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"Woe
is me, for I am undone!" -Isa
6:5a In the quote above, Isaiah uses the Hebrew word "DAW-MAW" that the translators render as "UNDONE". The Strong's number is 1820 & the definition implies "speechless", -yet speechless can't be the precise definition (because he continues to talk). The next thing the prophet explains about his "undoneness" is that the reason for it is, "because I am a man of unclean lips". In other words, Isaiah is saying that his speech process is corrupt (as is everyone else's) & as a result he is unable to articulate the vision of God's presence in the temple perfectly (hence, undone). Undone. Imperfect. Incomplete. Lacking. Illegal. What the man saw, he could not explain in a way
that would cause a change in the listener in the same manner that truly
understanding it would. Imagine: He's in the temple & has a
vision of God that he realizes that he will be unable to articulate -
hence he will fail to impact any lives with his testimony. He
realized what Paul said to those in Corinth: "The kingdom of God is
not a matter of talk - but power." The coal (which was heated from the very specific fire that burned on the altar); --wasn't of any common flame. Application of the coal to Isaiah's mouth (or "peh" also a Hebrew consonant), -took care of his foul speech issue & also took away the predisposition (iniquity) for it. And that's amazing - implications considered. It's also foreshadowing of the gospel message & plan. The book of Acts in unique as to the fact that it is the only book in the Bible to contain the actual sermons given by the apostles in preaching the gospel; --& it contains the detailed accounts about those people who responded in the affirmative to what they heard. That is important because nothing takes the place of actual examples when attempting to lay meaning to connected texts. For instance, -which would you prefer: Somebody's written theory of how to build a fire without matches; -or an account that details precisely what somebody else did in order to build that fire? Theology like "The Romans Road" commonly used to describe "salvation" is mere theory - a combination of Scriptures used to explain what's espoused by the party using "The Romans Road" to build some set of intellectual points about salvation via the Gospel. Acts contains the actual accounts of people being saved as they responded to the Gospel. If "The Romans Road" is sound theology, -it should be in harmony with the Book of Acts. The problem is: It's NOT. Let me be clear: Nowhere in the Book of Acts is there any example of anyone asking "Jesus to forgive their sins & be their Lord". Nowhere. The actual examples are quite different & far more life altering. So, in whom have you actually trusted? Let's find out. According to the Scripture, there is one Lord, one faith & one baptism. Since God is not the author of confusion,
that makes sense. The examples of people responding to the gospel
message in Acts are found in chapters 2, 8, 10-11, 18-19. I expect that
you'll read them to become familiar with these accounts. After all:
"An empty-headed man will gain wisdom when a donkey teaches the
lesson." -Job The Apostles were picked by Jesus himself, and they were with Jesus continuously for the duration of his ministry. They had access to Jesus when nobody else did & if your read the gospels, -they often questioned him privately about things he spoke of in public (in order to get deeper insight). My point is self-evident: These guys were the ones given more insight into God's plan than anyone else in Jesus's circle of contacts. And he prepared them for the mission after his ascension. God's plan wasn't 'half-baked'. It was meticulous and every contingency accounted for. The Church age begins in the Book of Acts (not the Gospels - as the 1st 4 books of the New-Testament actually occurred in the Old Covenant). The New Covenant was ushered in -in Acts chapter 2. Among other details, the account records: "And suddenly a sound came out of the heaven, as being borne along by a violent wind! And it filled all the house where they were sitting. And tongues as of fire appeared to them, being distributed, and it sat on each one of them. And they were all filled of the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave ability to them to speak." - Acts 2:2-4 Some observations are in order: An utterance given by the Breath/Spirit of God ("ruach hakodesh") is by definition - prophecy (even if in a foreign language). Un-interpreted, it is an "uttered mystery" & by it's nature is among the least of the gifts of the Spirit. However, when interpreted (understood by the listener/s) -then it is among the greatest of the gifts -as prophets are listed as second only to Apostles in Saul/Paul's explanation of spiritual gifts to the church at Corinth (I Cor 14:5). In Acts 2 - the languages of the event were indeed understood by most of the hearers as the text records: "And Jews were living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation of those under the heaven. But this sound occurring, the multitude came together and were confounded, because they each heard them speaking in his own dialect. And all were amazed and marveled, saying to one another, Behold, are not all these, those speaking, Galileans? And how do we hear each in our own dialect in which we were born?" - Acts 2:5-8 And I want to point out - that what Paul spoke of in 1st Corinthians (14:23) about men who don't understand the gift of tongues, that very thing happened in Acts 2: 'But others mocking, were saying, "They have been filled with new wine!' -Acts 2:13 In Acts 2:14 and on, Peter speaks to the entire crowd (over 3000 people). In that speech, he explains the life, death & resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus). Then we get to the critical moment: "Now having heard, they were pierced through to the heart [fig., were greatly distressed], and they said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, "What will we do, men, brothers?" -Ac 2:37 That moment would not have been a good time to waste words; -And Peter did not. Then Peter said unto them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." - Acts 2:38 Was that commandment solid - fixed for the entire age? It is written: "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." - Ac 2:39 That's a complete temporal & geographic lock! Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Verse 41 records that 3000 were baptized into the name of Jesus. Although we do not hear about the experience of each of these people as the received the Holy Spirit - the Scripture does fill in the details & what was commonly expected as you read the rest of Acts. So we will. Now, let's move on from the Jews in Chapter 2, to the Samaritans in chapter 8. Samaria was sort of in between Judaism & non-Jews in regards to their religious beliefs. Orthodox Jews generally considered those in Samaria as spiritually compromising mongrels. What we discover is that God really is impartial. It is written: "Then Philip went down to the
city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. Pay close attention to the following account: 'Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)" That detail is there for a reason. Consider: Samaria accepted the message & was even Baptized into Jesus - but was discerned by the Apostles not to have the baptism of the Holy Spirit, initially! That distinction has monumental implications -because it is a glaring message telling us that people can "believe" the gospel & be baptized & yet still be "UNDONE" (Or are these details written down to waste parchment?)! Hello! This detail is highlighted in (2) other instances in Acts involving (2) other groups. That's (3) witnesses. They are written down for a reason! Back to the Samaria account: 'The Apostles laid their hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon (the sorcerer) saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.' (Acts 8:17-19) Here we find another amazing detail. A guy named "Simon" -who was a huckster/magician offered the apostles money so that he could give the Spirit by laying on of his hands. Besides the fact that this shows where the guy's heart wasn't at - it also makes a gigantic point about the infilling of the Holy Spirit: It was a major spectacle. Think! If the Apostles laid their hands on people & these people simply had a nice, quaint little feeling - why would a huckster (one who had made his living doing magic tricks & pretending to be a man of power) offer MONEY to emulate that? Simon already had the ability to lay his hands on people & have nothing remarkable occur! Engage brain please... Simon offered the Apostles money because people getting the baptism in the Spirit was a Spectacle! It was a major show. It was a life changing manifestation; - not a mere peep with only a tearful eye or two! Jesus had said about those who receive the Spirit that they would receive POWER. Maybe some of us need to watch the reaction of somebody grabbing an uninsulated electrical cord in order to grasp some of the similarities about receiving raw power w. that example from the natural realm, eh? Next stop - the Gentiles: Once again, we'll find that God doesn't show favoritism in the New Covenant. The bulk of this account is in Acts 10-11. I want to narrow the events down to the points of interest. The easiest way to summarize is to quote what Peter explained to the Jews (who had serious questions as to why he had spent time at a "Gentile's home"). Here's what Peter explained in summary: '"_I_ was in [the] city of Joppa praying,
and in a trance I saw a vision: a certain object like a great sheet
coming down, being lowered by four corners out of heaven [or, the sky],
and it came to me, at which having looked intently, I was considering
[it], and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts
and the reptiles and the birds of heaven [or, the air]. "Then I
heard a voice saying to me, 'Having gotten up, Peter, slaughter and
eat!' "But I said, 'Most certainly not, Lord! Because never did
any[thing] common [fig., ritually impure] or unclean [or, which defiles]
enter into my mouth.' "But a voice out of heaven answered to me a
second [time], 'What God cleansed, by all means stop calling common
[fig., ritually impure]!' "Now this happened three times, and again
all [things] were drawn up to heaven. Above, in Ac 11:15 where it reads, 'Spirit fell on them, even as [He] also [did] on us in [the] beginning'; --Chapter 10 says (of the same account): "While Peter [was] still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all the ones hearing the word. And the believing ones from the circumcision were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the free gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues [fig., other languages] and magnifying God." Ac 10:44-46 Now, for those who insist that "speaking in tongues" is solely for ministering to people who speak different languages, -- they're going to need to explain why it occurred in Acts 10-11 with a small group of Gentiles & Peter. I'm an engineer, and from a purely pragmatic engineering standpoint: If a person is speaking in a language that they don't even know, - that implies that there is an independent program running on their neural-net (infrastructure of the brain) that is so different - that it even thinks in terms of another language. That really makes Paul's quote, "But you have the mind of Christ", - suddenly very germane. My next stop is Acts 18 - About Those
