Power is missing (more on the gift of tongues)

2 Timothy 3:5 NLT

" They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!"

Over the past century, the modern day pentecostal church movement has been weaned on many biblical "facts".

One of them is a phenomenon called the "infilling" of the Holy Spirit. The arch-advocate of this strand of modern Christian thought is the late Kenneth E. Hagin.

In several books he wrote, he insisted on 2 key phenomena.

1. That in becoming born again, the Holy Spirit plays a role, in bringing the spiritually dead person to life and making a home in the person's heart. This is called the "indwelling" of the Spirit

2. That this "indwelling" is not all of the Holy Spirit that such a born again Christian can have. There is therefore a further dose of the Holy Spirit known as the "infilling" of the Holy Spirit.

He buttresses his point with [1] above described in John 20:22 NLT

" Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit"

Acts 2:3-4 NLT then describes [2] above

"Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability"

Throughout his ministry, brother Hagin consistently identified speaking in tongues as a clear evidence of 2 above, the "infilling" of the Holy Spirit. In other words, His ministry (and that of several protégés and offspring today) revolves around the doctrine that the 1st sign of an "infilling" of the Holy Spirit is the gift of speaking in tongues.

Therefore, according to Kenneth Hagin &  Co, the inability to manifest the gift of speaking in tongues means one does NOT have an "infilling" of the Holy Spirit, and therefore no accompanying power.

Is this view strictly biblical though? Or is it merely biblically contrived?

The first specific biblical mention of being "born again" is done by Christ himself, In John 3:3. Jesus specifies being born again as what can enable the visualization of God's Kingdom.

In verse 5 of the same passage, Jesus went further to specify being "born of water and the Spirit", as what allows entry into God's Kingdom.

There is only one instance of a birth by the Spirit in the above instance. Therefore, as we ascertain from Jesus lips Himself, only one phenomenon of Spirit birth is what enables a man to access God's Kingdom.

In Luke 10:19 NLT Jesus said,

" Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you"

Further down in Luke 24:49 NLT, Jesus told His disciples,

" And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven."

In other words, Jesus first gave his disciples (and other followers) authority, but the power to exercise that authority was delayed till Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to them.

Of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said in John 16:7 NLT,

"But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the Advocate won't come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you"

Who is this Advocate? John 14:16-17 NLT

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him, because he lives WITH you now and later will be IN you" (emphasis mine).

The Advocate is the Holy Spirit, and He couldn't come into the world until Jesus ascended into heaven as the sacrificial offering and was accepted by God in heaven. Jesus alluded to being the Holy Spirit in the last sentence of the verse above.

Therefore, in John 20:22 when Jesus breathed on His disciples, and said "receive the Holy Spirit", they couldn't have done so until Jesus had ascended into heaven.

So why did Jesus say so at that time if it wouldn't happen immediately? The reason is because Jesus had to physically give the gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples before He left.

But they could only receive the gift after he had ascended into heaven!

In Acts 1:7 NLT, Jesus laid in His disciples the secrecy of the timing of events,

"He replied, "The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know"

So the precise date of the release of the Holy Spirit was unknown even to Jesus himself! The apostles only instruction was to wait in Jerusalem till they were filled with the Holy Spirit!

Therefore, before this time, they had not received any part or form of the Spirit. They were "born again" (John 3:3), so they could now begin to understand the purpose of Christ's ministry on earth (which is the Kingdom of God), but they could not yet enter into it (John 3:5), because they had not yet been born of water and the Spirit!

We will agree that not one miracle was performed by Christ's apostles or disciples until after Pentecost. At that event, they gained power, in addition to the authority they had already received earlier from Christ. And it then became evident that they had entered into the kingdom of God by the power they were able to wield.

In Mark 16:17-18 NLT Jesus said,

"These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.
They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

These signs which Christ enumerated above are an indication of power. But the verses don't stipulate one attribute over another. They are simply characteristics of believers, those who have accessed God's Kingdom and the power therein.

Apostle Paul said in Romans 14:17 NLT

"For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"

In other words he also acknowledged that the Kingdom of God is not a place but a lifestyle (I will discuss this in another topic). Suffice it to say that the Coordinator of life in God's Kingdom is the Holy Spirit. He alone distributes spiritual gifts at God's discretion.

True, in the Acts of the Apostles, it was recorded extensively how several believers received the Holy Spirit and indicated this through speaking in tongues. But this cannot be a conclusive reason we should think that only speaking in tongues signifies an infilling or indwelling (we have established  that the two are the same) of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, I close this piece with the question; Where is the power today? Virtually every pentecostal church in the world today is full of "tongue speakers", but how many of them exhibit the power that was evident in the 1st golden era after Pentecost?

Where is the power today?

What do you see?

