Posted by brothermel on February 1, 2009
Recordings by these Pentecostal giants and others can be listened to by download for free at my website: www.brothermel.com.
At my website, click on “Rare Recordings.”
These recordings are hosted on my website with the permission of the copyright holders. Most of these recordings are available nowhere else.
Posted in Charismatic, Church History, Gift of Prophecy, Holy Spirit, Howard Carter, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Lakeland Revival, Oral Roberts, Pentecost, Pentecostal, Prophets, Revival, Rhema Bible Training Center, Speaking in Tongues, Spiritual Gifts, Spiritual Warfare, TBN, Theology, Word of Faith | Tagged: Charismatic, Gift of Tongues, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Pentecostal, Prophecy, Prophet, Smith Wigglesworth, Speaking in Tongues, Spiritual Authority, Spiritual Gifts, Spiritual Warfare, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on August 3, 2008
The Lakeland “Revival” bubble has burst. And the melt-down has left prominent “Apostles” and “Prophets” with egg on their faces.
For those of you that are unaware of recent developments, the story is as follows. An evangelist named Todd Bentley began holding a revival April 2 as a guest speaker at Igniter Church in Lakeland Florida. The meetings grew in size and intensity until it became necessary to move to much larger accommodations. Astonishing reports emerged from the revival of angelic visitations, Heavenly encounters, countless healings, multiplied miracles, and even numerous people being raised from the dead.
Todd claimed that the same angel who appeared to William Branham years ago in Branham’s prophetic ministry was appearing regularly to him, along with a female angel named Emma, and they were guiding him and revealing deep truths to him. Seasoned Charismatic leaders questioned the extremes of Todd’s methods which included slapping, kicking, punching, and “drop-kicking” people in prayer lines. One old woman was kicked in the face. A man had a tooth knocked out. They warned of the danger of following any angel who claimed to have personally led William Branham into deep error. All their cautions and warnings were roundly shouted down as being “anti-revival,” and “stuck in the past.”
In the midst of the arguing and hysteria, C. Peter Wagner, Rick Joyner, and Chuck Pierce suddenly flew down to Lakeland and gave to Bentley their unqualified endorsement. Charisma reports:
Wagner said to Bentley on the platform: “This commissioning represents a powerful spiritual transaction taking place in the invisible world. With this in mind, I take the apostolic authority that God has given me and I decree to Todd Bentley, your power will increase, your authority will increase, your favor will increase, your influence will increase, your revelation will increase.
“I also decree that a new supernatural strength will flow through this ministry. A new life force will penetrate this move of God. Government will be established to set things in their proper order. God will pour out a higher level of discernment to distinguish truth from error. New relationships will surface to open the gates to the future.”
Source: http://www.charismamag.com/cms/news/archives/0624082.php
Wagner stated “God will pour out a higher level of discernment to distinguish truth from error.” Would to God some of that “discernment to distinguish truth from error” had been present among the assembled ministers on the stage that night. The “Apostles” and “Prophets” were themselves endorsing a lie, and standing in the midst of a charade which was beginning to unravel privately, even as they endorsed the Lakeland Revival publicly. Strangely however, they “discerned” nothing amiss.
Behind the scenes, the truth was being uncovered by Robert Ricciardelli. Robert is the founder and president of Vision Advancement Strategies, a Spirit-filled ministry that endeavors, among other things, to promote respect between differing ministries, and to draw the various branches of Charismatic Christianity together in unity. Robert is a spiritual bridge-builder between ministries and is closely associated with J. Lee Grady, Editor of Charisma Magazine. As a matter of disclosure, I will let my readers know that I have had some private communications with Robert over the last year or so. Our communications centered mostly around him asking me to make CD copies for him of some of the rare recordings on my site, and I did so. However, we have never met.
Robert’s Eye Witness Accounts and Conclusions:
Robert has said in a radio interview, in comments on blogs, and in other formats, “Truth is there are very few people being healed in Lakeland. I have worked with Charisma Magazine editor Lee Grady in discovering how many false reports have been released as facts.”
Concerning Bentley’s claims that 20 or more people had been raised from the dead in his meetings or as a result of them, Robert comments “ . . . Charisma reporters and a few others like myself have tried to get these verified and cannot. . . We actually had offered to help, because any news of a resurrection in my opinion is world news if it can be validated. But then when the totals continued to mount which led to hype and embellishment, they began to ask us to stop asking questions.”
Robert adds, “Friday night, Todd said that God said there were 1000 people that were to give $1000, and they were to receive a 1000-fold blessing. The one hour drama on this giving subject was so deceptively evident that it was embarrassing to watch. On top of that, those that would give that money were able to come to the platform to be recognized.”
“We have investigated the 20 plus “raised from the dead” claims as we want to report them to the media, and they cannot be verified, but were only called in, or sent in from an email. This is not responsible reporting, and leaves many questions, which also adds to the claims of hype and embellishment.”
“I am praying for Todd, because he really is an evangelist, and he is a gifted evangelist. But he cannot go on embellishing, speaking untruths, hyping, manipulating, shoving, kicking, slapping, leg dropping, and bamming his way on the pulpit without consequences. God will not be mocked, and Todd and others must answer to Him for everyone led astray.”
“The biggest thing about Lakeland is the lack of the fear of our Awesome God, lack of repentance and humility. Many have exchanged the truth for a lie and chosen experience over content. Angels, trances, and 3rd heaven focus has replaced the gospel as a focus . . . Lord do what only you can do to bring your divine alignment to all of us in Jesus name . . . “
“It is my opinion that it was man-orchestrated and demonically influenced from the very beginning. The worship has been good and Roy Fields is an awesome worship leader, so many in the worship and even watching from afar can sense God in the worship of His people. The truth is God has been engaged in the worship and has touched and healed some. This is why it has been so confusing to some. I have heard that Roy Fields has stated a few times that when the worship ends, God’s presence leaves the platform, and then Todd Bentley operates void of His presence. That is why most all of what they have claimed cannot be verified, because it just is not happening.
“We have heard a few people getting well, being touched and so on. There is a church here in North Carolina that brought 27 sick down there for a week. Some with cancer, leukemia, diabetes and such. None got healed and most were worse when they came back. The emperor is not wearing any clothes and the truth must be known. Many are claiming that Todd is the new thing that God is doing. The fact is he is still operating in the old thing, and operating with less integrity and character than the previous one man shows.
“God is about nameless and faceless people who are operating without any agenda but the Lord’s. Preaching about the King and His Kingdom, and moving supernaturally after Him, and as they do, signs and wonders follow. The problem in Charismania is that they seek the sign, they seek the thrill, they seek the craft supply quality gold dust, feathers and gems. They may get the chills and frills, but leave with nothing more than goose bumps and really little spiritual change. When they seek the King, the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, you begin to see transformation take place at the heart level. This is God’s way and always has been… Bentley is just a product of the Charismatic/ apostolic/ prophetic trending away from Plumb line truth. At the same time the fact is, none of us amount to much, no not one. But in Him and dying to self and living His agenda, we can move mountains… The church is getting there, I wrote an article for Charisma that everything that can be shaken is being shaken, and this is what is happening in a great way right now…”
So Robert and numerous other individuals who have taken a close look at Lakeland, hoping to witness the true blessings of Heaven raining down on men, have discovered instead to their deep disappointment only more hype. . . untruths . . . orchestrations of men . . . demonic influence . . . phony claims of resurrections . . . unverifiable healings . . . genuinely sick people not healed . . . 1000-fold blessings promised in return for large offerings . . . combined with the Gospel being replaced by Angels and trances.
Ministers present and fully endorsing this “man-orchestrated and demonically influenced” situation reads like a Who’s Who of the modern Prophetic Movement. Charisma reports:
Participating leaders at the ceremony included Wagner; Ché Ahn, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, Calif.; John Arnott of Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in Canada; Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Calif.; and Rick Joyner, of MorningStar Ministries in Charlotte, N.C.
How is it that these Apostles and Prophets, if indeed that is what they truly are, could not recognize hype and “demonic influence” when they were standing in the midst of it?
I asked a similar question nearly ten years ago when a major “Prophetic” church announced that sin had been discovered in their leadership. It came to light that one of the “prophets” of their church had prophesied false prophecies in their church services for years in order to gain money and in pursuit of sexual favors. How is it that they could have false prophecy spewing from the mouth of a false prophet in their midst for years, and no one recognized false prophecy when they heard it? How is it that the leading “prophets” of the Prophetic Movement came and went from that church countless times, and could not recognize a false prophet as he “prophesied” right under their noses? I believe the only answer then and now that explains their blindness is that many of these “prophets” are not prophets at all. In spite of the numerous “How to” books they have written about prophecy, and regardless of the “Prophetic Conferences” and “Prophetic Networks” they have organized, I believe that many of these individuals do not recognize false prophecy because they have actually had very little exposure themselves to genuine prophetic ministry.
How Can These Things Be?
People may ask me, “But Brother Mel, I went there! I was blessed! It was God! It had to be.”
I think Robert’s observation explains a lot. He has commented, “The worship has been good and Roy Fields is an awesome worship leader, so many in the worship and even watching from afar can sense God in the worship of His people. The truth is God has been engaged in the worship and has touched and healed some. This is why it has been so confusing to some.” Just because God’s presence is in a service is no indicator of God endorsing all that is going on. You have to understand the nature of God. The Lord is merciful and full of grace. He is not looking for ways to keep people out of His kingdom. He is looking for every opening possible through which to draw people to His kingdom. In accordance with His nature of mercy, love, and grace, God will move to a certain extent in numerous church situations. He will even move strongly sometimes, for a season, in meetings that are full of error. But if men refuse to see to it that sound doctrine is preached, integrity is maintained, and all things are done decently and in order, the error and phoniness will eventually far outweigh God’s activity in the meetings.
Why Did God Allow Believers To Be So Deceived?
I believe God’s actions at Lakeland are reflected in His actions described by Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy:
“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”—Deut. 13:1-3.
Notice my friends that in the example Moses gave, the “sign or a wonder” did actually come to pass. There was a genuine spiritual manifestation which would seem to indicate the presence of God. However, the deciding factor as to whether it was truly of God or not was the message the prophet attached to it. The false prophet said, “Let us go after other gods. . .” Todd Bentley said, “See all these manifestations? See the falling, see the laughing? Feel the presence? Well, that is proof that my message is from God. Now, listen to what this angel has told me . . .” and the message and the methods degenerated down to slapping and kicking people and attaching God’s presence to sickening appeals for $1,000 offerings with promises of 1000-fold returns.
I believe the Bible shows us that God allows experiences like Lakeland to occur in order to identify to us the idolatry of our own hearts. The question presented to us in questionable ministry situations like Lakeland is:
“Which do you love more, God’s Word or His Spirit?”
That’s a trick question because you see, you can never choose between the two. They always go together. If what is manifesting in a service is truly the Holy Spirit, then integrity, truth, and solid scriptural preaching from the Bible will be right there alongside Him. The Word and the Spirit go together, and in that order. The Bible always comes first.
I believe many failed the test at Lakeland. God provided the presence of His Spirit in praise and worship. However, what felt like the presence of God was attached to error, exaggeration, ridiculous behavior, and flat-out lies. All of this going out on live TV. To some people attending the meetings, it “felt” like God. So instead of sitting in the meetings with their eyes and Bibles open, Christians closed their eyes and figuratively threw their Bibles and common sense right out the window, along with integrity and truth.
So what did this test prove?
It proved, as Moses said it would, “ . . . whether you love the Lord with all your heart and soul.” Well, many Christians loved manifestations and hype so much that when given the opportunity they chose lies over the truth, hype over reality, and
error over truth. They loved spiritual manifestations more than they actually loved God.
My friends, we all long for a genuine move of God. We are intensely praying for it and looking for it. But what we need to realize is that God offers a genuine Revival only as a package deal, giving it to us on a take-it-all or leave-it-all basis. When the real thing comes, there will be first of all, solid preaching of God’s word. It will contain sound doctrine. It will focus people’s attention on the Cross at Calvary, not on a man yelling “bam! Bam! Bam!” The manifestations will be genuine ones consistent with scriptural principles and with Church history. If it clucks like a chicken, then it IS a chicken—it is not the Holy Ghost. So go chase chickens if you want to. When I want chicken, I go to the Colonel’s. When I go to church, I want God.
Genuine revival, when it comes, will be saturated with humility. It won’t be ruled by an attitude of “don’t tell me what to do! Don’t tell me anything! Shut up! You are stuck in the past. So what if what is being preached here is not supported by the Bible! I’ll believe and do whatever I want!” Lastly, it won’t have to be propped up by the appearance of ministry mega-stars exercising their so-called “apostolic authority.” When you see too many high-profile ministers show up all at once, excusing away error and nonsense, RUN–do not walk-TO THE NEAREST EXIT. Don’t give such services a second thought, and don’t look back over your shoulder as you leave. Remember Lot’s wife.
My Attitude Up To Now
Numerous people have e-mailed me, asking my opinion of Lakeland. I’ve been far too busy to give this revival much of my attention. I’ve watched some of the videos on U-Tube, and I’ve asked the opinions of individuals who have gone there. One friend called me with an exciting testimony. She had not visited Lakeland, but her church leadership and several from her congregation had gone there. They took with them a woman my friend had known for years who was confined to a wheelchair, twisted up with Cerebal Palsy. The Church leadership called my friend and told her that the crippled woman had gotten up out of her wheelchair and walked in front of everyone, perfectly healed. However, when she saw the woman at her church several days later, she was still in the wheelchair. She asked her pastor, “I thought you said she was healed. Why is she in this wheelchair?” The leadership told her, “Well we never said she was actually healed. [Yes they did.] We’re just saying that through the eye of faith, we see her up out of her wheelchair and walking right in front of everyone!” So the only report I had heard of Lakeland from someone I know turned out to be just another grievous exaggeration.
Could This Revial Be Rescued Yet?
Possibly, but it is doubtful. You can’t build a level house on a slanted foundation. The foundation of this has never been Jesus Christ and his Gospel. It has been about men, hype, ego, ignorance, and hysteria. Anything not built on Christ and on his word shall surely fall. But if those involved in this thing would humble themselves before God, seek His face, allow other balanced ministers to bring in some wise counsel, and return the focus from angels and nonsense to preaching the clear-cut truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it might be transformed into a genuine revival. Clearly God wants to move. He has demonstrated that already. If those in Lakeland would go outside the tent, pick back up their Bibles and the common sense they previously threw out, repent of their arrogance, ego, and error, God might return in great power. I hope this is the path they pursue.
In the absence however of taking these steps, I would urge people to realize that this wasn’t the real thing. It is time to return to praying and earnestly seeking God until the real thing comes.
As a closing thought I would like to add that these “prophets” and “apostles” who joined with Todd Bentley in leading people into this “demonically influenced” deception, owe everyone an explanation. Were they so blind that they couldn’t recognize Satan and the flesh as each pranced around them on the platform? Or were they so seduced by money or the flattery of men that they just didn’t care what was God and what was not?
To read more Reformation articles by Brother Mel and to listen to rare early Pentecostal recordings by download for free, please visit:
www.brothermel.com
© 2008 Rev. Mel C. Montgomery All Rights Reserved. Article may be copied and shared with others as long as it is done so without charge, in entirety, and attribution is given.
Posted in Benny Hinn, Charismatic, Holy Spirit, Lakeland Revival, Pentecost, Prophets, Revival, Speaking in Tongues, Spiritual Gifts, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on March 27, 2008
This parable was given by the Holy Spirit through Mel Montgomery as he ministered at Destined to Win Christian Center in Chicago, IL in 2007. I trust it is a blessing to you.
Brother Mel offers teaching articles and rare early Pentecostal recordings by download for free at his website, www.brothermel.com.
If this video stops after a minute or two, click the pause button, allow it to download for about three minutes, and then click on Play.
If you click on this video and all you see is a black screen with a circle circling around in it, this means that too many people are downloading from You Tube at that moment. You may need to leave it downloading in the background, do some other things, and come back in 15 minutes or so.
Posted in Charismatic, Church History, Gift of Prophecy, Holy Spirit, Howard Carter, Kenneth Hagin, Pentecost, Pentecostal, Principles of Genuine Prophetic Ministry, Prophets, Revival, Rhema Bible Training Center, Speaking in Tongues, Spiritual Gifts, Theology, Word of Faith | Tagged: Gift of Prophecy, Gift of Tongues, Holy Spirit, Kenneth Hagin, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetic anointing, Prophetic stream, Rhema, Rhema Bible Training Center, Spiritual Gifts, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on February 21, 2008
Posted in Benny Hinn, Charismatic, Church History, Eddie Long, Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Paula White, Pentecost, Pentecostal, Prophets, Revival, Senator Grassley, Speaking in Tongues, TBN, Theology, Word of Faith | Tagged: Benny Hinn, Charismatic, investigation, Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, Paula White, Pentecostal, Revival, scandal, Senator Grassley, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on October 16, 2007
By Mel Montgomery
Due to space and size limitations, I have moved this article to my website. Please click on the link below to read this article:
Kind Regards,
Brother Mel
Posted in Charismatic, Holy Spirit, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Pentecost, Pentecostal, Prophets, Revival, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on September 25, 2007
Why Did The Glory
Leave US?
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
Article I:
The Glory is Gone
Prophets, Apostles, and Healing Evangelists are finally admitting it:
The Glory is gone.
Oh, they aren’t admitting it openly and directly. To do so would be a “negative confession.” But they are admitting it quietly and indirectly. Nearly every Charismatic Christian television program, book, and CD is proclaiming to us “The Glory is coming!” And, “Get ready for the Glory!” Also, “Pray for the Glory to come again!”
For it to “come” it has to be presently absent. In other words, “gone.”
The Glory left us.
(I have moved the rest of this lengthy article to my new website. To access this article, please click on the link below:
Thank you,
Brother Mel
Posted in Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Pentecost, Pentecostal, Prophets, Revival, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on July 19, 2007
A New Pentecost?
By Mel C. Montgomery
My friends, in recent days I have been truly astounded at what I am seeing. It is as though a great mosaic, consisting of many small pieces of what God is doing, is forming before me into an unexpected picture of the move of God that is in the earth at this time. And what I am seeing is significant enough that I want to share it with you for your edification and so that you can make this a matter of prayer.
It appears that the Lord may be preparing to give us a new Pentecostal Outpouring exceeding that which was given at Azusa Street 100 years ago…
(I have moved this article to my new website. To read this article, please click on the following link:
A New Pentecost?
Posted in Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Pentecost, Pentecostal, Principles of Genuine Prophetic Ministry, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on January 4, 2007
ANNOUNCEMENT
THE FIRST OF THE GOODWIN RECORDINGS HAVE ARRIVED!
PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN RECORDINGS OF THE GOODWINS, HOWARD CARTER, EARLY KENNETH HAGIN SERMONS, EARLY JOHN OSTEEN SERMONS, AND SERMONS BY OTHERS. THESE RECORDINGS ARE AVAILABLE BY DOWNLOAD FOR FREE.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE RECORDINGS.
