We often hear the song "Amazing Grace" and are touched by it. Even marginal and unbelievers are attracted by it. At one time it was at the top of the charts done by bagpipes. Grace can perhaps best be defined as "unmerited favor" receiving something that you did nothing to earn or deserve and that is very much the truth of the matter but does not define it's depth. Very few people understand enough about grace to fully appreciate the vastness of what it really means and how it can affect a life. If we fully understood grace and walked in it's fullness we would have no problem loving God to the extent that He asks of us. Jesus said that we should love God so lavishly that by comparison our love for our family would seem like hate. Luke 14:26 (New King James Version)
26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
It is only through a deep and thorough understanding of grace that the fullness of the love of God is revealed and when we can really understand His love then loving Him though we cannot see Him becomes natural. It is an interesting phenomenon that the bulk of life actually occurs in our mind rather than in our outer activities. Therefore it is vital that our mind be right and in tune with reality to the fullest to experience life to the fullest.Ephesians 3:17-19 (New King James Version)
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
When you are filled with the fullness of God then life becomes very different and I don't mean that you become ultra religious either. I mean your living out of your life takes a very different path. A study of the life of Jesus reveals a very regular kind of person who really loved the people around Him and was actually a major irritation to the religious elite. He didn't fall into the traps set by man but was faithful to God under all circumstances. When He needed something it was often provided supernaturally. Some would say that it was He who did it and they would only be half right because Jesus said that He only did what the Father was doing. It is said and rightly so that Jesus was totally man and totally God and that is fact but He humbled Himself to the man side and never exercised His powers apart from the Fathers leading. What I am getting at here is that when we walk in the fullness of God as the scripture above says we can then our life should and will be just like the life of Jesus. When we need something it can and will be provided supernaturally.
One time Jesus needed some money to pay a tax, so he told Peter to go down to the lake and go fishing and the first fish on his hook would have a coin in it's mouth that would cover the tax. Now I cannot promise that you are going to pay your taxes with money you find in a fishes mouth but I can promise that if you have a need that He will provide it in ways that will astound you, providing that you are walking in harmony and full understanding of what grace has done and is yet doing for you.
If I never do another thing in my life but can help people attain to the fullness of what God has purposed and provided for them then I will be satisfied.
It is not enough to know something but one must experience it and then it belongs to them and becomes part of their life so if you want to live the kind of life that I'm talking about here then you must seek to experience it and there is but one way to do that. You must diligently seek the ONE who rewards those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 (New King James Version)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Notice it says that "without faith it is impossible to please Him" and you say well I try to have faith but just can't seem to get a hold on it. Well that is where your mistake is. You don't try to get a hold on faith, rather you get a hold on God. Seek after Him and He will give you faith for faith is simply knowing someone to the point that you believe what they say and trust them fully.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (New King James Version)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Please note that the above verse says that you are saved by faith but that faith didn't come from you but was a gift from God. That is the very beginning of the grace that I am talking about, Grace upon Grace. If you didn't receive the first touch of grace then you could not possibly believe enough to receive the second touch of grace that wipes out your past evil deeds and makes you clean and acceptable to God. But that is as far as most people go in their understanding of grace. Often they don't even realize that it was God who made it possible in the first place but they accept the premise that His grace wipes out the stain of sin. However because their understanding is limited they then continue to sin and expect that grace will take care of everything and they are bound for heaven but that is not so because the scripture states that "without holiness no man shall see God".
There is a third aspect of grace that is understood and received by a relative few Christians. All throughout the New Testament we can read the commands of Jesus and at times they can discourage us because we feel we just can't measure up and when we look at other Christians around us we can see that they have the same struggles so we accept the premise that these commands are ideals that are unobtainable and to make matters worse we begin to believe the lie that it's okay not to measure up because God only see's us through the blood of Jesus anyway. It's just not true folks, Yes the blood of Jesus wipes out all confessed sin but that is only the beginning of grace. The real fullness of grace is that He Himself will perform in you all the commandments that He requires of you leaving us all with no excuse for not becoming pure and holy in reality.Ephesians 5:25-28 (New King James Version)
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
If this scripture is true and I know it is then it rules out the idea that we are already perfect in God's eyes because He see's us through the blood of Jesus. This verse says that He is in the process of sanctifying us and cleansing us by washing us with His word. Now here's the stickler, you are responsible to get His word into you and I don't mean by reading Old Testament stories that are interesting but rather filling your heart and mind with the words of Jesus and the teachings of the Apostles from the New Testament. The Old Testament is a book of history and shows us that God does not change but the New Testament is God's New Deal with mankind and if you ever hope to attain to the promises it holds then you must get it into you heart and be ready to live it out. There is not a single requirement written there that He is not ready to perform in you and for you if only you will lay down your other life and take up His. He must become your priority and I can testify that few are willing to do that but what a life they are missing out on.
You may say that you just don't have the motivation. God knows that and all you need to do is ask for the motivation.Matthew 7:7-8 (New King James Version)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
My guess is that few have even considered this scripture in this context. Usually it is applied to asking for something physical such as a better job or a new car or for the salvation of a relative but it's greatest promise is to meet your heart's cry for a closer walk with God. You may tell me that "I've already tried that and it didn't work" and my answer would be , God always tests us and proves us. He already knows what is in our heart and motives but He tests us in order to show it to US. If you have tried and didn't receive that answer it is most likely because it didn't matter that much and you didn't persevere. God's word is true "ALWAYS" and if it fails we can be sure that the problem is with us not with God's honesty. He would never deny a sincere request for a closer walk with Himself since that is what He demands of us, but He does not accept lukewarmness.Jeremiah 29:12-14 (King James Version)
12Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
So I bring this session to a close with this one admonition. Seek God with all your heart and leave everything else up to Him and you will find joy beyond your greatest imagination. You say you just don't have time, I know better. I don't know of a single home that does not have a television and a telephone in it as well as a plethora of other entertainment devices and none of them suffer as much dis-use as the bible. Some try to spend time with God at the end of the day but they are just too tired for it to even penetrate their consciousness. When you go to work in the morning do you see the boss for your orders or do you just go out and do whatever and then check in with him at the end of the day only to find out that everything you did was just the opposite of what he wanted of you. Your job wouldn't last very long at that rate. You just cannot imagine how close and personal God will get with you until you make that a priority. Here is my favorite bible verse. 2 Peter 1:3 (New King James Version)
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
Here again is scripture that is rarely understood for what it is saying but it says in a nutshell and very few words the very things that I have written thousands of words trying to get across to my readers and it is this " God has given us everythingwe could ever need to live a good life and to fulfill all His righteous requirements but that it is obtained by our "knowledge of Him". That simply means really knowing God and the only way to get that is through passionate pursuit. Amen
john Martin
email justjohn@eoni.com
If you agree or even disagree I welcome you comments and I will answer every question.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
What is true Righteousness?