who were incompletely in the New Covenant. It is written: '"Now a certain Jew, Apollos by name, an Alexandrian by race [or, a native of Alexandrian], an educated man [or, a man skilled in speech], being mighty in the Scriptures, arrived at Ephesus. This [man] had been instructed [in] the way of the Lord, and boiling [fig., being fervent] in his spirit he was speaking and teaching accurately the [things] concerning the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And this [man] began to be speaking boldly in the synagogue. But Aquila and Priscilla having heard of him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately."' - Acts 18:24-26 In this account, the man Apollos a feisty teacher - went into the synagogues & was teaching about Jesus - knowing only the baptism of John. But notice the observation in verse 26: "But Aquila and Priscilla having heard of him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately." If you start at the beginning of chapter 18, you soon find that Aquila & Priscilla were disciples of the Apostle Paul himself. Why did this matter? Because by Paul's own testimony - the gospel he was preaching was the same as the Jews under Peter's teaching had been; -& Paul testifies that the Gospel he preaches was given to him directly by Jesus in a vision (ref Gal 1:11-20). So, when Aquila & Priscilla pulled Apollos to the side to explain to him the "way of God more perfectly", -the begging question becomes, "If he knew the Scriptures, taught accurately about the messiah & knew the baptism of John; --Then WHAT was this guy missing!"? Well, let's keep reading to verify my assertions! "And it came about that while Apollos was at
Corinth, Paul, having gone through the higher country, came to Ephesus,
where there were some disciples: And he said to them, Did you get the
Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him, No, we have had no
knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Then he asked, What sort of baptism did
you have? And they said, The baptism of John. And Paul said, John
gave a baptism which goes with repentance, --telling the people that
they were to have their faith in him who was coming after him, -that is,
-in Jesus. Once again: We find about a dozen guys - called disciples (so you know these guys spent time meditating on the Scriptures) - who were baptized by John the Baptist who told them to put their faith in the one who'd come after him. Paul explains that this coming faith was about & in Jesus. These Disciples were then ReBaptized into the name of Jesus. And when the holy spirit filled them -- guess what! Speaking in tongues & prophesy was the manifestation! It's one more example in the text of people who's heart was in the right place -- and although they knew about the messiah & repentance -- they did not have the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Now, for those who insist that "speaking in tongues" is solely for ministering to people who speak different languages, -- they're going to need to explain why it occurred in Acts 19 with a small group of disciples & Paul. According to the Scripture, there is 1-Lord, 1-faith & 1-baptism. We know from these examples what these things consist of. If your belief system doesn't fit this pattern -- then are you ready to say that the Apostles of Jesus were wrong? Any different pattern from the (1) consistently given - makes 2-faiths. Somebody/s in error. According to Paul, we were all baptized into 1 body & given the 1 spiritual drink. In celebrating Passover (communion), that drink is symbolized by wine. Remember the comparison some people made in Acts 2 about those filled with the Spirit? "But others, making sport of them, said, They are full of new wine." -Act 2:13 Even Peter recognized the similarity and explained to those who didn't understand: "For these men are not overcome with wine, as it seems to you, for it is only the third hour of the day; But this is the thing which was said by the prophet Joel; 'And it will come about, in the last days, says God, that I will send out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets" -Act 2:15-17b Ironically & quite prophetically (in a negative sort of way) - there are many churches today that use preserved grape-juice instead of natural wine - for their "communion" services. In keeping the alcohol out -- they miss one of the main points about why WINE was chosen as the symbol of Christ's blood! According to Moses' Law, "The life of the creature is in the blood". And about Christ, the Scripture says that "The 2nd Adam became a life giving Spirit"! Hello! I was brought up in a sect that denied that these spiritual manifestations still happened today. And I believed it. Until it happened to me! And then I was confused - for a long time. Years of studying the Scriptures made it all clear -- because contrary to what some people say, - the Scriptures are rock-solidly cross referenced on these things & even warn about people who have a form of Godliness, but deny the power of God. In other words: Watch out for the falsehoods of watered-down, wishy-washy "churches". And unfortunately -- that description applies to a vast majority of them today & hundreds of millions of "Christians" who are not where God wants them to be as to their Spiritual health. One common false teaching is that the Bible is the "Perfection" (spoken of in 1st Corinthians 13) -that will lead to the end of spiritual gifts. If that's so, which Bible is the PERFECT translation for all languages everywhere? I use many translations because I know just how two-dimensional any translation is. I.E: Exodus 32:32 in the oldest most reliable manuscripts contains unknown characters that CANNOT be translated (but none-the less -- it is prophecy