GLORY TO GOD
Posted in Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on January 2, 2007
Here is a brief summary of the categories of Charismatic and prophetic articles on this site. Click on each title to view the article:
INTRODUCTION:
Speaking in Tongues is the Doorway to the Holy Spirit’s Power. (Please read this first).
TEACHINGS ON SPEAKING IN TONGUES:
Tongues Throughout Church History. Examines ancient Christian documents for the statements of Early Church fathers about speaking in tongues.
Tongues: Prayer Language vs Public Gift. Shows from the Scriptures the distinct differences between these two manifestations of speaking in tongues.
Paul’s Experience with Speaking in Tongues. A direct, Scriptural examination of the Apostle’s personal experience with tongues and his instructions for us today.
Speaking in Tongues at Samaria. A look at the ministry of Phillip the Evangelist and of James and John at Samaria.
Cornelius the Gentile Speaks in Tongues. A study of the Holy Spirit falling upon the Gentiles, and the accompanying sign of speaking in tongues.
Tongues: Ecstatic vs Inspired. Critics say that tongues are ecstatic. Are they right?
Is Speaking in Tongues Always a “Sign to the Jews?” Exposing a common unscriptural teaching.
Did/Does Speaking in Tongues Occur Only in “Known Languages?” Another common erroneous teaching.
OBJECTIONS TO TONGUES
A Message to Anti-Tongues Christians. A word from me to you.
Common Objections to Tongues Refuted. The anti-tongues arguments do not survive Scriptural examination.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit From Moses to Pentecost. Everything you ever wanted to know about the work of the Holy Spirit from the days of Moses to Pentecost, but were afraid to ask.
Laughing in the Spirit. The controversial manifestation. Is it of God or not? A common sense, historical examination of this move of God’s Spirit.
Ye shall be Witnesses Unto Me. Jesus said it, but what does it actually mean?
PROPHETIC MINISTRY
My Message to the New Prophetic Move. A message from my heart to yours.
Principles of Genuine Prophetic Ministry. A study of the first two principles given in Scripture by which we can discern true prophetic ministries from false ones.
Learning About Prophecy From the Apostles. The Apostles exemplify genuine prophetic principle number three.
Learning About Prophecy From Agabus. This prophet from the Book of Acts demonstrates genuine prophetic principle number four.
WORD OF FAITH REFORMATION
Our movement is in serious trouble, and reformation is desperately needed. Reformation articles:
This is Slop and I’m Not Gonna Eat it Anymore! A comical introduction to the subject of needed Reformation.
Ministry or Industry? How have things reached the state they have reached?
Is the Word of Faith Message Heretical? Well? Is it?
God’s True Laws of Financial Prosperity. Is what is being preached by many preachers the whole story about financial prosperity?
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on January 1, 2007
Due to space and format limitations, and to better accommodate the traffic on my site, I have moved this article and am in the process of moving all of my articles to my new website. To access this article, please click link below:
“My Message to the New Prophetic Move”
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 11, 2006
Due to space and format limitations, I have moved this article to my new website. To read it, please click on link below:
“Speaking in Tongues is the Doorway to the Holy Spirit’s Power.”
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | 2 Comments »
Posted by brothermel on December 10, 2006
Due to space and format limitations, I am in the process of moving all of my articles from this blog over to my new website.
“Tongues Throughout Church History,” is at my new website.
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | 7 Comments »
Posted by brothermel on December 9, 2006
Due to space and format limitations, I have moved this article, and am in the process of moving all of my articles to my new website. To access this article please click on link below:
“Tongues: Prayer Language vs Public Gift”
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | 2 Comments »
Posted by brothermel on December 8, 2006
Due to space and format limitations, I have moved this and am moving all of my other articles to my new website. To view this article please click on the link below:
“Paul’s Experience with Speaking in Tongues”
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 7, 2006
Due to space and format limitations, I have moved this article and am in the process of moving all of my articles to my new website. To access this article, please click on the link below:
“Speaking in Tongues at Samaria”
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 7, 2006
Due to space and format limitations, I have moved this aritcle and am moving all of my articles to my new website. To access this article, please click on the link below:
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Charismatic Chaos, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 6, 2006
Due to space and format limitations I have moved this article, and am in the process of moving all of my articles to my new website. To view this article, please click on the link below:
Cornelius the Gentile Speaks in Tongues
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | 1 Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 5, 2006
DUE TO SPACE AND FORMAT LIMITATIONS, I HAVE MOVED THIS ARTICLE, AND AM IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING ALL OF MY ARTICLES, TO MY NEW WEB SITE. TO ACCESS “Tongues: Ecstatic vs Inspired,” please click the link below:
“Tongues: Ecstatic vs Inspired”
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 4, 2006
Due to space and format limitations, I am moving this and all of my articles to my new website. To read this article, please click on the link below:
“Is Speaking in Tongues Always ‘A Sign to the Jews?’”
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Tongues Throughout Church History, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 3, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
Two of the major arguments presented by those who are against present-day speaking in tongues are:
In the tongues debate, it is my understanding that those in favor of current day speaking in tongues, and those opposed to it, agree on the following:
On the day of Pentecost the assembled 120 believers spoke in languages that were not their native languages, and that they had not learned. This was a supernatural ability given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It was not of their own linguistic ability, and it was not the work of evil spirits.
The two camps begin to disagree from this point onward as the Scriptures give us more details.
Let’s examine the first claim of the Anti-tongues argument. Namely:
Was speaking in tongues given to enable evangelists to preach to foreign countries in their native languages?
The short answer is “No.”
Approximately 120 believers were present at Pentecost including: Mary the mother of Jesus, the remaining eleven Apostles, the brethren of Jesus, and various other Christians. Each spoke in at least one foreign language, and possibly in several foreign languages at Pentecost.
The Scriptures and Church history records the travels of the Apostles and leaders of the Early Church. Several did indeed go on missionary journeys to foreign lands.
Yet we have no recorded instance of any of the 120 going to a foreign land and preaching to them in other tongues.
Not one single recorded instance.
Strange that tongues were given for foreign evangelism, but none of the 120 ever used tongues for that.
Wouldn’t the gift of tongues have been a wonderful tool for evangelism?
For instance, Mary the mother of Jesus could have travelled to Cairo Egypt, stood in the shadow of the pyramids and supernaturally preached the Gospel of her Son to them in Arabic–a language she did not speak or know–it would have been absolutely awesome.
Peter could have gone to Babylon, which the Bible calls “that great harlot,” and in the midst of all of the city’s idolatry and sin, he could have stood up and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them in their own tongue!
The rest of the remaining Apostles, and Paul, could have travelled throughout all of Asia, India, and Africa, preaching in every village in their native tongues. No matter how remote the village, no matter how obscure their dialect, language would be no barrier whatsoever. All an Apostle or Evangelist would have done was to simply exercise the Gift of Tongues and preach the Gospel with perfect pronounciation, perfect grammar, and perfect accent in the local language. There would have been no possibility of ever being misunderstood.
But the Scriptures record not one single person ever preaching in other tongues.
Church history records no such occurrance either.
Either the Apostles made a horrible mistake, by completely neglecting this wonderful Gift, or the Anti-tongues argument is wrong, and tongues were not given to preach the Gospel with.
I think the Bible and the Apostles were right, and the Anti-tongues argument is wrong. But you have to reach your own conclusion.
Some might ask, “Well, didn’t they preach the Gospel in other tongues on the Day of Pentecost?”
No.
The Bible identifies specifically what the 120 said in other tongues: ”…we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.“ (vs. 11).
Notice that the hearers did not say, “We do hear in our own tongues of the Most High God sending His only begotten Son. We hear that he bore our sins, and was crucified at a place called Calvary. We hear of a new covenant between God and man, sealed with the precious blood of His Son. We hear that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life…We repent right now and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Can we be baptized?”
NO.
They heard none of that.
We know they heard none of that because after the speaking in tongues was over with, Peter still had to stand up and preach the Gospel to them, in a lengthy sermon, in the Hebrew tongue. Acts 2:14-40.
At Pentecost, the Anti-tongues adherents picture the assembled believers as standing up, one after the other, preaching the Gospel in Arabic, Mesopotamian, in Asian languages, and so on. But no such thing took place.
The Holy Spirit came upon the believers, and they spoke with other tongues “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” They spoke specifically of “the wonderful works of God.” They were using other tongues simply to praise God, when passersby began to notice and recognize their native languages being spoken.
The 120 believers at Pentecost used their ability to speak in tongues in the same way Paul used his, and in the same way he instructed you and I to use ours:
“For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” I Cor. 14:14,15.
Paul–the only Apostle who gives us instructions about tongues–tells us that he himself prayed in other tongues, and he sang and worshipped God in other tongues. And he instructs us to do the same.
He never once preached or taught in other tongues. He never recommended that anyone else go to a foreign land and preach or teach in other tongues.
In fact, we have no record of the individuals at Pentecost, and no record of Paul or anyone else, ever attempting to identify the foreign language which they spoke.
Prayer and praise are the only uses the Bible gives us for speaking in tongues. Nowhere does it tell us to preach in other tongues.
Do you know why the Early Church never used speaking in tongues to preach the Gospel?
Because it is impossible to preach in other tongues.
Remember, the Gift of Tongues involves receiving the supernatural ability to speak in another language. The recepient of the Gift does not receive the ability to understand the language. For instance, Paul tells us that when he prayed or sang in other tongues, he did not understand what he was saying, “…my understanding is unfruitful.” (I Cor. 14:15).
Paul and the other Early Christians spoke in other languages, but they could not understand or read those languages.
By looking at a hypothetical case, it becomes clear to us why it is impossible to preach in other tongues.
Imagine that you are an English-speaking person. You know no other language. Then the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and gives you the ability to speak in the Arabic language.
You can speak in Arabic.
But you can not understand Arabic.
And you can not read Arabic.
Not one word.
Tell me how you are going to travel to Egypt for instance, and preach the Gospel to them in your God-given ability to speak Arabic?
You obtain a visa, and buy an airline ticket to Cairo. The plane lands at Cairo International Airport. You go through security, and are stopped. The security person asks you in Arabic:
”;lsdne ieihng; wooi9n wlit?”
You have no idea what he has just asked you. Not one clue. You speak Arabic, but you do not understand it.
He may have asked you:
”Do you have anything to declare?”
Or,
“How many bags did you bring with you?”
”Are you here for business or pleasure?”
Or he might have said to you,
“Hey fella, you could really use a breath mint!”
Not knowing what else to do, you take a chance and exercise your gift of speaking in the Arabic tongue.
You reply:
“;liena;wshng ikon e w ihg alw ;hewih;ljjjurfri.”
What did you just say to him?
Did you say,
“I have nothing to declare…
I have five bags…
I’m here for pleasure…
or…fella, I don’t need a breath mint as bad as you need come deoderant!”
You have no idea what he said, or what you replied to him.
No clue.
But assume you are somehow able to get through security.
Things get no easier.
You wander from the airport, and you take a stroll through the old part of downtown Cairo.
A merchant call out to you in a frantic voice,
“lfbmeujdlhg jhjjig ooegnl kslghnrji!!!”
You have no idea what he just said.
He could have said,
“I have the finest silks in all of Egypt!”
Or,
“Get out of the way! A stone has fallen off a nearby building and will hit you in the head and kill you if you don’t move!”
You try to figure out exactly where you are in this ancient city of millions of Egyptians. The street signs and billboards do you no good–they’re all in Arabic! And you can’t understand a word of it.
Let’s say you somehow begin preaching in Arabic in the town square. How long do you preach? Twenty minutes? An hour? How do you know when your sermon is over?
Not knowing what else to do, you stop in mid sentence and motion for people to come forward who want to give their lives to Christ. Several peaople come forward, and each of them start asking you questions:
“lbfjgsdak jegjoewgj ll kn ikl m kjkeljkle;?”
“klrgli;?”
“,mdjheriog vkj m,dkek?”
You don’t know what they just asked you.
You can’t help them.
For that matter, you don’t even know what you just preached. Did you preach from the Old Testament or New Testament? Was your sermon about salvation, holiness, tithing, End-Time prophecy, or the Fall of Adam?
You are absolutely helpless.
Why?
Because you don’t understand or read the language, you simply speak it.
You would quickly find that it is impossible to preach or evangelize in other tongues.
So what do you do with your “other tongue?”
The same thing the 120 and Paul did with theirs. You pray and worship God with it.
Now to examine the second claim of the Anti-tongues argument:
Does all genuine speaking in tongues occur only in known human languages?
We have already proven that speaking in tongues was never used, and can never reliably be used, for anything except prayer and praise. Since speaking in tongues is used only for human-to-God communication, there is no logical reason for God to limit speaking in tongues to known human languages.
Paul, the only Apostle who taught in his Epistles specifically about speaking in tongues acknowledged the possibility of speaking in non-human, angelic languages:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” I Cor. 13:1.
Clearly, sometimes speaking in tongues occurred in known human languages, and sometimes it took place in angelic languages.
It helps us to note also that there is no recorded attempt of the 120, including the Apostles, and later the Apostle Paul, to identify the specific foreign language in which they spoke in other tongues. Nor did they try to ascertain whether their “tongue” was a known language, or an angelic one.
If they made no such effort, why should we?
If this was of no concern to them, why should it be to us?
It was entirely possible, then and now, to be inspired of the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues in prayer and in praise, using a language that is a known one, an ancient one no longer spoken, or in an obscure dialect spoken by only a handful of people far from you, or even one spoken by angels in Heaven.
In conclusion:
My Brethren, I have proven in this post that the Anti-tongues argument is unscriptural and even absurd.
So go ahead. Make the Devil mad. Receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Speak in tongues every day of your life. Follow the example of Paul and the Early Church by using tongues for prayer and worship.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery. All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others as long as it is done so free of charge, in entirety, and attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | 1 Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 3, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
Of all the empty arguments offered by Cessationists, it is hard to find anything more bizarre than their claim of the existence of ”false tongues.” This doctrine is the new Boogeyman.
Due to space and format limitations, I have moved this and all of my other articles to my other website. Please click on the following link to go there:
”The Boogeyman Called False Tongues”
Thank You,
Brother Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Charismatic Chaos, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 3, 2006
Due to space and format limitations, and to better accommodate the visitors to my sites, I have moved this article and am in the process of moving all of my other articles to my new website. To access this article, please click on the link below:
“God’s True Laws of Financial Prosperity”
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Theology, Word of Faith | 2 Comments »
Posted by brothermel on December 3, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
The proud parents brought their new baby boy home from the hospital. Days passed, and they became concened. The baby never cried. He might whimper a little bit, but he never made the all-out squawlin’ bawlin’ sound their other children had made.
As the baby grew from infant to toddler, he still made not a sound. They tried to get him to talk, but to no avail. Worried, they took him to the doctor. After a thorough examination, the doctor declared, “I can’t find anything wrong with him. I guess he’ll talk when he wants to.”
Years passed, and the parents grew used to the silence. Little Jack never said a word.
One day when the boy was about ten years old, he came in to eat the lunch that his mother had prepared for him. He took one spoonful of the soup into his mouth, a sour look came over his face. He spat out the soup, threw down his spoon and shouted,
“This is slop! And I’m not gonna eat it.”
Stunned, the mother said,
“Jack! My God!
You can talk!”
Then she thought for a moment and added,
“Hey! Why haven’t you talked before?”
Jack replied,
“Well, things were alright until now.”
Like little Jack, we in Word of Faith circles have had little to say, and have been pretty content to eat whatever spiritual meal was placed before us.
Jack rejected a perfectly good meal, calling it “slop” simply because he didn’t like the taste. In our case though, the spiritual meals given us by too many WOF leaders have gotten less and less Scriptural to the point where much of what we’re getting is indeed “slop.”
Readers, if you have spent any significant amount of time in prayer, and have any level of spiritual maturity and discening, you already know that some of our Word of Faith teachings have become increasingly bizarre, and have little if anything to do with sound doctrine and Scripture.
We haven’t had the nerve to say anything.
We didn’t dare.
If you are a WOF pastor, evangelist, or prophet, and you don’t copy what everyone else is preaching, your people will notice that you aren’t following the pack, and will begin to believe you are behind the times. Your church rolls will drop, you will be invited to hold meetings less often, and before long, you’ll be out of ministry and back in secular work.
So the need for self-preservation is a strong incentive for WOF ministers to just preach what everyone else is preaching.
If you are a WOF congregation member, and you question the validity of some of the extreme teachings and improper behavior that appear in our circles from time to time, you are called “unteachable” or “rebellious,” or you are told that you are not properly “submitting to authority.”
“After all, Brother So and So preaches this! I heard this preached on xyz Christian TV program last night! Brother Great Healing Evangelist teaches this in his new book! They can’t all be wrong!”
Sadly, yes they can.
They have been before.
I’ve been in this faith movement long enough to have seen nearly every leader you can think of, at one time or another, rush headlong after some erroneous teaching, embrace it, teach it to others, and have to quietly back off the teaching later.
For the average WOF congregation member, the fear of being criticized or seen as less spiritual than others, is a strong incentive for them to just go along with what is being preached.
I have waited for years for national WOF leaders that I respect, to stand up and say, “this is nonsense.”
But none have.
Why?
I don’t know.
One or two that I’ve had the opportunity to talk to has admitted to me privately, “Much of this is nonsense.” They will say so privately, but not publicly.
Why?
Again, I don’t know.
Perhaps they fear that their books won’t sell as well, or their meetings will be cancelled, if they don’t just go along with what everyone else is preaching. Many of them spent years trudging through small meetings, not knowing how they were going to have enough money to get to the next town, sacrificing, withstanding the tempatations of the devil and the criticisms of people every step of the way, and maybe they fear returning to those days again.
Once again, I don’t know.
I just know that no one is saying the things that need to be said.
So, I am going to step forward, and examine our spiritual diet. And the parts of it that are nutritious and wholesome, I’m going to call “good.” And the parts that are unscriptural, fleshly, unethical, unloving, even sinful, I’m going to just go ahead and call it “slop.”
Many of you have e-mailed me, telling me that the articles I’ve written have given you sound teaching about speaking in tongues, the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and have helped you to understand what genuine prophetic ministry is and is not.
I will include in this Word of Faith Reformation section, articles identifying where we in the Word of Faith movement need to judge ourselves, correct our teachings, change our motives, and clean up our ethics.
I do not write these articles with the desire to be controversial. I have no axe to grind against my brethren in ministry. But like you, I’ve seen too many fellow Christians shipwreck their lives by adhering to extreme teachings. And like you, as you have expressed to me in e-mails, I am weary of the hype and vanity that passes too often for “anointed” ministry in our day.
I want the real thing.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery. All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others if done so in entirety, without charge, and if attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Holy Spirit, Prophets, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on December 2, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
In Charismatic circles today we have many prophets of Balaam, and few prophets of God.
The story of Balaam forces us to face up to the disconcerting fact that false prophets can actually prophesy under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Yeah, I know that’s hard to believe, but look closely at the story of Balaam:
After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years because of their unbelief and disobedience, Moses led the Children of Israel in the direction of the Promised Land. To get to the actual land, they would have to pass through the lands of three major tribes: the Moabites, the Midianites, and the Edomites.