I think we can all recognize the disease of "self righteousness" since it tends to be rather nauseating when you encounter it. I remember well about 32 years ago I was still pretty fresh in my relationship with God and was still busy looking down on others who didn't measure up in my opinion. I was talking with a very prominent citizen of the community and we were discussing business. I had a business of my own and in course of converstion about business practices and accounting proceedures I mentioned that I was very careful not to even use a postage stamp belonging to the business for personal use. Near the end of our conversation he said to me "you might not be so self righteous when you have to put a kid through college". That statement stuck in my mind and really began to bother me until I finally figured out what he was driving at. I won't try to guess whether he was suggesting that it might be okay to deduct something off your taxes that was for personal use but I got the point that I was being very self righteous in my thinking and in the way I presented myself, painting myself better than others simply by the rules that I was keeping. Putting my trust in my own behaviour rather than in the Only One Who ever was perfect. It is often said by observers when someone turns to God or begins going to church and changes their behaviour that "so and so has got religion". Friends, that is just what it is in so many cases. A person gets a stroke of conscience and starts going to church thinking that if they just change their bahavior and give a little in the offering plate that they will go to heaven. Then there's the guy like me who has a very dramatic conversion but gets very prideful and arrogant about it so much that he gives off a putrid odor of pride. I can assure you that neither one of them stand much chance getting into heaven because they both are depending on their own righteousness to get them there. Thus is the purpose of this article, to explore and explain the true righteousness which is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
First of all, what is righteousness? It can best be defined as "right standing with God". That means being in right relationship with Him. I'm sure many others could define it better using theological terms that nobody could understand but I think that the simpler we can keep it the better chance we have of obtaining it.
Way back thousands of years ago a man named Abram was called out by God to leave his country and go to a place he didn't know and for some reason he chose to obey. God made promises to him and scripture says "he believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness". That seems simple enough. Many people today say they believe God but lack righteousness to the point of being an embarresment to the name of Christianity, so what is lacking?
The simple answer is that their belief is but skin deep. Whenever anything goes wrong (which is the only time they think of God) they run to their pastor or a trusted friend and ask them to pray about their situation. They have never tranacted business with God for themselves so they really know nothing about Him or whether they can expect anything from Him nor do they think they have any influence with Him.
This reveals a lack of understanding and without understanding true belief is impossible. Understanding does not come through somebody teaching you some facts but only through personal experience. You may learn from what others say about me but you will never be sure you can trust me until you do business with me and gain personal experience and that involves a certain amount of risk. You must take a chance that others have not told you the truth and find out for yourself.
It is not really any different with God. He has given us lots of evidence of His goodness but we will never know for sure until we take the leap and risk it all.
He will test you until you stand firm. Eventually Abrams name was changed by God to Abraham and after many years he was given a son miraculously but when that son was 13 years of age God asked Abraham to take his son to a certain mountain and sacrifice him. By this time Abraham had transacted so much business with God that he obeyed, believing that if he did that God would raise his son from the dead. As it turned out God did not require him to kill his son but provided a ram as a substitute.
I know this story is not new to most of my readers but I tell it because we are talking about believing God to the point that the believing is the atainment of righteousness. It is not the doing of anything that is pleasing to God but the seeking to know Him intimately that is pleasing and results in belief that is accounted as righteousness. Now here's a glitch, and may even seem contradictory.
Your believing anything is of no value of it'self and will not save you because it is already done. Jesus has done it all and all credit goes to Him. Can you imagine for just a minute that someone can become prideful because he believes better than someone else? It's not only possible but happens all the time and that persons belief is of little if any value to him because he is trusting in his belief rather than in Christ who allowed him to believe in the first place. Scripture will verify my statement and here it is. Philippians 1:29 (New King James Version)
29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. According to this scripture you could not believe unless He permitted it. You think you chose to accept the Lord? John 15:16 (New King James Version)
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. It is all His doing. Want to have an amazing life? Humble yourself, accept the fact that you can't do anything to save yourself, accept the fact that everything He requires of you He will fulfill if only you will seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 (New King James Version)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But how do I get faith to please God? I simply believe. But how do I believe? It has been granted to you not only to believe in Him but to suffer for His name sake. Note again that it is something that is given to you not something that you can earn. As I have written in previous blogs, the secret to attaining all that God has for you is to ask. If you are lax in spending time with Him then ask Him to give you the desire to pursue Him. If you are lacking time to do so then ask Him for time and He will do it. Christ didn't just come and die on the cross to save us and then go away and say there I've saved you now let's see how you handle it, just work it out for yourself. No He's ever present and and fully committed to you until you are safe in heaven with Him but His desire is that you do well and bring Him glory just as He sought to glorify the Father. Nothing will increase your faith (believing)like asking to be enabled to glorify Him in all things and having Him do it. This should encompass your whole life not just that which seems spiritual or religous because these things should not be seperable. You have but one life and that is Christ.Colossians 3:4 (New King James Version)
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
I am a very busy man and am involved in many pursuits and I could say that I am too busy to write but I know that I am called to do so and I trust the Lord to work that out and He does it. I woke up at 2:45 am today and so wide awake that it made no sense to lay there any longer so here I am writing. This happens over and over again. The amazing thing about it is that I do not miss the sleep nor do I feel any lack of energy as the day wears on. Whatever you need from Him to please Him He will provide so what is holding you back? We must get our thinking straight if we are to have God's best for our lives and the lives of those around us that He wants to bless.
One more thing about self righteousness. There are some who set themselves apart as special because they worship on a special day which is different from everyone else.
This is very dangerous for them and here's why:Galatians 5
Christian Liberty
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,[a] and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. Here he is talking about circumcision which was a law therefor he is also refering to any law that a person attempts to keep. Keeping the old moses law of worshiping on the 7th day is no different than attempting to keep any other law but causes the keeper to try to justify themselves because they get no benefit from Christ's sacrifice.Romans 3:20 (New King James Version)
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Galatians 2:16 (New King James Version)
16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
So be careful not to fall into such a trap. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. (John 8:36)
There's a big difference between believing and knowing.
May you come to know Him intimately and then and only then will you have perfect peace and true righteousness.
John Martin
email justjohn@eoni.com
First of all, what is righteousness? It can best be defined as "right standing with God". That means being in right relationship with Him. I'm sure many others could define it better using theological terms that nobody could understand but I think that the simpler we can keep it the better chance we have of obtaining it.
Way back thousands of years ago a man named Abram was called out by God to leave his country and go to a place he didn't know and for some reason he chose to obey. God made promises to him and scripture says "he believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness". That seems simple enough. Many people today say they believe God but lack righteousness to the point of being an embarresment to the name of Christianity, so what is lacking?
The simple answer is that their belief is but skin deep. Whenever anything goes wrong (which is the only time they think of God) they run to their pastor or a trusted friend and ask them to pray about their situation. They have never tranacted business with God for themselves so they really know nothing about Him or whether they can expect anything from Him nor do they think they have any influence with Him.
This reveals a lack of understanding and without understanding true belief is impossible. Understanding does not come through somebody teaching you some facts but only through personal experience. You may learn from what others say about me but you will never be sure you can trust me until you do business with me and gain personal experience and that involves a certain amount of risk. You must take a chance that others have not told you the truth and find out for yourself.
It is not really any different with God. He has given us lots of evidence of His goodness but we will never know for sure until we take the leap and risk it all.
He will test you until you stand firm. Eventually Abrams name was changed by God to Abraham and after many years he was given a son miraculously but when that son was 13 years of age God asked Abraham to take his son to a certain mountain and sacrifice him. By this time Abraham had transacted so much business with God that he obeyed, believing that if he did that God would raise his son from the dead. As it turned out God did not require him to kill his son but provided a ram as a substitute.
