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Gifts of the Holy Spirit 3
On the gifts of the Holy Spirit
Section 3
Charismania
Introduction:
Although in the preceding sections, much has been brought forward to strengthen the Biblical basis for the Pentecostal/Charismatic teaching of spiritual gifts in the church, it is also clear to many observers that a great deal of chaotic and conflicting teaching and practice exists in this movement. On the surface, much of the criticism advanced by Cessationists may seem justified. A distinction must be made, however, between problems with abuse or misuse of spiritual phenomena, and criticism of the Biblical gifts themselves. In this final section, therefore, I should like to deal with this issue of excesses.
How to recognise the work of the Holy Spirit
Many passages found in the New Testament warn us that the end of this present age will be characterised by unprecedented deception. Jesus told his disciples: “For false christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.” (Mat 24: 24-25, see also 2 Thess 2: 9-12). This should not cause us as Christians to panic, as we are promised the gift and ability of discernment if we remain alert and close to the Lord (e.g. 1 Cor 2: 14-15; 12: 10).
It seems to be the case, however, that the majority of Christians totally ignore these warnings, taking the attitude that if something apparently supernatural is going on, particularly if it is happening in church, then it must be from God, because someone, somewhere, like the leader, pastor, prophet, teacher, apostle or Pope, will have it all figured out. Nothing could be further from the truth in most cases!
In the light of the above, I should like to look at a number of very clear Biblical principles on how to recognise a genuine work of the Holy Spirit, and hence it should be easier to spot phenomena that are not from God, should they occur.
It must be mentioned first of all that the only basis we have for knowing what the truth about spiritual manifestations is, is the Word of God. Good feelings, or even miracles, do not determine truth. The root of most of the error in this regard is that people tend to chase after feelings and miracles as indicative that God is at work. There are, however, three possible sources for certain “manifestations” happening to people, and these are the Spirit of God, an evil spirit, or the person’s own mind, spirit or soul. Any one of these could imaginably be a source of nice feelings.
Let us consider, then, what we should expect to accompany a genuine work of the Holy Spirit. I am indebted to Derek Prince and Andrew Strom for some of the following arguments (see Bibliography).
1. The Holy Spirit is holy
The first thing to mention is that as a member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit is holy, and His presence and work will eventually result in holiness of life and conduct. Jesus said that when the Spirit came, he would convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement (John 16: 7-8). If the Holy Spirit is at work, people will become aware they are sinners, they are subject to judgement, and are in need of forgiveness in order to become acceptable to God. Conviction of sin then leads people to repentance. When Peter’s hearers on the day of Pentecost learnt that they had killed the Messiah, they were, “cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2: 37). The Philippian gaoler, “fell trembling before Paul and Silas,” and asked them, “‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’” (Acts 16: 29-30).
Once repentance has taken place, and Jesus Christ has been accepted as Saviour, then the Holy Spirit can give ‘refreshment’ (Acts 3: 19) and assurance of forgiveness, salvation and sonship: “By him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (Rom 8: 15-16).
These above features have characterised many genuine revivals in the past, whether they have been of a “charismatic” character, or whether they have not. As a result of John Wesley’s preaching for example, grown men would fall to the floor in agony of conviction, and would not be able to get up again until they had repented of their sins and received the joy of reconciliation with God.
With today’s widespread gospel of, “Ask Jesus into your heart if you want an exciting life, and hopefully get lots of money too,” this vital step of genuine conviction and repentance may well be missing. This is not necessarily the fault of the “sinners” joining the church, as they are just not hearing what would be considered to be the unpopular message of the true gospel.
So it can happen that people in their still unrepentant state, though they may have been told they are now Christians, are looking for some sort of spiritual experience to give them a good feeling and to have a party. Under such circumstances, what they experience can by no means be guaranteed to come from the Holy Spirit.
2. The work of the Holy Spirit is inextricably linked with the work of Jesus Christ
It is notable in the teaching of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, that not one of the members of the Trinity works in total independence from the others, and each one seeks to glorify the others and not himself. The Father, for instance, created the world by means of the Son (Col. 1: 15-16; Heb 1: 2) and the Spirit (Gen 1: 2; Psalm 104: 30). The Father pointed to the Son, with whom he is well pleased (Mat 3: 16-17; 17: 5), and the Son always did what the Father commanded (Jn 5: 19-20; 8: 28-29).