God acknowledged the rights of these tribes to their lands because the Midianites were descended from Abraham through his second wife, the Edomites were descended from Esau, and the Moabites were descended from Lot. God specifically told Moses to leave these tribes alone, ask for permission to pass through their land, and to pay for any resources they used along the way. However, all three tribes refused to allow the Jews to pass through their lands, causing them much hardship and forcing them to take what appears to have been a substantial detour.
Balaak, king of Moab had nothing to fear from the Jews, yet he feared them anyway. Knowing that he could not defeat them militarily, he chose to try to fight them spiritually by hiring Balaam.
Balaam was evidently a member of one of these tribes, possibly Midian.
And he had a well-known reputation. As King Balaak put it:
“…I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”–Num. 22:6.
Evidently, Balaam had enjoyed some success in pronouncing blessings or curses upon people. He wasn’t just a faker.
The first characteristic of Balaam: He operated to a certain extent in genuine spiritual power.
Numbers Chapter 22 records King Balak of Moab sending messengers to Balaam, asking him to come and curse Israel.
The second characteristic of Balaam: He managed to draw to himself the attention of powerful people.
Balaam had a King seeking his favor and help.
The third characteristic of Balaam: He was unaware of what God was really doing in the earth in his generation.
He had the attention of men, but not the attention of God. He knew how to manipulate people and events through spiritual power, but he did not know the major move of God that was going on in his day, and did not care to know.
You see, God had already told Moses not to bother the Moabites, Midianites, or the Edomites. King Balak had nothing to fear, and Balaam knew this. Balam could have advised the King to grant the request of Moses, and to even greet the Jews with bread and water. This would have kept God from commanding Moses to slay them later. (Deut. 23:4).
But giving the King that kind of wise spiritual advice, and partaking in the move of God, would not have put gold in Balaam’s pocket.
The fourth characteristic of Balaam: self-centeredness.
Any action that did not enrich Balaam, exalt him in the eyes of men, or benefit him in some way, was simply not going to happen.
Sadly, many ministries of all sizes are exactly like Balaam. The will partner with another minister, invite him, or minister for him, if and only if they see a considerable profit in it for themselves.
Think about ”prosperity preachers,” by which I mean ministers who don’t just preach prosperity as a part of their overall message, but who preach nothing but money, money, money everywhere they go. You’ll see them all the time get a “revelation” to fly across the land and donate thousands of copies of their books to a major ministry. Why? Well, in addition to being “led to,” that major ministry will in turn invite them to be on their TV program, or minister at their big convention.
In 25 years of being in this faith, I have NEVER seen a prosperity preacher get “a revelation” to pass his books out free to the poor in the ghetto, the projects, or to the homeless. After all, if supernatural prosperity does actually come in response to applying the principles they teach in their books, why wouldn’t they want to target their books to the ones who desperately need it? You want the truth? Because that won’t benefit them, make them better known, or put money in their pockets.
The story continues with the messengers from the King bringing ”the rewards of divination in their hand,” and giving Balaam this money in return for considering the King’s request. The act of offering a prophet or a seer an offering of some sort is no clear indication of spiritual wrongdoing. For instance, young Saul brought Samuel the Prophet an offering of money when he came to inquire of him where his father’s donkeys were. (I Sam. 9:7,8).
Balaam asked the Lord for permission to curse Israel.
And God, not the Devil, answered him:
“You shall not go with them: you shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.”–vs. 12.
This shows us the fifth characteristic of Balaam: He actually did know God.
Balaam obeyed the Lord, and told the messengers:
“…the Lord refuses to give me leave to go with you.”–vs. 13.
King Balak sent more honorable messengers to Balaam with what we would call today “a blank check.”
“…I will promote you unto very great honor, and I will do whatsoever you say unto me: come therefore, I pray you, and curse me this people.”–vs. 17.
Balaam told them,
“If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more.”–vs. 18.
Up to this point in the story, Balaam is acting in complete spiritual integrity. He asks God what to do, obeys Him, and does nothing more or less.
Balaam asks God again for permission to curse Israel, and God gives him a very clear direction:
“If the men come to call you, rise up, and go with them; but yet the word which I shall say unto you, that shall you do.”–vs. 20.
Here Balaam makes his first mistake.
In the morning, Balaam did not wait for the men to call him. He just jumped on his donkey and went right along with these messengers. He did so because he was greedy for the money they offered him.
The sixth characteristic of Balaam: greed.
We all have to make a living. The bills have to be paid, and we have families for which we must provide. There are always natural considerations involved with ministry. But don’t ever allow offers of money to be the deciding factor in what meetings you accept, what books you write, what tapes you record, or who you bless.
The story continues with the account of the angel coming to kill Balaam. He didn’t see the angel, but his donkey did. The donkey tried to avoid the angel two times, but by the third time she could dodge him no longer. The donkey collapsed and refused to go any further. Balaam beat her. God opened the donkey’s mouth to talk back to Balaam, and then Balaam finally saw the angel, and fell down on the ground before him.
The angel said:
“Wherefore have you smitten your ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand you, because your way is perverse before me: And your ass saw me, and turned from me these three times; unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain you, and saved her alive.”
Balaam’s greed was “perverse” in the eyes of the angel, and nearly cost him his life. His death was prevented only by the actions of his donkey. The donkey had more spiritual sense and discerning than did the prophet.
Over the centuries money has blinded many genuine prophets, leading them astray, and causing their premature deaths.
William Branham, the prophet at the forefront of the Healing Revival of the 1940’s and 1950’s, operated in a genuine gift from God for the early years of his ministry. Then he became intoxicated and deceived by money, attention, and the flattery of people. He wandered off into false doctrine, and died before his time. Driving home one night after a series of meetings, he perceived no danger. The Seer ”saw” nothing. But just over the hill was a drunk driver who slammed head-on into Branham’s car, killing him instantly.
Like Balaam, Branham, never “saw” death coming.
Balaam repented, saying to the angel:
“I have sinned; for I knew not that you stood in the way against me: now therefore, if it displease you, I will get me back down.”–vs. 34.
The angel gave Balaam permission to continue, but warned him:
“…but only the word that I shall speak unto you, that you shall speak.”–vs. 35.
Balaam met King Balak, and tried three times to place a curse on Israel.
Notice how Balaam specifically approached God.
Three times, he had the King’s people build seven altars upon which he offered seven bullocks. The blood of these animals covered their sins, and the offerings were supposed to entreat God’s favor.
God did not ignore this process. Each time the sacrifices and offerings were offered, God Himself showed up and actually talked with Balaam!
The Seventh Characteristic of Balaam: He knew how to get into the manifested presence of God.
But each time he spoke, rather than being able to speak a curse, he found himself prophesying a blessing over Israel by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Num. 23:5,16, and 24:2).
Unable to curse Israel, Balaam departed. Had the story ended here, we could say nothing against Balaam. But evidently Balaam could not resist the offers of money, because at this point or later, Balaam told the King how to defeat Israel.
Balaam knew that Israel was under the favor and blessing of God. In this place of divine favor, no curse would work against them, and no king could defeat them. For King Balak to defeat Israel, they had to be led into sin and disobedience to God. So Balaam gave King Balak the key.
The eighth characteristic of Balaam: secretly unscruplous.
Once he was not in the manifested presence of God, he used his spiritual knowledge of the ways of God to betray Israel to King Balak.
Christ refers to the actions of Balaam in Rev. 2:14:
“…Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”
God’s Word in the Law of Moses was already crystal clear. The Jews were to have nothing to do with idolatry or false gods, and were not to intermarry or interact much with the pagan cultures around them.
Balaam counselled King Balak to entangle the Jews with the worship of other gods, and sexual sin with the heathen inhabitants of the land.
And indeed, King Balak followed Balaam’s advice to the letter:
“And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom witht he daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods…and the anger of the Lord was kindled against them.”–Num. 25:1-3.
The plan of Balaam and Balak was only partially effective. Idolatry and fornication did not bring the Jews completely out from under the protection of God’s grace, but it did loose a plague in their midst that killed 24,000.
The ninth characteristic of Balaam: causing people to disobey the clear directives of God’s written Word.
He taught Balak how to lead the Jews into disobedience. And he reaped what he had sown. Balaam later died by the sword, killed by the Children of Israel along with the rest of the Midianites.
Although Balaam died, his errors lived on.
We see the spiritual successors to Balaam alive in the Early Church.
The entire second chapter of II Peter is Peter’s written warning about false prophets in the Church of his day. He wrote:
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies…
…And many shall follow their pernicious ways…
…And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you…
…Presumptous are they, selfwilled…
…[they] speak evil of the things that they understand not…
…..Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness…
…..they speak great swelling words of vanity…
…while they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption…”
Wow.
Either say, “Amen!”
Or say, “Ouch!”
Sounds like many of our so-called “prophetic services,” or most of the latest Charismatic books doesn’t it?
Let’s look at a few of the fruit of the Prophets of Balaam:
In the Book of Revelation, Christ warned the Church at Pergamos that the Prophets of Balaam were in their midst:
“But I have a few things against you, because you have there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel…Repent; or else I will come quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth…”–Rev. 2:14-16.
They were present in the Early Church, in the Church at Pergamos, and they are in our midst today.
My brothers and sisters, I’ve walked in the prophet’s anointing since 1989 when Sister Goodwin laid her hands on me. And I have known other true prophets.
I can tell you this about the prophet’s anointing:
No one buys it. No one can sell it to you.
No one can earn it. No one can increase it for you.
Either God calls you to it, or He does not.
You can not get it out of a book or off a tape.
A prophet can not tell you what you want to hear.
He can only tell you what you need to hear.
It operates as the Spirit wills, not as you and I will.
It demands sacrifice and faithfulness.
It’s companions are humility, love, and obedience.
There are no shortcuts.
During his life as recorded in Numbers, we are given no title by which to call Balaam. He is not called a true prophet or a false prophet. He is not called a sorcerer or a magician. Then years pass, the Children of Israel come into the Promised Land, and Joshua grows old. Towards the latter part of Joshua’s life, God speaks to Joshua and mentions Balaam, for the first time identifying what he was. The Lord says:
“Balaam alsot the son of Beor, the soothsayer…” –Joshua 13:22.
Balaam had genuine spiritual power. He knew God and interacted with Him. He understood the need to approach God through the blood of animal sacrifices. And his spiritual power almost always produced tangible results. But when you sum it all up, this all added up to Balaam not being a true prophet, but actually a soothsayer.
The Tenth Characteristic of Balaam: He was not a prophet of God. He was a soothsayer.
What is a “soothsayer?” Bible dictionaries and lexicons define this term in a variety of ways. Some equate it with telling the future by omens or astrology. Others define it in the more severe term of sorceror.
I believe Balaam was what I would call–for want of a better term–”a sensitive.” He was sensitive to the spiritual realm, and he knew how to operate in it.
Most of the time, he was dealing with pagans. In authority over various heathen tribes and peoples, were different kinds of evil spirits. He knew how to appease various devils in order to curse or bless this or that. But when he dealt with Israel, it was a different case entirely. He knew he wasn’t dealing with devils here.
He was dealing with the One True God, Jehovah, who had walked with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so on. And Balaam was dealing with not a heathen tribe, but with the true People of God. He could not just haul off and curse or bless them like he did other people. God was too big for that.
So he approached God through animal sacrifices and burnt offerings. Not only did God refuse to allow Balaam to curse Israel, the Holy Spirit acutally came upon Balaam and he prophesied under the power of the Spirit three times.
We are left with this uncomfortable fact:
Balaam was equally comfortable operating in the power of God or the power of the Devil.
Such would seem impossible, but here we have it. Balaam prophesied from time to time under the power of the Holy Spirit, and at times through evil spirits, and God called the totality of his ministry ”soothsaying.”
A warning:
My brethren, much of what I’m seeing in Charismatic and “Prophetic” services is not the ministry of a prophet at all.
I see many “Christian Sensitives”–Christian individuals who are sensitive to spiritual matters–ministering in our midst, and calling themselves prophets.
They are operating sometimes in the power of God, and sometimes in the power of evil spirits. They are equally comfortable in either realm. The majority of them, I sincerely believe, are unaware that they are operating in both realms.
These Christian sensitives, or soothsayers, are just so wide-open to spiritual manifestations that they assume that everything that is supernatural and has a somewhat religious feel to it, is God. They are also so unknowledgeable of God’s written Word that they have no real basis by which to judge these manifestations.
Soothsayers or sensitives are sensitive to spiritual promptings and manifestations. They are usually born with this ability, or have it awaken at a young age. If they never are born again and never grow in a clear knowledge of God’s Word, they develop into psychics, mystics, channellers, and mediums.
I think Jeanne Dixon, Edgar Cayce, and other famous psychics of years gone by, along with those prominent on the national scene today such as Jonathan Edwards, are what the Bible calls “soothsayers” or what I would call “sensitives.” They did not actively seek to obtain satanic power. They were born with a sensitivity, never got born-again, came under occult influences, and developed in the direction of psychic powers.
They have fallen for Satan’s deception. They think they are receiving their information from “spirit guides,” which they believe to be angels, deceased wise humans, or other benevolent spirits. Actually they are receiving this knowledge from what the Bible calls “familiar spirits”–evil spirits that are familair with different situations.
Think about it, evil spirits have been around for thousands of years. They never sleep. So they have been able to observe many people and situations over the years. And they have the ability to mimick or take on the appearance of others. So when they communicate with psychics, they can put on a very convincing act of appearing to be someone’s dead loved one, or some great mystic or sage that has passed into the “great beyond.”
I’ve never heard of any psychic who believes that he or she is operating through the power of the Devil. All their “readings” or what the Bible would have termed “sooths” seem to help people, reveal hidden knowledge, many times accurately predict the future, and explain the unexplained. So they assume this is God. It is not.
What I have termed ”Christian sensitives” are those who were born with a spiritual sensitivity or had it come at an early age. They accepted Christ, but never had any extended training or exposure to the true power of God, and the sound doctrines of the Word of God. They have simply taken this sensitivity, gone forward with it, and assumed that every vision or revelation is of God. So, sometimes through this spiritual sensitivity, they perceive revelation from God, such as a Word of Knowledge or a Word of Wisdom. But they accept all sensations equally, and unknowingly perceive revelation from the Enemy, such as fortelling the future through psychic power.
They are equally comfortable in both realms: God and familiar spirits.
However, it is equally true that Christian sensitives don’t have to operate in the realms of both the Holy Spirit and psychic powers. Some can and have developed into fully Holy-Spirit ministries:
Under these conditions, a Christian sensitive can develop into a spiritually pure prophetic office, and God may even use them very prolifically in the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
I am alarmed to see Christian sensitives, Christian soothsayers, Christian Prophets of Balaam, operating in a widespread manner in our services today.
Brother Hagin warned of this very same problem in a minister’s meeting I attended in 1991. He said:
“Much of what I see manifesting in Charismatic churches today is inspired by evil spirits and not the Holy Spirit and most people do not know the difference.”
In Conclusion:
The strong similarities between many “prophetic” ministries that have arisen in the last few years, and Balaam are:
Jesus warned us,
“By their fruits ye shall know them.”–(Mat. 7:20).
My brethren, when the genuine prophet’s anointing comes into manifestation, it is beautiful and life changing.
Unfortunately, we are swamped today in Charismatic circles with many Prophets of Balaam, and few true prophets of God.
Just because a prophet is prosperous, does not make him a prophet of Balaam.
Just because a prophet misses it in some small detail of a prophecy, doesn’t make him a prophet of Balaam.
Having the attention of powerful people, in and of itself, does not make one a false prophet.
A false prophet, prophet of Balaam, a Christian soothsayer, is one who meets most, if not all of the above characteristics.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery All Rights Reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others as long as it is done so without charge, in entirety, and if attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Prophets, Theology, Word of Faith | 3 Comments »
Posted by brothermel on December 2, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
I saw a very interesting interview on TV some time back. Jeff Greenfield was interviewing Ron Silver on C-Span.
Ron Silver is a liberal Hollywood actor and activist that has fallen out of favor with the Hollywood elite. And it is no wonder. In the 2004 election, Ron said that even though he was pro-choice, and very liberal socially, he was enthusiastically endorsing President Bush and campaigned for him because he felt that Bush was the only candidate that was serious about defeating terrorism. This courageous act closed alot of doors for him in “liberal” “tolerant” “inclusive” Hollywood.
I was fascinated to hear his description of a recent phenomenon that is becoming common in Hollywood.
He quoted a film industry analyst who made this stunning statement: “Making films is no longer about money.” To paraphrase the expert Ron quoted, he made the following argument: Making films used to be about making money. Whatever was a good story, whatever was entertaining, whatever was artistic or shocking or attention grabbing, got put on film, because these all had the potential to make alot of money.
Now the profit potential has changed.
Hollywood can turn out a really lousy movie, poorly done, badly acted, low quality or no quality in every measurable aspect. The film can be an uninteresting story, not entertaining, and have no artistic aspect, no shock value, and bore you to tears, but by the time it is sold, distributed, put on DVD, marketed to foreign markets, and licensed out for merchandising, it will still make a considerable profit. In other words, if you get enough commercial aspects intertwined with the film, it is almost impossible NOT to make a profit. Ron added, “You are going to see a lot more lousy movies from now on.”
Hollywood has turned the making of films into an “industry” that is so awash in money that there is no longer any reason to strive for excellence, artistry, to educate, or to spark imagination. Just throw the slop out there, call the hogs, charge admission, and watch as all the little piggies stampede to the trough and pig-out.
It is not a pretty picture, and it gets uglier each year.
Who would have thought it though?
Who would have believed that something like film making, that started out with such imagination and creativity, that a shining point of light with so much potential could degenerate down into such wretchedness?
What caused this decline?
How did we go from classics like “Gone with the Wind,” to “Cheerleader Chainsaw Massacre?” One could argue that it occurred because the process became “too commercialized.” But such a statement misses the point. Film making has always been commercialized. Movies have always been sold, rented, advertized, and licensed.
How did it all go from that to this?
It happened because over the course of time, a self-sustaining infrastructure arose in Hollywood, LA and New York. Studios were built and expanded, contracts and agreements were signed, agents were hired to promote the actors, and marketing people were hired to promote the film. After showing in the theaters, movies were released to television, shown with commercial interruptions, and commented on by reviewers. Studios merged with other studios, that signed deals with book publishing houses, who were owned by media holding companies that also owned cable networks. In other words, everyone had their hands in the pockets of everyone else. Eventually, money no longer was the natural result of turing out an excellent product.
Get this:
Money became the unavoidable result of so many entities having a financial stake in the process.
The film making “industry” gradually dumped the caviar from their silver serving platters, replaced it with pig slop, and offered to the masses at premium prices. The process was so gradual that only now are a few individuals rising up and demanding, “Stop!….This is slop!…And I won’t eat it anymore.”
Martin Luther, part of the great Protestant Reformation of the 1500’s and 1600’s, saw that the same kind of slow slide into corruption had taken place in the Church of his day.
A priest, thoroughly educated in Church theology, travelled to Rome in great anticipation. Now he would get to see the Holy Father himself. He would be among the holy Cardinals and Bishops, observing as they held mass and would be present to receive their blessing.
