Pursue…Desire
“Pursue love,
and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” First
Corinthians 14:1 NKJV Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.
There
is an awful lot to the subject of the Holy Spirit, many tough questions to
answer, things to ponder. It is a
subject that greatly divides the body of Christ, so that parties on both sides
of the line point fingers at each other and accuse heresy. We are of course talking more about the gifts
of the Holy Spirit, rather than His presence at all.
I
believe that the above verse is a summation of the way the Holy Spirit is
designed to work in our lives. Pursuing
love is a foundational part of our walk; it is the entire law and
prophets summed up, and all the fruit of the Spirit can be pretty much found
therein. The gift or manifestation part
is designed for the benefit of the body of Christ (and some for personal
edification), but is useless without the foundation of love.
The
great dividing line is found generally between more conservative Christians and
more liberal Christians (I’ll use these terms for lack of better ones, just
remember this isn’t politics). The
conservative branch tends to focus on love and fruit while stating that the
power aspect was only for the establishment of the church, and not for
today. The liberal branch says and
demonstrates that the power aspect IS for today, but all too often turns it
into a show and forgets the love.
My
purpose in writing this is to show that both parties have some things right,
and some things wrong, and that the proper way to walk is in both, it is indeed
for today but not the way it is so often used. This is designed to make us think carefully and
bring ourselves in line with the Word of God.
My First Parable
I
was percolating this one night and decided to try a parable to show how this
division works, and why getting everything straight from the Bible will keep us
in line. So, here goes:
The Parable of the Chainsaw
There was a family of three that lived out in the deep woods, cutting trees for a living. While the mother took care of the house, the father and 16 year old son would go out with their axes and chop all day to pay the bills. They didn’t have much for technology or neat toys and they never took much time for studying, they just stuck with what they knew, chopping trees.
One day the mother went to town and came back with this amazing machine that a salesman had talked her into. She didn’t fully understand what it was all about but the salesman had assured her that it would revolutionize the family business. The chainsaw came in two parts, the handle with the engine, and the detachable blade.
The two males had never seen such a thing as this! They stared in wonder and then each grabbed the piece that looked good to them. The son took the handle, the father took the blade.
Because of their lack of literacy they didn’t bother reading the manual completely to understand everything. Using the pictures as a guide; each studied and tried to understand everything pertaining to the part that he held. Pretty soon the father had a pretty good idea about how the blade worked, how to oil it and keep it in good shape. The boy learned about filling the tank with gas and how to turn it on. In their zeal to learn about the part that they were interested in, neither took any time to understand the other part, and more importantly how they were supposed to work together.
As soon as they could they headed into the woods to cut down trees, each still holding his precious piece of the chainsaw. As you can guess, they didn’t have too much success. The boy got the engine running and it was a beautiful noise that did nothing. The father did a little better with the sharp edges of the blade; he was able to actually get a tree down after a lot of labor and sweat.
By the end of the day they were both in foul moods and at each other’s throats. Each thought that the other was responsible for the lack of accomplishment, and they voiced their opinions long and loud.
In desperation they sat down and worked through the manual together, from the front to the back. Suddenly they understood that the two pieces were supposed to work together, that each part was incomplete without the other. With joy they took the chainsaw out the next day and working together were able to cut down more trees than they ever did in a day with the old axes.
The Interpretation
You
probably already have it figured out, but the boy represents those who focus
only on fruit, the dad represents those who focus on gifts, and the coming
together shows the way things are really supposed to work.
From Whence Cometh the Division?
I
can take a couple good guesses as to why there is such a sharp dividing line
without taking any time to really research church history.
One
thought is that all it takes is one abuse of God’s power to turn people
off. We see a false prophet who says
great things that never happen, and it causes us to run as far away from it as
possible. We hear someone speak in
tongues and then say hateful things and wonder how the Spirit of God could be
within them. We tend to shy away from
things that seem wrong and scary, often going to the opposite extreme.
The
other thought is that some think that because the workings of the Spirit died
down for many years; that is how it was supposed to be. Roman Catholicism became the norm and in many
ways true Christianity was shut down.
People perished because they could not read and the clergy could say
whatever they wanted to keep the people in line. This is another abuse of power, but more of
the political/religious kind.
The
problem with this is not that it happened, but whether that was meant to prove
that it should not be. Man is all too
often allowed to do whatever they want, so to see Satan put out much of the
light through the evil of man does not surprise me at all. We could easily take the same situation and
decide that Roman Catholicism must be the true way to heaven because it became
the most popular, whether by force or ignorance. We could make some of the same conclusions
today, since Islam has around one third of the world under its power,
attempting to stamp out Christianity.
Just because things happen doesn’t make them right.
From Whence Cometh the Abuse?
Man
loves money and fame. Some will do
whatever it takes for that, and if using God for it works, so be it. Others start off well but the money and fame
that they receive gets to their head and they lose track of what really
matters.
Some
may simply not understand and can’t understand because they don’t take time to
read the Bible to gain the knowledge they need to keep things in their proper
places. Some may be taught wrong and again
don’t take that necessary time in the Word to do things right.
Is It For Today?
We
cannot even bother trying to bring the two groups together without first
proving that the gifts of the Spirit are indeed for today, and why explaining
it away really doesn’t work.
Conservatives, please hear my heart.
I am more upset with the liberals on this issue than with you, but this
does not mean you are off the hook.
Having
read some of the ways that this is explained away, we must go to the scriptures
and follow things through to their logical conclusion, as logic is often used
to shun the gifts.
Peter
believed that the last days had already started at the time of Acts, as we see
in Acts chapter 2:
“But
Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye
men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and
hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but
the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet
Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days,
saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old
men shall dream dreams:” Acts
We can make argument that the last days started at the initial outpouring and continue through today… the last couple thousand years of human history. It’s pretty hard to argue that where we are now is NOT the last days, so Joel and the quote thereof should be enough without anything further. I realize that will not convince most, so there is plenty more to look into.
A handful of verses later Peter says that these things are for many generations to come:
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Acts 2:38-39
Now
for sure he does not elaborate on what the gift of the Holy Ghost would look
like for the people there and for those afar off, but
he also did not say that it would look any different – and in this passage he
was defending the use of tongues to those who thought they were drunken. We will need to use other people besides the
12 to see what that looked like, but all in due time.
“These Signs Shall Follow”
These
words are the bane of all those who say that the manifestations of the Spirit
are not for today. First, Jesus’ words:
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:15-18 KJV
How then shall they be explained away? Very easily if you need them to be true back then and false today, the only thing we cannot say is that Jesus did not say them. The logic I saw used once was utterly amazing – and false. Since Jesus was talking to the… 11 now, we can then assume that He only meant them, not us. But there is just a little tiny problem with this. There are many things that Jesus said only to His closest followers, including the sentences before. If tongues and healing are not for today, why couldn’t we say that preaching the Gospel is not for today using the same logic? Perhaps even salvation is not for today since this time only the 11 were told that those who believe and are baptized are saved. Taking scissors to scripture to back up doctrine is a very bad idea. Ignoring scripture to back up doctrine is a very bad idea.
And Many Were Wrong
Following the logic cited in the previous section, we must now decide that all the other people recorded performing signs, wonders, speaking in tongues etc. must be in direct violation of scripture, for more than just the 11 were able to! Those who were initially baptized in the Holy Spirit (about 120 using Acts chapter 1) were able to transfer it to others through the laying on of hands (chapter 8 showing this), so it most definitely must be more than 11 that Jesus was talking about.
So if it was fine for the disciples, fine for all those at the start of the church, fine for the Corinthians who were well established as a church, and fine for Peter to say that the promise is for those afar off, how is it that it is NOT fine for this to happen today?
