you know the song about gas in the Ford™) a song that must have been sung billions of times at campfires all over the world, when one of the counselors started yelling at the top of his lungs that God was pouring out His Spirit. He kept repeating this at the highest of volumes.
I was near the outer edge of the group and watched to see what would happen. Within seconds two things started to happen. The first was that all the young kids that I could see began to either cry, or hold onto one another, or fall on the ground, or pray, or speak in tongues (that is a language they did not know). It was very chaotic and the leader looked panicked. At the same time it also began to rain. I looked up and saw no clouds overhead, but I did see a few off to the side in the moonlight. I wondered where the rain was coming from.
After a while the leader got us all back to our cabins. The boys in my cabin were writing a group poem to Jesus on a long length of paper towel. The boy next to me just said out loud, to no one in particular, “I get it now. Jesus is God.” You could hear shouts from one cabin to another of “Jesus is Lord”, or “Praise God!” These were 12-14 year old boys. Normal, fun-loving, physically hyper, trick playing, boys. No one coached them. It just poured out of them.
The next morning, the camp director, who was a conservative Baptist pastor from Bad Axe, Michigan, cornered me and one of the other counselors and accused us of being ‘holiness’. No, I said, I am a Christian. I didn’t know the terminology. He told us that there was going to be a meeting for all the counselors shortly and that we must attend.
At the meeting, he was very upset. The camp had gotten out of control. Kids were doing crazy things, like having spontaneous prayer meetings without counselors present. Who knows what trouble they could be getting into? What would their parents think?
We got into a discussion if what had happened was from God or not. At the end of the meeting the director agreed to pray and ask God if what was happening was from God or not.
All I remember is that I was abnormally tired that afternoon. My arms and legs felt like lead wire. I had made my way to the front door of my cabin and I was just standing there. The camp director was slowing walking over towards me. As he came close I noticed that it looked like someone had thrown a bucket of water onto his face. He explained that he had been crying. Then he just told me that he never had understood the power of prayer. When he asked in prayer if this episode the night before was from God or not, he evidently experienced the same thing all the kids had. Then he knew it was indeed from God.
Other remarkable events continued to happen that week. Some girls wanted me to come to a prayer meeting they were having in the dinning hall. About 6 kids or so were there. As we prayed I had a vision of Jesus. I remember wrapping my arms around his knees as he stood in the center of our group. It was like a waking dream, only additionally tactile. I could see and feel, yet it was like a dream, only I was awake. I now call it a vision. I remember that when he put his hand on my shoulder I cried and cried because I knew that he knew me as I was in the very depths of my heart and loved me.
Another time my friend, George, and I were leading the kids through a hike in the woods. We were chatting as we walked. Suddenly my friend turns to me and asked me if I had just said “Oregon”? No, I responded, why? His face blanched and he said that God had just spoken to him out loud and told him to drop everything he is doing and go to Oregon.
Years later I met people who were affected by that camp meeting. One of the girls who was at the camp later came to our church in Port Huron. She told of how when she went home what had happened to her happened also to her parents. They wound up going into the ministry because of it. The pastor from Bad Axe was called to account for the stuff that happened at the camp. His congregation voted 51% for him and 49% against him. He left, I do not know where.
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