He thought that surely Rome would be like a little piece of Heaven on earth. But once he got there, words could not express his shock.
He found the Church hierarchy awash in incredible luxury, and eye-popping wealth on every hand, while the common people wallowed in gut-wrenching poverty, ignorance, and filth. He was utterly horrified as he counted 90 brothels set aside in the city of Rome for the exclusive use of Bishops, Cardinals, and Popes who were supposedly “celibate,” nod-nod, wink-wink.
He realized that so much of what he had thought the Church was actually about–care for the poor, humility, serving others, and celibacy of the priests–was nothing but a cruel and deceptive facade for immoral, corrupt,
power-hungry men grabbing for every piece of gold they could get their hands on. He saw in the Church of his day a version of what we see in Hollywood today.
The Popes controlled the Monarchs, who controlled the armies, who controlled the people. This Church “infrasturcture,” had turned into an industry so awash in money that content no longer mattered.
I believe that the state of the Church then is unfortunately very similar in many aspects to the ministry world today. Oh, we don’t have public brothels for ministers. Nor do I believe that the majority of ministers today are greedy hypocrites. But there are some parallels that should give us all pause.
Much of the Church world now is not a ministry, it is an industry.
Like in Hollywood and in Rome of the Middle Ages, a self-sustaining infrastructure has arisen, with many people having financial interests in each other and in maintaining the status quo. The majority, if not all, of the “Christian” publishing houses are owned by secular companies. These conglomerates have no interest in preaching the Gospel. They are interested only in making money off the process of preaching the Gospel through mass marketing.
Recently, two Christian publishers merged under the ownership of a secular publisher. They began dividing up the contracts between them. The more affluent company kept the contracts of their Christian authors of star quality, whose books sold in the millions, and dumped the lesser selling authors on the less affluent company.
The owner of the more affluent company mentioned the names of two well-known Christian authors. One is under contract for 5 years, the other is under contract for 7 years.
”Each owes us a book a year,” the owner flatly stated.
Owes?
I’ve wondered why certain Christian authors seem to have a new book come out like clockwork every 9 to 10 months.
Suddenly, copies of their expensive new hard back book appear on the shelves of Wal-mart and everywhere else.
Most Christians believe these Christian authors are just prolific writers. They guess that God is giving these authors fresh revelations, and that books are the natural outcome of of time with the Lord.
No doubt some of these books contain some good material. And I don’t question the integrity of the authors. But these books are much less about revelations sent from Heaven, and much more about contractural deadlines set by publishers.
These Christian authors had better crank out the product, and promote it well, and keep their sales up, or they will be dropped, and the “Christian” publishers will find someone else who CAN move product.
Do these publishers seek God?
Do they fast and pray and get before the Lord and ask Him what the Body of Christ needs to be instructed, corrected, and rebuked about at this time? Do they diligently read submitted manuscripts from all individuals and try to discern the voice of God speaking to His people, regardless of who has written it?
I think not.
Some Christian publishers flatly state on their websites that they are “not accepting new manuscripts at this time,” because they are giving their full attention to “developing books by their current [star] Christian author.”
Manuscripts from unknown authors are simply not read–I know from personal experience.
In the early 1990’s I edited a book for a friend that I thought would be of interest to Christians. I contacted numerous Christian publishing houses.
None of them asked about my prayer life.
None of them asked of the state of my character or morals.
None prayed with me.
They asked:
“How big are your meetings?
Who do you know?
How many tapes have you sold?
How many copies of this book do you think you can sell?”
The book my friend sought to publish had a very clever premise, practical guidelines, and substantial information and instructions. Of the dozens of Christian publishers out there, only one bothered to give me the impression that they even remotely considered my friend’s manuscript. And their consideration of it was so fleeting, that the conversation clearly occurred only by sheer acccident.
I chalked that experience up to just another disappointing behind-the-scenes ministry experience. My friend went ahead with the manuscript and self-published it, and it proved to be a blessing to about 1,000 people.
I saw another interview on TV with a well-known national Christian leader.
He said his conventions are so huge now, that local hotels, and other businesses actively compete against each other for his business. Many businesses, conglomerates, movers and shakers and power-brokers see money to be made off Christians.
A Christian ministry infrastructure and industry is so thoroughly entrenched now, that like in Hollywood, content no longer matters. Profit is almost unavoidable because so many entities have such a stake in the process.
The end result is that as film content in Hollywood has gone from masterpieces to massacres, much of ministry today has gone from life-changing revelations straight from the Throne, to mediocre re-hashes of past teachings merged with pop-psychology.
That’s not to say there isn’t an occasional good book out there from time to time.
But readers, when was the last time you read a nationally-promoted Christian book that absolutely changed your life, or that opened your eyes to a whole new aspect of God that you had never seen before?
Been awhile?
Me too.
I’ve quit buying the latest Christian books.
I thumb through them, read an excerpt or two, and see if God is witnessing to my spirit something through that book. If He isn’t, I don’t buy it. I realize that if I would buy a book, just because it is a “Christian” book, or just because it is by “my favorite Christian author,” I contribute to the problem, and I help to maintain that ministry infrastructure.
Hollywood is a concern, but it is not my concern.
But the Body of Christ is my concern.
My Savior suffered, bled, died, and rose again from the dead to redeem it. His Body is dear to His heart, and to yours and mine also.
I’ll close with this thought.
A Word of Faith leader returned from a month-long fast in 1983, declaring that the new move of God was imminent, and would break forth at any moment with great power if we pray. Yet 22 years has passed without any discernible movement manifesting.
We have had some times of refreshing come from Brownsville. We have certainly had minnisters running from city to city, doing “spiritual warfare,” and claiming to have supposedly torn down the strongholds over every major city in which they have ministered.
However, we don’t see much change in those very cities:.
The wicked are still wicked.
The jails are still full.
Crack is still being sold on street corners.
We have also had the prophetic move of the 1980’s which guaranteed that “you TOO can be a prophet in five easy lessons if you buy this book.”
But that really went nowhere.
Where is the long-promised “New Move?”
I think we are in it, and haven’t realized it.
I don’t think we need more miracles, bigger churches, or more prosperity.
Most of what I’m hearing from many national leaders today is ”Money, money, money.” And while it is true that many saints struggle financially, and need to be taught sound financial principles, it is also true that they need to also develop in character, ethics, humility, and holiness.
Money is not panacea that it is presented as being today.
We don’t need more money any more than the Medeivel Church needed more money.
The Church’s leaders then lived in sumptuous luxury, as do some of ours today. It is perfectly alright for ministers to prosper, but there should reach a point at which enough is enough.
Medievel Christians built their magnificent cathedrals, and we’ve built our mega-churches. Thank God for big churches, and the resources they bring to preaching the Gospel. But bigger does not necessarily mean better.
What we have are modern versions of the same excesses that they had.
What the Church needed in Luther’s day, and what she needs today is the exact same thing–Reformation.
We need Christian authors writing books because God–not publishers–told them to do so.
We need churches that grow to a certain size, and that choose to divide and birth out new churches rather than building bigger and bigger palaces to hold all the people.
We need itinerant ministers who come to hold meetings because God has put an anointing upon them and a message within them.
We need pastors who will invite those who have a message from God, not those who simply have a popular, ear-tickling message with which to flatter people.
We need to take a step back,
take a deep breath,
turn off the Christian TV programs that consist only of hysterical appeals for money,
clean up our act,
separate ourselves from this ungodly ministry industry and infrastructure,
write “Ichabod–the Glory of the Lord has departed” over its door post,
and separate ourselves unto God in prayer.
We need to keep ourselves separated unto God until the Glory returns.
Reformation brought the Glory back in Luther’s day, and it is what is required to bring it back today.
We need more legitimate ministry, and less self-sustaining industry.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery All Rights Reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others if done so in entirety, without charge, and if attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Holy Spirit, Prophets, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on November 21, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
There is a deeply erroneous teaching floating around now called:
“The God-given Ministry of False Prophets.”
My first thought when I read it was,
“You’ve got to be kidding!”
Since the old cessationist arguments have been so thoroughly discredited so many times, for so many years, they have been forced to think up new erroneous teachings to replace the old ones.
The new odd-ball teaching goes like this: Someone will say to them, “Have you ever heard of Kenneth Hagin or Kenneth Copeland? They have had well-established, fruitful ministries for years, and they claim to stand in the office of a prophet.”
“Yes,” the cessationist will claim, “I agree that Hagin and Copeland are prophets–but they are false prophets! You see, God sends false prophets to test us. So don’t listen to that Hagin and Copeland bunch, they will deceive you!”
Well, someone once said that the best disinfectant is sunlight. So let’s drag this odd teaching out, expose it to the light of God’s Word, and see if it should be embraced or discarded.
This teaching begins with a misreading of Deuteronomy 13:1-3:
“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods…You shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God proves you…”
The Scripture says, “if there arise…,’ not “if God sends…”
This indicates someone that arises, and that God is obviously aware of and does not remove through His Own sovereign power. Taking this a step beyond God being aware that someone “arises,” to claiming that He deliberately “sends forth,” is a gigantic step that is not supported by this, or any other Scripture. Yet that is exactly what the adherents of this teaching promote: that God isn’t only aware of false prophets arising, but that He actually sends them to us.
God did not deliberately and actively send such a false prophet, anymore than He actively and deliberately sent Satan to tempt Eve. God’s command to Adam and Eve had been clear: “Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Satan came–of his own accord, not because God “sent” him–to see whether he could talk them out of obedience and into disobedience. And he succeeded.
God’s commands to Israel in the Law of Moses had been explicit. They were to stay away from idolatry and other gods. Therefore, if a false prophet were to “arise” among them, tempting them to disobey God by worshipping other gods, God would tolerate the appearance of this false prophet. But such false prophet would be doing so under his own volition, not because God deliberately sent him. The Scripture adherents qoute does not support the idea of “sending” false prophets.
And the Book of Jeremiah flatly refutes the idea of God sending false prophets:
“Then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them…”–Jer. 14:14.
The next point in this erroneous teaching rests upon a misinterpretation of the events, drawn from the Old Testament account of the death of King Ahab.
King Ahab had disobeyed God all his life, manipulated people, lead Israel into worshipping false Gods, and had murdered people. God had sent Elijah and numerous other prophets to warn Ahab to repent. He repented not. So God is discussing with the angels in Heaven how to go about persuading Ahab to enter into a particular battle, which would take his life, so that God could raise up another King over Israel. At this point a spirit comes before God’s throne and offers a plan. He says:
“…I will go forth, and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets. And He [God] said, You shall persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and so do.”–I Kings 22:22.
This spirit became a lying spirit in the mouths of Ahab’s prophets, persuading him to engage in this ill-conceived battle.
But it is clear from the context of this Scripture that God did not seek out, and send forth in a forceful sense, a lying spirit, as this teaching claims. Instead, a lying spirit appeared before Him, presented his plan, and God approved it.
God did this only once in the history of mankind. (Job’s case was similar, but God did not seek out and “send” Satan in that case either). In this one instance only, the spirit went into the mouths of those who were already false prophets of many years standing. These false prophets prophesied under the inspiration of this lying spirit, not to the righteous, but to a king who was wicked, disobedient, and murderous. In this case, the lying spirit entering into the false prophets fit in with God’s plan to remove Ahab from the throne. Ahab reaped what he had sowed. He got exactly the judgment of God that was warranted, and that the genuine prophet, Micah, had prophesied would come.
Beginning with a misreading of Deut. 13:1, continuing by misinterpreting I Kings 22:22, and ignoring Jeremiah 14:14, this teaching then jumps thousands of years forward in time, to quote what Paul tells us will happen after the Anti-Christ is revealed in the future.
The Apostle Paul writes:
“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall comsume with the spirit of his mouth…because they [people who will follow the Anti-Christ] received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie..” II Thes. 2:8,10,11.
The phrasing Paul uses here is future tense, “shall send” not present tense, “is sending.”
Also it is true that God will indeed “send them strong delusion,” but who are the “them” to which this Scripture refers? The “them” are those who will have hardened themselves against the salvation message time and time again, and end up staying behind on the Earth after the Rapture of the Saints. The “strong delusion” is not sent to God’s people.
In the instance with Ahab, and the one in the future during the Tribulation, these were not righteous saints diligently praying, seeking God, and obeying His word.
No.
Both Scriptures are describing people of hard hearts, and of disobedience and sin of many years standing. They are already determined to walk in sin. In both cases God just sends along a “lying spirit,” or “strong delusion,” to harden them fruther in their decisions that they have already made to disobey Him.
By putting Deut. 13:1–false prophets arising, together with I Kings 22:22–a lying spirit lying, and then ending with II Thes. 2:8-11–strong delusion sent to the future followers of the Anti-Christ, these unrelated Scriptures are made to sound as though God has always deliberately sent false prophets to His own people and that He will continue sending to us false prophet after false prophet until the Rapture.
We can not conclude from either of these incidents that God actively sends false prophets to the Body of Christ today to deliberately try to pull us off into sin and away from God.
New Testament Examples of False Prophets:
Peter confronted Simon the Sorceror in the 8th Chapter of Acts. Nowhere are we told that Simon the false prophet/sorceror had been sent from God to deceive the people.
No.
Simon was one of the false prophets God said would “arise.” He came to Samaria on his own, anointed of the Devil. And when Peter confronted the false prophet, the Apostle did not exclaim:
“A thousand blessings upon thee brother! Thou hast done thy work well! Thou has deceived these people for many years now. But your role is completed, and I am taking over now. So go somewhere else and bewitch people in some other city, and my blessings be upon thee!”
No.
Peter said:
“Your money perish with thee, because thou has thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.”–Acts 8:20.
Nor when Paul met Elymas the false prophet on the Isle of Paphos, did the Apostle act like they were both sent from God.
Quite the opposite! Paul said:
“…O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season…”–Acts 13:10,11.
No, God did not send Simon the Sorceror and Elymas the False Prophet as the advance team for the coming ministries of Peter and Paul. The false prophets were sent by the devil. They had nothing to do with God. And when the true Apostles and Prophets arrived on the scene, both false prophets were cursed and rejected, not blessed and welcomed.
God can, and does, tolerate many things in this world that are absolutely against His will: sin, darkness, sickness and disease, rape, incest, torture, false prophets, false teachings, false apostles, and so on. Just because He has not put a full end to these things yet, and will not do so until the Millenial Kingdom, does not at all mean that He deliberately and actively sends false prophets to His Own Children to try to lead them away from Him and into eternal damnation.
The premise that God sends us False Prophets is also refuted by two clearly stated New Testament principles:
One, Jesus said:
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kindgom stand?”–Mat. 12:25,26.
Are we really to believe that Satan does not work against Satan, but that God works against God? God sends true prophets to His people to lead them closer to Himself, and also sends false prophets to lead them from true faith to damnation? If so, then God’s Kingdom is doomed to failure, because Jesus said such a kingdom divided against itself “shall not stand.”
God’s Kindgom is not divided against itself.
Satan does not cast out Satan.
And God does not fight agaisnt God.
God does not send forth both true prophets and false prophets.
He sends forth the True Apostles and True Prophets to give us His Word, and He tolerates for the time being, the false apostles and false prophets in their attempts to draw us away from His Word.
And the second New Testament principle that refutes the argument is what Jesus said in John 13:20:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.”
If God actually sends forth False Prophets, then we are commanded by this Scripture to gladly receive the False Prophets and obey them, for Jesus said, “He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me Clearly “whomsoever” means “whomsoever” if you believe in the literal interpretation of God’s Word, as I do, and as I hope you do. “Whomsoever” would include both True Prophets and false ones.
God’s Kingdom is not divided against itself, with God sending true prophets to lead us, and false prophets to mislead us.
And if they were truly “sent” from God, we would be under obligation to receive and welcome and obey all whom God sends.
And God Himself told us of false prophets, “…I sent them not…”
This strange idea of “the God-given ministry of false prophets,” came straight from the Pit, and needs to be bundled up and tossed back into the Pit where it belongs. I’ve seen this argument quoted in many ways in different forms. And the people who have quoted it, I believe, have done so without fully thinking out the implications of its claim.
Cessationist arguments have been refuted by Scripture and common sense so many times, so thoroughly, for so long, that even the Cessationists themselves are finding it hard to keep offering the same old dog-eared arguments. So, they are grasping for straws. And this latest straw, the “God Given Ministry of False Prophets,” is just as unscriptural and unsupported by Early Church history as are all the other cessationist arguments. Let’s hope that this latest “straw” is the one that breaks the camel’s back.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others if done so without charge, in entirety, and if attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on November 20, 2006
Laughing in the Spirit
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
Whether you consider yourself for or against this experience, please give these comments your consideration:
Laughing in the Spirit, by which I mean spontaneous, hearty laughter of some duration breaking out among genuine Christians, has become controversial. Many Christians who have experienced it, such as Richard Roberts, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, and others, swear by it, testifying to being greatly refreshed and ministered to by the Lord through it. Many congregations have experienced a blessing as the Spirit of God has manifested this sign and wonder in their midst.
Yet, laughter in the Spirit has taken place among some Christian groups that later fell into considerable false teaching, doctrinal error, and substantial immorality, leaving many believers skeptical as to its validity.
Of course, whenever a controversy arises in our midst, those who stringently oppose speaking in tongues and modern day miracles in the Church instantly jump on the issue, thinking that like with the werewolves in the old movies, they have found in Laughing in the Spirit the silver bullet that if fired at us often enough, will eventually put us Charismatics out of our misery.
As with every other misguided accusation they throw at us, they are wrong in their wholescale rejection of the Holy Spirit manifesting Laughing in the Spirit in our midst.
I wish to add what I believe will be some clarifying thoughts on this subject.
Due to space and format limitations, I have moved this and all of my other articles from this blog to my website. To access this article, please click on the following link:
By Mel C. Montgomery
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on November 11, 2006
Due to space and format limitations, and to better accommodate the viewers of this article, I have moved this article and am in the process of moving all of my articles to my new website. To access this article, please click on the link below:
“Is the Word of Faith Message Heretical?”
Thanks,
Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on November 11, 2006
Statement of Beliefs
THE SCRIPTURES–The Bible is the inspired Word of God, the product of holy men of old who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The New Covenant, as recorded in the New Testament, we accept as our infallible guide in matters pertaining to conduct and doctrine (2 Tim. 3:16, 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21).
THE GODHEAD–Our God is one, but manifested in three persons–the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, being coequal (Deut. 6:4; Phil. 2:6). God the Father is greater than all; the Sender of the Word (Logos) and the Begetter (John 14:28; John 16:28; John 1:14). The Holy Spirit proceeds forth from both the Father and the Son and is eternal (John 14:16; John 15:26).
MAN, HIS FALL AND REDEMPTION–Man is a created being, made in the likeness and image of God, but through Adam’s transgression and fall, sin came into the world. The Bible says, “…all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” and “…There is none righteous, no, not one.” (Rom. 3:10; 3:23). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was manifested to undo the works of the devil and gave His life and shed His blood to redeem and restore man back to God (Rom. 5:14; 1 John 3:8). Salvation is the gift of God to man, separate from works and the Law, and is made operative by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, producing works acceptable to God (Eph. 2:8-10).