I know this story is not new to most of my readers but I tell it because we are talking about believing God to the point that the believing is the atainment of righteousness. It is not the doing of anything that is pleasing to God but the seeking to know Him intimately that is pleasing and results in belief that is accounted as righteousness. Now here's a glitch, and may even seem contradictory.
Your believing anything is of no value of it'self and will not save you because it is already done. Jesus has done it all and all credit goes to Him. Can you imagine for just a minute that someone can become prideful because he believes better than someone else? It's not only possible but happens all the time and that persons belief is of little if any value to him because he is trusting in his belief rather than in Christ who allowed him to believe in the first place. Scripture will verify my statement and here it is. Philippians 1:29 (New King James Version)
29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. According to this scripture you could not believe unless He permitted it. You think you chose to accept the Lord? John 15:16 (New King James Version)
16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. It is all His doing. Want to have an amazing life? Humble yourself, accept the fact that you can't do anything to save yourself, accept the fact that everything He requires of you He will fulfill if only you will seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 (New King James Version)
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But how do I get faith to please God? I simply believe. But how do I believe? It has been granted to you not only to believe in Him but to suffer for His name sake. Note again that it is something that is given to you not something that you can earn. As I have written in previous blogs, the secret to attaining all that God has for you is to ask. If you are lax in spending time with Him then ask Him to give you the desire to pursue Him. If you are lacking time to do so then ask Him for time and He will do it. Christ didn't just come and die on the cross to save us and then go away and say there I've saved you now let's see how you handle it, just work it out for yourself. No He's ever present and and fully committed to you until you are safe in heaven with Him but His desire is that you do well and bring Him glory just as He sought to glorify the Father. Nothing will increase your faith (believing)like asking to be enabled to glorify Him in all things and having Him do it. This should encompass your whole life not just that which seems spiritual or religous because these things should not be seperable. You have but one life and that is Christ.Colossians 3:4 (New King James Version)
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
I am a very busy man and am involved in many pursuits and I could say that I am too busy to write but I know that I am called to do so and I trust the Lord to work that out and He does it. I woke up at 2:45 am today and so wide awake that it made no sense to lay there any longer so here I am writing. This happens over and over again. The amazing thing about it is that I do not miss the sleep nor do I feel any lack of energy as the day wears on. Whatever you need from Him to please Him He will provide so what is holding you back? We must get our thinking straight if we are to have God's best for our lives and the lives of those around us that He wants to bless.
One more thing about self righteousness. There are some who set themselves apart as special because they worship on a special day which is different from everyone else.
This is very dangerous for them and here's why:Galatians 5
Christian Liberty
1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,[a] and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. Here he is talking about circumcision which was a law therefor he is also refering to any law that a person attempts to keep. Keeping the old moses law of worshiping on the 7th day is no different than attempting to keep any other law but causes the keeper to try to justify themselves because they get no benefit from Christ's sacrifice.Romans 3:20 (New King James Version)
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Galatians 2:16 (New King James Version)
16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
So be careful not to fall into such a trap. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. (John 8:36)
There's a big difference between believing and knowing.
May you come to know Him intimately and then and only then will you have perfect peace and true righteousness.
John Martin
email justjohn@eoni.com
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Is Speaking in Tongues for Every Christian?
To that question I can say a resounding Yes Yes and again Yes. I don't care what the nay sayers say I can prove it by the scriptures and believe me friend that my opinion is worth nothing if it is not based on God's Holy Word.
The question that always troubles me is why would anyone who claims to love God and want to live for Him reject the very things of God that He gives to make victorious living not only possible but very rewarding. Jesus said "I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly". What did He mean by abundant life? Some think it involves more stuff, the prosperity preachers say it is more money, just send me some of yours and God will send you a truck full of cash. If that is what you are looking for in Christianity you will be bitterly disappointed I can assure you.
To receive God's best your heart has to be right and that includes your motives. The bible condemns "selfish ambition" which means "what can I get out of it".
But when your heart and motives are set on the things of God and His purposes He will tax the very elements of the universe to bless you and your efforts for Him.
The abundant life that Jesus promised can best be defined as an "abundance of living". I never met a truly born again Christian who didn't want to do something for God, sometimes to the point of such passion that he was depressed if he didn't think that he was producing something for the kingdom of God. That is what love does to you. Now my point here is that you need not go looking for something to do for God or go pushing your faith on another person hoping that you can get them to believe. If you will commit yourself to Him and spend sufficient time in private with Him in study of His word and in prayer and accept the gifts that He offers then He will send people to you who are hungry to hear about Him. The scripture says that no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draw him. That means that your efforts of persuasion are useless unless God is already preparing that person and has arranged an encounter between you and him. This can get very exciting because you know it's God and not you. Your own efforts will always frustrate you but when God is involved the results can be astounding. Your life can become a whirlwind of opportunity and blessing and miracles. Perhaps this is a good place and time to share just one of those miracles that happened to me and I know was a miracle because it was virtually impossible but happened anyway.
It was winter 1976 and I lived in an old two story farmhouse on upper prairie creek just east of the town of Joseph Oregon. The house was old and had no insulation and set on a block foundation most of which was open to the currents that blew across the fields. The house was heated by a single free standing oil stove in the middle of the dinning room and that was the only warm spot in the whole house. This was our first winter in eastern Oregon and only a couple months after we had given our lives to Christ and received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. There came a cold front out of the north that caused temperatures to drop at night to 28 below zero and during the day came up about 40 degrees. Never above freezing for two weeks straight. The very first night of the temperature plunge every pipe in our house froze solid and when we got up in the morning there wasn't a single drop of water from any source. To make matters worse all the pipes were under the house in the open where the frigid winds would keep them frozen. I have no idea what the previous occupants did in the past. When we moved into the house it had not been occupied for several years and no one told us of the winter problems we would encounter.
Anyway I went around the house and turned on every tap and the shower and the wash tub in the laundry room and opened all the cupboard doors under sinks and then we set down to eat breakfast. I said a simple prayer over our meal and as I was giving thanks I simply said "Lord our pipes are all frozen and I have no idea how we can ever get them thawed out, could you help us"? Mind you it was still -24 degrees outside. I had not even opened my eyes yet when water began to gush from every faucet, the toilet began to fill as did the automatic washer and the shower running full stream. Do not ask me how, I just report the facts. Even more amazing is the fact that though the cold snap continued for two more weeks we never had a frozen pipe again. That was a personal blessing and now I will share another experience to illustrate what I mean about the Spirit bringing people to you instead of you going out and pursuing them. The real work is done in private in your prayer closet where you are prepared by Him for His service, it is much more rewarding, less frustrating and much more effective.