Similarly, the Holy Spirit did not just decide to come of his own accord, but he was sent to the earth by the Father and the Son. Jesus gave this promise, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth. (Jn 14: 16-17), and Peter said on the day of Pentecost, “ Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.” (Acts 2: 32-33). And when the Holy Spirit comes he will reveal what the Son gives to him, and always bring glory to the Son: “He will bring glory to me by taking what is mine and making it known to you,” “When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” (John 16: 14; 15: 26).
Because of these things, when we wish to experience the work of the Holy Spirit, we should, for instance, ask Jesus to fill someone with the Holy Spirit, as he is the one who baptises in the Spirit (Mark 1. 7-8; John 1: 32-34), or we should ask the Father in Jesus’ name (Luke 11: 13). The Holy Spirit does not seek his own glory, does not desire worship, he should probably not be addressed directly, and he always exalts Jesus, drawing attention to his person and work, at least as far as Biblical precedent is concerned.
Two possible exceptions to this could be raised. In the Authorised Version of the Bible, 1 Peter 4: 14 says, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: in their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” It appears, therefore, that we should glorify the Holy Spirit after all. The phrase in italics, however, is missing from the oldest, best manuscripts, and for this reason, it is not included in newer Bible translations.
In the case of the dry bones, the prophet Ezekiel addresses the Spirit, and tells him to come (Ezek 37: 9-10). He only does this, however, at the express command of God, and furthermore he is prophesying to the Spirit here, not praying to him or worshipping him.
For this reason, we should probably not resort to the practice of asking the Holy Spirit to come and fill us. Although doing so should probably not be considered a serious sin, at best we would be “disregarding heavenly protocol,” as Derek Prince puts it 11, and at worst we may be in danger of leaving Jesus out of the formula. And if we do this, who knows what spirit may turn up?
3. Manifestations of the Spirit
With all the supposed “manifestations” of the Spirit occurring nowadays, perhaps it would be useful to check if the Bible has anything to say about such things. The expression “manifestation of the Spirit” does in fact occur in the New Testament (Greek: h fanerwsiõ tou pneumatoõ – hé phanerósis tou pneumatos) so it is worth while noting what this might be. The phrase occurs in 1 Corinthians 12: 7, where the gifts of the Spirit are listed. We have already discussed these in section 2, and they are: the message of wisdom, the message of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues. (1 Cor 12: 8-10).
As has already been stated, where these gifts are manifested, and the content is tested by and is found to be in conformity with the word of God, then we can be reassured that we are dealing with the work of the Holy Spirit. It could be mentioned in passing, that although the Holy Spirit does not send himself and does not glorify himself, he is the one who decides who to distribute his gifts to on each particular occasion, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” (1 Cor 12: 11).
Taking this list as a basis then, how do we assess the series of strange manifestations that often occur in “charismatic” circles nowadays? Caution must be exercised here, that we do not reject everything out of hand because it is “unusual” – God is creative, and 1 Cor 12: 8-10 is probably to be taken as a guideline and not an exhaustive catalogue. The prophets in the Old Testament, for instance, had to do some very strange things, which actually were from God: one married an immoral woman (Hosea 1-2), another lay on his side for over three years (Ezek 4), and yet another buried a belt in a rocky crevice (Jer 13: 1-6). People falling off their seats under conviction of sin during a time of revival is not actually mentioned in the Bible as a work of the Holy Spirit either. When assessing the source of certain occurrences, however, it is worth asking the following questions:
(a) Is there any point or purpose to what is going on? Is Jesus glorified? Is the gospel being confirmed by signs? Are people’s needs being met, for instance for healing or deliverance? Or is the whole thing just a chaotic mess, about which outsiders are going to think that everyone has gone crazy? (cf. 1 Cor 14: 23). For instance, if someone is healed of a physical ailment, this would fulfil a number of the purposes mentioned above. On the other hand, I personally do not really see the point of gold dust falling out of the air, or even of people just running aimlessly around the room.
(b) Are genuine, Biblical gifts of the Spirit being manifested? Or is it a case of a whole bunch of other stuff instead, which is intrinsically more difficult to test? For instance, what does it mean if, supposedly miraculously, oil appears on people’s hands?