What you see, is highly dependent on what you decide to focus on.

If you focus on your wife or your husband, you will only see their faults and shortcomings

If you focus on the economy, you will despair at the seemingly bad situation

If you focus on other human beings, the system of the world, the government, politicians, wars, terrorism, etc, your heart will sink in despair at the seeming futility of it all.

Let us Focus on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

Hebrews 12:2 NIV

"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"

From a slave. . . To a friend

John 15:14-15 (NLT)

"You are my friends if you do what I command.
I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me."

1 John 3:1 NLT

" See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know him"

Everything God has done, is doing, and will ever do, stems out of love. From the beginning of time, His motive in the creation has always been love. His love manifests itself in so many ways! Ways sometimes difficult for us humans to understand.

A neighbor's baby died recently and I felt burdened to comfort her in her grief on the very day her baby died. I was initially at a loss for words, but I overheard her mumbling, in confusion, the words "thanks be to God".

I took my cue from that and spoke about the goodness of God and His great love. I told her the truth. That God loves that baby more than she ever could, and knew the baby likewise. In His infinite wisdom and goodness, he decided to take the baby away and however painful, we should accept His decision in good faith.

An inferno had just occurred in Lagos which led to multiple explosions, uncontrollable fires which burnt several buildings, and deaths of both old and young.

These incidences, to a western audience sound like a recipe for litigation and other forms of redress, and not merely a resignation to the will of God. But in such a country where helplessness in the face of incredible disarray in governance, is the order of the day, we find ourselves regularly seeking solace in the omnipotence of God, and in the knowledge of His love.

God loves His entire creation. His love means integrity and adherence to His rules. God's love doesn't waver. Neither does it change. In spite of the wrong we do as His children, he still lovingly leads us towards His predetermined destination.

A brother in Christ lost his job recently, and being very prominent in church, I found my eyes wondering over to his wife during Sunday's church service. They are very strong financial supporters of the church and I wondered how the setback would affect them. But lo, when she sang worship that morning, I felt tears running down my cheeks. I could feel the total dedication to God, come what may.

I was spiritually strengthened with such faith in our God and I felt so glad to be a Co-heir in Christ with this faithful sister. It reminded me of a passage in the Bible about the Roman centurion in Matthew 8:5-13, & Luke 7:1-10.

Jesus was heading over to his home, when called, to heal his servant but the officer begged Jesus not to bother embarking on the journey, but simply to speak! The officer understood the power and Authority that Jesus represented and told Jesus all he needed was His Word. Jesus was astounded.  In Luke 7:9 NLT,

"When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, "I tell you, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel!"

Jesus is all powerful! And we are his friends!

May God grant us the faith to put all our trust only in Him, amen.

Perfection or Power?

What was the difference between the acclaimed passovers celebrated by Hezekiah and Josiah?

In 2 Chronicles 35, Josiah's passover was done accurately and precisely according to the law of Moses. In 2 Chronicles 30, Hezekiah's passover was improvised, prolonged and even had many grevious errors!

However, it was Hezekiah's passover that generated so much power, that the people themselves (the solemn guardians of all the pagan shrines that had been erected all over Israel) went out after its completion and destroyed all shrines erected all over Israel.

Hezekiah's passover generated a widespread anointing from the Holy Spirit, that moved every single individual with Holy zeal to bring about the purification of the land!

Josiah's passover was individual (or pastor) driven, while Hezekiah's passover was Spirit driven, resulting in an outpouring of power.

Lesson for the church today:

We must seek to spread out the good news as far and wide as possible in unity. What matters is not the accuracy or "purity" of the procedure, rather the leading of the Holy Spirit and the willingness to interdenominate is key.

Jesus is not interested in what denomination your local church is called. What will unleash the power of the Holy Spirit in these latter days, is the ability to combine together in unity  to birth God's great Kingdom.

Revelations 12:1-2 NLT

"Then I witnessed in heaven an event of great significance. I saw a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and she cried out because of her labor pains and the agony of giving birth"

Brethren, the woman clothed with the sun is the body of Christ, His bride! And she is travailing in birth. Birth of who? We may ask. Birth of God's glorious Kingdom. The second golden era is here children of God, and Christ's body needs to be united to bring forth this precious child. It is vital, because God's word WILL come to pass!

Rebellion in the body of Christ (part 2)

1 Corinthians 11:3-15 NLT

3. But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

4. A man dishonors his head if he covers his head while praying or prophesying.

5. But a woman dishonors her head if she prays or prophesies without a covering on her head, for this is the same as shaving her head.

6. Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering.

7. A man should not wear anything on his head when worshiping, for man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory. And woman reflects man’s glory.

8. For the first man didn’t come from woman, but the first woman came from man.

9. And man was not made for woman, but woman was made for man.

10. For this reason, and because the angels are watching, a woman should wear a covering on her head to show she is under authority.

