Hebraic
Musing – Is the Power of the Holy
Spirit Evident in Our Churches?
I was just told
“If every Bible believer were empowered with the Holy Spirit, congregations
would be on fire.”* T/F? Are we settling for much less than what Almighty
God has provided for us? And Biblically
savvy Church-goers I’ve met acknowledge that the church they attend is NOT accomplishing
anything like the accomplishments and growth of the first century church! So what has changed?!?!
What do we know
about the early church? In Acts 2 they
were all together and in “one accord”
when they were “filled with the Holy
Spirit.” What does it mean to be
in “One Accord”? Are we there yet? Are church fellowships and denominations
working together for the Kingdom of God?
How important is the felt presence of the Holy Spirit?
Repentance! David wrote “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within
me. Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me. ♫” Psalm 51:10-11 ESV I love that song! And David spoke this in the midst of repenting
for his behavior regarding Bathsheba and the killing of her husband. Repentance and the Holy Spirit seem to be
related! Example – In Acts 2 Peter was
filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately we have record of him preaching
Jesus. What happened? “Now when they heard this they were cut to
the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what
shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
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.’” Acts 2:37-39 NKJV
Gifts! The “Spirit of the Lord” is described as wisdom,
understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear
of the Lord. There are the nine
spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 – Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Healing,
Miraculous Powers, Distinguishing between spirits and three “utterance” gifts -
Prophecy, Speaking in different kinds of Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues. Might we consider these as gifts provided by
the Holy Spirit living in us? Some of
these “gifts” are troublesome in some churches; but what does the Bible say? See the Addendum following for more details.
Power! Jesus Himself promised power in Acts 1:8. “But you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and
you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth.” NIV What power(s) will the H.S. provide you
with? Here’s just one of many examples – “Whenever you are
arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time,
for it is not you speaking, but the
Holy Spirit.” Mark 13:11 NIV
Years ago I
heard that leaders of both the Catholic and the Lutheran church conducted a
conference to settle their different views on the significance of Jesus’ mother
Mary. After much discussion back and
forth they still did not agree. However
the Catholics did admit they had given too much attention to Mary; and the
Lutherans acknowledged that they had not given enough recognition to Mary. In the same way, do we have denominations and
churches that have given either too much or too little attention to the role of
the Holy Spirit’s operation in our churches, and in our lives?
Point(s)
to Ponder**
Is
the church of Jesus Christ in “one accord”?
Which
comes first, Repentance or the infilling of the Holy Spirit?
Does
the church preach repentance often enough for people
to call on and recognize the need for the Holy Spirit’s gifting?
What
is the role of each of the “gifts” of the Holy Spirit in evangelizing the
world?
♫ “Spirit Of The Living God, Fall
Afresh On Me. Spirit Of The Living God, Fall Afresh On Me.
Melt
Me, Mold Me, Fill Me, Use Me, Spirit Of The Living God, Fall Afresh On Me.”♫
Yosef a.k.a. Joe Brusherd
November
10, 2020
Author:
“Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring
the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)” Weekly “Hebraic Musings”
* Inspired
by and excerpted from “The Presence of
the Holy Spirit” by Johanna
Shager Hocker, Oct.8, 2020
** My Testimony - I accepted Jesus Christ at a Charismatic Catholic event -
Cursillo Aug.25, 1977
ADDENDUM re
Spiritual Gifts
Listings of Spiritual Gifts - The
New Testament contains several lists of spiritual gifts, most in the Pauline
epistles. While each list is unique, there is overlap.
Romans 12:6–8
1.
Prophecy
2.
Serving
3.
Teaching
4.
Exhortation
5.
Giving
6.
Leadership
7.
Mercy
1 Corinthians
12:8–10
1.
Word
of wisdom
2.
Word
of knowledge
3.
Faith
4.
Gifts
of healings
5.
Miracles
6.
Prophecy
7.
Distinguishing
between spirits
8.
Tongues
9.
Interpretation
of tongues
1 Corinthians
12:8–10
1.
Apostle
2.
Prophet
3.
Teacher
4.
Miracles
5.
Kinds
of healings
6.
Helps
7.
Administration
8.
Tongues
Ephesians 4:11
1.
Apostle
2.
Prophet
3.
Evangelist
4.
Pastor
5.
Teacher
Ephesians 4:11
1.
Whoever
speaks
2.
Whoever
renders service[10]
Paul explains the purpose and role of
Spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians
12:1-7
“Now about spiritual gifts,
brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were
pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God
says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the
Holy Spirit.4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There
are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all
men.7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the
common good.”
Then Paul identifies the Nine Spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians
12: 8-10: "To one there is given
through the Spirit a message of wisdom,
to another a message of knowledge by
means of the same Spirit, to another faith
by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing
by that one Spirit, to another miraculous
powers, to another prophecy, to
another distinguishing between spirits,
to another speaking in different kinds
of tongues, and to still another the interpretation
of tongues." (NIV)
The
seven gifts are also found in the Book of Isaiah 11:1-3. The passage refers
to the characteristics of a Messianic figure understood by Christians to be
Jesus Christ empowered by the "Spirit of the Lord". There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the LORD shall
rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom
and understanding, The Spirit
of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear
of the LORD. 3 His delight
is in the fear of the LORD,” Isaiah 11:1-3 NKJV
Three Utterance Gifts -
The gift of tongues is the God-given
ability to speak in languages that you do not understand, and to speak at your
own will.
The gift of the interpretation of
tongues is the God-given ability to bring forth in the language of your
understanding the sum and substance of what has been spoken in another or
unknown tongue.
The gift of prophesy, the product of
the operation of which constitutes the testimony of Jesus, is the God-given
ability to bring forth in your own language a message from God to the people
that is always unto edification, exhortation and comfort. These three are referred to as utterance gifts
because that is their mode of operation. They are also referred to as “worship gifts”
as they are principally used in the worship of God. They are also referred to as inspirational
because their use is to inspire both the user and they that hear.
Biblical Support for use of Utterance
Gifts:
The gift of
tongues is the God-given ability to speak in other tongues at will. See I Corinthians 12:10 “…to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another
the interpretation of tongues.”
When we say that
you speak with “other tongues”, we mean that you speak with tongues (languages)
that you do not comprehend. Any language that you do not understand is “another
tongue” to you. This is made very plain
in the following reference wherein the tongue spoken is referred to as
“unknown”.
I Corinthians 14:2
“For anyone who speaks in a tongue
does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters
mysteries with his spirit.” NIV
14:4
“He who speaks in a tongue edifies
himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”
14:13-14
“For this reason anyone who speaks
in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says.
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays,
but my mind is unfruitful.”
14:19
“But in the church I would rather
speak five intelligible words to instruct others
than
ten thousand words in a tongue.”
14:27-28
“If anyone speaks in a tongue,
two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time,
and
someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should
keep quiet in the church
and
speak to himself and God.”
Charismatic and
Pentecostal Christians believe that the charismata were foretold in the Book of Joel (2:28-30) “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and
daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will
see visions. Even on my servants,
both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and
on the earth,…” Joel 2:28-30 NIV
And Jesus promised this in the Gospel
of Mark. “And
these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out
demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with
their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all;
they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Mark 16:17–18
This promise was fulfilled on the Day
of Pentecost and elsewhere as the church spread. In order to correct abuses
concerning the spiritual gifts at Corinth, Paul devoted much attention to
spiritual gifts in his First Epistle to the Corinthians (chapters 12–14).
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