I had an upholstery shop on main street in Joseph, Oregon and I worked there 5 days a week and lots of people simply stopped in to visit which I enjoyed very much. One day a middle aged woman that I had never seen before came in the door and looked me right in the eye and said "I believe the Lord has told me that you have a word for me" Needless to say I was dumbfounded. Not wanting to disappoint her by telling her I had nothing to say, I asked her name and she told me and gave me a bit of her history and where she was living and as she was doing this I suddenly knew why she was there and what I had to say to her. She was being drawn in by a religious cult that I had extensive personal experience with and could share my knowledge with her, which I did. I then began to explain the true gospel to her and she on the spot wanted to pray and surrender her life to Christ. We prayed together and she was filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Several years later I received a letter from her telling me again what a blessing that day had been to her and her family.
That is only one of so many encounters that border on the miraculous that I could write a whole book.
It seems that I may have gotten away from the main topic of this article but I cannot help putting down what comes to mind because I think it is all part of the same package of Amazing Grace, the Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
My original point is that speaking in tongues is for every born again Christian and is part of the package of abundant living that Jesus promised to His followers.
The key word here is "followers". Many are following something other than Christ though they give lip service to Him their hearts are devoted to something else and in many cases it is their pastor and his opinions. Follow hard after Jesus and you will never be deceived.
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In the passage above Jesus is telling them that the "promise of the Father" is the baptism in the Holy Spirit and verse 8 says that power comes with the Holy Spirit.
God gives power to every believer John 1:12 (King James Version)
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Please note; there is no power and there is no Christian apart from the Holy Spirit.
Remember that I said that the Holy Spirit is the true Gift? Acts 2:38 (King James Version)
38Then 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.And to whom is the gift given? Read again the passage above, every one of you who repents and is baptized. Now some will tell you that it is true but he meant only those who were present at Pentecost because it was the beginning of the church and they needed this extra power to get started. but now read the very next verse.39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” That is an all inclusive statement, not only to those present but to their children, there were even babies present and the statement would include their children and by extension their children's children and if that leaves any doubt it includes those who are far off in terms of distance and time and if that's not enough then he adds "as many as the Lord our God will call". Answer this question you teachers, has God stopped calling people to Himself?????????? Just asking this question makes my blood boil. To think that people are paying pastors and teachers great salaries to stand in the pulpits every Sunday and lie to them. Omission of truth is the same as lying.
Let's go on to let the scriptures prove what I am saying. The real issue I started on was can every Christian speak in tongues as apposed to exercising the Gift of Tongues?
Mark 16:17 (King James Version)
17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Acts 2:4 (New King James Version)
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 10:46 (New King James Version)
46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Then Peter answered,
Acts 19:6 (New King James Version)
6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied
The scriptures above are all the passages from the book of Acts that deal with people being filled with the Holy Spirit except one and I want to deal with it separately.
9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” 11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
This is the account of Simon the sourcerer who was converted when he heard the gospel of Christ. Please note that he was astonished and amazed by the miracles that he was witnessing. Then Peter and John come down and began to lay hands on the people to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and when Simon witnesses the results he wants to buy that power. When he saw miracles of healing he did not ask to buy the power for healing so how were the people responding to the Holy Spirit that made him want to buy that power? Though it does not say that they spoke in tongues and prophesied the implication is clear that there was a lot of commotion that raised a great deal of interest. Remember that it was on the day of pentecost that 120 people were speaking in tongues that drew a crowd and caused 3000 people to be converted in one day. It seems that some people will grasp at the smallest straw in their determination not to believe.
Now I want to deal with another issue that is often raised and that is that many claim that we receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit at conversion and that is all there is to it. Again I say they are wrong and the scripture proves it.
Acts 8:14-17 14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
It says here that they had been baptized in the name of Jesus but the Holy Spirit didn't come on them until the apostles laid hands on them. Case closed.
One final note: Most teachers and preachers who do not believe that the Holy Spirit baptism and the gifts are for today quote a scripture from 1 Corinthians 13
Vs.8-10 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
First they say that when the perfect comes that which is in part will be done away. They say the "PERFECT" was and is the written word of God. Here's the problem with that interpretation; The passage above says that prophesies are "in part" as well as tongues and knowledge" and when the perfect comes those things which are in part will be done away. Tell me this, "has knowledge been done away"? On the contrary knowledge is on the increase, matter of fact knowledge has doubled over and over again in the last generation. It took a great increase of knowledge to go from the Wright brothers 120 foot flight at Kitty Hawk to the flight to the moon and to put a space probe on Mars. Their arguments are so feeble that I cannot figure out how anyone can swallow it but they do to their own loss as well as the loss to the good that could be accomplished for the kingdom of God.
I will deal with another herasy in my next blog.
May God bless you and give you understanding and make you useful for His purposes.
john Martin
email justjohn@eoni.com
The question that always troubles me is why would anyone who claims to love God and want to live for Him reject the very things of God that He gives to make victorious living not only possible but very rewarding. Jesus said "I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly". What did He mean by abundant life? Some think it involves more stuff, the prosperity preachers say it is more money, just send me some of yours and God will send you a truck full of cash. If that is what you are looking for in Christianity you will be bitterly disappointed I can assure you.
To receive God's best your heart has to be right and that includes your motives. The bible condemns "selfish ambition" which means "what can I get out of it".
But when your heart and motives are set on the things of God and His purposes He will tax the very elements of the universe to bless you and your efforts for Him.
The abundant life that Jesus promised can best be defined as an "abundance of living". I never met a truly born again Christian who didn't want to do something for God, sometimes to the point of such passion that he was depressed if he didn't think that he was producing something for the kingdom of God. That is what love does to you. Now my point here is that you need not go looking for something to do for God or go pushing your faith on another person hoping that you can get them to believe. If you will commit yourself to Him and spend sufficient time in private with Him in study of His word and in prayer and accept the gifts that He offers then He will send people to you who are hungry to hear about Him. The scripture says that no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draw him. That means that your efforts of persuasion are useless unless God is already preparing that person and has arranged an encounter between you and him. This can get very exciting because you know it's God and not you. Your own efforts will always frustrate you but when God is involved the results can be astounding. Your life can become a whirlwind of opportunity and blessing and miracles. Perhaps this is a good place and time to share just one of those miracles that happened to me and I know was a miracle because it was virtually impossible but happened anyway.
It was winter 1976 and I lived in an old two story farmhouse on upper prairie creek just east of the town of Joseph Oregon. The house was old and had no insulation and set on a block foundation most of which was open to the currents that blew across the fields. The house was heated by a single free standing oil stove in the middle of the dinning room and that was the only warm spot in the whole house. This was our first winter in eastern Oregon and only a couple months after we had given our lives to Christ and received the baptism in the Holy Spirit. There came a cold front out of the north that caused temperatures to drop at night to 28 below zero and during the day came up about 40 degrees. Never above freezing for two weeks straight. The very first night of the temperature plunge every pipe in our house froze solid and when we got up in the morning there wasn't a single drop of water from any source. To make matters worse all the pipes were under the house in the open where the frigid winds would keep them frozen. I have no idea what the previous occupants did in the past. When we moved into the house it had not been occupied for several years and no one told us of the winter problems we would encounter.