(c) Does what is happening, although it may be unusual, testify to the work of a Spirit who is holy? Or are people being induced to do things which are ugly, distorted, or degrading for them is some way? What is particularly concerning here, is not necessarily displays of emotion, like laughing or crying, but rather the strange, jerking movements that are sometimes seen, and especially the examples of animal behaviour, such as barking, mooing, or strutting around and pecking like a chicken.
There is no example or precedent in the Bible where someone, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, began to behave like or imitate an animal. God created man to rule over the world, including the animal kingdom, and to subdue it (Gen 1. 27), not to take on its characteristics. There is an example of God having an animal speak like a man (Balaam’s donkey, Num 22: 1-22), but not of a man making animal noises. When King Nebuchadnezzar lived like an ox for seven years (Dan 4), this was the result of God’s judgement on his pride, not his blessing.
4. What kind of fruit does it produce?
We must also ask the question, what is the long term fruit in the life of a person, with whom “manifestations” have occurred? After all, what was the point of someone falling on the floor if they are exactly the same when they stand up? The question of fruit has already been touched on in other sections, but let us consider it in more detail here. In the New Testament, the fruit in someone’s life refers to the kind of character a person has, and both good and bad fruit is mentioned.
Good fruit, in other words the development of good character traits, is to be considered a work of the Holy Spirit according to Galatians chapter five, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5: 22). The production of this kind of fruit in someone’s life is a work of the Spirit, but this is a different work from the distribution of gifts. The difference between the two can be pictured by thinking of two different kinds of tree, and I am indebted to Pauline Edwards for this illustration.
The first is a Christmas tree with presents hanging on it. The gifts are placed there by the giver so they appear instantly, they do not grow there, their nature does not depend on the type of tree, and they are freely given, not worked for or earned. These represent the gifts of the Spirit as listed in 1 Cor 12. The reception of a gift does not depend primarily on the goodness or most especially on the maturity of the recipient. (It does depend on faith, however, see Gal 3: 1-3 and Rom 12: 6). This is why a Christian who is five minutes old may well be able to speak in tongues and/or prophesy (see Gal 3: 2 and Acts 19: 1-7 again). As a corollary, the fact that someone is able to move in the gifts is not to be considered a measure of that person’s Christian maturity. This has already been discussed in section 1.
The other is a fruit tree. Fruit grows on the tree, and the type of fruit does depend on the nature of the tree. Grapes are not picked from thorn bushes (Mat 7: 16). Fruit does not appear instantly, but it does grow gradually if the tree is actually a fruit tree. This type of tree can represent the Christian life with development of the good character traits as listed, for example, in Galatians 5. These begin to appear in a person’s life after repentance, though they may take time to develop. The presence of fruit, however, is indicative of whether the person is a disciple, and it is also a measure of the Christian maturity of the person. This is clear from passages such as the following: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them.” (Mat 7: 15-16). “By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Jn 13: 35). “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Cor 13: 2). “No-one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are.” (1 Jn 3: 9-10). “Then I saw another beast, coming out the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon… And he performed great and miraculous signs…” (Rev 13: 11, 13). This last quotation shows that even the false prophet in the last days will do great miracles (have gifts), but will be recognisable by his character (bad fruit).
The development of fruit in a Christian’s life is, of course, not just something that occurs automatically if someone happens to “give his life to the Lord” on some occasion and subsequently does nothing else about it. It depends on “remaining in Christ,” which involves walking with him in obedience. Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me… If you obey my commands you will remain in my love…” (Jn 15: 4, 10). And just as in the case of the gifts, the new birth, and pretty well everything else in the Christian life, the growth of fruit is also a matter of faith: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Gal 5: 6). It is also true, that having been born again, a person does not only have a new, spiritual nature, but the old, carnal nature still remains and these two are in conflict. “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” (Gal 5: 17). Nevertheless, the Biblical authors clearly expect the normal state of affairs to be that the believer will fight and overcome the carnal nature, so that the spiritual nature will dominate. This is to be done by faith and with the help of the Holy Spirit: “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will in no way gratify the desires of the sinful nature… Those who belong to Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires…” (Gal 5: 16, 24); “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation – but it is not the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live…” (Rom 8: 12-13).