The easy answer is because of the incredible abuse that goes on, and this is a very good answer. The problem is that making a blanket statement that it is all wrong becomes a serious accusation against God. For if there was even one who was doing things God’s way and in His will, then the blanket statement would be laid bare as a lie.
If there are some who do so today and it really is what God wants, then refusing it all would be rejecting a precious gift from God – whatever the gift may be, prophesy, healings, whatever. Calling it all heresy becomes a serious issue, but some are forced to so that refusing it themselves can be justified. It is one thing to say “I don’t want that for myself”, which is your right to do; it is another thing to say that it is all wrong.
This is another doctrine where believing it for yourself personally may not hurt you too badly – although you’re missing out - yet teaching others that all things “Spirit manifested” are bad becomes a heavy duty problem if you’re wrong.
Accepting Some, But
Not All
First Corinthians 12 has two showings of how the Spirit works. The first set is in verses 7-10, all in the manifestation area – tongues, words of knowledge, etc. The second set has a mixture of things that are accepted and not accepted:
“And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” First Corinthians 12:28
We’re great with teachers, governments (administration I believe) are fine, helps is wonderful, but the other stuff… let’s stay away from them. We either need to accept the entire thing or none of it. Why then are some allowed and others not? Even in my “own” denomination which would be considered liberal, prophets are frowned upon for a reason that I cannot really understand.
If we move into chapter 14 we see a lot of limits and guidelines on the workings of the Spirit in the church. Many of those who say it is not for today will either ignore it or use it to prove how wrong the liberals are (with good reason), but then are all over verses 34-37 so that they can limit women. I may disagree with many things, but that one makes me sick.
Ephesians 4 has the same kind of effect:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” Ephesians
The same question looms: if evangelists, teachers, and pastors are okay, and apostles are accepted, why must the prophets be weeded out? We have a package deal here; we should either embrace everything for the purpose – perfecting, edifying etc. – or refuse everything. This of course would make every man for himself, we don’t need evangelists, we don’t need teachers, and hey, we might not even need churches since someone might come to the table with a gift we don’t like.
Where would the cutting out end? Is this pick and choose? Can we decide which 7 commandments we like and ignore the others? Beloved, we need to accept all of it as given by the Bible.
They Shall Cease
An argument against tongues in particular comes in First Corinthians 13, but when brought into context with the surrounding verses and chapters, it winds up meaning nothing.
“Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” First Corinthians 13:8-10
We see clearly that prophecies shall fail and tongues shall cease at some point. The problem is so will knowledge! So if I claim that tongues have ceased, then I must in the same breath admit that knowledge has vanished away too. If knowledge has vanished, how can I know anything, let alone know that tongues have ceased? There are plenty of prophecies in the Bible that are still coming to pass about the last days, so they have yet to fail.
My guess is that this will take place at the end of the age. All that will be left is our love for God when we spend eternity with Him! There will be no more need for prophesy, there will be no more need for tongues, no more need for our earthly knowledge, but we shall forever be in love with our Creator.
Separate Baptism
Many believe that you get all of the Holy Spirit at your salvation, some believe you get part and can get more at a later time. Acts clearly shows that it can be a separate event, and that you can be a believer before receiving the Holy Spirit:
“But when they believed Philip
preaching the things concerning the
“And
it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at
The second passage seems to indicate that you can be a believer without this, although the distinction between John and Jesus raises a couple questions with me. Refusal is always your option, but why anyone would not want something Biblical is beyond me.
Then again
martyrdom is Biblical, and not too many people are waiting in line for
that. Many are willing to deny Christ
when their lives are threatened. The
days are coming fast brethren; great persecution will be coming to
A Very Real Danger
Before I begin examining the problems on the liberal side of things and finding out true purposes you need to be aware that some anti-gifts teaching can be classified as blasphemy according to Jesus. While many will simply try to ignore the gifts, others will go so far as to say that everything we see today is of Satan – demonic power rather God’s. The Pharisees made such a claim about Jesus and He responded that those who speak against the Holy Spirit are in danger of eternal damnation regardless of how secure they think they are:
“Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.” Mark 3:28-30
This is not to say that there isn’t demonic fakery, for Satan attempts to emulate and pervert just about everything God does; we shall look at that later. But again blanket statements can be a big problem. With some people you can figure it out just by their fruit. Others may take discerning of spirits when you don’t have time to study their fruit – but that’s another gift of the Spirit so that too would be negated.
The problem with saying that the gifts are not for today is that it forces us to wonder where what we see comes from. Some could come from the flesh for sure! Some could come from demons – like the lying spirit from First Kings 22 and Second Chronicles 18, although that somehow was accredited to God which I don’t fully understand. But all? It is not wise to speak in that way.
“Is Saul Also Among The Prophets?”
Listen
up liberals! Gifts do NOT necessarily
mean God approves of your life! We have a
very clear-cut example of this in the form of King Saul:
“And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah. And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. Then went he also to Ramah, and came to a great well that is in Sechu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, they be at Naioth in Ramah. And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?” First Samuel 19:19-24 KJV
Saul and
already been rejected as king over
How
can this be? My opinion is that it comes
from Romans 11:
“For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance.” Romans
Saul had operated in the Spirit earlier in his life before things got really ugly, so for this to return for a short time is fine, and God can do whatever He wants anyway.
This would also explain how people in worldwide ministries that got off to a great start can wind up getting away from where they should be, in spite of being able to operate in the gifts anyway. God may still use someone despite the poor or even unsaved condition of their hearts. Why I don’t know, but it’s what I’m seeing.
“He Wist Not”
One of the saddest verses in the Bible is one about Samson, who had become so callous to God in his enjoyment of the world that he didn’t even realize when the Lord departed from him:
“And she said, The Philistines be upon
thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at
other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not
that the LORD was departed from him.” Judges
God called Samson before he was even born, telling his mother not to even have strong drink so that Samson could be a Nazarene:
“But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.” Judges 13:7
Over and over and over Samson did wrong things despite the call and blessings on his life. He never showed that he loved God; He loved Philistine women, ate unclean honey from the lion’s carcass, went to a harlot, lied to his second wife for fun, and eventually gave the secret of his strength. God had used him in spite of all this but finally left him on his own to reap what he had sown.
Even Samson’s death doesn’t seem to show any repentance on his part, he asked God for strength one more time to avenge his eyes. It really makes me wonder where he is spending eternity. It is true the Bible doesn’t make anything plain either way, but his life and death do not look good. God had promised to use Samson and He did, but nowhere do we see God’s approval on the man’s life.
Gifts and
workings do NOT always mean God’s approval!
“I Am Nothing”
Right in the middle of teaching about the gifts to the Corinthians Paul suddenly switches gears with what we call the “Love chapter”, and for a long time I wondered why he did that. Now I realize that he is stressing just how important the foundation of love is in our walk. It sits there right in the face of those with gifts but no love, yet all too often they ignore it.
“Though I
speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become
sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all
faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body
to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” First Corinthians
13:1-3 NKJV
Without
love you are profiting nothing. We also know that the flesh profits nothing,
Jesus said so:
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63 KJV
If you are of the flesh, nothing, and profiting nothing, are you going to heaven?
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye
shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.” Romans
That Paul wrote these three verses at all to the Corinthians suggests that it can happen. You can have great faith without love, you can speak in tongues without love, you can prophesy without love. In other words you can have evidence of the Spirit in your life and still go to hell!
We could use pages for scripture proving that we must love one another, but here are just a few examples:
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:34-35 KJV
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:43-45 KJV
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” First John 3:14-15 KJV
I’ll have to study it out sometime, but I am under the impression that we are unable to truly love without God involved (at least the “agape” kind of love), or even to do truly good works without God involved. This wouldn’t mean that God doesn’t give the ability to many people; they would simply refuse to exercise it.