Anyway I went around the house and turned on every tap and the shower and the wash tub in the laundry room and opened all the cupboard doors under sinks and then we set down to eat breakfast. I said a simple prayer over our meal and as I was giving thanks I simply said "Lord our pipes are all frozen and I have no idea how we can ever get them thawed out, could you help us"? Mind you it was still -24 degrees outside. I had not even opened my eyes yet when water began to gush from every faucet, the toilet began to fill as did the automatic washer and the shower running full stream. Do not ask me how, I just report the facts. Even more amazing is the fact that though the cold snap continued for two more weeks we never had a frozen pipe again. That was a personal blessing and now I will share another experience to illustrate what I mean about the Spirit bringing people to you instead of you going out and pursuing them. The real work is done in private in your prayer closet where you are prepared by Him for His service, it is much more rewarding, less frustrating and much more effective.
I had an upholstery shop on main street in Joseph, Oregon and I worked there 5 days a week and lots of people simply stopped in to visit which I enjoyed very much. One day a middle aged woman that I had never seen before came in the door and looked me right in the eye and said "I believe the Lord has told me that you have a word for me" Needless to say I was dumbfounded. Not wanting to disappoint her by telling her I had nothing to say, I asked her name and she told me and gave me a bit of her history and where she was living and as she was doing this I suddenly knew why she was there and what I had to say to her. She was being drawn in by a religious cult that I had extensive personal experience with and could share my knowledge with her, which I did. I then began to explain the true gospel to her and she on the spot wanted to pray and surrender her life to Christ. We prayed together and she was filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Several years later I received a letter from her telling me again what a blessing that day had been to her and her family.
That is only one of so many encounters that border on the miraculous that I could write a whole book.
It seems that I may have gotten away from the main topic of this article but I cannot help putting down what comes to mind because I think it is all part of the same package of Amazing Grace, the Gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
My original point is that speaking in tongues is for every born again Christian and is part of the package of abundant living that Jesus promised to His followers.
The key word here is "followers". Many are following something other than Christ though they give lip service to Him their hearts are devoted to something else and in many cases it is their pastor and his opinions. Follow hard after Jesus and you will never be deceived.
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me[a] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In the passage above Jesus is telling them that the "promise of the Father" is the baptism in the Holy Spirit and verse 8 says that power comes with the Holy Spirit.
God gives power to every believer John 1:12 (King James Version)
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Please note; there is no power and there is no Christian apart from the Holy Spirit.
Remember that I said that the Holy Spirit is the true Gift? Acts 2:38 (King James Version)
38Then 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.And to whom is the gift given? Read again the passage above, every one of you who repents and is baptized. Now some will tell you that it is true but he meant only those who were present at Pentecost because it was the beginning of the church and they needed this extra power to get started. but now read the very next verse.39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” That is an all inclusive statement, not only to those present but to their children, there were even babies present and the statement would include their children and by extension their children's children and if that leaves any doubt it includes those who are far off in terms of distance and time and if that's not enough then he adds "as many as the Lord our God will call". Answer this question you teachers, has God stopped calling people to Himself?????????? Just asking this question makes my blood boil. To think that people are paying pastors and teachers great salaries to stand in the pulpits every Sunday and lie to them. Omission of truth is the same as lying.
Let's go on to let the scriptures prove what I am saying. The real issue I started on was can every Christian speak in tongues as apposed to exercising the Gift of Tongues?
Mark 16:17 (King James Version)
17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Acts 2:4 (New King James Version)
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 10:46 (New King James Version)
46 For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
Then Peter answered,
Acts 19:6 (New King James Version)
6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied
The scriptures above are all the passages from the book of Acts that deal with people being filled with the Holy Spirit except one and I want to deal with it separately.
9 But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, 10 to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” 11 And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. 12 But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. 13 Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.
14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
This is the account of Simon the sourcerer who was converted when he heard the gospel of Christ. Please note that he was astonished and amazed by the miracles that he was witnessing. Then Peter and John come down and began to lay hands on the people to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit and when Simon witnesses the results he wants to buy that power. When he saw miracles of healing he did not ask to buy the power for healing so how were the people responding to the Holy Spirit that made him want to buy that power? Though it does not say that they spoke in tongues and prophesied the implication is clear that there was a lot of commotion that raised a great deal of interest. Remember that it was on the day of pentecost that 120 people were speaking in tongues that drew a crowd and caused 3000 people to be converted in one day. It seems that some people will grasp at the smallest straw in their determination not to believe.
Now I want to deal with another issue that is often raised and that is that many claim that we receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit at conversion and that is all there is to it. Again I say they are wrong and the scripture proves it.
Acts 8:14-17 14 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
It says here that they had been baptized in the name of Jesus but the Holy Spirit didn't come on them until the apostles laid hands on them. Case closed.
One final note: Most teachers and preachers who do not believe that the Holy Spirit baptism and the gifts are for today quote a scripture from 1 Corinthians 13
Vs.8-10 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
First they say that when the perfect comes that which is in part will be done away. They say the "PERFECT" was and is the written word of God. Here's the problem with that interpretation; The passage above says that prophesies are "in part" as well as tongues and knowledge" and when the perfect comes those things which are in part will be done away. Tell me this, "has knowledge been done away"? On the contrary knowledge is on the increase, matter of fact knowledge has doubled over and over again in the last generation. It took a great increase of knowledge to go from the Wright brothers 120 foot flight at Kitty Hawk to the flight to the moon and to put a space probe on Mars. Their arguments are so feeble that I cannot figure out how anyone can swallow it but they do to their own loss as well as the loss to the good that could be accomplished for the kingdom of God.
I will deal with another herasy in my next blog.
May God bless you and give you understanding and make you useful for His purposes.
john Martin
email justjohn@eoni.com
Friday, November 5, 2010
Speaking in other tongues vs. the Gift of Tongues
In my previous article I promised we would explore the highly controversial topic of Tongues. Tongues simply refers to "other languages". Listen when you are in a strange place among people of different origins and you will hear them speaking what may seem to be utter gibberish and if they were to listen to you speaking in English you would seem to be speaking gibberish as well. Yet the bible says that no language is without meaning but if it is not understood the speaker is a barbarian to the hearer. The main reason that there is so much controversy surrounding tongues is lack of understanding what is intended by the scriptures and the proper use of God's gifts to us. It seems these days that much of what God has given to us is either being ignored or misused or abused. Again I must ask "where are the teachers who understand the scriptures and can explain them"?
First of all when speaking in tongues is brought up the first thing that comes to mind is someone in church babbling away in a language that no one can understand and causing some people to be frightened enough or offended enough never to return. Usually when this occurs it is a misuse of a gift. To understand why I say this we must examine the gift itself. There are two entirely separate aspects of tongues that few know about or understand. On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given the entire 120 disciple present were speaking in different languages they had not learned and the crowd that gathered were amazed because they recognised these languages as their own and knew that these disciples could not have naturally been able to speak those languages. This was a multiple exercise of the Gift of Tongues that is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 among the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit. The purpose at the time was that the Holy Spirit was speaking to the hearts of the witnesses and convincing them that something supernatural was taking place which really got their attention and caused them to listen when Peter stood up to speak to them. This is example number one that if speaking out loud in tongues does not accomplish a specific purpose it probably was not prompted by God in the first place.