11. But among the Lord’s people, women are not independent of men, and men are not independent of women.

12. For although the first woman came from man, every other man was born from a woman, and everything comes from God.

13. Judge for yourselves. Is it right for a woman to pray to God in public without covering her head?

14. Isn’t it obvious that it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair?

15. And isn’t long hair a woman’s pride and joy? For it has been given to her as a covering.

I have taken the pains to copy and paste such a long passage here to have the liberty to explain each verse individually, as apostle Paul methodically does.

As stated in the preceding post, God himself stated clearly in Gen 3:16, the order of authority in the home. That is, (v3 above) the wife is under the authority of her husband, who in turn is under the authority of Christ (our redeemer who paid the price to purchase all mankind from sin), and the head of Christ is God.

Following from our previous post, once a couple disengages from their individual families, the Bible says they become one. One flesh. In other words, God only sees one person, when viewing a family unit. Therefore, in describing Christ as the head of the man, apostle Paul is saying the man is merely the spiritual representative of the family unit. This unit is under the authority of the man for administrative purposes (so that there is no dispute on this), but the family unit is one flesh.

Verse 4 above states that a man dishonors his head (Christ) if praying with his head covered. This is undoubtedly true. All over the world even today, it is viewed as a sign of disrespect (as a man) to speak to one's superiors with the head covered.

But verse 5 conversely says that a woman dishonors her head if she prays with her head uncovered. V6 goes on to equate the shame associated with a woman fully shaving her head to that of praying or prophesying with the head uncovered.

If we believe the Bible As God's word (which it is taken for granted that every Christian does) then we agree that in Genesis, God had already made the man from dust, and delegated authority to him, including the authority to name all animals, before putting him to sleep and creating the woman from him.

So, the the story of creation confirms that man was made directly from dust (reflecting God's glory), while woman was made from man (and named by him). The first thing Adam said when he saw his wife was "flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone!" Adam recognized himself in his wife. And he named her woman, saying "Because she was made from man". Adam himself confirmed that his wife "reflected his glory".

Verses 8 &  9 confirm the above explanation.

Now, verse 10 has been seen as very confusing to many over the years. It justifies the covering of a woman's head, by giving a spiritual dimension to the issue. "Because the angels are watching". In other words, the spiritual symbolism of the act of covering or uncovering the head in prayer is exposed in the verse.

As said earlier, the family unit is seen as one person by God. Similarly other spiritual entities witness the same unity. Therefore, when offering up a spiritual act, it is important that the proper order is observed. A wife who covers her head is signifying spiritually that she is submitted to her husband, and that the husband is the arrowhead through which the family requests are channelled. In other words, the family is one.

There is nothing wrong in offering up individual prayers, but it is important that the woman is not trying to usurp the spiritual  authority of her husband, anymore than she would try to usurp the physical and spiritual authority of her father had she not yet been married.

The repercussions of such an act recall what happened in the garden of eden. The serpent channelled his trickery through the woman, and succeeded in drawing mankind into the slavery of sin and death through her action, and the man's acquiescence.

In that case (as in many cases when the family unit is jeopardized) the proper order of authority was not followed. What apostle Paul was saying is that spiritual forces (both good and evil) are watching closely, and a deliberate covering of the head by the woman in prayer or prophecy signifies submission to authority. If a woman cannot submit herself to her husband (who she can see), then it will be extremely difficult for her to submit herself to God (who she cannot see). Therefore, non-submission is a sign of rebellion, to God.

Do we remember who also rejected authority (in heaven)? Do we recall what happened to him?

With the above spiritual reality in mind, is it any surprise that the family unit is in such a disarray as it is today? Divorces, abortions, adultery, depravity, homosexuality, and so many other reflections of the broken home?

It sounds fantastical to tie all these contemporary societal problems to non-submission by the woman, but we need to realize that physical problems are merely the manifestations of spiritual edicts.

The Greek translation of v10 refers to a woman's head covering as a symbol of authority, a crown. So the head covering serves 2 purposes; it tells spiritual forces that the woman is submitted to her husband (therefore emphasizing the unity of the family), and it signifies her status as the crown of her husband (proverbs 12:4).

Verses 11 &  12 then places emphasis on the equality of the man and his wife. They both came from each other! So none is inferior to the other, and none is a slave to the other.

1 Peter 3:7 NLT says,

"In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered"

In finality, apostle Paul closes the admonition by  comparing the natural order (where shorter hair is more societally acceptable from men and longer hair is more societally acceptable from women) to show that hair is the pride of a woman, which should therefore be covered in submission to God.