ETERNAL LIFE AND THE NEW BIRTH–Man’s first step toward salvation is godly sorrow that worketh repentence. The New Birth is necessary to all men, and when experienced, produces new life (2 Cor. 7:10; John 3:3-5; 1 John 5:12).
WATER BAPTISM–Baptism in water is by immersion, is a direct commandment of our Lord, and is for believers only. The ordinance is a symbol of the Christian’s identification with Chirst in His death, burial, and resurrection (Matt. 28:19; Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; Acts 8:36-39). We use the following baptismal formula; “On the confession of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and by His authority, I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
BAPTISM IN THE HOLY GHOST–The Baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire is a gift from God as promised by the Lord Jesus Christ to all believers in this dispensation and is received subsequent to the new birth. This experience is accompanied by the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit Himself gives utterance (Matt.3:11; John 14:16,17; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:38; Acts 19:1-7; Acts 2:1-4).
SANCTIFICATION–The Bible teaches that without holiness no man can see the Lord. We believe in the Doctrine of Sanctification as a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the time of regeneration and continuing until the consummation of salvation at Christ’s return (Heb. 12:14; 1 Thess. 5:23; 2 Peter 3:18; 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 3:12-14; 1 Cor. 1:30).
DIVINE HEALING–Healing is for the physical ills of the human body and is wrought by the power of God through the prayer of faith, and by the laying on of hands. It is provided for in the atonement of Christ, and is the privilege of every member of the Church today (James 5:14; Mark16:18; Isa. 53:4,5; Matt. 8:17; 1 Peter 2:24).
RESURRECTION OF THE JUST AND THE RETURN OF OUR LORD–The angels said to Jesus’ disciples, “…This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” His coming is imminent. When He comes, “…The dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air…” (Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16,17). Following the Tribulation, He shall return to earth as King of kings, and Lord of lords, and together with His saints, who shall be kings and priests, He shall reign a thousand years (Rev. 5:10; 20:6).
HELL AND ETERNAL RETRIBUTION–The one who physically dies in his sins without accepting Christ is hopelessly and eternally lost in the lake of fire and, therefore, has no further opportunity of hearing the Gospel or repenting. The lake of fire is literal. The terms “eternal” and “everlasting,” used in describing the duration of the punishment of the damned in the lake of fire, carry the same thought and meaning of endless existence as used in denoting the duration of joy and ecstasy of saints in the Presence of God (Heb 9:27; Rev. 19:20).
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Posted by brothermel on November 11, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
1. Acts of the Holy Spirit in the OT
The Bible reveals to us that there are two kinds of manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit manifests His presence within.
And the Holy Spirit manifests His power upon.
God chooses to manifest His Holy Spirit in this way: the manifested Presence in one location, and the manifeste Power upon individuals He sends forth.
We see this pattern first revealed in the Old Testament. Although it preceeds Moses, for the sake of brevity we will pick up the story at that point.
God speaks to Moses at Mount Sinai at the burning bush. There we see the Holy Spirit’s presence–at the Mount.
God commissions Moses and sends him forth to deliver the Children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. The Holy Spirit’s power comes upon Moses to accomplish the task.
Moses goes forth with the Holy Spirit’s power resting upon him, while the manifested presence of God remains behind at Mount Sinai.
After delivering the Jewish people out of Egypt, Moses brings them back to the Mount. God speaks to Moses on the Mount, giving him the Law and instructions on how to build a tabernacle, which will be a portable temple. Up to this point, when God spoke to Moses, He did so from the Mount.
Once the Tabernacle is completed, God’s manifested presence moves into it. From this point on, God speaks to Moses from the Tabernacle. “And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation…”–Lev. 1:1.
The Holy Spirit’s presence resides in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, but his power continues to rest upon Moses.
But this empowerment from the Holy Spirit was not for Moses alone. As the tasks of leading the Children of Israel grew greater, Moses needed help in overseeing the people. So God said, “gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel…And I will take of the spirit which is upon you, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the poeple with you, that yo bear it not yourself alone.”–Numbers 11:16,17.
The presence of the Holy Spirit remained in the Tabernacle, but His power at this point rested upon Moses and the Seventy Elders.
And I want us to notice what happened the moment the Holy Spirit’s power came upon the Seventy Elders. “And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unot the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.”–Num. 11:25.
When the Spirit of God came upon the Seventy, there was a verbal reaction or a verbal sign given, “…they prophesied…”
As the centuries pass, we see the Holy Spirit come upon three classes of believers in Old Testament times:
–Priests, to offer sacrifices and to theach the Law.
–Prophets, to work miracles and prophesy.
–Judges/Kings, to judge and rule the people.
The Holy Spirit’s presence did not come upon them. That remained in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. His power came upon them to empower them to fulfill what God had called them to do.
Let’s look at some OT examples of the Holy Spirit’s empowering coming upon Judges and Kings.
One of the earliest Judges after the death of Joshua was Othniel. Speaking of Othniel, the Scriptures say, “…And the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war; and the Lord delivered…[Israel's enemy]…into his hand.”–Judges 3:9-11.
Another early Judge and deliverer of Israel was Gideon. Notice that identical language is used concerning him. “But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a [war] trumpet…” and he proceeded to lead Israel into a successful war against the Midianites. (Jud. 6:34).
Samson is another clear example.
“Then went Samson down..and…a young lion roared against him. And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent [the lion] as he would have rent a kid…”–Judges 14:5-6.
“And the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them…”–Judges 14:19.
Saul was Israel’s first king.
“Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon [Saul's] head and kissed him…and the spirit of God came upon him…–I Sam. 10:1-10.
When news reached Saul that an enemy king had laid siege to a city in Israel, “And the spirit of God came upon Saul…”–I Sam. 11:6.
David was Israel’s second king.
“Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed [David] in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward…”–I Sam. 16:13.
The Holy Spirit came also upon prophets.
As we noted earlier, the Holy Spirit’s power was upon Moses, and then also upon the Seventy Elders.
And the Spirit’s power was upon first the prophet Elijah, then upon his successor Elisha. At the end of Elijah’s life, Elisha prayed and asked, “…let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.”–II Kings 2:9. God granted the request, and onlookers exclaimed, “…The spirit of Elijah does rest upon Elisha!”–II Kings 2:15.
In the cases of Moses, Othniel, Gideon, Samson, Saul, David, Elijah, Elisha, and countless other OT judges, kings, and prophets, the Holy Spirit’s power rested upon them, empowering them for supernatural service, while His manifested presence remained at Mount Sinai, then in the Tabernacle, and finally in the Temple.
And the Holy Spirit, being God, never changes. He is absolutely unchanging and unchangeable. So the ways in which you see His Spirit operate throughout the Old Testament, you will see him continue consistently in through the life of Christ, Pentecost, the Early Church, and in the believer’s life today.
2. The Two Prophecies in the OT
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
From the previous page, “Acts of the Holy Spirit in the OT,” we demonstrated clearly that the Holy Spirit chooses to manifest Himself in two ways: in His presence, and in His power. From Moses onward to Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelt in the Tabernacle or Temple, but His power rested upon individuals He sent forth.
This is an important distinction:
The Holy Spirit within–referring to His presence.
The Holy Spirit upon–referring to His power.
Take note of this:
The people in the Old Testament could come into the Tabernacle or Temple and experience the presence of God. But miracles rarely if ever occurred in the Tabernacle or Temple. To receive a miracle, the OT people had to go to a prophet or man of God. Why? Because the Holy Spirit’s power wasn’t in the Temple it was upon His servants.
God revealed to Ezekiel and to Joel that in the future His Spirit would continue to move in the same way–presence within and power upon.
“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness…A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you…and I will put My Spirit within you…:–Ezek. 36:25-27 (Amp).
Within.
Not upon.
Ezekiel’s prophecy was speaking of the future born-again experience which would become available after Christ’s death and resurrection.
When Christ died, the veil in the Temple was rent in two.
Why?
Because the man-made Temple in Jerusalem was no longer to be the Holy Spirit’s dwelling place. After Christ rose from the dead, the hearts of believers became the Holy Spirit’s new resting place. The Holy Spirit would come within or into their hearts, and their hearts became the new temple. Paul wrote to NT believers, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”–I Cor. 3:16.
Within.
Not upon.
But this is not all that God said would happen after Christ’s resurrection. Ezekiel said the Holy Spirit would be within believers. Joel went further and prophesied that the Holy Spirit would also be upon believers.
Joel prophesied:
“And afterward I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Even upon the menservants and upon the maidservants in those days will I pour out My Spirit.“–Joel 2:28,29 (Amp).
Joel is speaking here of an entirely different manifestation of the Spirit. This manifestation was a manifestation of power. In addition to the presence of the Holy Spirit being in believers, His power would also be upon them too.
Ezekiel’s prophecy–the Holy Spirit’s presence within the believer through the born-again experience.
Joel’s prophecy–the Holy Spirit’s power upon the believer through the outpouring or baptism in the Holy Spirit experience.
Two completely different future experiences.
Think about it. In the days of Ezekiel and Joel, the Holy Spirit’s presence dwelled in the Temple. But both Ezekiel and Joel had the Holy Spirit’s power resting upon them to fulfill the prophet’s ministry. They prophesied under the unction of the Holy Spirit. By personal experience, they knew the difference between the Spirit’s presence within the Temple, and His power resting upon them.
Ezekiel prophesied of the future born-again experience.
Joel prophesied of the future outpouring or baptism experience.
Two different prophets.
Two different prophecies.
Two different future manifestations.
Ezekiel prophesied that after Christ’s resurrection, the Holy Spirit would no longer dwell in the Temple, but would reside in the hearts of believers.
Joel prophesied that in addition to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in believers’ hearts, He would also come upon believers in power just like He had done with Ezekiel, Joel, Moses, and the other prophets of Old.
The Holy Spirit within in presence.
The Holy Spirit upon in power.
3. John the Baptist’s Revelation of Christ
The Church has no scriptural explanation for John the Baptist’s ministry.
No, John was not sent to reveal the Messiah to Israel.
I know you’ve heard it for years.
It is still wrong.
In our zeal to convince sinners of their need for a savior, we looked at the entire Bible through salvation-colored glasses, so to speak. Each Scripture existed only to provide evidence of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. When we felt it was necessary, we didn’t hesitate to tweak a Scripture in order to corroborate the gospel message. By handling the Scriptures with an agenda–well-meaning though we were–we brought light and salvation to sinners, but we put blinders on our own understanding of the Gospel.
John the Baptist was the son of Elizabeth and Zacharias. John’s father was a priest. As the son of a priest, John was thoroughly schooled in the Law and the prophecies of the Bible. He was familiar with Ezekiel’s prophecy of the Holy Spirit’s presence coming within believers in the future. And he also knew of Joel’s prophecy of the Holy Spirit’s power coming upon all believers like He had come upon the prophets of old.
When John reached maturity, rather than joining in to the priestly system, he went out into the wilderness. While in the wilderness, God revealed to John a two-fold ministry assignment.
First, God told him to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy by being:
“The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”–Isa. 40:3.
In the first half of the instruction, God told John to preach repentence to Israel to prepare them for a coming event.
What was the coming event?
The appearance of the Messiah?
No.
The Second part of the ministry assignment God gave John was:
“…Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.”–John 1:33.
John was sent to reveal to Israel the one who would baptize them in, or pour out upon them, the Holy Ghost.
How did they know that an outpouring of the Holy Spirit was coming?
Because they had read Joel’s prophecy.
“And afterward I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Even upon the menservants and upon the maidservants in those days will I pour out My Spirit.” Joel 2:28, 29 (Amp).
From this prophecy John the Baptist and the Jews of that day knew there was coming an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He was going to come upon all believers, empowering them to flow in God’s miraculous power in the same way He empowered the prophets of Old.
But how would this outpouring come? Joel’s prophecy did not specify. Would the outpouring come in the Temple? Would it come at Mount Sinai? Would it come from the clear blue sky? Would angels appear? They did not know.
God provided the missing information to John in the wilderness, indicating that the promised outpouring would come through a man. He told John that as he preached and baptized, the one upon whom the Spirit descended and remained, would be the one through whom the Holy Spirit outpouring would come.
All four Gospel’s record John’s baptism of Jesus. In all four accounts, he describes Christ in the same way:
We preach wrongly, that John the Baptist was sent to reveal the Messiah to Israel. We act like John saw Jesus, and jumped up and said, “Behold O’ Israel!…Here is the Messiah!…His name is Jesus of Nazareth!”
But John did not do that.
John identified Christ as “he which shall baptize you [pour out upon you] the Holy Ghost.” Although in John’s Gospel, John the Baptist also noted that Christ was the Lamb of God and the Son of God, clearly the emphasis was on Christ’s role as the Baptizer [or outpourer] of the Holy Spirit.
Believers were then like they are today.
There are superficial believers–who are always looking for the wrong thing, and who always miss out on what God is really doing in their day.
And there are true believers, deep believers–who are looking for what God is truly doing, and are determined to get in on it.
The superficial believers in that day were looking for the coming of a political Messiah, the arrival of a new King, or a general that would deliver Israel from Roman oppression. They waited in the streets and synagogues for him, and plotted and planned, and had no time for spiritual matters.
The true believers, those fully in tune with God, were looking for the one who would pour out upon them the power of the Holy Spirit, and deliver them from the oppression of sin and the bondage of Satan. They went out into the wilderness. They repented and were baptized, and prayed, and had no time for political matters.
Through John’s identification of Jesus Christ as the one who would pour out upon them Joel’s promised outpouring, God made clear that He intended for His Spirit continue manifesting in and upon New Testament Christians as He always had before:
His presence residing within.
And His power resting upon individual believers.
4. The Holy Spirit in Christ’s Life
The works of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s life begin with his miraculous birth.
The virgin birth is one of the foundational doctrines of Christianity.
Isaiah prophesied 800 years before Jesus’ birth, giving a hint as to how it would take place:
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”–Isa. 7:14.
Some try to discount the virgin birth by saying that the Hebrew word translated “virgin” simply means young girl. Well, young girls have been giving birth since the Garden of Eden. For an ordinary young girl to conceive in the ordinary way, and give birth in the ordinary way, would not be much of a miraculous “sign.”
No.
God said that Christ’s birth would be a miraculous sign. And He chose that the miraculous sign would be that a virgin would conceive and bear a child without having been intimate with a husband.
Let’s look at how this birth was accomplished. The angel appeared to Mary and told her that she would give birth to the Messiah. Then Mary replied:
“How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”
Note closely the angel’s reply:
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee…”Luke 1:34,35.
The conception of Christ was accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary.
As we have seen in previous posts, the Holy Spirit’s presence and the Holy Spirit’s power are two entirely separate issues.
His presence dwelled first in the Tabernacle in the days of Moses, then in the Temple from Soloman’s day forward. Have you ever noticed that in the Old Testament, you rarely see a miracle take place actually in the Temple itself?
Out of the hundreds of miracles of the Old Testament, only two or three occurred directly in the Temple. Instead, the Holy Spirit worked miracles by putting His power upon various judges, kings, and prophets, and His power flowed through them to heal and work miracles for others.
In Mary’s case, the presence of the Holy Spirit remained in the Temple in Jerusalem, but His power came upon Mary to accomplish this miraculous birth.
The Holy Spirit’s presence within.
The Holy Spirit’s power upon.
Another foundational doctrine of Christianity is the divinity of Christ.
Jesus was God manifested in the flesh. The Bible is absolutely clear on this subject.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made by him…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)…”–John 1:1,3,14.
He was all God.
Yet he was all man.
How can this be?
How can Jesus be 100% God and 100% man?
Because when Jesus was born into the earth, he set aside all his power and glory, and came into the earth as a mere human being.
Speaking of Christ, Paul wrote, “But stripped HImself [of all privileges and rightful dignity] so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.”–Phil. 2:7.
Christ’s humanity is clearly documented throughout the New Testament. Jesus grew hungry and ate. He became thirsty and drank. He grew tired and slept.
Although he was God, he chose to be born as a mere human being.
This raises an interesting issue:
If Jesus was God born as a simple human being, then how did he work miracles? Human beings can not work supernatural miracles.
The Bible tells us that the miracles began at a specific point in Jesus’ life–after his baptism by John the Baptist.
Remember in the previous post what we learned. John the Baptist was sent by God to reveal to Israel the person through whom the outpouring of the Holy Ghost would come. God told John:
“…Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.”–John 1:33.
John baptized Jesus and the Scriptures record, “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him;”–Matt. 3:16.
Why did the Holy Spirit descend upon Christ at John’s baptism?
We have preached wrongly, that He did so that the crowd could see the vision and know that Jesus was the Messiah.
No.
Note this: No one saw the vision except John and Jesus.
We have John’s word on it.
Later, John did not say:
“We all saw the Spirit descend and remain on him.”
No.
The Scriptures tell us, “And John bare record, saying I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.”–John 1:32.
Only John and Jesus saw the vision.
Notice that the Spirit descended and remained on Jesus. John said, “It abode upon him.”
Why?
To provide the anointing and power to fulfill what Christ was to fulfill–to work miracles, heal the sick, and cast out devils.
What happened next?
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led of the Spirit into the wilderness…”
At this point the Bible states specifically that Christ was “full of the Holy Ghost.” Why inject that phrase there. Wasn’t he always “full of the Holy Ghost?” Evidently not. The fulness came at John’s baptism.
After the baptism, he went into the wilderness and was tempted by Satan over the course of 40 days.
After triumphing over Satan’s temptations, the Scriptures say something very interesting:
“And when the devil had ended all the temptation…And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.”
The power to heal and minister is now present in Christ’s ministry.
Where did it come from?
In just the same way the Holy Spirit came upon the prophets of old, empowering them to work miracles, so now the Spirit’s power is upon Jesus Christ enabling him to work miracles.
Jesus works his first miracle at the wedding feast at Cana by turning the water into wine. The Bible reports it as his first miracle, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee…”–John 2:11.
And Jesus begins to preach a very interesting message:
He read from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to…preach…heal…[bring] deliverance…recovering of sight…to set at liberty…”–Luke 4:18.
Now Christ announces to his listeners that he can heal. He doesn’t say,
“I can heal because I am God.”
He was God manifested in the flesh, but he left behind all his power to be born into the earth.
He says instead that he can heal and deliver because “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.“
The chronology is clear:
From the days of Moses to the times of Christ we see the Holy Spirit consistently manifest in the same two ways:
The presence of the Holy Spirit within.
The power of the Holy Spirit upon.
5. Jesus Christ–The Man of Faith
Fascinating!
That’s the only word that describes it.
Absolutely fascinating.
What?
Christ’s attitude throughout his adult life.
The Modern Church has never caught sight of the full image the Bible paints for us of the Champion of the Ages.
They see only parts.
They see that he was loving.
They know he was sinless.
They know he is forgiving.
To all these observations, we say Amen.
But they fail to see the one attribute, the approach, the attitude, the focus that saturated all that he did.
What was his focus?