God is not honored by foolish outbursts. When the bible uses the term "gift of tongues" it is referring to a one time bestowing of an unknown language to accomplish a particular task and will always achieve it's purpose. On the other hand there are references to praying in the Spirit or speaking in a tongue that is for every believer. We must remember that God is not a respecter of persons and does not give one person more tools to live a holy life than another, He is truly the "equal opportunity boss".Jude 1:20 (New King James Version)
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
The scriptures are written for all people for all times and the only scriptures that are not for all Christians are addressed clearly to either a person by name or by office, such as pastor or teacher. Therefor the the admonition to pray in the Holy Spirit is for all Christians not just for those who have been given the "gift of tongues". So from this point forward I will refer to speaking in tongues or praying in tongues as that ability that is available to every christian to communicate with God on a supernatural level, whereas the Gift of Tongues is a one time dispensation given to a Spirit Filled believer to accomplish a given purpose determined by God.
Important to know is that one must experience the first before he can experience the second. In other words a believer must receive the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues first before he can expect to ever exercise the Gift of Tongues in church or a given ministry.
Another point that I can add from personal experience
is that when exercising the Gift of Tongues the language will be different than what the user is accustomed to hearing when he speaks or prays in tongues in private. That is how I know if I have heard from the Holy Spirit or not. There are times when I felt that I was to pray for someone in person for healing or some other serious problem and often I will also pray in tongues. Without fail if I have heard from the Spirit the language will be different and the need will be met but on occasion I have erred and let my own heart of compassion lead me to think I was supposed to pray for that person and had nothing happen and always my prayer language would be what I was used to hearing in private. It can be embarrassing but that is one of the ways we learn to recognize God's voice over the thoughts of our own mind.
The scriptures say that the Spirit distributes severally as He wills.
1 Corinthians 12:11 (King James Version)
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. This not only means that you can be given the ability to speak in multiple languages but that when baptised in the Holy Spirit you can be given any of the gifts at any time the Holy Spirit deems needful to accomplish God's purposes. Here is a critical point to understand. Some people having received the Holy Spirit will say "I have received the gift of healing" or "I have received the gift of discerning of spirits" or one of the other 9 gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. This is in error because the true Gift is the Gift of the Holy Spirit and the 9 actions listed are "enablements" and are distributed as the Holy Spirit wills. He can give you the gift of knowledge but it is one time for a specific reason and next may be the working of miracles but that is why people go to crusades where healing ministry is going on and some people get healed and others do not. It is the decision of the Holy Spirit every time and when man says "I have the gift of healing" and people come to be healed and it's not happening all the time then to save face they begin to resort to fakery or lay the blame on the sick person by saying they just didn't have enough faith. Ok, enough on that I am getting away from the primary topic and that is speaking in tongues as in your privat life.
The result of my personal experiences is that I don't care if I ever heard tongues spoken in church whether there was in interpreter or not. I cannot say that I have ever been blessed or encouraged by such an experience and that is because it is so little understood that it is almost always out of order or simply not God inspired in the first place.
On the other hand I am writing this article because I want to emphasise the awesome benefit that speaking in tongues in private is to our spiritual life and awareness of a personal God.1 Corinthians 14:14-15 (New King James Version)
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
1 Corinthians 14:4 (New King James Version)
4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
Ephesians 6:18 (New King James Version)
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
Jude 1:20 (New King James Version)
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
Christian who have not received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidense of speaking in tongues can only try to conjure up in their mind what the scripture means when it says "pray or praying in the Holy Spirit". It does not mean setting your mind into a serious mode and praying with fervency but praying with words you do not understand and that are provided by the Holy Spirit. You may wonder why God woould have us pray when we can't understand the words. The best answer I can come up with is that my mind is polluted and when I pray in tongues and my understanding is disconnected then I am praying the perfect prayer that is in accordance with the will of God and it will receive an answer always. How do I know this? The more I do it the better life gets. Also Romans 8:26-27 tells us what is happening. Romans 8:26-27 (New King James Version)
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
This has gotten rather long so I will stop here and continue in a new article. I will address the argument that I often hear that tongues are not for every christian.
Please pray that God will give you understanding because if you don't get your confirmation from Him you are always subject to error. God honors those who humble themselves and those whose pride tell them they can understand for themselves will be humbled by Him.1 Peter 5:5b-6 “ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”[a]
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time
John Martin
Email justjohn@eoni.com
First of all when speaking in tongues is brought up the first thing that comes to mind is someone in church babbling away in a language that no one can understand and causing some people to be frightened enough or offended enough never to return. Usually when this occurs it is a misuse of a gift. To understand why I say this we must examine the gift itself. There are two entirely separate aspects of tongues that few know about or understand. On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given the entire 120 disciple present were speaking in different languages they had not learned and the crowd that gathered were amazed because they recognised these languages as their own and knew that these disciples could not have naturally been able to speak those languages. This was a multiple exercise of the Gift of Tongues that is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 among the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit. The purpose at the time was that the Holy Spirit was speaking to the hearts of the witnesses and convincing them that something supernatural was taking place which really got their attention and caused them to listen when Peter stood up to speak to them. This is example number one that if speaking out loud in tongues does not accomplish a specific purpose it probably was not prompted by God in the first place.
God is not honored by foolish outbursts. When the bible uses the term "gift of tongues" it is referring to a one time bestowing of an unknown language to accomplish a particular task and will always achieve it's purpose. On the other hand there are references to praying in the Spirit or speaking in a tongue that is for every believer. We must remember that God is not a respecter of persons and does not give one person more tools to live a holy life than another, He is truly the "equal opportunity boss".Jude 1:20 (New King James Version)
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
The scriptures are written for all people for all times and the only scriptures that are not for all Christians are addressed clearly to either a person by name or by office, such as pastor or teacher. Therefor the the admonition to pray in the Holy Spirit is for all Christians not just for those who have been given the "gift of tongues". So from this point forward I will refer to speaking in tongues or praying in tongues as that ability that is available to every christian to communicate with God on a supernatural level, whereas the Gift of Tongues is a one time dispensation given to a Spirit Filled believer to accomplish a given purpose determined by God.
Important to know is that one must experience the first before he can experience the second. In other words a believer must receive the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues first before he can expect to ever exercise the Gift of Tongues in church or a given ministry.
Another point that I can add from personal experience
is that when exercising the Gift of Tongues the language will be different than what the user is accustomed to hearing when he speaks or prays in tongues in private. That is how I know if I have heard from the Holy Spirit or not. There are times when I felt that I was to pray for someone in person for healing or some other serious problem and often I will also pray in tongues. Without fail if I have heard from the Spirit the language will be different and the need will be met but on occasion I have erred and let my own heart of compassion lead me to think I was supposed to pray for that person and had nothing happen and always my prayer language would be what I was used to hearing in private. It can be embarrassing but that is one of the ways we learn to recognize God's voice over the thoughts of our own mind.
The scriptures say that the Spirit distributes severally as He wills.
1 Corinthians 12:11 (King James Version)
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. This not only means that you can be given the ability to speak in multiple languages but that when baptised in the Holy Spirit you can be given any of the gifts at any time the Holy Spirit deems needful to accomplish God's purposes. Here is a critical point to understand. Some people having received the Holy Spirit will say "I have received the gift of healing" or "I have received the gift of discerning of spirits" or one of the other 9 gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. This is in error because the true Gift is the Gift of the Holy Spirit and the 9 actions listed are "enablements" and are distributed as the Holy Spirit wills. He can give you the gift of knowledge but it is one time for a specific reason and next may be the working of miracles but that is why people go to crusades where healing ministry is going on and some people get healed and others do not. It is the decision of the Holy Spirit every time and when man says "I have the gift of healing" and people come to be healed and it's not happening all the time then to save face they begin to resort to fakery or lay the blame on the sick person by saying they just didn't have enough faith. Ok, enough on that I am getting away from the primary topic and that is speaking in tongues as in your privat life.