False Prophets
There is one place where Jesus talks of never knowing certain people. From the context it looks like He could mean false prophets; or it could be just anyone, so let’s take a look:
”Beware of false prophets,
which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the
fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done
many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:15-23 KJV
It’s a pretty safe bet that these are people lacking love, especially since love is the first listed fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Ravening wolves speaking false prophecies… there are multiple possibilities as to what these would be. I’ve heard (and heard of) some pretty “out there” prophecies that came from show rather than love. But there are also those who prophesy your eternal life because you got saved at one point in your life, regardless of what sin you fall into. Many prophesy (so to speak) a “get out of tribulation free” card that will cause many to fall when it doesn’t happen. So this doesn’t necessarily limit the scope to the liberals, although they can harvest a lot of the blame.
You can still repent though (at least at the time of this writing, for there is no mark of the beast yet), God offers so much love; He gives us so many more chances than we deserve.
The Fruit Chapter
In many ways I consider First Corinthians 13 to be the “fruit chapter” as well as the “love chapter”. This is because Paul’s description of love has so much of the same characteristics as the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:
“Love suffers
long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is
not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked,
thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” First
Corinthians 13:4-7 NKJV
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
Only patience and kindness are directly indicated, but (at least most of) the other fruits are alluded to if you look at it carefully. Maybe it’s not perfect, but it tells me that the other fruits of the Spirit are going to be naturally showing up when true love is abounding.
A few years ago I either heard or thought up the idea of putting your own name in for “love” in those three verses and seeing whether you’re happy or embarrassed with it. Something like this:
“Ken is patient, Ken is kind. He does not envy or parade himself, and he isn’t puffed up. He doesn’t behave rudely or seek his own. He is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, he doesn’t rejoice at wrongdoing but in the truth. Ken bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”
It’s still a bit painful to read, but nothing like the first time I did it for myself. Would you care to put your name in there? Would you read it publicly?
Pursue Love!
I cannot stress this enough, let’s look at the first verse of chapter 14 again:
“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.” First Corinthians 14:1 KJV
“Pursue love,
and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” First
Corinthians 14:1 NKJV
We
are told to pursue or follow one, and to desire the other. So many pursue gifts, fame, fortune,
adoration, anything but true love. God
gives the spiritual gifts as He chooses, to one it is the word of wisdom,
another the working of miracles; the list goes on from chapter 12 of the same
book. All are to pursue love; some are to get a particular gift (I think
all can receive a gift, but it’s what God feels like, not them), and all gifts
are for the betterment of the body of Christ.
Feelings and Emotions
Not
a good thing to place your trust in, at least in the way we usually do. Emotions will fool you again and again
folks. A guy can sit close to a girl for
a couple hours and think he’s in love with her (c’mon guys, you know it’s true)
but it’s just raw emotions pulsing through him.
The right songs can get you emotionally charged
up and make you think different things, but that doesn’t make them right.
Most
of the time you should be getting correction, a warning not to do something,
something that goes against what you want to be feeling. Something like this:
“After
they were come to
“And finding disciples, we tarried
there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up
to
Or you may get a burden (this doesn’t specifically say it was from the Holy Spirit, but it makes sense):
“And when Silas and Timotheus
were come from
I can share a pretty good story from my own life along these lines. For those who don’t know, I currently run a computer store and often go out on service calls for people. One particular day I had about three calls lined up, I got all the parts I thought I needed and went to the car.
About that time the Holy Spirit pressed on me that I should bring a USB cable. I did not want to bring a USB cable, I did not want to walk back across the street, and I was already in my car and really wanted to leave. He wouldn’t let up and I started arguing with Him about it. None of my customers had indicated needing a USB cable, only one even mentioned a printer. Why should I waste my time and energy for a part that I don’t need?
He still didn’t let up, and finally I got out of the car and got the stupid cable. I was ripping mad at Him for messing with my day, I was just being a real jerk about it. First couple calls went smoothly without needing a cable; and I made a point of telling God that I hadn’t used it. God was duly unimpressed.
Well the last call didn’t go exactly the way I intended it to. The lady couldn’t get her printer working, and she showed me her cable. I said something like “Oh this isn’t a printer cable, it’s for your camera. I have the cable you need out in the car, I’ll go get it.”
Going out to the car one of us did some serious apologizing. I think you can guess who it was.
It wasn’t an emotional high, it wasn’t a “good feeling”, and I wasn’t feeding on the environment. I was being pushed in the correct way to go, even though it wasn’t the way I would have naturally gone. I believe that more often than not the Holy Spirit works in this way, but we often miss it in favor of our emotional highs.
Coming Together
It is possible for the two “sides” to come together in unity and in the way God originally intended. Personally I think that the conservatives have a better chance because they so often build the good foundation of love. A conservative that God tampers with is probably the next best thing to a person who grows up in the middle so to speak, who is building gifts on love. A liberal without the foundation of love will have a harder time getting the foundation because they have already built, but it is possible (I would probably be a good example of that, my foundation was pretty lousy even though God was working through me for a long time). A conservative with love yet is completely against the gifts won’t get too far either.
If the church would come together on this we would see revival sweep the nation once more, great light in great darkness. The Gospel would be preached with power, people would stand in awe of the greatness of God, and many lives would be transformed.
See this
happens over in foreign missions. People
who go there do so (generally) out of genuine love, and great works are done in
places where it’s illegal to be a Christian.
Miracles, deliverance, hundreds of thousands accepting Christ knowing they
could be martyred for Him, it is awesome stuff!
Now that I have offended just about everyone (do the things you’re good at, right?), we can spend some time figuring out how this is all supposed to work according to the Bible.
Why Manifestations?
I had to think about this a bit, but I’ve got it straight in my mind now. When we look at what Jesus did, the works were designed to get the attention of unbelievers. Sometimes they wouldn’t believe His words, and He said to at least believe because of the works:
“Believe me that I am in the Father,
and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.” John
He also pointed out that great works in certain places would have caused them to repent:
“Then began he
to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they
repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee,
I have heard that many more miracles occur out in the streets than in churches, and this would make sense in this light. The believers wouldn’t need miracles to convince them God is real; they would be more for the betterment of their lives. But when an unbeliever shows up…
“But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.” First Corinthians 14:24-25 KJV
Now the key is to make sure that God is doing the works, as Jesus did:
“Believest thou not that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth
the works.” John
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5
Another key is to understand that the Holy Spirit is first and foremost to help us witness to others:
“But ye shall receive power, after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Many people followed Jesus because of all the miracles that He did. This does not justify them all, nor is it the be all and end all. However, the multitudes that followed Him because of His works shortly got to hear the best teaching! Matthew 4 going into 5 shows this:
“And his fame went throughout all
“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,” Matthew 5:1-2 KJV
Now we might assume from this that only the 12, or the outer set of disciples (which was large) heard the teaching in the next few chapters, but when it was all done it indicates that everyone heard it:
“And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Matthew 7:28-29
At the very least a lot of people heard Jesus’ words, and many were able to hear because they followed due to the miracles.
We see the same idea in Acts when the first baptism of the Holy Spirit ever came to be. A multitude gathered at all the goings on, Peter preached, and 3000 got saved.
“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.” Acts 2:4-6
“Then they that gladly received his
word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three
thousand souls.” Acts
This method adds people to the church, it’s not nearly so necessary within the church. While it is all fine and good within the church as Paul makes sure to indicate to the Corinthians, it is outside that the signs and wonders are needed. Even if we could successfully argue that the signs and wonders were only needed to initially establish the church we are still left with the fact that Paul told an established church to continue operating in the Spirit, just within the guidelines.