His focus, his attitude, was one of consistent and unwavering faith.
You might say, “Everyone knows that.”
No, the vast majority of Christians don’t.
If they truly knew he was a man of faith, then they would seek to walk in his footsteps by emulating his kind of faith. They would walk faith like he walked faith. They would talk faith, like he talked faith. To be fully Christ-like would require that we not copy merely some of the attributes but all of the attributes of the Man of Galilee.
If Christians ever fully realized that Christ was a man of faith, and they patterned themselves after his faith, then our churches would be unshakeable strongholds of faith and power.
Instead, by ignoring Christ’s attitude of faith, our churches tend to be watery potholes of doubt and unbelief. Places you need to actually avoid, lest they wreck you.
Examine with me this aspect of the Great Shepherd.
Let’s look first at faith in general, then at his kind of faith.
The first thing the Bible shows us about faith is surprising. The Bible tells us that faith is actually rare. Especially among religious people who should be faith-filled.
In his three years of public ministry, Christ saw true faith, what he called “Great faith,” in only two instances. He saw it in the Gentile woman who sought to have him heal her demon possessed daughter.
She approached him, and he ignored her.
She planted herself in his path and besought him.
He insulted her, calling her a dog.
But she would not be denied or deterred.
The Master replied,
“…O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” And the daughter was made whole from that very hour.”–Mat. 15:28.
He saw Great Faith only one other time, in the case of the Roman Centurian who asked Jesus to heal his servant.
The Centurian told Jesus,
“…speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.”
When Jesus heard the Centurian’s words, he marvelled.
Jesus actually marvelled.
Only twice in his life did Jesus marvel.
At the unbelief in his hometown of Nazareth.
And at the faith of this non-Jewish Centurian.
Jesus called what this man had, “Great Faith.”
“…Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”–Mat. 8:8,10.
True faith, Great Faith, was rare then.
It is perhaps even rarer today.
True faith is never distracted, deterred, or disuaded.
True faith stays focused.
True faith endures whatever it has to endure on the journey to receiving from God.
True faith.
Great Faith.
All Christ thought, said, and did was saturated with it.
His faith in the Father’s Word showed forth to all as he went from John’s baptism at the Jordan River, through three years of public ministry, to the long climb up Calvary’s hill where all that awaited him was mockery, cruelty, suffering and death.
At no point did his focus ever waver.
He knew he was to suffer.
He knew he would be rejected.
He knew he would be killed.
But He also knew,
He would rise the third day.
He would ascend to Heaven.
He would pour out the Holy Spirit.
This would fulfill Joel’s prophecy.
Notice this Man of Faith’s marvelous appearance at the River Jordan.
A great move of God’s Spirit had been taking place in the months leading up to Jesus’ appearance at the River Jordan. The Holy Spirit was bringing conviction and repentence upon multitudes. The Children of Israel were preparing for the coming of the one that would pour out upon them the Holy Spirit, thus fulfilling God’s promise given them through the prophet Joel. “I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy…”
Weren’t they were waiting for the Messiah?
No, no.
John told them plainly Who was coming:
“…he which baptizes with [pours out]the Holy Ghost…”–(John 1:33, Mat. 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16)
They were repenting and being baptized by John right and left. Even hypocritical Pharisees and the hardest of the hard-shelled were preparing their hearts for his coming.
After months of this preparation, the time for Christ’s ministry had finally come.
He could have begun in any number of ways.
He could have suddenly appeared in the Temple, declared himself to be the Messiah, and called for an uprising against the hated Romans. Others had done so.
He didn’t.
He could have gone to the Pharisees and Saducees and tried to win them over, convincing them of his authenticity.
He took not one step towards them.
He could have begun meeting in secret, plotting and planning as the False Messiah’s had done.
He refused.
Why?
“…I do not seek or consult My own will–I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, My own aim, My own purpose–but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me.”–John 5:30 (Amp).
That says it all.
Instead, he went to where God was already moving.
He went to the River Jordan to John’s Baptism.
Here we see the first characteristic of His greatness–humility.
Although he was the Creator. Although he was sinless.
He humbled himself under what God’s Spirit was already doing, and allowed himself to be baptized. The sinless, perfect Christ was baptized by the imperfect John the Baptist. The Creator baptized by the created.
Is it any wonder that in the face of such perfection and humility the very heavens themselves opened up to him?
“And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”–Mark 1:10,11.
Jesus Christ was a Man of Faith.
He walked by faith.
What is faith?
Bible faith?
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”–Heb. 11:1.
Yes, but what does that mean?
“…faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.”–Heb.11:1 (Amplified Version).
That helps, doesn’t it?
But the following makes Bible faith even clearer:
“…God…Who…speaks of the non-existent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed.”–Rom. 4:17 (Amp).
Faith considers the job done, even before the job is begun.
Notice the words of a fellow man of faith, John the Baptist.
In all his preaching, he never once mentioned to the people that their long-awaited Messiah would be rejected.
John never mentioned that the coming One would:
Be despised and rejected. (Isaiah Chapter 53)
Be a man of sorrows and grief.
Bear their griefs and carry their sorrows.
Bear their sicknesses and carry their pains.
Be wounded, bruised, chastised, afflicted.
Be cut off from the land of the living.
All that was coming.
Yet neither Christ nor John spoke of it at the River Jordan.
Why?
They were men of faith.
Faith perceives as fact what has not yet taken place.
Faith speaks of things that haven’t happened yet, as though they have already happened.
Faith looks past the challenge of the moment to focus on the end result.
Faith considers the job done, even before the job is begun.
Yes, Christ would be despised and rejected. He would bear all our transgressions. He would suffer great agony and die.
But these two men of faith looked beyond that.
He would also rise from the dead.
But they looked beyond that too.
He would ascend to the Father, pour His blood out on the Judgment Seat, turning it into a Mercy Seat. He would institute the New Covenant promised by God through the prophet Jeremiah. “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.”–Jer. 31:31.
Yet John and Jesus looked further into the future.
He would make salvation–being born-again–possible.
He would make it possible for the Holy Spirit’s presence to leave the Temple in Jerusalem and indwell the hearts of believers, fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy. “And I will put my Spirit within you…”–Ezek. 36:27.
But beyond even this John and Christ looked.
They focused their attention on the final accomplishment.
They looked at what Christ would accomplish once he sat down at the right hand of the Father.
Christ would enter into an entirely new role.
He would then become, “He which baptizes with [pours out upon believers]the Holy Spirit,” in fulfillment of Joel’s ancient prophecy.
John and Jesus looked past everything and focused on the Outpouring that would come at Pentecost.
Christ’s Words were consistent.
No emphasis at the River Jordan on his eventual sacrifice and death.
Throughout Christ’s ensuing three years of public ministry, only rarely does he mention the coming suffering and death.
We see Christ maintain this same focus on the eventual Outpouring unwaveringly. Even in the final hours he had with the disciples at the Last Supper, he mentions:
His coming death (only indirectly)–5 times.
The coming Holy Spirit (clearly)–9 times.
“Going to the Father” (clearly)–8 times.
(John Chapters 14-17).
“Going to the Father” was not just another term for his coming death. From the context, we can see that Christ made a clear distinction between death and going to the Father.
His death would be the culmination of the suffering.
“Going to the Father” was an event of great joy.
“Going to the Father” was his ascension to the Throne.
From the Throne he would pour out the Holy Spirit.
In his final hours with the Apostles, he walked by faith.
His thinking was consumed–not with thoughts of suffering and death. His entire being was saturated with the purpose of enduring everything he had to endure, so that he could ascend and pour out the Holy Spirit upon believers. Not only saving them, but also empowering them.
Yes the suffering, and the blood, and the agony would come.
Followed by death.
Followed by resurrection.
Followed by ascension.
Followed ultimately by OUTPOURING.
“…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God…”–Heb. 12:2.
Aaaaaaah!
Now we begin to see what John and Jesus were looking at by faith. John and Christ were focused, not on the intermediate events, but on the eventual goal.
Faith considers the job done, even before the job is begun.
Christ endured the agony.
It had to be endured.
He walked through death.
Death had to be conquered.
He rose again from the dead.
Bringing New Life.
He ascended to the Father.
Thus concluding his victory.
He sat down beside the Father at the Throne.
It was ony from Here that the last step could be taken.
Only from the Thone could it be given…
What John and Jesus focused on at the River Jordan…
What the Father had promised through Joel…
What?
The Holy Spirit Outpouring.
On Pentecost, Peter cried to the assembled crowd:
“This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel!”
“…I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh!”
“…Jesus of Nazareth…you have taken…and crucified!
“…Whom God has raised up!”
“…Therefore being by the right hand of God…he has shed forth this, which you now see and hear.“–Acts Chapter 2.
And thinking on that Outpouring, gave Christ such joy, that he was able to endure the cross, conquer all, sit on the Throne of God, and pour out the Holy Spirit as promised.
The Outpouring promised by Joel.
The Outpouring first seen at Pentecost.
The Outpouring that is still in the earth today.
The Outpouring that you and I have received.
Those of us who have the Holy Spirit within, through the born-again experience.
And who have allowed Christ to pour His Spirit out upon us through the “baptism in the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit’s presence within us.
The Holy Spirit’s power upon us.
The same consistent manifestations of the Holy Spirit from the days of Moses to today.
All Christians know Christ as Savior.
Many of us also know him as Baptizer.
The Outpourer of the Holy Spirit
And when that Outpouring came upon us, we received the very same sign given at Pentecost, experienced by the Apostles.
The same sign given at the house of Cornelius.
The same sign spoken of by Christ Himself in the Great Commission.
“And these signs shall follow them that believe…in My name…they shall speak with new tongues…”
6. The Promise of the Father
Are you sitting down?
Good.
Brace yourself.
What the Bible calls “the Promise of the Father,” was not salvation.
I know, you’ve heard otherwise.
You heard wrong.
I’ll prove it.
As you will recall, we are studying the ways of the Holy Spirit, tracing His acts from the days of Moses up to Pentecost, to the Early Church, and into our lives today.
We have seen the same consistent manifestations:
The presence of the Holy Spirit within.
The power of the Holy Spirit upon.
Two distinctly different manifestations.
These are not interchangable terms.
The Bible Records:
The Holy Spirit’s Presence Within:
The Holy Spirit’s Power Upon:
At the Last Supper
Christ spoke to the Apostles about:
And he makes a very intriguing statement about the Holy Spirit. Christ told them:
“Even the Spirit of Truth…you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.”–John 14:17.
Up to this point, they had known only the Holy Spirit’s power.
His power had been “with” them. In other words, His power had accompanied them, resting upon–even in Christ’s absence–as He flowed from them numerous times to heal the sick and cast out devils.
In this Scripture, Christ was preparing the Apostles for the coming of the Holy Spirit’s INDWELLING PRESENCE.
We call His indwelling presence, being born-again. They would be born from spiritual death to spiritual life. They would become their newly born-again spirits would become the new dwelling places of the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, the Bible tells us that the instant Christ died, the Holy Spirit’s presence left the Temple:
“Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom…”–Matt. 27:50,51.
Why did the Holy Spirit’s presence leave the Temple?
Because as soon as Christ rose from the dead three days later, a man-made temple would never again be the Spirit’s resting place.
After the Resurrection, it would be time for Him to fulfill Ezekiel’s prophecy:
”And I will put my Spirit WITHIN you…”–Ezekiel 36:27.
Following this fulfillment of coming within believers, it would then be time for the Holy Spirit to also come upon believers in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy:
“And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh…upon the menservants and upon the maidservants…will I pour out My Spirit.”–Joel 2:28,29 (Amp).
What Happened After the Resurrection.
Christ arose from the dead, and appeared to the Apostles.
Some churches teach that the Apostles were not born-again until Pentecost. I believe the Bible clearly shows otherwise.
Think about it:
How is a man born-again?
“…If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made ujnto salvation.”–Rom. 10:9,10.
Salvation comes when you believe in your heart that Christ has been raised from the dead, and when you confess him as your Lord.
The Scripture records that after the resurrection,
“…when the doors were shut…[then]came Jesus and stood in the midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you…he showed untothem his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.”–John 20:19,20.
The Apostles saw with their own eyes that Christ had been raised from the dead. He was standing right there, talking to them, and they called him “Lord.”
As required by Scripture, they confessed with their mouth the Lord Jesus and they believed in their hearts that Christ had been raised from the dead.
They were now born-again.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit was now within them.
But the Holy Spirit was not yet upon them in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.
Note Christ’s final instruction to His Apostles:
“And behold, I will send forth upon you What My Father has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from on high.”–Luke 24:49. (Amp).
The Holy Spirit’s presence was already within the Apostles through the born-again experience in fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy.
Yet there was another entirely different prophecy waiting to be fulfilled.
Christ commanded them not to leave Jerusalem until it happened.
What?
The Holy Spirit’s power coming upon them in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy.
To make sure we understand this, the Bible repeats Christ’s instruction again in the Book of Acts, adding more detail. Hear the words of the Master:
“And while being in their company and eating at the table with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, Of which, He said, you have heard Me speak.”
”For John baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with–placed in, introduced into–the Holy Spirit…You shall receive power–ability, efficiency and might–when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends–the very bounds–of the earth.”–Acts 1:4,5,8. (Amp).
The Sequence of Events is Absolutely Clear
Then came Pentecost….
7. Pentecost
The time had finally come.
Joel had prophesied of this day.
The day in which the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all flesh.
John had identified Jesus as the man through the outpouring would come.
Christ had suffered, died, and been raised from the dead, instituting the New Covenant, preparing believers for the Pentecost Outpouring.
Before ascending to the Father, Christ had appeared to the Apostles, and to over 500 other people (I Cor. 15:6). The Apostles and others who had seen the Resurrected Lord, believed he had been raised from the dead, had accepted His Lordship over their lives, and had been born-again. (Rom. 10:9,10).
He instructed the Apostles not to leave Jerusalem until they had received “power from on High.”
Jesus Christ ascended to the Father.
And the Apostles waited.
Those who believed the Gospel, the “good news” of Christ’s resurrection, joined wth the Apostles, and together they all assembled in the Upper Room. These were born-again Christians. They had the Holy Spirit’s presence residing within them. They were the temples of the Holy Spirit.
Why were they waiting in the Upper Room? Why didn’t they shout it to the rooftops that “Christ is risen from the Dead! Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life!”
Why didn’t they?
They couldn’t.
That would be disobeying the Master.
Jesus Christ had been clear. “Tarry ye in Jerusalem.”
Wait.
Wait? Why?
He had said, “And behold, I will send forth upon you What My Father has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 Amp).
They obeyed and assembled in the Upper Room waiting, not for salvation. They were already saved. They were waiting for what Christ told them to wait for: POWER.
Power from Above.
Power from Heaven.
They knew not how it would come. They knew not what form it would take. They just knew that the Lord had said “wait,” and that they were waiting for “power”–the outpouring of power that Joel had prophesied.
Ezekiel’s prophecy had already been fulfilled. He had written:
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you…And I will put My Spirit within you…” Ezek. 36:26,27.
When they had believed in Christ’s resurrection, and made Him their Lord, they had been born-again. The Holy Spirit, who had vacated the Temple three days previously, had come to reside permanently in their hearts.
Ezekiel’s Prophecy had been fulfilled. But Christ had said that there was more to be received.
What?
The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit about which Joel had prophesied:
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.” Joel 2:28.
The Holy Spirit was already within them through the born-again experience. He was soon to come upon them in power.
So they waited.
And then He came, and He brought His fire with Him. Now read this like you are reading it for the very first time:
“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4.
Oh Glory to God! Doesn’t that thrill your soul!
Everywhere in this Scripture the same theme is repeated: fully, filled all, all filled. When Pentecost was “fully come,” the Holy Spirit’s wind and fire “filled all” the house where they were sitting,” and they were “all filled” with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues…”
“Filled” means totally.
No room for any more.
For the first time since the Garden of Eden, the Holy Spirit’s presence dwelled within believers and His power rested upon them. They were FULL.
Filled with the Holy Ghost.
From the Fall of man, to Moses, to Jesus Christ’s ascension, the Holy Spirit’s Presence and Power had been divided. His presence had dwelled at Mt.Sinai, then in the Ark of the Covenant, then in the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and finally in the Temple. His power had come upon priests, prophets, and kings. But now His presence and Power would reside in the same vessels: in Christians. And this condition of the Holy Spirit’s presence the believer, and His power resting upon the same believer, was called being “filled with the Spirit.”
What effect did this have on the assembled believers?
“And they all began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Speaking in tongues was the sign given at Pentecost, and at subsequent events, of the fulness of the Spirit.
8. Speaking in Tongues at Pentecost
My, oh my, oh my! We could put to rest all of the questions, arguments, and controversies about Pentecost and speaking in tongues if Christians would simply read and believe what the Bible actually says!
At Pentecost, the assembled believers did not receive salvation.
They had been born-again in the days preceeding Pentecost, when they had seen and believed Christ had been raised from the dead, and had confessed Him as their Lord. (Rom. 10:9,10).
Jesus had told them to wait–not for salvation–but for “power from on high.”
Power from on high came, and the Holy Spirit inspired or in other words ”gave them utterance” to speak in other tongues.
Now, here is where so many opponents to speaking in tongues today, jump and say “Ah Ha! I gotcha!”
They think that the speaking in tongues experience at Pentecost proves that true speaking in tongues will occur only in known, recognized, and identifiable earthly languages. ”After all,” they wrongly argue, “the ability to speak in tongues was given for the purpose of evangelism–so that early church evangelists could preach the Gospel in native languages!”
Well, that “gotcha” isn’t the “gotcha” they think it is. And they would see it for themselves if they would only take the time to read the account, believe what they read, and use some common sense.
Let’s first identify who was likely present at Pentecost. I will put in bold italics the key phrases, and my own comments in brackets [ ].
Acts Chapter 1
vs 13: “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, [Strongs: highest room of the house] where abode [Strongs: to remain permanently, to abide] both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Phillip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.”
vs 14: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
vs 15 “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty)…”
So those who a few days later were present in this upper room consisted of the eleven remaining Apostles, various women including Mary the mother of Jesus, and various men including Jesus’ brethren. (This will prove important later).
Acts Chapter 2:
vs 1: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all [the approximately 120] with one accord in one place.”
vs 2: “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting [please note this, it will be important later. They were sitting].
vs 3: “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
vs 4: “And they were all [please note--all, not some] filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Everyone present had exactly the same experience. All were filled with the Holy Ghost, and all spoke in tongues.
vs 5:”And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.”
vs 6:”Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.”
How was this “noised abroad?” We don’t know. Perhaps the surrounding area heard the sound of the rushing mighty wind from heaven. Or perhaps, someone from the first floor went up into the Upper Room, overheard what was going on, told others, and the news spread like wildfire. We don’t know. Somehow the surrounding crowds heard the speaking in tongues.
vs 7:”And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?”
Evidently in addition to hearing the believers, the crowds could see individuals and could identify their facial characteristics as Galilean.
vs 8:”And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?”
vs 9-10: lists 13 language groups, plus “strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes”
vs 11:”Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”
vs 12: “And they wer all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth thsi?”
vs 13: “Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.”
vs 14: “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them…”
vs 16: “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;”
Do you see it?