The result of my personal experiences is that I don't care if I ever heard tongues spoken in church whether there was in interpreter or not. I cannot say that I have ever been blessed or encouraged by such an experience and that is because it is so little understood that it is almost always out of order or simply not God inspired in the first place.
On the other hand I am writing this article because I want to emphasise the awesome benefit that speaking in tongues in private is to our spiritual life and awareness of a personal God.1 Corinthians 14:14-15 (New King James Version)
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.
1 Corinthians 14:4 (New King James Version)
4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.
Ephesians 6:18 (New King James Version)
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
Jude 1:20 (New King James Version)
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
Christian who have not received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidense of speaking in tongues can only try to conjure up in their mind what the scripture means when it says "pray or praying in the Holy Spirit". It does not mean setting your mind into a serious mode and praying with fervency but praying with words you do not understand and that are provided by the Holy Spirit. You may wonder why God woould have us pray when we can't understand the words. The best answer I can come up with is that my mind is polluted and when I pray in tongues and my understanding is disconnected then I am praying the perfect prayer that is in accordance with the will of God and it will receive an answer always. How do I know this? The more I do it the better life gets. Also Romans 8:26-27 tells us what is happening. Romans 8:26-27 (New King James Version)
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
This has gotten rather long so I will stop here and continue in a new article. I will address the argument that I often hear that tongues are not for every christian.
Please pray that God will give you understanding because if you don't get your confirmation from Him you are always subject to error. God honors those who humble themselves and those whose pride tell them they can understand for themselves will be humbled by Him.1 Peter 5:5b-6 “ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”[a]
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time
John Martin
Email justjohn@eoni.com
Monday, November 1, 2010
The Holy Spirit, the Christians Source of Power.
Everyone is familiar with the term "the Trinity" but few could tell you anything about it. It is called the God Head, the Three in One and many other terms. The purpose of my writing today is not to get into the doctrine of the Trinity nor nor to define it for it must be accepted by faith. To simplify it for myself I tend to think of God as an indefinable complexity beyond human capacity to understand and therefore not to spend a great deal of time pondering what is too complex for this simple mind. Scripture says there is One God and yet He is spoken of as 3 therefore I think that He has revealed Himself in 3 of His multiple and complex personalities and manifestations. I will go no further than that. However I have had much experience with the third person of the Trinity known as the Holy Spirit and I can assure you He is real and He is vital to genuine Christianity. The scripture says that no one can even say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. He is that vital, you cannot even open your mouth to proclaim Jesus unless He permits it.
I can testify this day that after 34 years as a Christian that without the baptism in the Holy Spirit I would not be serving God. I would have dropped out long ago.
It is the Holy Spirit that brings life to your belief and motivates you to continue and press into Christ. Jesus spoke of Him as the Helper and the Comforter and He is both and so much more. As Christians we need HELP and we need COMFORT. The road to heaven is a narrow and rocky path and many things will need to be removed from your life to prepare you to live in the presence of a Holy God and His saints in perfect harmony of eternity and no one can endure the journey without the working of the Holy Spirit through His "helping" and His "comforting".
In the Gospel of John Jesus taught about the coming of the Holy Spirit. One day He was talking with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. He asked her for a drink of water and she said that Jews didn't even speak with Samaritans so why is He asking her for water. His reply was that if she had a clue who He was that she would be asking Him for living water.John 4:10-15 (New King James Version)
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
In this passage He does not use the term Holy Spirit but we know that He is speaking of the Holy Spirit as living water because of another passage where He speaks of the Spirit as water as a life giving force.
John 7:37-39 (New King James Version)
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing[a] in Him would receive; for the Holy[b] Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
In both passages Jesus is inviting believers to come and drink water that He is offering but with very different results. In the first passage He is offering living water that becomes a well that provides eternal life. Now consider what a well is. It is a static source of water that must be drawn out. One who is thirsty must use a bucket on a rope and let it down into the water and bring it back up and drink it to get a benefit from it, hence the beneficiary must be directly involved and it benefits him only.
The second passage speaks of water in a very different term as a river. Consider a river and it's action. A river is not static, it is in motion and is an unstopable force. A river has a destination and that is the ocean. Eventually every river reaches the ocean though it flow through many different banks and channels it will always reach it's destination. The power of a river is enormous, you can build a dam and back it up into a great reservour but if you don't provide an outlet it will simply overflow or go around the obstacle. Also a river provides life giving benefits wherever it flows. It may flow through a barren desert but there will be lush foliage on it's banks and people can draw from it to irrigate their crops. Even when it is in flood mode there are benefits because it brings silt that makes rich new topsoil.
Now most churches today have rejected this aspect of the Holy Spirit known as the Baptism in the Holy Spirit because of the seemingly uncontrolable aspect of it. Man wants control but God says "if you want My best you cannot be in control, you must surrender control to Me". In order to justify their actions the theologians have twisted scripture to say that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was only to get the early church going and it was no longer needed after we received the written Word (the New Testament scriptures). It is simply not so and can be proven by the scriptures themselves. Now my purpose today is not to argue the point nor to prove the validity but rather to explain His ministry for those who hunger for more of God.
It is taught that every Christian receives the Holy Spirit at conversion and that is not true and here's the reason why. Conversion is not salvation. Conversion is the result of someone convincing you about certain facts that cause you to decide to go to church and live a certain way but never transact business with God whereby you surrender your entire being to Him and His purposes. Salvation comes when you confess you are hopelessly corrupt and can do nothing to save yourself and throw yourself entirely on God's mercy and ask Him to save you. The result is markedly different because at this point you will truly understand what is means to be 'born again" because that is what it will feel like, as though you are not even the same person. It is the Holy Spirit entering your heart that causes you to be born again and that is the living water that Jesus promised that would become a well springing up into everlasting life. But it is still just a personal experience where your name is now written down in the Lambs Book of Life. Now comes the journey and you are going to need a lot of help, not just to get there but to bear some fruit along the way and you cannot do that on your own. You must ask for the baptism in the Holy Spirit and here are the scriptures.
Luke 11:10-13 (New King James Version)
10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread[a] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Let me show you the progression according to the scripture. We know that on the night that Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane that he left Peter, James and John and went a distance away to pray by Himself and before leaving them He told them to watch and pray but when He returned He found them sleeping. He admonished them and repeated the instruction and went off again and prayed in such agony that He actually sweat blood, yet on His return He found them sleeping again despite His distress. This is a good example of normal human weakness. However let, see what happens when they are Born Again. This occurs on the evening of the day of Jesus ressurrection.
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled,[c] for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Though the disciples had spent 3 years in close company with Jesus they were still without a spiritual connection. When Jesus breathed on them and said "receive the Holy Spirit I believe He came into them just as He does when a person today repents and totally surrenders his life to the Savour.