But
churches are still being established this way, just not very often in
You cannot
understand the burden I have about
Hear this now: the prophets in the
Old Testament were rarely listened to.
Jeremiah in particular has a heart like I sometimes feel. Many of the prophecies in the OT are still
coming to pass, for much of it is about the end times. God always brings back/out a remnant that will
hear His voice and obey. The
“Say unto them, As
I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but
that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways; for why will ye die, O house of
A New and Strange
Thing
I wonder how it felt for the original 120 at the day of Pentecost. What happened to them had never happened before like that, and certainly not to so many at once. We can read the Bible today and get some understanding of how the Holy Spirit came, but they probably had no idea what to expect. Yet they waited and trusted.
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4 KJV
We see immediately that the Spirit was under control of what happened. They couldn’t just pick any language they felt like; it was what He gave them that they used. I think that too often the liberals of today try to force Him to do things our way, when He’s the one who’s supposed to be in control.
They were also in unity, there weren’t the sharp divisions and anger like we have today (or the Corinthians had, for that matter). They all accepted what was given to them and operated in it. They didn’t think one was better than the other, and they didn’t try to say that what someone else did was wrong. This is not to say that we should just blindly accept everyone today (something liberals are often guilty of), for indeed there are many fakes, but the conservatives (in particular) are still left in a precarious position when they refuse to accept some of the more “out there” seeming manifestations.
They had the faith to just operate in whatever they were given as well. Today we often have to teach people how to speak in tongues, which can be dangerous. I can’t say that it is entirely wrong, because I think it’s because of the lack of faith we often have. Indeed, a few years ago I had a tough road to walk because I wasn’t sure what to do, and for me it was work. It wasn’t the Holy Spirit’s fault; it was my fault for not believing when I knew I had been baptized.
The key is to do things the way the Holy Spirit wants, because He calls the shots. As we start looking into the various workings and gifts, you’ll need to understand that you can’t fit into the mold that you feel like if He wants something else. You’ll also need to understand that some of the “less glamorous” things are just as important.
“I Don’t Need You”
“12: For as the body is one, and
hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
13: For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be
Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink
into one Spirit.
14: For the body is not one member, but many.
15: If the foot shall say, Because I am not the
hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
16: And if the ear shall say, Because I am not
the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
17: If the whole body were an eye, where were the
hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were
the smelling?
18: But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as
it hath pleased him.
19: And if they were all one member, where were the body?
20: But now are they many members, yet but one body.
21: And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor
again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
22: Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:
23: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and
our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.
24: For our comely parts have no need: but God
hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part
which lacked:
25: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members
should have the same care one for another.
26: And whether one member suffer, all the
members suffer with it; or one member be honoured,
all the members rejoice with it.
27: Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” First
Corinthians 12:12-27 KJV
Everyone is needed, everyone has a part. You may be given to hospitality rather than working miracles, and that’s fine. Don’t let anyone look down on you; operate as the Holy Spirit leads you. Pew warming does not count, however. The problem is that various denominations (including the one I am affiliated with, which irks me) tell certain people “I don’t need you”, because it doesn’t fit their theology.
Read verse 18 again. If you or your denomination tries to get rid of any part of the church body, it is telling God that He doesn’t know what He’s doing.
And everyone said “Shut up, Ken.”
Just remember, you need me too.
And Yes, I’m laughing.
So What Are the
Parts?
Well we have multiple passages and verses that give us some clues, starting in Romans:
“5: So we, being many, are one
body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
6: Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to
us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
7: Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
8: Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he
that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that
sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
9: Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave
to that which is good.
10: Be kindly affectioned one to another with
brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” Romans 12:5-10 KJV
“8: For to one is given by the
Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9: To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing
by the same Spirit;
10: To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another
discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the
interpretation of tongues:
11: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to
every man severally as he will.” First Corinthians 12:8-11 KJV
“And God hath set some in the church,
first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles,
then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” First
Corinthians
“And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” Ephesians
As you can see, there’s a whole lot more to this than just tongues, and everyone, repeat everyone is needed. Over the coming (insert some amount of time here), I’ll try to talk about all of these and hopefully can fit them together so we see the well-oiled (pun not originally intended) machine that the church is supposed to be. Some I am more familiar with than others, or have more to say about than others. I’m no expert on working miracles, so I probably won’t be finding great revelations about it.
Apostles
This seems
to be a good starting point. If you grab
Strong’s, it’s the Greek #642, meaning “a delegate; specifically an ambassador
of the Gospel; officially a commissioner of Christ (“apostle”), (with
miraculous powers): - apostle, messenger, he that is sent.”
While this sounds a bit like evangelist, it has to be a little bit different since Ephesians mentions them as separate things. If we think to the 12, we know that they were the inner circle:
“And when it was day, he called unto
him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;”
Luke
Paul wasn’t of that inner circle, but he had a divine revelation of Christ and was commissioned much the same way as the 12 were. This seems to embody some aspects of other gifts, since miraculous powers are also mentioned. With apostleship comes tremendous responsibility, perhaps more than any other. It seems to take that special call as well, and the numbers are most likely small.
Prophets
I have a
lot to say about them, because they are a big deal for this day and age… and
not always in a good way. In the Old
Testament the usual rendition comes from the Hebrew word nâbîy'
(Strong’s #5030) meaning “a prophet or (generally) inspired man:
- prophecy, that prophesy, prophet.” It
comes from the #5012 though, meaning “A primitive root; to prophesy,
that is, speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse): -
prophesy (-ing) make self a prophet.”
In the New
Testament we usually have the Greek word prophētēs
(Strong’s #4396), meaning “a foreteller (“prophet”); by analogy an inspired
speaker; by extension a poet: - prophet.” It’s a compound of a couple other root words,
but that’s what we have for our definitions.
So we see
that a prophet is generally someone who is inspired and predicts the future. In the OT examples we usually see that it’s
more often for the group at large, and sometimes the words are personal. For instance we see that Nathan confronted
King David on a personal level, and it wasn’t a happy word, with the sword
never leaving his house (Second Samuel 12).
Those that we consider the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel
spring to mind) had negative things to say as often as positive. Their mission, it seems, was to give hope yet
still predict the terrible judgment for all the sin. They would guide the people if the people
would listen. Many times they wouldn’t
listen.
Fast
forward to the NT, and we see that they are to edify the church:
“He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth
himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth
the church.” First Corinthians 14:4 KJV
This is a
building up that it talks about, and you can make arguments as to what that
means. A rebuke taken right will
actually serve to strengthen, and a nice word when there is sin in the camp
will actually cause more weakness if the sin isn’t dealt with.
Fast
forward to today and we have a real puzzle to sort out. I see a lot of prophecy (and word of
knowledge) on personal levels, and they are nearly always good (you will have a
huge ministry…). One has to wonder how
so many people can have huge ministries without lots of help; we seem to be
missing the people called to servant hood.
I have no real issue with good words, but they often seem to be too much
of a good thing if you know what I mean.
One also
has to wonder about the accuracy, especially when you get contradicting words
over a period of years like I have. I
eventually learned to just put the words on a shelf and see what happens. If you really want my opinion, God is
perfectly capable of putting your ministry in your heart and helping you get
there. It doesn’t really need someone
else who you don’t even know to tell you what you need to do. If they’re wrong and you fight your way to
the place that they said you’d be, what have you really gotten? You won’t be fully in God’s will and you’ll
have believed a lie. This leads to an
interesting question:
How Accurate Must a
Prophet Be?
From what I
see in the Bible, it is 100% unless
God changes His mind. We do see that
happen a few times, Jonah is a great example:
“And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and
he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and
But
“And God saw their works, that they
turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that
he would do unto them; and he did it not.” Jonah
So what of
today? The idea I’ve gotten from
watching is that 50% is decent in the eyes of the church, particularly if
you’re learning how it all works. I can
understand learning to trust God and understanding how it works, but at what
point do you have to start being pinpoint accurate? I see no record of the OT prophets being
hit-or-miss for the first few years.