No?
It is plainly there.
Before I point this out, let me ask you:
“Do you believe the Bible?”
Specifically, “Do you believe the Bible means literally what it says, and says literally just exactly what it means?
Okay, now I’ll show you.
There were approximately 120 believers gathered together in an Upper Room. They were sitting, [vs 2] not standing. Not running up and down the streets. Not hanging out on balconies. Sitting in the Upper Room.
The Holy Spirit fell.
They ALL spoke in other tongues.
News spread like wildfire.
A large crowd gathered.
They listened for quite awhile to those speaking in tongues, long enough for at least 15 different languages to be clearly recognized by their native speakers.
The native speakers said, “…we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”
Still don’t see it?
Notice what they did not hear. It does not say, “We do hear in our tongues the wonderous account of a sinless man, sent from God, who died on a cross, and rose again from the dead, and that whosoever believeth in him shall have everlasting life.”
No.
They did not hear THE GOSPEL in their native tongues. They heard “the wonderful works of God”–they heard praises being spoken unto God in the languages of their birth.
The believers were not preaching the Gospel or testifying in other tongues.
They were calmly sitting there in the Upper Room, gloriously praising God in other tongues. And the assembled crowd overheard them as they praised God. And the Spirit-filled believers praised Him for some time before the crowd gathered, identified the languages being spoken, and asked what it all meant. None of the messages in other tongues were addressed to the native speakers who had come in.
“Peter stood up with the eleven…” Up to this point, Peter and the other Apostles had been sitting there also, praising God in languages they did not understand.
Here’s the clincher: Peter ”…lifted up his voice, and said unto them…” And he went ahead and preached them all a sermon, evidently in Hebrew. And they all understood his words.
This shows us two things. One, what was spoken in tongues said little or nothing about Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and how to receive salvation. Had the Gospel been preached to all these people in other tongues, there would have been no need for Peter to preach another sermon on top of what they had already heard.
How could Peter have topped a SUPERNATURLLY spoken sermon uttered perfectly in every native language? He couldn’t have topped that or added to it.
Had they heard in other tongues the Gospel–instead of praises–they would have asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”–just as they did later after Peter preached his sermon. But that wasn’t their reaction at all. To use modern phrasing, they said, “Wow! We hear all about how wonderful God is!”
The second thing Peter’s sermon in Hebrew tells us, is that every person present in the crowd already spoke and understood Hebrew in addition to their native language. Tongues were not needed, nor were they used, to preach the Gospel or testify of Christ, at Pentecost.
Now note this final point: they ALL spoke in other tongues.
Peter spoke in tongues. My goodness! What a tool for evangelism. Had Peter been given the ability to speak the Persian language, he could go there and preach all over that country in the people’s native language! What a miraculous witness!
But he didn’t.
Isn’t that strange?
We have no record of Peter preaching, testifying, or even simply identifying the other language he spoke in.
What about the other Apostles present at Pentecost?
We have no record of a single one of them preaching, testifying, or identifying the other language they spoke in.
Mary, the mother of Jesus spoke in other tongues at Pentecost. Yet we have no early church record of her setting out on a missionary journey to a foreign country and preaching or testifying to the natives in their own language.
To our knowledge, absolutely no one who spoke in other tongues at Pentecost ever used their “other tongue’ to preach or testify to its native speakers.
Not even one.
Why?
They couldn’t.
Yes, each believer received the ability to speak at will in another known language. But he did not receive the ability to understand that language. Nor could he read that language. And when some native speaker of that language spoke in that tongue, the believer could not understand the speaker.
How can you use a language you can’t understand a single word of, to travel across the world to people who do not understand a single word of your language, and preach to them?
If you went to the country of the other tongue you were given, how would you possibly communicate or understand anything. You look at a man passing by on the street in this foreign land. You say:
”;ldpnwrglw;ieng slijgf w oeij li.”
And he replies:
“lslu[r9n ide[ew onjgp lllie;”g .”
What did you say to him?
You don’t know.
You might have said, “Jesus is Lord.” “I’m sure hungry.” Or, “Isn’t this beautiful weather we are having?”
And what did he reply to you?
You don’t know.
He might have said, ”Tell me who this Jesus is.” “Hey mac, there’s a great restaurant around the corner.” Or, “Naah! I hate this kind of weather!”
All spoke in tongues at Pentecost. Some, perhaps all, of the tongues were recognized as known languages.
Never-the-less, all the “other tongues” spoken at Pentecost were useless for preaching, witnessing, or evangelism.
So what did they do with their “other tongue?” Every one of them did with their “other tongue,” what Paul did with his.
“For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understand also…I thank my God I speak in tongues more than ye all.”–I Cor. 14:14, 15, 18.”
Paul prayed in his “other tongue.”
Paul sang praises in his “other tongue.”
Paul never mentions even once, preaching, teaching, or testifying in his “other tongue.”
Paul like Peter, James, John, the rest of the Apostles, Mary, other relatives of Jesus, and the rest of the 120, for the rest of their lives, they and he, used ”other tongues” for prayer and worship.
Nothing else.
Had tongues been used for anything but prayer, by the apostles or anyone else, the Holy Ghost would have inspired Paul or one of the other Apostles to write it down.
The Bible records not even one single example of tongues being used for anything but prayer and praise.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery. All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others if done so without charge, in entirety, and if attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on November 11, 2006
By Mel C. Montgomery
First of all, I love you.
If you have placed your full trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, then you are as legitimate a part of the Body of Christ as I am…
Due to space and format limitations I have moved this article to my website please click on the following link to read this article:
“A Message to Anti-Tongues Christians”
Thank you,
Brother Mel
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on November 6, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
In twenty-five years of speaking in tongues and studying the subject, I have yet to find any objection to tongues that survived Scriptural examination.
Here are common myths:
1. Speaking in tongues died out when the last Apostle died.
Clearly not true.
The Early Church Fathers in their writings mentioned speaking in tongues as occurring among Christians in their day.
These Early Church Fathers approved of speaking in tongues and were not and are not today considered to be heretics.
Speaking in tongues was present and considered to be entirely orthodox until at least 350 years after Christ’s death, and long after the last Apostle’s grandchild died.
Also there are numerous recorded instances of Christians speaking in tongues in the 1300’s, 1500’s, 1600’s, and 1800’s. And according to reliable statistics, well over 350 million Christians speak in tongues today.
2. We are living in a different dispensation. Tongues were for the Apostles’ dispensation and the Early Church’s dispensation, not for our dispensation.
In the following references, the Bible makes it clear that the Apostles were living–at that time–in the last days and the last times:
Heb. 1:2.–Author, Paul (probably).
I Pet. 1:20–Author, Peter.
I John 2:18–Author, John.
Jude 18–Author, Jude.
Three Apostles and the Lord’s half-brother all clearly identified the dispensation they were living in as being the Last Days. The only event to come after the Last Days is the Rapture of the Church. Since the Rapture has not taken place, then we are no doubt living in the same dispensation of the “Last Days” as did the Apostles. And if they were living in the dispensation of Speaking in Tongues, then so are we.
3. Paul said tongues would cease. They must have ceased because my church doesn’t believe in them.
Many churches no longer believe in several doctrines clearly taught in Scripture. For instance, some churches no longer believe in the Virgin Birth. Yet Christ was still born of the Virgin Mary. Others no longer believe in a literal Hell. But Hell still exists and is a place to be shunned. What a church believes or does not believe in anymore does not change the facts of the Bible.
Yes, Paul wrote that tongues would cease. But he said it would cease at a very specific point in time:
“…whether there be TONGUES, THEY SHALL CEASE…WHEN THAT WHICH IS PERFECT IS COME…then FACE TO FACE…THEN SHALL I KNOW EVEN AS ALSO I AM KNOWN.” I Cor. 13:8-12.
Paul specified three descriptions of the point in time in which tongues will cease:
1. When that which is perfect is come.
2. When we see face to face.
3. When we know even as we are known.
Some argue that this point in time was reached when the last Apostle wrote the last book of the Bible. But that interpretation does not fit in with the other descriptions. Paul said secondly that we would see “face to face.” There is no face on the cover of my Bible. Paul wrote thirdly that we would know as well as we are known. I don’t know as well as I am known. Do you?
What is coming that is perfect, and has a face? Jesus Christ. And when will we know as we are known? Our knowledge of all things will become perfect at Christ’s coming.
In other words, Paul said that tongues would continue until perfection came, and we see Christ face to face, and then with our knowledge being entirely complete there would be no further need of speaking in tongues.
4. Paul disapproved of tongues, so we do too.
Paul did not disapprove of tongues.
He wrote, “I would that ye all spoke with tongues…”
And, “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than ye all…” I Cor. 14:5,18.
5. Tongues caused alot of problems at Corinth. We don’t want any problems.
Tongues did not cause a man in the church at Corinth to sleep with his step-mother, which was the most shocking abuse Paul dealt with.
Tongues did not cause the church at Corinth to mishandle communion.
Paul’s two epistles to the Corinthians had a total of 29 chapters. Of the 29 chapters only two chapters and a part of a third are devoted to speaking in tongues. The other 26 and 1/2 chapters were used to address other issues.
Churches that do not allow speaking in tongues still have plenty of problems. But on top of their problems, they are also disobeying Scripture because Paul also wrote, “…and FORBID NOT to speak with tongues.” I Cor 14:39.
Actually, when the Holy Spirit is allowed to operate the Gift of Speaking in Tongues within a congregation, there are many times in which problems are addressed and solved through messages in other tongues.
The Goodwins had many times in their church in which they gave a message through tongues and interpretation which identified problems or sins in the congregation of which they had no personal knowledge. And through careful confrontation and love-filled ministering, the exposed problems were solved and repentence and restoration came.
In my own ministry, I’ve had the same thing happen. A dramatic example occurred years ago one morning at my home church. I was not scheduled to minister at church that morning, but I had a message in tongues which I gave at the end of praise and worship. It was one of the few words of rebuke I’ve had over the years, and it was severe.
Allow me to add before I detail the word to you, that I do not believe words this strong should be allowed to come from members of the congregation. In this case though, I wasn’t simply a member of the congregation in this church. I had ministered there a number of times, held services there, they had ordained me, and the pastor and I knew each other very well.
I began the message, speaking a sentence or two in tongues, then interpreting into English, and then back in tongues, then again in English. Before all the people the Lord said through me, “Thus saith the Lord, I AM GRIEVED WITH THIS CONGREGATION!”
I burst into tears at the thought of our congregation having grieved the Spirit of God. As I continued, I found myself saying, “For you have said things about Me that are not right!” And the Lord went on, through me, to list different things people in the congregation were saying word for word about the Lord in their homes, at work, and in their cars as they drove here and there. I had no personal knowledge that they were saying these things, but the Lord knew. The message continued on by saying that if they would repent, the Lord would forgive and bless them. I handed the microphone back to the pastor.
The shocked room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The pastor immediately began driving home the points covered in that message in tongues, combined with his own thoughts that morning. He ended by giving an altar call, and three fourths of the congregation came forward and repented! Such a large response clearly indicated that the people had been saying these things, and were convicted in their hearts. One man though, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, hardened himself, folded his arms, and brashly sat down, refusing to repent.
A few weeks later, the Pastor met with me. He said, “I want to tell you what that message in tongues caused to happen. God has really done a miracle!”
This pastor told me, “This is a small church. We’ve only been going about a year. Finances are tight. We need all the tithes and offerings we can get right now just to keep the bills paid. The biggest tithes payer in this church is [the man I had seen in the service refuse to repent]. Have you noticed that young woman that comes with him?” The young woman was probably three times younger than the man. I replied, “Yes.” The pastor continued, “Well, that isn’t his granddaughter. That’s his girlfriend.”
“And a few weeks ago, he got her pregnant, and talked her into having an abortion. And he has warned me that if I say anything against abortion from the pulpit, he will leave and take his tithes with him. So, I’ve been in a difficult position. I needed to rebuke him, but I also knew his tithes were the only thing keeping the bills paid.”
I knew the unrepentant man had worked as a salesman for a particular well-known business in town for over 25 years. He drove an expensive car, wore expensive clothes, and wore flashy jewelry. I knew he had money. But I did not know he was trying to control the pastor behind the scenes.
“Well,” the pastor continued, “he’s gone. He lost his job with that company. And even with all his years of experience and established clientele, none of the other [smilar businesses] would hire him. He finally had to take a position in [a city about three hours away], so he isn’t attending here anymore. And I’m relieved. But you know what? God showed His faithfulness. The Sunday after he left, three new families joined our church, and the giving they bring is more than what was lost.”
You see, I didn’t know any of that. I didn’t know the people were speaking against the Lord in their houses, and I certainly didn’t know this man was trying to manipulate the pastor. Through this message in tongues and interpretation, several problems were solved at once.
To God be the glory.
Tongues were not the problem in Corinth. Sin was the problem. And God, in His sovereign power, can choose to correct sin and solve church problems by manifesting His knowledge through the Gift of Speaking in Tongues and the Gift of Interpretation.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery All rights reserved. Article may be copied and shared with friends if done so without charge and attribute is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Common Objections to Tongues Refuted, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | 7 Comments »
Posted by brothermel on November 5, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
The arguments presented by those who are against present-day speaking in tongues are as follows:
In the tongues debate, it is my understanding that those in favor of current day speaking in tongues, and those opposed to it, agree on the following:
On the day of Pentecost the assembled 120 believers spoke in languages that were not their native languages, and that they had not learned. This was a supernatural ability given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It was not of their own linguistic ability, and it was not the work of evil spirits.
The two camps begin to disagree from this point onward as the Scriptures give us more details.
Let’s examine the first claim of the Anti-tongues argument. Namely:
Was speaking in tongues given to enable evangelists to preach to foreign countries in their native languages?
The short answer is “No.”
Approximately 120 believers were present at Pentecost including: Mary the mother of Jesus, the remaining eleven Apostles, the brethren of Jesus, and various other Christians. Each spoke in at least one foreign language, and possibly in several foreign languages.
The Scriptures and Church history records the travels of the Apostles and leaders of the Early Church. Several did indeed go on missionary journeys to foreign lands.
Yet we have no recorded instance of any of the 120 going to a foreign land and preaching to them in other tongues.
Not one single recorded instance.
Strange that tongues were given for foreign evangelism, but none of the 120 ever used tongues for that.
Wouldn’t the gift of tongues have been a wonderful tool for evangelism?
For instance, Mary the mother of Jesus could have travelled to Cairo Egypt, stood in the shadow of the pyramids and supernaturally preached the Gospel of her Son to them in Arabic–a language she did not speak or know–it would have been absolutely awesome.
Peter could have gone to Babylon, which the Bible calls “that great harlot,” and in the midst of all of the city’s idolatry and sin, he could have stood up and preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them in their own tongue!
The rest of the remaining Apostles, and Paul, could have travelled throughout all of Asia, India, and Africa, preaching in every village in their native tongues. No matter how remote the village, no matter how obscure their dialect, language would be no barrier whatsoever. All an Apostle or Evangelist had to do was simply exercise the Gift of Tongues and preach the Gospel with perfect pronounciation, perfect grammar, and perfect accent. No possibility of ever being misunderstood.
But the Scriptures record not one single person ever preaching in other tongues.
Church history records no such occurrance either.
Either the Apostles made a horrible mistake, by completely neglecting this wonderful Gift, or the Anti-tongues argument is wrong, and tongues were not given to preach the Gospel with.
I think the Bible and the Apostles were right, and the Anti-tongues argument is wrong. But you have to make up your own mind for yourself.
Some might ask, “Well, didn’t they preach the Gospel in other tongues on the Day of Pentecost?”
No.
The Bible identifies specifically what the 120 said in other tongues: ”…we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.“ (vs. 11).
Notice that the hearers did not say, “We do hear in our own tongues of the Most High God sending His only begotten Son. We hear that he bore our sins, and was crucified at a place called Calvary. We hear of a new covenant between God and man, sealed with the precious blood of His Son. We hear that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life…We repent right now and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Can we be baptized?”
No.
They heard none of that.
We know they heard none of that because after the speaking in tongues was over with, Peter still had to stand up and preach the Gospel to them, in a lengthy sermon, in the Hebrew tongue. Acts 2:14-40.
At Pentecost, the Anti-tongues adherents picture the assembled believers as standing up, one after the other, preaching the Gospel in Arabic, Mesopotamian, in Asian Languages, and so on. But no such thing took place.
The Holy Spirit came upon the believers, and they spoke with other tongues “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” They spoke specifically of “the wonderful works of God.” They were using other tongues simply to praise God, when passersby began to notice and recognize their native languages being spoken.
The 120 believers at Pentecost used their ability to speak in tongues in the same way Paul used his, and in the same way he instructed you and I to use ours:
“For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” I Cor. 14:14,15.
Paul–the only Apostle who gives us instructions about tongues–tells us that he himself prayed in other tongues, and he sang and worshipped God in other tongues. And he instructs us to do the same.
He never once preached or taught in other tongues. He never recommended that anyone else go to a foreign land and preach or teach in other tongues.
In fact, we have no record of the individuals at Pentecost, and no record of Paul or anyone else, ever attempting to identify the foreign language they were speaking in.
The only uses the Bible gives us for speaking in tongues is prayer and praise. Nowhere does it tell us to preach in other tongues.
Do you know why the Early Church never used speaking in tongues to preach the Gospel?
Because it is impossible to preach in other tongues.
Remember, the Gift of Tongues involves receiving the supernatural ability to speak in another language. The recepient of the Gift does not receive the ability to understand the language. For instance, Paul tells us that when he prayed or sang in other tongues, he did not understand what he was saying, “…my understanding is unfruitful.” (I Cor. 14:15).
Paul and the other Early Christians spoke in other languages, but they could not understand or read those languages.
Imagine that you are an English-speaking person. You know no other language. Then the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and gives you the ability to speak in the Arabic language.
You can speak in Arabic.
But you can not understand Arabic.
And you can not read Arabic.
Not one word.
Tell me how you are going to travel to Egypt for instance, and preach the Gospel to them in your God-given ability to speak Arabic.
You obtain a visa, and buy an airline ticket to Cairo. The plane lands at Cairo International Airport. You go through security, and are stopped. The security person asks you in Arabic:
”;lsdne ieihng; wooi9n wlit?”
You have no idea what he has just asked you. Not one clue. You speak Arabic, but you do not understand it.
He may have asked you:
”Do you have anything to declare?”
Or,
“How many bags did you bring with you?”
”Are you here for business or pleasure?”
Or he might have said to you,
“Hey fella, you could really use a breath mint!”
Not knowing what else to do, you take a chance and exercise your gift of speaking in the Arabic tongue.
You reply:
“;liena;wshng ikon e w ihg alw ;hewih;ljjjurfri.”
What did you just say to him?
Did you say,
“I have nothing to declare…
I have five bags…
I’m here for pleasure…
or…fella, I don’t need a breath mint as bad as you need come deoderant!”
You have no idea what he said, or what you replied to him.
No clue.