In contrast to the fruit of the Spirit, the acts of the sinful nature, which Paul refers to as the flesh (Greek: sarx), are also listed: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” (Gal 5: 19-21). As well as specifically physical sins, it can be seen that transgressions in the area of soul are also included in this concept, involving the intellect, the emotions and the will.
The idea of someone being controlled or driven by the soul rather than the Spirit occurs elsewhere in the New Testament writings too, and it is clear this is not at all positive. “The man without the Spirit (Greek: psuchikos – of the soul) does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (Greek: pneumatikos). (1 Cor 2: 14). “But if you harbour bitter envy and ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven, but is earthly, unspiritual (Greek: psuchikos), demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and every evil practice.” (Js 3: 15). The following verse is also relevant here: “But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts (Greek: psuchikos) and do not have the Spirit.” (Jude 17-19).
Unfortunately, the type of carnal attitudes referred to here are not totally lacking from those who claim to be “Christians”, even from those who are not “charismatic.” Nevertheless, according to the Bible, these things belong to the territory of the flesh, are not of the Spirit of God, and according to the James passage quoted above, could even involve demonic activity.
The point of this being, if the long-term fruit produced in someone’s life more resembles that of the flesh than that of the Spirit, then it does not matter what gifts they may have, or what manifestations they have experienced, Scripture would lead us to believe that they are not full of the Holy Spirit, even if they may have been at some time in the past. What occurred could have been of the flesh, of the soul, or even as a result of demonic intervention.
Just to summarise what we have discussed on recognising the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is sent by the Father in the name of Jesus, and by his activities he will lift up and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Any Spirit which denies Jesus or draws attention away from him towards anything else, whatever that may be and however pleasant it may seem, has not been sent by God.
The work of the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin which results in repentance before giving joy, peace and refreshment. Any activities which provide some “spiritual experience” without repentance and obedience to Christ, even if it is a good feeling and appears to be supernatural, is to be regarded with suspicion.
Any spiritual experience that does not begin to produce the fruit of the Spirit as indicated in Gal 5 is unlikely to be from God, and may well be harmful in the long term.
I should just like to finish off by offering yet another warning. The beginnings of the Pentecostal revival were rooted in various holiness movements, and so those involved knew all about living righteously and obedience to Christ even before they were filled with the Holy Spirit. One hundred years later, this is not necessarily the case any longer. There was a prophecy recorded from the 1906 ‘Azusa Street’ Revival, which is quoted by Andrew Strom: “In the last days three things will happen in the great Pentecostal Movement: 1) There will be an overemphasis on power, rather than on righteousness; 2) there will be an overemphasis on praise, to a God they no longer pray to; 3) there will be an overemphasis on the gifts of the Spirit – rather than on the Lordship of Christ.” 12
This is rather tricky, of course, and much more difficult to spot than the simple case of carnal behaviour, as discussed above. All these six things mentioned here are important. It is good if we can preach the gospel with power; it is a desirable and Biblical practice to praise God; it is useful if the spiritual gifts are in operation in the church. Even so, the three things that will be neglected are much more vital issues, and in fact they lay a foundation for the other three.
Let us be careful, then, to return to a life of prayer, holiness and obedience, so that the world can truly see Jesus’ disciples, and the genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit can be manifested amongst us.
Footnotes:
11. Prince, Derek, Protection from Deception, ch. 1.
12. Quoted by Andrew Strom in The Coming Great Reformation, ch. 3.
Bibliography:
Conner, Kevin J., Malmin, Kenneth P, The Covenants, City Bible Publishing, Portland, 1997
Harris, Ralph W., Wenn der Geist redet…, Leuchter-Verlag EG, Erzhausen, 1974
Legrand, Fernand L.A., A Levegőbe Fogtok Beszélni, Evangéliumi Kiadó
Liardon, Roberts, A Hit emberei, A hit gyülekezete, Budapest, 1996
Osborn, T. L., Healing the sick, Harrison House, Tulsa, 1992
Petts, David, The Holy Spirit, MFP Design and Print, Manchester, 1998
Prince Derek, Protection from Deception, 1996, On line,
http://www.geocities.com/lostorfound_2/Deception.htm
Strom, Andrew, The Coming Great Reformation, 1996, On line:
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20th Century Tongues, Faith or Fake?, On line:
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