Even if they were, by the time they were mature they certainly were
hitting the mark every time. How many of
our big name prophets are doing that? I
don’t have figures, so I can’t really judge.
However,
since in my own life the words I have received are right around 50-60%,
including one case of flat contradiction of another word and what I personally
believe (and this was from a big-name compared to all the others), I’m thinking
that our prophets aren’t doing as well as we’d like to think. Liberals, this is the time for you to do some
serious thinking about who you trust.
We of
course have some pretty harsh words in the Bible about false prophets; Jeremiah
has some stuff that mirrors today pretty well:
“Then the LORD said unto me, The
prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded
them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and
divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of
their heart. Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that
prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall
not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those
prophets be consumed.” Jeremiah 14:14-15 KJV
“A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by
their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end
thereof?” Jeremiah 5:30-31 KJV
“For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let
not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you,
neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy
falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.” Jeremiah
29:8-9 KJV
I think a
lot of today’s prophets are simply feeding itching ear syndrome. For sure we shall see exploits during the
tribulation (Daniel
And
Yet…
We cannot
just reject all prophecy out of hand.
Amidst all the false prophets Jeremiah stood as a true prophet even
though he had the unpopular message. Yet
we have unpopular (or is it sensationalist?) messages today, the end of the
world has been prophesied numerous times and here we still are.
The good
news is that we have a litmus test. Are
they drawing you closer to God? Did it
come to pass? If it did come to pass,
did they even subtly try to draw you away from God?
“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which
the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou
shalt not be afraid of him.” Deuteronomy
“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams,
and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass,
whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast
not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that
prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth
you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all
your soul.” Deuteronomy 13:1-3 KJV
Interesting that a false prophet is a test for us. We must be careful; there are plenty of tests
out there for us!
Of course,
since I am often in full cry against what is being taught today, and I have
predicted incredible tribulation to come that we must go through; it leaves me
to answer the question about myself.
Is Ken Goding a
Prophet?
If you wish
to think that, you have the right.
Understand that I have no new revelation from the Lord, and I have comparatively
little interest in personal words. If
you want to know your future, I have the same answer for you as for
everyone. We are called to suffer and be
hated for Christ, if you’re a Christian you need to expect that:
“For what glory is it, if, when ye be
buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but
if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is
acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also
suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who
did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled,
reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself
to him that judgeth righteously:” First Peter 2:20-23
KJV
You need to
prepare yourself for tribulation, you need to build on a sure foundation which
is Christ and love the Lord your God, and you need to endure to the end no
matter what happens. You must keep
yourself from sin and repent as soon as you know about it if you do sin. You must not take the mark of the beast. That
is a word for you; if you take it and use it rightly you will be built
strong. The time is short, you must
prepare yourself now.
What I have
is a pretty good picture of what is happening and what will happen, based on
what I read in the Bible. I see enough
repetition from Jeremiah and Ezekiel (I’m interested in the defilement of the
temple that Ezekiel saw, it’s on the list of things to look at) that when I see
the state of the world and the church, it must be that we will see many of the
same things that they did. I don’t know
when, but I know it’s soon. I don’t
understand all the details, but I understand the need to stand for Christ. I
can’t convey it as clearly as I see it, but I want the same things that were
written back then. Repent, turn from
your wicked ways, and live. We have been lied to with the popular doctrines,
death waits in them if you cling to them more than to Jesus.
Evangelists
As noted
before, evangelists look a little bit like apostles, but they have a more
specific purpose. The word comes from
the Greek (Strong’s #2099) and means “A preacher of the gospel:
-evangelist.” Thus we would take the
gift of evangelism to enable one to preach the Gospel with great power. We see that Paul told Timothy to “do the work
of an evangelist” (Second Timothy 4:5), even though he wasn’t officially an
evangelist, so it doesn’t mean that we never share the Gospel if we aren’t
given that specific gift. Humm I’m not very good at sharing the Gospel period; that
needs to be worked on.
There are people who can walk up to a complete stranger and lead them to Christ. I can’t do that, but I’m glad there are people who can because we need them to do so. The cool thing is we can see how the gifts start to link together. The evangelist preaches the Gospel, someone gets saved, and then others can move in to help build the new convert, such as teachers. The teachers might not have the preaching gift so they don’t win as many of the lost, but once people are saved they have an important part too!
Teachers
We might as well go right on to the teachers. A teacher, of course, is one who instructs (its Strong’s #1320 in the Greek), finding truth and explaining it in a practical manner so that we can understand and follow through. There are people (Ken Goding at times) who may understand the goal, but not really know how to get there until someone can explain how it works, here’s how you go from here to there.
Teachers can also mesh with prophets. A prophet may tell you where there is a problem, but they won’t know how to fix it as well as a teacher would. We need teachers.
Pastors
This is an interesting one, for the word is literally in Jeremiah and Ephesians, nowhere else. In another sense, it is strewn around the Bible, because the word for “Angel” (Greek #32 in Strong’s) includes “by implication a pastor”, but the context of the Scripture usually fits “messenger” better. We are left to wonder about the angels of the churches in Revelation, however, for it could be either way.
Anyway, we see the quick reference to pastors in Ephesians, and the meaning (Strong’s #4166 in the Greek) is to be a shepherd. The OT word (#7462 in the Hebrew) concurs, including pasturing and tending a flock with a couple other things.
Jeremiah
has several references to bad pastors who scatter the flock (23:1-2), have not
sought the Lord (
“Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am
married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I
will bring you to
So we see that God takes shepherding the flock very seriously, and those who do so had better take heed that they’re doing a good job and feeding the sheep good food. As I’ve said before, I believe that Jeremiah is repeating itself and we are seeing more and more pastors feeding the sheep bad food that will scatter them in the day of tribulation.
Again this does not mean that we reject them out of hand, because we need authority over us, we need accountability, and sheep left on their own get into lots of trouble. Every pastor should read Jeremiah carefully and make sure that they are following the scriptures, and we shouldn’t despise (or covet) the office because of the great responsibility.
Ministry (Romans
12:7)
Heh heh, I just looked up the meaning of this one. There are several variations throughout the NT, and just about every one of them includes the word “servant” or “service” in the definition. We need servants, and honestly we need more of them. They are just as vital to the church as any of the other offices. It is a good calling, and if you are a servant don’t think down on yourself.
The
problem, of course, is that people tend to look down on servants as beneath
them. Jesus said that to be great we
should be servants of all (Mark
And the crowd goes silent.
C’mon, you know it’s true. We’ll say “Amen” when it comes to teachers and evangelists, but when that dreaded “servant” word comes up we often try to ignore it.
Some day I want to look at the path to great positions and responsibility, many people miss the years of being a servant before being king, like David went through.
Many would rather the office of pew warming over ministry. I’ve yet to find that one in the Bible.
Exhortation (Romans
12:8)
The actual definition to this one is slightly different than I was expecting, but fairly close to what I thought. My thoughts were along the lines of using words to help you keep going. Here’s the definition of exhort (Greek #3870): “to call near, that is, invite, invoke (by imploration, hortation or consolation): - beseech, call for, (be of good) comfort, desire, (give) exhort (-ation), intreat, pray.”
There are people who can give you a good spiritual pep talk that will give you strength for the journey. Sometimes you need someone to just listen (that’s more along the lines of mercy), and sometimes you need someone to just do some building in your life. They’ll probably be positive and help you see the silver lining in the cloud.