Theologians look at it differently and many say that Jesus was instructing them to receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost which was still in the future but I believe the evidence shows otherwise and here's why; In the Garden they couldn't stay awake and when Jesus was arrested they all fled and in the court of the High Priest when Jesus was being abused someone asked Peter 3 times if he was a disciple of Jesus and he denied it and I'm sure it was simply from fright that he too would be arrested and tortured. However the scripture above shows Jesus on the evening of ressurection day coming to the disciples and breathing on them and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit. 40 days later He is with them on the Mount of Olives and tells them to wait in the city and do not leave until they receive the promise of the Father. Then He is taken up into heaven. They then enter the city and gather together in an upper room and pray together for 10 days before the Spirit comes down in visible form as a mighty wind and tongues of fire upon their heads. It was the staying power of the first manifestation of the Spirit in their life that gave them the ability and will to wait 10 days when previously they could not even spend one hour in prayer when it was obvious that their friend and teacher was in a battle for His life. But that is not the end of the story because on that day timid Peter stood up and gave a sermon that cause 3000 people to be saved and after that he performed many miracles and the power of the Spirit was so great on him that his very shadow falling on the sick caused them to be healed.
I must ask why would anyone want to reject such power when it is still available to us as believers? As I have stated before, a good part of it is the issue of control and the desire to keep it for ourselves. Another major issue is that of speaking in other tongues. Many consider it to be foolish gibberish and sometimes it is but let's examine it carefully and I will do that in the next blog.
I can testify this day that after 34 years as a Christian that without the baptism in the Holy Spirit I would not be serving God. I would have dropped out long ago.
It is the Holy Spirit that brings life to your belief and motivates you to continue and press into Christ. Jesus spoke of Him as the Helper and the Comforter and He is both and so much more. As Christians we need HELP and we need COMFORT. The road to heaven is a narrow and rocky path and many things will need to be removed from your life to prepare you to live in the presence of a Holy God and His saints in perfect harmony of eternity and no one can endure the journey without the working of the Holy Spirit through His "helping" and His "comforting".
In the Gospel of John Jesus taught about the coming of the Holy Spirit. One day He was talking with a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. He asked her for a drink of water and she said that Jews didn't even speak with Samaritans so why is He asking her for water. His reply was that if she had a clue who He was that she would be asking Him for living water.John 4:10-15 (New King James Version)
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
In this passage He does not use the term Holy Spirit but we know that He is speaking of the Holy Spirit as living water because of another passage where He speaks of the Spirit as water as a life giving force.
John 7:37-39 (New King James Version)
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing[a] in Him would receive; for the Holy[b] Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
In both passages Jesus is inviting believers to come and drink water that He is offering but with very different results. In the first passage He is offering living water that becomes a well that provides eternal life. Now consider what a well is. It is a static source of water that must be drawn out. One who is thirsty must use a bucket on a rope and let it down into the water and bring it back up and drink it to get a benefit from it, hence the beneficiary must be directly involved and it benefits him only.
The second passage speaks of water in a very different term as a river. Consider a river and it's action. A river is not static, it is in motion and is an unstopable force. A river has a destination and that is the ocean. Eventually every river reaches the ocean though it flow through many different banks and channels it will always reach it's destination. The power of a river is enormous, you can build a dam and back it up into a great reservour but if you don't provide an outlet it will simply overflow or go around the obstacle. Also a river provides life giving benefits wherever it flows. It may flow through a barren desert but there will be lush foliage on it's banks and people can draw from it to irrigate their crops. Even when it is in flood mode there are benefits because it brings silt that makes rich new topsoil.
Now most churches today have rejected this aspect of the Holy Spirit known as the Baptism in the Holy Spirit because of the seemingly uncontrolable aspect of it. Man wants control but God says "if you want My best you cannot be in control, you must surrender control to Me". In order to justify their actions the theologians have twisted scripture to say that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was only to get the early church going and it was no longer needed after we received the written Word (the New Testament scriptures). It is simply not so and can be proven by the scriptures themselves. Now my purpose today is not to argue the point nor to prove the validity but rather to explain His ministry for those who hunger for more of God.
It is taught that every Christian receives the Holy Spirit at conversion and that is not true and here's the reason why. Conversion is not salvation. Conversion is the result of someone convincing you about certain facts that cause you to decide to go to church and live a certain way but never transact business with God whereby you surrender your entire being to Him and His purposes. Salvation comes when you confess you are hopelessly corrupt and can do nothing to save yourself and throw yourself entirely on God's mercy and ask Him to save you. The result is markedly different because at this point you will truly understand what is means to be 'born again" because that is what it will feel like, as though you are not even the same person. It is the Holy Spirit entering your heart that causes you to be born again and that is the living water that Jesus promised that would become a well springing up into everlasting life. But it is still just a personal experience where your name is now written down in the Lambs Book of Life. Now comes the journey and you are going to need a lot of help, not just to get there but to bear some fruit along the way and you cannot do that on your own. You must ask for the baptism in the Holy Spirit and here are the scriptures.
Luke 11:10-13 (New King James Version)
10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread[a] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Let me show you the progression according to the scripture. We know that on the night that Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane that he left Peter, James and John and went a distance away to pray by Himself and before leaving them He told them to watch and pray but when He returned He found them sleeping. He admonished them and repeated the instruction and went off again and prayed in such agony that He actually sweat blood, yet on His return He found them sleeping again despite His distress. This is a good example of normal human weakness. However let, see what happens when they are Born Again. This occurs on the evening of the day of Jesus ressurrection.
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled,[c] for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Though the disciples had spent 3 years in close company with Jesus they were still without a spiritual connection. When Jesus breathed on them and said "receive the Holy Spirit I believe He came into them just as He does when a person today repents and totally surrenders his life to the Savour.
Theologians look at it differently and many say that Jesus was instructing them to receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost which was still in the future but I believe the evidence shows otherwise and here's why; In the Garden they couldn't stay awake and when Jesus was arrested they all fled and in the court of the High Priest when Jesus was being abused someone asked Peter 3 times if he was a disciple of Jesus and he denied it and I'm sure it was simply from fright that he too would be arrested and tortured. However the scripture above shows Jesus on the evening of ressurection day coming to the disciples and breathing on them and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit. 40 days later He is with them on the Mount of Olives and tells them to wait in the city and do not leave until they receive the promise of the Father. Then He is taken up into heaven. They then enter the city and gather together in an upper room and pray together for 10 days before the Spirit comes down in visible form as a mighty wind and tongues of fire upon their heads. It was the staying power of the first manifestation of the Spirit in their life that gave them the ability and will to wait 10 days when previously they could not even spend one hour in prayer when it was obvious that their friend and teacher was in a battle for His life. But that is not the end of the story because on that day timid Peter stood up and gave a sermon that cause 3000 people to be saved and after that he performed many miracles and the power of the Spirit was so great on him that his very shadow falling on the sick caused them to be healed.
I must ask why would anyone want to reject such power when it is still available to us as believers? As I have stated before, a good part of it is the issue of control and the desire to keep it for ourselves. Another major issue is that of speaking in other tongues. Many consider it to be foolish gibberish and sometimes it is but let's examine it carefully and I will do that in the next blog.
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