We cannot conscientiously bare the symbol of our pride openly to the same God we are praying to, and expect our prayers to be answered do we? We must humble ourselves by keeping all symbols of pride hidden in God's presence, as a sign of reverence for our maker.

Concluded

The Second golden era (part 2)

Hezekiah sent messages to the length and breadth of the entire land of Israel. At this time, the northern Kingdom had begun being disbanded and a majority of the Israelites who lived in several cities and  towns had been carried off to slavery in Assyria. They had been replaced by conquered peoples from other lands, who had begun interbreeding with the remnant Israelites in the land.

In Samaria, King Hoshea, son of Elah, was on the fringes of his last years of rule before the entire northern Kingdom headquartered in Samaria was terminated.
Upon receipt of Hezekiah's invitation to close ranks and worship the God of their ancestors in purity and unity of purpose, the inhabitants of all the Israelites cities approached scorned and scoffed at it.

Therefore, only a few inhabitants of Samaria, and others from surrounding cities all over Israel acceded to the invitation, and partook in the first ever passover feast since the time of King Solomon.

The king, Levites and priests, being inexperienced in the rites of the passover (none of them had ever witnessed it before),  did not make adequate plans as to how to carry out  the rites and festivities, and thus found themselves having to react to different issues that came up on the fly. As noted in the previous part, they made several mistakes which normally would have rendered the sacrifice invalid.

Hezekiah however recognized (accurately) that what matters to God is the heart. They (king, levites and priests)  were all young and inexperienced, but they were fired up and inspired by Hezekiah's anointed leadership. Their hearts were right before God, and they were in awe of God's  glory.

These were the ingredients which God must have found so useful for His work. God willingly overlooked their missteps and unleashed the kind of power unseen even in King Solomon' era! The passover lasted seven days and there was abundant joy.

The Israelites left after the festivities to return to their own cities, where they first proceeded to destroy every trace of shrines, high places, asherah poles, images, groves, trees and all other symbols of worship present all over the land.

These actions reverberated all over the known world at that time. All Israel's adversaries  were baffled. They felt all the shrines were dedicated to God. And so the Assyrian king Sennecharib in his successful wars against various powerful nations attempted to conquer Judah.

At the end of that attempt, without any battle from the Israelites, the Assyrian troops were devastated, and their king was murdered back home in the temple of his god.

Hezekiah's Kingdom enjoyed peace till the end of his life. The era was spanned by trying times, but ultimately ended in peace.

The Second golden era (part 1)

The victorious life of King David (which engendered an unbroken royal lineage that led to the emergence of Christ on earth) gave birth to a golden era in the reign of King Solomon.

It is recorded both in scripture, and many other sources, that at no other time before or after in Israel's history had there been so much abundance, wealth and peace, as in the time of Solomon.

He was reputed to be the wisest king that ever lived, and his admirers spanned the entire known world and it's great and established Kingdoms.

However, it is far less widely acknowledged in historical and academic circles, that Israel witnessed a second golden era of abundance, prosperity and peace. This happened in the time of King Hezekiah of Judah in 2 Chronicles 29-32.

Coming on the heels of a nasty regime of crass rebellion against God and His laws, commands and edicts, Hezekiah's reign was an unlikely harbinger of another period of glorious splendour comparable to that of King Solomon.

King Ahaz, Hezekiah's father, was arguably the most rebellious, wicked, stubborn and irredeemable monarch in the entire history of ancient Israel's occupation of the promised land.  Only King Ahab of Northern Israel (the husband of Jezebel) begins to approach the heights of insanity that could besiege the mind of any individual to wreak such devastating violence against the sanctity of divine reverence. (See 2 Chronicles 28)

King Hezekiah took the helm of leadership at the age of 25, and is recorded to have reigned 29 years as king of Judah. His emergence as a pious progeny of a rebellious predecessor mirrored the emergence of King Asa, the son of Abijah, and great grandson of King Solomon.

Hezekiah began his reign with a solid display of leadership. He took responsibility, on behalf of his predecessors, for the decline in the fortunes of Judah. He went on to encourage the mostly young crew of Levites and priests and directed them towards re-consecrating the temple after leading it's reopening.

The next step taken was a consecration of the King and all his subjects. Hezekiah recognized very early in his reign that authority came only from God, and quickly set about putting his kingdom in right standing with the Almighty, according to the specific directions in the law of Moses.

Not being sufficiently experienced in the normal activities of temple work, talk less of as massive a renaissance as what took place, the novice Levites and priests made a lot of mistakes. Strangely however, they were not penalized by God, as Hezekiah took responsibility, by proclaiming (truthfully) that what mattered most in God's service is the heart, and by praying for their healing.

Hezekiah had a vision. This became apparent in the deliberate steps he took to gather together as many of  the children of Israel as he could to observe and celebrate the passover feast.

To be continued