“A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word
spoken in due season, how good is it!” Proverbs
Showing Mercy (Romans
12:8)
We’ll skip giving and ruling for a moment to go to the other side of exhortation. This is the person who can sit and listen to you spill your guts and say “I understand, I’ll pray for you.” They may not offer a solution, or even if they have one, they may withhold it because you just needed to talk. There are times when a solution really isn’t necessary. Ladies tend to understand this more than us men, because we have the tendency to figure out how to fix it and miss the point of getting it out.
The Greek word (Strong’s #1653) includes things about having compassion and pity. We need people with compassion; they help heal the wounds, even if they don’t say much. It could also be an extra measure of hospitality, in the past I usually had one place where I could go crash out if life was getting to me too much. It was at homes of people who could show mercy and compassion.
They won’t get as much recognition, but both gifts are vital.
Giving (Romans 12:8)
Giving is a huge topic really, and great debate goes on about whether we as New Testament believers have to tithe or not. Just to quickly share my views, I believe in giving out of love, starting with the tithe, and if you have a bad attitude you might as well not give at all. Why would an offering from someone who begrudges it please God?
Anyway, there are certain people who just have a giving nature, and it goes well beyond money. They may be small things, they may be large things, but they are timely and given in love. People who give often receive as well, and many things received can go right back into giving. I use this principal at my work. People give me old computer parts, I put them in drawers, and when someone needs an old part that matches, I just hand it to them. Everyone gets blessed and no money has changed hands.
They aren’t necessarily rich people, they may give when they themselves are in need, and they’re sensitive to the Spirit’s leading. I imagine most people have benefited from such a person at one time or another; we need them just as much as any of the other parts of the church.
I don’t mean to say that you can slack off about giving if you aren’t gifted in this area. Everyone should give, but there are some who have this particular ministry.
Ruling (Romans 12:8)
This one by implication seems like a pastor or an elder, it is someone who stands before others in rank and presides over the rest (Greek #4291). It again is an authority thing; everyone needs some authority in their life. The authority figures of course have to be careful that pride; and Paul tells Timothy not to have someone new in the faith for the role of a bishop (First Timothy 3) for this very reason.
Word of Wisdom and
Word of Knowledge (First Cor 12:8)
There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge, of course, but they’re close enough that we can pair them up for one section. I’m not sure there’s a perfect definition for either (the definition for wisdom is “wisdom” pretty much, that’s a big help), but there are some differences. A word of knowledge might enable you to tell someone that they’ve been contemplating suicide and they need to get help, for instance. A word of wisdom is tougher to pin down, but you might have just the right thing to say to someone, kind of along the lines of exhortation. Or you might have an understanding without knowing details.
There are times when someone needs this, particularly if they feel ashamed to talk about things. Not that it should be abused and you embarrass people, but when done lovingly it could save a life!
Faith (First Cor 12:9)
Everyone has faith if they’re a Christian, for without faith in Jesus you’re in serious trouble. Yet we see a gift of faith as well, so it must be a greater amount for a purpose. Since gifts of healing are listed separately in the same verse, it seems to be different than that as well.
We’re given
a hint from what Jesus said at the time of driving out a demon from a child,
that “This kind goeth out not but by prayer and
fasting” in Matthew
There are some situations that require an extra measure of faith to go through. I don’t know, maybe I’m just grasping at straws here. There’s got to be something more definitive.
Gifts of Healing
(First Cor 12:9)
There are some people who have the gift to be able to lay hands on someone and see them healed, or their prayers in that area seem to have more effect. It’s not that they’re more special than others, it just their gift in operation. This is not to say that you should just let any old person lay hands on you and pray (and this goes beyond healing). James gives us some guidelines about laying hands on the sick, so let’s take a quick look:
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:14-16
We first see elders praying. I may be a little loose in my definition, but to me an elder is someone that I know and can trust. This means that a stranger is out. I don’t mean to be an alarmist, but if a Satanist were to come into the church, would you really want them laying hands on you and praying? I think not. Here liberals are at fault again, for all too often we let any old person pray for us.
This means that someone with the gift of healing will need to establish trust and be deemed worthy to be laying hands on people. You don’t just walk into a church and start doing this stuff, it may take a while so that they will know who you are and see your fruit. Even so we still need these people though, rejecting them still is a bad idea.
Interesting that right after saying to lay hands James says to confess our faults to each other so that we may be healed. Sin is often a block to healing, but we can’t make the blanket statement that if you’re sick you have sin in your life. That didn’t work too well in Job’s situation.
So to bring it into a quick summation, you would confess your faults, have people you know and trust lay hands on you, particularly someone with the gift of healing, God does the healing, and God gets the glory. When we start to stray from these it’ll be far easier to get into trouble.
The Working of
Miracles (First Cor
We again see something slightly different in the same area. Healing doesn’t apparently constitute a miracle (in every case anyway) since it’s listed separately. There are a couple different definitions for miracles that I’ve seen, but here in Corinthians it is Strong’s #1411, meaning “force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): - ability, abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work.”
That doesn’t give us much to go on for specifics though. So we look for examples:
“When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.” Exodus 7:9
A staff becomes a serpent, definitely a miracle. Now to quickly point it out, Satan tries to counterfeit everything (we’ll go into more detail at some point), for immediately after this Pharaoh’s men do the same thing. God gets the last laugh however, since Aaron’s serpent eats all the rest.
We see that turning a few loaves of bread into much bread constitutes a miracle:
“For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for
their heart was hardened.” Mark
We see with both these miracles, it was to accomplish a purpose for God. Moses was proving a point to Pharaoh, Jesus was feeding a hungry crowd that had listened to him. It is not a show, it is not to bring glory to man, and I think that’s how we’ll best be able to tell the difference. We see in Revelation how the false prophet will be able to do some very real miracles, but the motives behind them will be to glorify a man posing as God.
We just have to be really careful with this stuff. And this is why it’s easy to go winging off to the opposite end and deny all of it as many conservatives do. If we’d meet in the middle on so many things, we’d actually get somewhere.
Discerning of Spirits
(First Cor
A quite interesting one; and it goes beyond demons. We tend to think in terms of demons when it comes to spirits, but it goes both ways. Someone may be able to discern an angelic presence; or the presence of God when others miss it. Now why is this so important? Because someone with this gift will be able to know before others if someone is fake or real and let the proper people know.
In other words, they should be keeping the “crazies” in balance so that they don’t follow after every person who looks and sounds good to them. Some of you may understand when I say that certain people who call themselves Christians (and certainly people of the world) really have demons and it just creeps you out when you’re near them. If it’s powerful enough even a less discerning Christian may notice, but many times it’s more subtle. My mother can discern spirits fairly well and often points out things to me that I have totally missed, giving me the chance to prepare for whatever may happen.
But as I mentioned, it goes to the realm of God as well. It’s just as important to know that God is with someone, for it raises your trust level. It’ll help you know a true prophet, a true worker of miracles; it just adds that extra factor that can make a world of difference.
Various Kinds Of Tongues (First Cor
Having a
little experience in this area I can explain it, at least to a point. Various kinds of tongues have a specific
purpose, and it’s up to the Holy Spirit what the purpose is at any given
time. Someone may find themselves
speaking a different language than their normal prayer language (we’ll talk
about that in the inevitable tongues section) and it turns out to be needed for
something. I’ve heard stories of how
someone would speak in say, Spanish, and someone who was there from
For me personally, I find that probably 95% of my “tongue time” is in my customary prayer language, and when the Holy Spirit wants it to be something else, it just changes without my “permission”. Doesn’t happen often, doesn’t get to be controlled by me, it just happens. Of course, the option of not speaking at all is always there, we just miss that point a lot, right liberals?