about this very subject)! It is clear to me that no textual-translation of the Bible is PERFECT; and that the perfection spoken of in the end-text of 1st Corinthians 13 is the perfection of the fully realized & established Kingdom of God (after all -- you'll no longer need healing when nobody is ill)! So, where does that leave many people: Unfortunately -- that leaves a huge number of well-intentioned people calling themselves Christians who are devoid of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit! Once upon a time, I was one of them. Lots of my friends now share a similar testimony -- as -after I had my experience, -- I told my friends & family. It was an interesting experience watching the factions form. And just like in Jesus's day -- it was the so-called "religious leaders" who dissuaded people from pursuing this line of faith. The Scripture contains some very serious & dire warnings about so-called mentors who shut up the kingdom of God from men who would normally enter! It is a form of rebellion that substitutes the teaching of repentance as Jesus' primary message (Repentance was John's message -- to prepare the way for Jesus)! And the problem with disciples of John the Baptist isn't that they're not nice people -- because many seem to be. The problem with disciples of John the Baptist is that -- despite their repentance from sin/s, -they're NOT in discipleship with Jesus! And that situation is simply the result of lazy, half-baked, theology. After all, the Scriptures I've covered are there for a reason - written down as examples. Sectarian bias is the only reason they are disregarded. And I think therein lies the stronghold. You see, "idolatry" is simply putting something or someone else ahead of God. Since the Scripture is extremely clear on the plan of God & the commonality of the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the manifestations of prophesy & tongues -- I can only conclude that people who reject that pattern -- do not experience the infilling of that Spirit -because repentance is a prerequisite. And in their case -- it's the need to repent from idolatry: idolizing either men or tradition or sectarian heresies that deny the need for OBEDIENCE to the Gospel. Many people have said that they simply don't understand the need for this sort of "Spirit filling experience". I'm not surprised that they don't understand. The Scripture itself says that you won't understand until you have it! It is written: "But a natural [or, unspiritual] person does not receive the [things] of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to know [them], because they are spiritually examined." -I Cor 2:14 See, you won't understand why you need to go down that path until after you've been! This is precisely why FAITH is required. Ironically, then this comes down to an issue of faith -- the very thing that many people who speak in ignorance against what I have shown in this document - say a person must have to be "saved". Indeed. So why is it that they see the clear pattern established by the Apostles of Jesus & rationalize it away as not applying to them? The answer is ironically obvious: They don't believe the Gospel. They have a false variant of it -one that leaves their disciples empty, undiscerning & spiritually powerless (no charismata). And the Scripture warns of that trend in the most dire language -and that trend was prophesied as it is written: "The silver is become dross, the wine cut with water." -Isa 1:22 And since "the tongue of the righteous is choice silver"; -A tongue of dross is a corrupted message with an impotent spirit (watered wine). It violates the commandment that warns to not use the name of God in a worthless manner! How serious is this to the salvation of each person? It is written: "but if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this one is not His." -Rom 8:9b The lie generally repeated goes
something like this: "Since we now have the complete canon of
Scripture, -we no longer have needs for those 'sign-gifts'." "My life
changed dramatically when I heard the Gospel - Remember that I pointed out that 'Speaking in Tongues" is a variant of the gift of Prophecy. In his letter to Corinth, Paul pointed out that they shouldn't forbid speaking in tongues -- but he encouraged them to prophesy instead (because the former generally builds up the speaker, but the latter builds up all the hearers). It's been my experience & observation that many people who have the Spirit prophesy continuously in their conversation without even being conscious of it. They discover this themselves when they find themselves among other/s who have a "message" in the discourse of dialog that has astonishing similarities & contextual 'gap-fills' as recent thoughts or concepts they've been considering for themselves. And I mean that these similarities in ideas, analysis & thoughts are so lock-stepped that people who've heard "person-A" speak are completely aware of the similarities upon hearing "person/s B" speak. It far surpasses mere statistical probability & tends to happen with great frequency among those with the Spirit; --especially apparent to those who know the Scriptures. If you recognize this trend in your own life, as well as other Spiritual gifts & connected experiences occurring, -then it's possible that you received the Spirit & prophecy was the result (but because it was in your own language - you may simply not have recognized it for what it was). In such cases, I'd petition God to validate your position in the body with a manifestation of tongues in your personal prayer time. It's written that God is no respecter of persons - hence what is so clearly evidenced in the book of Acts should be readily available to you too. Ask, seek, knock. This issue is too