"Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking in the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3)
In other words, no one can really do anything without the indwelling Spirit of the Living Triune God. Words may come out of a person's mouth, but no one can live, "Jesus Christ is Lord except in the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:1 tells us that the chapter is, "....about the gifts of the Spirit."
I heard a pastor of a very large southern congregation preaching about, "the gifts of the Spirit," the phenomenon of Pentecost in Acts 2, speaking in tongues, well, you get the picture. He was rationalizing Biblical passages about speaking/praying in tongues. His "exegesis" was not only ludicrous, he was actually mocking those who accept and participate in the "practice." Either he is wrong or I am. Either I can't read or he can't read. I can tell you one thing. This is something out of which no man can talk me.
It was December 30, 1969. They had taken Stephen down for tests. I could tell from our GP's tone and expression the day before that it was something serious. I was scared. I looked for a place to be alone and pray and all I could find was a phone booth, you read correctly, a phone booth. All I could do for the next 5 hours was pray, "with/in the spirit," yes, that awful, ridiculous-to-some "type" of praying where you don't know what you are saying in your mind, but, "....out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." How can you possibly "beat that"? Yet for too many people, if it does not "flow' out of the brain, it cannot be any good, of any use. Well, I could "understand" nothing that day. I did not, "know how to pray...." I had no words. What I did "have," or rather Who had me, was our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. I am still "pressing on" today, not because of my intellectual grasp of life, but because of the wonderful indwelling presence of the Blessed Trinity.
I once read a commentary on Acts 2 by a highly respect Dutch Greek scholar, who wrote a commentary around 1900. This was before Azusa Street, before the establishment of the Pentecostal and Assembly of God denominations, before the "charismatic renewal." He wrote that the construction of the Greek text reveals that the miracle of Pentecost was not that the disciples were speaking in the languages of those who heard them. The miracle was that the disciples were speaking in unknown tongues, and the Holy Spirit enabled them to hear in their own languages, "....How is it that we each hear them in our own language (dialect) in (into) which we were born?"
Here is what I say to the naysayers: "What is the conclusion then? I will pray with/in the spirit, and I will also pray with/in the understanding. I will sing with/in the spirit, and I will also sing with/in the understanding." Glorious.
Father, in Jesus' Name, only You are my, "understanding." Amen.
********************
* Please put a "sticky" on your frig as a reminder to pray for Sarah and me on our Berlin Mission, October 4-27. Since our flight is early, we will be staying near the airport on October 4.
In other words, no one can really do anything without the indwelling Spirit of the Living Triune God. Words may come out of a person's mouth, but no one can live, "Jesus Christ is Lord except in the Holy Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:1 tells us that the chapter is, "....about the gifts of the Spirit."
I heard a pastor of a very large southern congregation preaching about, "the gifts of the Spirit," the phenomenon of Pentecost in Acts 2, speaking in tongues, well, you get the picture. He was rationalizing Biblical passages about speaking/praying in tongues. His "exegesis" was not only ludicrous, he was actually mocking those who accept and participate in the "practice." Either he is wrong or I am. Either I can't read or he can't read. I can tell you one thing. This is something out of which no man can talk me.
It was December 30, 1969. They had taken Stephen down for tests. I could tell from our GP's tone and expression the day before that it was something serious. I was scared. I looked for a place to be alone and pray and all I could find was a phone booth, you read correctly, a phone booth. All I could do for the next 5 hours was pray, "with/in the spirit," yes, that awful, ridiculous-to-some "type" of praying where you don't know what you are saying in your mind, but, "....out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." How can you possibly "beat that"? Yet for too many people, if it does not "flow' out of the brain, it cannot be any good, of any use. Well, I could "understand" nothing that day. I did not, "know how to pray...." I had no words. What I did "have," or rather Who had me, was our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. I am still "pressing on" today, not because of my intellectual grasp of life, but because of the wonderful indwelling presence of the Blessed Trinity.
I once read a commentary on Acts 2 by a highly respect Dutch Greek scholar, who wrote a commentary around 1900. This was before Azusa Street, before the establishment of the Pentecostal and Assembly of God denominations, before the "charismatic renewal." He wrote that the construction of the Greek text reveals that the miracle of Pentecost was not that the disciples were speaking in the languages of those who heard them. The miracle was that the disciples were speaking in unknown tongues, and the Holy Spirit enabled them to hear in their own languages, "....How is it that we each hear them in our own language (dialect) in (into) which we were born?"
Here is what I say to the naysayers: "What is the conclusion then? I will pray with/in the spirit, and I will also pray with/in the understanding. I will sing with/in the spirit, and I will also sing with/in the understanding." Glorious.
Father, in Jesus' Name, only You are my, "understanding." Amen.
********************
* Please put a "sticky" on your frig as a reminder to pray for Sarah and me on our Berlin Mission, October 4-27. Since our flight is early, we will be staying near the airport on October 4.
* Read of a woman whom I do not trust at all at: jhs.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