Interpretation of
Tongues (First Cor
This is the last that I’ve found, unless you want to go to Isaiah for the five “spirit of” gifts mentioned there. Interpretation of tongues is for the edification of the church:
“I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.” First Corinthians 14:5 KJV
Paul gives the reasoning why tongues in church need to be interpreted, because it wouldn’t do the body any good otherwise, teaching is much more useful:
“Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my
understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand
words in an unknown tongue.” First Corinthians
We can get more into the dos and don’ts in other sections.
I Don’t Need You (Again)
No, we can’t say that. The apostles cannot say to the teachers that they aren’t needed. The givers cannot say to the discerners that they are useless. Everybody is needed for one thing or another. Let’s create a little story to show how several gifts are needed:
Joe is Joe-average sinner. An evangelist reaches him with the Gospel, Joe realizes that he needs Jesus and gets saved. This is a good start (and some are happy to stop here), but watch the body in action! A true prophet tells Joe that he has a destiny to be an apostle if he will submit to God and go through the training (very important to go through the process). Joe asks how this will happen. The prophet isn’t good at the “how” part, so some teachers step in. They teach him the ways of God better and he grows in Christ. He loses his job and needs some help, other step in giving him a good listening ear, encouragement, and food while he searches for the job God wants for him.
We’ve just seen at least six gifts in action, helping Joe to grow in Christ and stay stable. He may only be partway through the process right now, but many have contributed to his well-being, and God gets all the credit. We can’t miss that part.
Yes, everyone is needed, and that includes…
Women of God, We Need
You!
Hey, if I’m going to get into trouble I might as well get into big trouble. We have two major passages that at least seem to be putting women “in their place” (First Corinthians 14 and First Timothy 2), but when that’s all we quote and focus on we miss several places where women were used by God with some of the same gifts. Blanket statements again cause more harm than good.
“And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth,
she judged
“So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her. And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:” Second Kings 22:14-16 KJV
“And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser:
she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband
seven years from her virginity;” Luke
“And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed,
and came unto
“And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when
The first two especially must be really disturbing for some men. Grown men coming to a woman prophetess for advice and judgment? This isn’t the place for this enormous subject, but we can’t say things about all women and gifts when we clearly see some exceptions to the rules that many have set up.
Refusing To Use Them
When you’re given something, you’re expected to use it to further the Kingdom. The more powerful the anointing on your life, the more that is expected of you. As of right now I can’t think of any places where refusing to use a gift of the Spirit is specifically cited, but we do see places where refusing to help someone in need is condemned:
“41: Then shall he say also unto
them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels:
42: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no
meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me
not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44: Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger,
or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45: Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it
not to me.
46: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the
righteous into life eternal.” Matthew 25:41-46 KJV
“If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” James 2:15-16 KJV
So we see in general that helping people who need it is something that we need to be doing – and according to Jesus it’s a bigger deal than one might like (including me). So if you are good at encouraging people and you see someone in obvious need of encouragement, what would happen if you decided to ignore their need? There are consequences for inaction just like there are for action.
The Inevitable
Tongues Section Begins
I suppose I should lay out where I’m starting from in brief before we get into the nitty gritty details where I might find some new information. I consider tongues to be for the most part a personal prayer language that is best used in private. I am against the practice of many people loudly praying in tongues at once in a church setting because Paul speaks against it, even though I am used to it growing up in a church that does so. I don’t believe that you have to speak in tongues, for if nothing else simple logic tells me that if I close my mouth I won’t speak in any language, including English.
I understand the beef that conservatives have about the abuse and confusion, and they are correct to complain. The problem is the blanket statements that it’s all wrong as I’ve seen in more than one place. If you don’t want it for yourself, then by all means don’t seek after it. Just don’t tell others that they can’t. Since gifts are included as part of the New Testament Christian walk, I can’t imagine why one would want to close the door in entirety when it’s written that end times saints will be doing exploits (Daniel 11:32), and you can’t do them without God working through you.
I’m telling you, I can’t wait to see what kinds of signs God is going to be doing through His servants, showing an unbelieving world that He is the real deal even as most will refuse to heed.
“More than You All”
It is fairly simple to deduce that Paul spoke in tongues a lot, but mostly in private, just by comparing several statements in First Corinthians 14:
“Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?” First Corinthians 14:6 KJV
“Yet in the church I had rather speak
five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also,
than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” First Corinthians
“But if there be no interpreter, let
him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.”
First Corinthians
So we see quickly that Paul is not excited about tongues in the church unless it is interpreted, and that if it is not going to be interpreted, you’re better off being silent. He’s happier with a little intelligent teaching than a lot of babble that no one understands. So we can conclude that he probably didn’t spend a lot of time babbling, but rather teaching/preaching in a common language. But then we see a sharp contrast:
“I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all: Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” First Corinthians 14:18-19 KJV
Particularly paired with verse 19 which was already cited, we must conclude that while he didn’t use tongues much in church, he did indeed speak in tongues quite a bit. If it wasn’t in the church then it must be it was outside the church (I know, that’s obvious). If it was outside the church, chances are it was in private just between him and God. No one would hear, he would edify himself (verse 4), and no one would get upset. Sounds like a good plan to me.
Are You Out Of Your
Mind?
On the flip side, lots of people speaking in tongues inside the church is not condoned:
“If therefore the whole church be come
together into one place, and all speak with tongues,
and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say
that ye are mad?” First Corinthians
Here the liberals are at fault. As I said, I grew up with it so until I started paying attention to this I didn’t give it much thought. When you’re used to something it doesn’t seem weird, which is probably why so many are comfortable with being unbiblical. But it’s thinking of others who don’t understand that makes all the difference. You have to put yourself into someone else’s shoes, someone who hasn’t heard this before and has no idea that there is a God-given ability to speak in another language that you don’t actually know.
Let me put it another way. If you walked into a room and a bunch of people were levitating all at once, wouldn’t you think it a bit outlandish? Yet if you researched some of the Eastern religions (please don’t try them!), you would find that it is something that is practiced and would be considered more on the normal side for those advanced in that stuff.
What then do we make of the initial outpouring, where 120 people all spoke in tongues at once? God didn’t get upset at them, instead the Spirit was given credit for it:
“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:4 KJV
Looking at it carefully I can find a bit of difference. If we go back to Corinthians for a minute we find the word “unknown” six times in the chapter, here are the first two:
“For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” First Corinthians 14:2 KJV
“He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.” First Corinthians 14:4 KJV
So we would conclude that no one around would have any clue what these words would mean unless someone interpreted. When we look at Acts, we see that there was actually usage of real languages that others could understand:
“Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” Acts 2:6-8 KJV
We see several reactions to it, but they realized that God was being glorified even
if they didn’t understand it. Some wanted to understand, others mocked, but all heard.
“Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.” Acts 2:11-13 KJV
We could also make argument that this was outside of the church and therefore not subject to “church rules”. To be honest I think most of the things that are deemed more “out there” like healings and miracles are better off happening among common people so they can see that God is for real. That’s where Jesus usually did His stuff, with the ordinary people on the street. Those who already know God don’t need a miracle to prove that there is a God. Okay, how did I get onto that tangent?
One At a Time, Please
We see further restrictions. Only two or three should speak in tongues, and in turn, before someone interprets:
“If any man speak
in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by
course; and let one interpret.” First Corinthians
“By course” would be sort of like “in turn” in the modern day English, that’s a bit of a rough one in the King James. It again reinforces that we shouldn’t have a ton of people speaking in tongues all at once, making a great commotion. They can speak quietly.
I Wish You All Did
“I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.” First Corinthians 14:5 KJV
Apparently
not everyone spoke in tongues in
The Big Picture at
If you look
at the big picture, you would probably decide that the people of
Small wonder that conservatives get upset when a lot of liberal churches act the same way the Corinthians did.