fundamental to the fullness of your Christian walk to ignore. Another reason why the issue of "tongues" is so important is more about the INTERPRETATION of them. Why? Because the Scripture is a written message from God Himself. And according to the Scripture itself, -Men without the Spirit cannot understand the deep messages within it because the mind must be directed by the Spirit to understand the patterns established by the interconnected principles. Although your "Bible" may be written in your native language; --As far as the "Scriptural" aspect of it goes - it is written in a "tongue" -the language that is God's! Yeah! When is your native language NOT sufficient for understanding? When you're attempting to understand the depths of God. It takes study and then GOD HIMSELF will bring related sections of Scripture (& other facts/principles) to your memory thru the Spirit & connect the proverbial dots & raise imperative questions -that when answered, - will show a picture to your mind's eye. Your native language & thought processes are inadequate to do this. It requires the Spirit and "interpretation of tongues" is the method used to convert your "language" into Godly understanding. This (common messages/themes occurring via multiple unassociated sources) is one of the primary ways of how the Body of Christ (real Church) can recognize who is truly among them in touch with the Spirit's leading. As it is written: " Two or three persons may prophesy, and everyone else must listen carefully." -I Cor 14:29 Why must everyone else listen carefully? Because there will be others who have had extremely similar recent thoughts/impressions -IF the person "prophesying" is excogitating from the Spirit's leading. That prophesy-principle applies only to those groups who HAVE THE SPIRIT! The sad fact is that we live in a day & age where people who do not have the Spirit are in positions of leadership in many so-called "Churches". And that, is - quite frankly - an abomination. And many of these groups are gigantic -because the "Jesus" they "serve" requires little in the way of true holiness (separation unto God in areas of life that truly matter). Churches without the Spirit (an oxymoron) are like feel-good social clubs -generally all too concerned & motivated by sectarian programs than the actual leading of God & walking in truth (truth being -what is actually true & not necessarily sectarian-dogma or popular social beliefs).
Generally, you'll find concentrations of Spirit-filled people in Pentecostal & Charismatic groups. And sadly, that observation doesn't mean that you'll find lots of accurate theology in such (and this document is not to get you to join any specific "body of believers"). Any such long-term association is going to be your hard decision. The point I'm making in this paragraph is to point out where a person might go to receive the Spirit Baptism via the laying on of hands. There is a reason for this "laying on of hands" -which is beyond the scope of this essay. Theologically speaking, groups that adhere to an Acts-2 model (particularly attentive to verse 38) are a decent place to begin your energized Christian walk in the Spirit. How long you remain with such a group will depend on a number of factors - such as how accurate they are theologically & your own growth in the Scriptures (either approving or disapproving what that Body in general will believe & do). Theological errors tend to compound quickly into destructive doctrines; -- & sadly, too many people play "follow-the-leader" & not enough Theological -Apologetics are used to develop beliefs around the weightier matters. As a caveat: Such groups may be nice places to visit, but you'll not want to live there. Keep the priority things as priority. Be filled with the Spirit because it is by that that you can do the will of God. You can't be led by the Spirit without having His presence in you! Anything less is a work of inequity. Caveat. |
False religion is blissfully blind. False
religion has a version of "spirituality" that rarely
intersects with the real world. It esteems "rules" &
"principles" that have no real impact whether they are obeyed
or not. It rarely recognizes gross evil, and when somebody points
it out, -it is either ignored or downplayed (instead of being exposed
& shunned - as the Scripture commands). False religion loves the
"world system" & tends to pander to the edicts of
government -no matter how lawless. The "church" that openly
existed in Nazi Germany would be an example. The "church" that
existed comfortably beside slavery in the 19th century United States
would be another. And, in current times: It is the Church that tolerates
government numbering people, while it asks for state favors & privileges
in the form of licenses. It is the church that violates the principles
discussed in Romans chapter 1 -while, ironically, -accusing others (via
sloppy exegesis) of doing the same (hence it violates Romans 2:1).
"Laodicea" is a state-breathed "church"-corporation;
-& Jesus isn't listed as an officer (leaving him on the
outside). In the Gospel of Matthew (4:9), Satan laid claim on the
KINGDOMS of the world (a claim Jesus did not argue). If Satan has claim
on the Kingdoms of the world (governments) -then who really has the
final claim on ALL government
chartered corporations (even NPO's)! Paul wrote to turn away from groups
that had a form of Godliness but denied the power (2Tim 3:5). The
Scriptures call for repentance - to come out from among all such
abominations & be holy - true holiness that arises from obedience to
the gospel & the renewing of the mind by the word of God. It all
begins by the baptism of the Spirit at the proverbial foot of the cross.
Be sure that the "cross" you've been pointed to isn't that of
a thief.