So Paul swooped in and said “Okay, you need to back off and do things decently and orderly,” as verse 40 says. He said not to forbid tongues in verse 39 which is the stumbling block for conservatives who have to explain everything away to justify the forbidding that they do.
So again I say if the people on both sides of the issue would humble themselves and admit that they have some parts wrong and the other side has some parts right, and they would meet in the middle, we’d actually get somewhere!
Maybe I’m too negative, but to be realistic it won’t happen, at least on a large scale. Most of us are too entrenched in our belief systems to allow anything to change them, and we’ll continue slipping away from the truth. Now that you’ve seen it presented this way, you get the honor of changing doctrine or sticking with what may very well be easier to believe. Either side is easy to believe if you’re used to what they have to offer.
It took a long time for me to hear the cries of the conservatives and understand they had a legitimate beef, because “my way” seemed right and I was used to it. What will you do?
You Shall Be
Witnesses
Looks like I missed one, shame on me. Before all the separate gifts we see a very plain one directly from Jesus:
“But ye shall receive power, after that
the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
This is a little more on the generic side, yet of utmost importance if we want to see more Christians. Where you have little in your own strength, with the Holy Spirit you have much, and you can witness of all the wonderful things the Lord has done. And I think this is a major part of the summation of the Holy Spirit’s purpose. Power and witnessing, the ultimate goal is to bring God glory and see more people get saved.
Think about it. If I could work miracles and show great signs and wonders, causing multitudes to come watch, yet no one ever got saved or drawn closer to God, what use would that be? It would be useless except to puff me up, which is of no value in the big picture. We see that these things did indeed add to the church:
“12: And by the hands of the
apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were
all with one accord in Solomon's porch.
13: And of the rest durst no man join himself
to them: but the people magnified them.
14: And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of
men and women.)” Acts 5:12-14 KJV
More believers = very good.
Drawn Away After
Power
A certain Simon serves as a grave example of what happens when we lust for power. A sorcerer himself, he met up with a God who had more power than he did, and it caused him to believe. Let’s pick up the story:
“9: But there was a certain man,
called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the
people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
10: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying,
This man is the great power of God.
11: And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had
bewitched them with sorceries.
12: But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the
13: Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he
continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which
were done.” Acts 8:9-13 KJV
Here is a man used to crowds adoring him, and yet even he can be reached. It says that he believed and was baptized. I checked the meaning of “believed” here (Strong’s #4100 in the Greek) to make sure it had absolutely no hint of “somewhat” or “non-saving”, and it had none. Instead it has every indication of saving faith, plus he was baptized. So scripturally we have to say that Simon got saved and it was real. I throw this in because the Eternal Security teachers will need to explain how it wasn’t real faith and that he was a fake because of how hard he fell.
“14: Now when the apostles which
were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent
unto them Peter and John:
15: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might
receive the Holy Ghost:
16: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized
in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
17: Then laid they their hands on them, and
they received the Holy Ghost.” Acts 8:14-17 KJV
I just want
to point out a passage of time here. I
grabbed a Bible with maps in the back and got a rough estimate of 35 miles
between
“18: And when Simon saw that
through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy
Ghost was given, he offered them money,
19: Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he
may receive the Holy Ghost.
20: But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish
with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with
money.
21: Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not
right in the sight of God.
22: Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps
the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
23: For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the
bond of iniquity.
24: Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none
of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.” Acts 8:18-24 KJV
And great was the fall of Simon. Different explanations can be given, but I think it was the lust for power that was the real problem. He didn’t deal with it and instead tried to use and manipulate God for his own gain… deceitfulness of riches? I don’t think it’s far off from that.
He is told that he has committed wickedness and is in the bond of iniquity. Simon’s response is pitiful, asking the others to pray for him, but there is no sign of repentance on his part. Instead it is the last we hear of him.
A real problem for those who operate in the gifts and/or seek them? Oh yeah it is, you have to be very careful. This is why we need process and refining. Many people can’t handle power when it’s just handed to them, King Saul was a great example of that. Okay, I don’t need to get back into the life of David, but he is a great example of how this works.
To Not Be Deceived
One might wonder why we should desire gifts if we could be deceived and fall. Wouldn’t it be safer to stay back and stick with love? That is a fair and reasonable question that might come from the conservative crowd. The key is to realize that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth:
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth,
is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself;
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things
to come.” John
You can’t deceive the Holy Spirit, so with Him as a guide you can be kept from deception. The trick is to rely totally on God which is simple but not easy. Again we see process as a big component to that, because usually we learn to trust God more and more with time.
But if we look at it from the other side we see a problem with doing nothing. If we are told to “desire spiritual gifts” as First Corinthians 14:1 says, and we’ve convinced ourselves not to, one could argue pretty successfully that we are already deceived.
Let’s look at it a little differently again. Which disciple walked on water? Was it one who got out of the boat or one who stayed right where he was? Yes Peter had his struggle, he started to sink. But which of the other disciples gets to say that he walked on water? Unless it’s documented somewhere other than the Bible, the answer would have to be negative for all of them. But why did Peter go at all?
“And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” Matthew 14:28-29 KJV
He listened for the word of his Master. When he received his guidance, he acted on it. We have instruction from Paul about gifts and we see how they were used in Acts, so we already have a good deal of guidance. To do nothing (and preach against gifts and tongues) means we might as well tear those pages out of the Bible since they don’t have any real meaning in our lives. That sounds foolish, but ignoring or explaining away these things isn’t much better.
Now if you want to preach and teach against the abuse of gifts and tongues, I am totally on your team. But to teach against them as a whole helps deceive others, as well as yourself.
As He Chooses
You don’t get to call the shots, which makes it much better. We humans are good at wreaking things, so it is much better that God gets to decide what our gifts and callings are. So if you ask God to baptize you with the Holy Spirit (which on the whole seems to be a separate thing from salvation – we see believers who didn’t even know about the Holy Ghost in the beginning of Acts 19), I suggest that you ask Him to do it His way. When we make it formulaic we wind up trying to put God in a box, and it really doesn’t work.
Now does it
happen exclusively through the laying on of hands? Well the initial outpouring wasn’t through
hand laying, but we do see it a couple times
throughout the book of Acts. We see that
in
On the other hand we see how an outpouring happened when Peter was simply speaking:
“While Peter yet spake these words, the
Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.” Acts
So we’re quickly going to have to say no, it is not exclusively from the laying of hands, nor is it exclusively from hearing. In other words God gets to do it in whatever way He feels like.
This of course means accepting what you are given and using it to glorify God. You can’t choose to be an apostle, you can’t choose to be a discerner of spirits, instead you operate in what you’re supposed to operate in. If you don’t know what that is, you should ask so you can start towards the goal. Prepare for refining, it’s painful but worth it.
Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts. What a beautiful thing when it’s working properly. Why won’t very many do so then, if it’s there in the Word of God? Unfortunately it comes back to the same thing as so many other subjects. We’re in the last days and men will not endure sound doctrine.
Men and Angels
There is debate about what kind of tongues must be used to be Biblical. Some say that since the initial outpouring was all human tongues, since people heard their own language, this is the only usage of tongues – so that others can hear it in their language. This has its point and its use, but we see Paul indicating that non-human languages are possible:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” First Corinthians 13:1 KJV
His point, of course, is about love, but mentioning two kinds of tongues tells us that both exist, and are fine if we have love. So no, it does not necessarily have to be a human tongue. Besides, most of the time no one would know the difference anyway since it’s unknown to them.
Does make you wonder what tongues of angels are all about though. I’m pretty sure we don’t get any more information on that subject.
This is not
complete, but I’m at a good stopping point here, I will probably add more later.