But assume you are somehow able to get through security.
Things get no easier.
You wander from the airport, and you take a leizurely walk through the old part of downtown Cairo.
A merchant call out to you in a frantic voice,
“lfbmeujdlhg jhjjig ooegnl kslghnrji.”
You have no idea what he just said.
He could have said,
“I have the finest silks in all of Egypt!”
Or,
“Get out of the way! A stone has fallen off a nearby building and will hit you in the head and kill you if you don’t move!”
You try to figure out exactly where you are in this ancient city of millions of Egyptians. The street signs and billboards do you no good–they’re all in Arabic! And you can’t understand a word of it.
Let’s say you somehow begin preaching in Arabic in the town square. How long do you preach? Twenty minutes? An hour? How do you know when your sermon is over?
Not knowing what else to do, you stop in mid sentence and motion for people to come forward who want to give their lives to Christ. Several peaople come forward, and each of them start asking you questions:
“lbfjgsdak jegjoewgj ll kn ikl m kjkeljkle;?”
“klrgli;?”
“,mdjheriog vkj m,dkek?”
You don’t know what they just asked you.
You can’t help them.
For that matter, you don’t even know what you just preached. Did you preach from the Old Testament or New Testament? Was your sermon about salvation, holiness, tithing, End-Time prophecy, or the Fall of Adam?
You are absolutely helpless.
Why?
Because you don’t understand or read the language, you simply speak it.
You would quickly find that it is impossible to preach or evangelize in other tongues.
So what do you do with your “other tongue?”
The same thing the 120 and Paul did with theirs. You pray and worship God with it.
Now to examine the second claim of the Anti-tongues argument:
Does all genuine speaking in tongues occur only in known human languages?
We have already proven that speaking in tongues was never used, and can never reliably be used, for anything except prayer and praise. Since speaking in tongues is used only for human-to-God communication, there is no logical reason for God to limit speaking in tongues to known human languages.
Paul, the only Apostle who taught in his Epistles specifically about speaking in tongues acknowledged the possibility of speaking in non-human, angelic languages:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” I Cor. 13:1.
Clearly, sometimes speaking in tongues occurred in known human languages, and sometimes it took place in angelic languages.
It helps us to note also that there is no recorded attempt of the 120, including the Apostles, and later the Apostle Paul, to identify the specific foreign language in which they spoke in other tongues. Nor did they try to ascertain whether their “tongue” was a known language, or an angelic one.
If they made no such effort, why should we?
If this was of no concern to them, why should it be to us?
It was entirely possible, then and now, to be inspired of the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues in prayer and in praise, using a language that is a known one, an ancient one no longer spoken, or in an obscure dialect spoken by only a handful of people far from you, or even one spoken by angels in Heaven.
We will deal now with the third and final part of the Anti-tongues argument, namely:
Every time people spoke in other tongues, they did so as a ’sign to the Jews.’
(Sigh….)
Will the nonsensical arguments ever end?
This part of the Anti-tongues argument is as unscriptural as their “preaching in tongues” error, and their “only in known tongues” mistake.
They base their error on a sliver of the 14th chapter of First Corinthians. And even that sliver is taken completely out of context.
Allow me to provide the needed context:
Paul is giving instructions to the Corinthian Church on various issues. In Chapters 12, 13, and 14, he defines the nine Gifts of the Spirit, and gives instructions on how they are to be accommodated.
As he is giving these instructions, he lets us know that speaking in tongues had actually been prophesied beforehand by the Prophet Isaiah, centuries before Pentecost. He quotes the prophecy from the Old Testament:
Vs. 21: “In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.”
In the next verse he explains:
Vs. 22: “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not…”
Putting these two Scriptures together, and ignoring the rest of First Corinthians, the Anti-tongues argument is:
”See! Paul said tongues are a sign to the Jews. True speaking in tongues will occur only if unbelieving Jews are present to hear them.”
Actually, no.
We just read it.
Paul didn’t say that tongues are a sign to only unbelieving Jews. He wrote that tongues were a sign “…to them that believe not…” Tongues can be a sign to unbelieving Jews and/or to unbelieving Gentiles alike.
If speaking in tongues were a sign to only Jews, and Jews had to be present before speaking in tongues could be exercised, he would have made this clear.
Notice what Paul did not write:
To interpret this Scripture to mean that no speaking in tongues can take place unless unbelieving Jews or unbelieving Gentiles are present to hear them, is contradicted by Paul’s other instructions concerning speaking in tongues.
And frankly, the Anti-tongues interpretation of this makes no sense.
Of course not.
This anti-Tongues interpretation is absurd.
What about the other Apostles, and the other recorded examples of speaking in tongues. Did they occur only when unbelieving Jews or Gentiles were present?
See for yourself:
Peter preached the Gospel to the assembled Gentiles in Cornelius’ house, and they believed. In the middle of Peter’s sermon, “…the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word…on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God…” (vs. 44-46).
Every person present in the room was already a Christian before coming there, or was born-again in that instant. Now you have a room full of Christians, speaking in tongues, with no unbelieving Jews or Gentiles to hear them. But Peter didn’t frantically call out:
“No! No! No, My Brethren! Do not speak in tongues unless unbelievers are present!”
Another example from Scriptures that prove that genuine speaking in tongues can occur with no unbelievers present, is given to us in the account of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.
In Ephesus, Paul found 12 of John the Baptist’s disciples. He preached the Gospel to them, and they believed and were baptized. They were full-fledged Christians. Note what happened next:
“And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve.” (Acts 19:6,7).
Where were the “unbelieving Jews” in this case? There were none. The only ones present were Paul and twelve born-again, baptized Christians.
Paul didn’t stop them from speaking in tongues.
And he didn’t say,
“Wait a minute! None of that tongues stuff unless unbelieving Jews or Gentiles are present. Hold it a minute while I go round up some unbelievers!”
No.
If Paul meant by “a sign to them that believe not…” that speaking in tongues is to be allowed only when unbelieving Jews or Gentiles are present, then he violated his own instruction, didn’t he? They certainly spoke in tongues here, and there were absolutely no unbelievers of any kind present.
See how absurd these anti-tongues arguments become when compared with Scripture?
Someone might ask, “Well, are tongues a sign to unbelieving Jews or Gentiles?”
They can be.
We have already seen Scriptural incidents in which they are not:
So Scriptures and common sense limit the use of tongues for a sign to unbelievers to some manifestations of tongues in a public service.
Then what is meant by tongues being a sign to unbelievers?
I’ve seen this happen in one form or another, a number of times.
You see, true speaking in tongues and interpretation is very powerful. These gifts are riveting to observe. Speaking a message in tongues and interpreting it in a public service can have a mighty, convicting effect on an unbeliever. I’ve seen it take place in my own ministry.
In 2ooo, I was in a service in my home church. I arrived just before the service, and we sat in our usual place. I wasn’t scheduled to minister that morning.
A friend we’ll call Sally served on the praise and worship team. Before going to the platform, she introduced to us her grown son who was visiting her from out of town for a few days. He had never seen his mother sing in a worship service, so he had come to do so. He sat down in the row behind us, and the service began.
As the praise and worship started to wind down, a very strong message in tongues came upon me. The pastor knew me well, and knew of my background with Sister Goodwin. And he had given me permission to approach the platform whenever I had something from the Lord. So as the worship ended, I went to the platform, and he handed me the microphone.
I spoke out the message in tongues. And since no other interpreter was present, I interpreted the message myself.
The message had quite a powerful anointing in it. It spoke, among other things, of Christ bearing our griefs and sorrows at Calvary, and that anyone who needed it could rise up and receive healing from past hurts if they would do so by faith. I finished the message and returned to my seat.
The service continued on as normal with receiving an offering, and the pastor preaching a sermon. It wasn’t an evangelistic sermon, but he gave an altar call at the end of it anyway to anyone who wanted to accept Christ.
To my surprise, Sally’s grown son went to the front and accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. Praise the Lord. I had spoken to him only briefly, and Sally had never even mentioned the son to me. So I had no idea he was unsaved.
Sally told me the next Sunday that after the service she had asked her son, “What caused you to accept Christ today? Was it the praise and worship?”
Her son replied, “The music was good, but that wasn’t it.
She asked, “Was it the Pastor’s sermon?”
He said, “It was ok, but that wasn’t it.”
Puzzled, she asked, “Well, what was it?”
He replied, “I don’t know. I don’t understand it. But when that guy [me] got up there and spoke in that foreign language, and then translated it, I just somehow knew I had to get right with God!”
Praise the Lord.
You see, speaking in tongues worked that morning as a sign to an unbeliever. A sign that brought him under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and which lead him to surrender his life to Jesus Christ.
I have seen speaking in tongues accompanied by the interpretation of tongues have a very powerful, convicting effect on unbelievers.
In Joe Jordan’s biography of the Goodwins, a former staff member of their church relates a similar incident. At the end of a service, Sister Goodwin spoke out a message in tongues, but Dad had no interpretation for it.
After the close of the service, a Jewish man walked up to the platform. He told her that her message had been very beautiful, and asked her where she had learned what he called “High Hebrew.” She replied that she did not know how to speak any kind of Hebrew. The man said she must know how to speak it, because she had done so only minutes before.
He told her that in the message, she had called him by his full Jewish name, told him that Jesus Christ had died for him, and that this message was a sign to him that Jesus Christ was the Jewish messiah. He had come forward to ask her how she had known his full Jewish name.
Sister Goodwin proceeded to explain the Gift of Speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues. And she instructed him to do what the message had told him to do.
When he realized that this had been a supernatural message from God, that she did not speak Hebrew, and did not know his Jewish name, he gave his heart to Christ. And he went on to serve Christ, the Jewish Messiah, for many years until finally going Home.
Tongues in this instance did exactly what Paul said they would sometimes do–they served as a convicting sign, this time to an unbelieving Jewish man.
I have also seen speaking a message through tongues and interpretation have a stirring effect on born-again Christians who have grown weary in the faith, and have gotten off into unbelief. In other words, they were unbelieving Believers.
I’ve ministered in tongues and interpretation in services in which the powerful anointing present in genuine tongues and interpretation has served as a sign to such unbelieving Believers, exposing to them their backslidden and faithless state, and stirring them to rededicate their lives to Christ and to be renewed in the faith.
In conclusion:
My Brethren, I have proven in this post that the Anti-tongues argument is unscriptural and even absurd.
Can you begin to see now how the present-day Church has been robbed of a great blessing? Can you see how the erroneous teachings of men have grieved and quenched the Holy Spirit as He has attempted to move thorugh this beautiful gift only to be met with unscriptural restrictions and man-made obstructions?
If you have followed this hideous anti-tongues argument, you now see it has no foundation in Scriptures or in common sense. And you need to humble yourself under the correction of God’s written Word, and repent of the way hou have hindered the Holy Spirit in your church and life.
If you are a pastor, a teacher, or a Seminary professor, and you have taught the anti-tongues nonsense, you need to ask God’s forgiveness for leading your people astray.
God is quick to forgive, and the Holy Spirit will gladly put it all behind you and Him, and will fill you with Himself and flow in greater power in your life and church.
If you have are already in the pro-tongues camp, I would urge you to think on the issues and explanations I have offered here.
Don’t just say, “Yeah…I know all this.”
No you don’t or you would have it in greater manifestation in your life and church.
The Bible says that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” If you will think deeply on the solid teachings from God’s Word, embrace them in faith, and give the Holy Spirit the liberty to flow in your lives and services, then you will find Him manifesting Himself through tongues and through interpretations in stronger ways than you ever imagined.
There is much, much, much more power and anointing in speaking in tongues than we have ever realized or tapped into. And 100 years after the outpouring at Topeka Kansas and the later one at Azusa Street, it is high time we understand these gifts and flow in them in the strength and anointing God intended.
God bless you!
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery. All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others as long as it is done so free of charge, in entirety, and attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Objections to Tongues, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on November 3, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
Isn’t it amazing that in the entire New Testament we cannot find a single example of Christians going out “witnessing for Christ” in a manner similar to what we urge believers to do today?
Early Christians did not participate in outreaches to sinners comparable to what is commonly done by the Modern Church. Christians also used no gimmicks to trick or bribe people into coming to church. In the complete absence of any of these tools that are commonly used today, it is clear that Christ, the Apostles, and the Early Church had an entirely different understanding than we do of what it means to “be witnesses unto me.“
I do not mean to imply that what we call “witnessing,” outreaches, or even clever presentations are wrong. Occasionally these tools produce modest results. And if only one soul is reached for Christ, the effort is worth it.
I acknowledge all that.
But I believe that as we get into the specifics of what the Scriptures tell us about witnessing, we will find that the Modern Church has never comprehended the fulness of Christ’s command and that we have fallen far short of the power and fruit God desires.
Notice first of all that Christ never told us to go witness.
He told us to be witnesses.
Read our Lord’s specific command with me:
“…you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence…you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”–Acts 1:5,8.
We have acted as though Christ said “go witness for Me.” Then with or without the power of the Holy Spirit, usually without, we have valiantly gone out knockin gon doors or participated in various kinds of outreaches, attempting to win the lost to Christ.
Witnessing is something we turn on for a few hours now and then. Afterwards when we get tired, we turn it off and retreat to our churches or return to our jobs and homes.
We do this in sincerity.
Our consciences are soothed.
We assure ourselves that we have obeyed the Lord, so He is of course well pleased with us. And He probably is pleased that we have at least made an attempt, no matter how almost futile our efforts were.
But He knows, and we should know, we haven’t actually obeyed His command.
Christ never said “go witness for Me.”
He said in that Scripture that by receiving the Holy Spirit’s power, the Spirit’s emowerment would make us witnesses unto Him.
Witnessing is something you do.
Being a witness is something you are.
The distinction between witnessing and being a witness becomes clearer as we examine what the Scriptures say about being a witness.
Old Testament Witnesses
The first tim we see the word “witness” appear in the Bible, is in Genesis.
When Abraham entered the land God had promised to him, King Abimelech of Gerar took Sarah away from Abraham, intending to make her his wife. But overnight, God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and rebuked him for this.
In response to God’s warning, Abimelech gathered sheep, oxen, servants, and a thousand pieces of silver, and gave them to Abraham and restored Sarah to him. Then Abimelech invited Abraham to dwell wherever he wanted to in the land.
Some years later, Abimelech approached Abraham and wanted to make a covenant, or in modern terms, a non-agression treaty.
Abraham agreed to this covenant.
However, there was a matter that Abraham wanted to clear up.
Abraham had dug a well, and some of Abimelech’s servants had violently taken it away. As a condition of coming into covenant with Abraham, he wanted the well returned, and he insisted on a witness:
“And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?
And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shall you take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged thsi well.”–Gen. 21:27-30.
These seven little lambs did not attempt to witness for Abraham in the sense Christians seek to witness for Christ today. They did not go to all of Abimelech’s servants and preach the story of Abraham to them. They did not seek to convert other sheep to belief in Abraham.
Their very existence was a witness (or proof) that the well belonged to Abraham.
The second time the word “witness” appear in the Scriptures is again in Genesis, two generations after Abraham. In this instance, the word was used in association with Jacob.
Jacob had lived in the lad of Laban for years, married two of his daughters, worked for him, and God prospered everything he did. Eventually, relations with his father-in-law Laban, and Laban’s sons became strained. Jacob moved out in the middle of the night, taking his wives and all his possessions with him.
Laban pursued him.
God rebuked Laban in a dream, shortly before he caught up with Jacob. Eventually, tempers cooled and they decided to make peace with each other.
And they provided a witness:
“Now therefore come you, and let us make a covenant, I and you;
and let it be for a witness between me and you.
And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.
And Jacob said unto his bretheren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made a heap: and they did eat there upon the heap. …..Jacob called it Galeed (translation–the heap of witness).
And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between me and you this day…
The Lord watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another…
This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you shall not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.”–Gen. 31:44-48, 51,52.
The stone pillar and the heap of stones did not roll around and try to witness for Jacob and Laban by telling all the nearby stones about the covenant between the two.
They did not try to convert other stones into believing in Jacob and Laban.
The presence of any heap of stones arranged with a pillar was not a natrual occurrance. Anyone seeing them would automatically know that men had piled them up for a reason. Their existence served as a witness (or proof) to all that saw them that there had been a covenant made between Jacob and Laban.
The stones did not try to witness.
Their existence was a witness.
In one instance, sheep existed as a witness or proof of ownership. On another occasion, a pile of rocks served as a witness or proof of an agreement. In the Bible, exisistence of a witness–living or inanimate–served as proof of the reality of a matter.
Another example of the ancient concept of being a witness is shown in the lives of the Patriarchs.
Have you ever thought about how God demonstrated the reality of His existence in early Bible Tiems?
There were no written Scriptures prior to Moses.
Even though God performed miracles, these were few and geographically widespread. But since God desired for man to know Him, He revealed Himself to the world by what some call “the Patriarchial Witness.” In other words, people knew that God existed because His presence in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph was obvious to all who observed them.
The reality of God was demonstrated to the world through their lives in several ways.
For one thing, the Patriarchs always triumphed over their enemies. They also always ended up with the best end of any deal. Additionally, they lived long in the earth while others died young. Miracles also took place when they prayed, as in the case of God healing the barren women in Abimelech’s kingdom in response to Abraham’s prayer:
“So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.”–Gen. 20:17.
God’s presence was so ovbious in Abraham’s life, that Abimelech said:
“God is with you in all that you do.”–Gen. 21:22.
The blessing of God went from generation to generation, from Abraham’s life into his son Isaac’s life. The blessing operated regardless of the negative circumstances occurring among the surrounding peoples. For instance, even though the whole land was suffering a drought, and other people suffered lack and hunger, Isaac sowed seed in the midst of the drought and received back a hundred-fold return while others sowed nothing and reaped nothing:
“Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.“–Gen 26:12-14.
Isaac was so blessed, that the Philistines were envious of his wealth!
Even King Abimelech–the same one that had years ago made a covenant with Isaac’s father Abraham–showed up and entered into a covenant with Isaac.
Why?
Look at Abimelech’s explanation:
“…We saw certainly that the Lord was with you…you are now the blessed of the Lord.”–Gen. 26:28,29.
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph were witnesses unto God.
I wish you to note here that they did not go from place to place, tribe to tribe, trying to pressure others into believing in the One True God with whom they walked. They simply lived with Him in front of everyone else and let others make their own choice as to what god they would follow.
Other Examples of Witnesses
The Old Testament Scriptures give us many other examples of witnesses whose mere existence demonstrated the reality of God.
The Tabernacle Moses built in the wilderness was called “the Tabernacle of Witness.” (Num. 17:7,8).
A song of Moses was called a witness. (Deut. 31:19).
A copy of the Law was placed in the Ark of the Covenant as a witness. (Deut. 31:26).
An altar was built on the other side of the Jordan as a witness. (Josh. 22:27).
Joshua set up a great stone in Shechem as a witness of Israel’s covenant with God. (Josh. 24:27).
The Lord is called a witness. (Judg. 11:10, I Sam. 12:5, Jer. 29:24, 43:5, Mic. 1:2, Mal. 2:14, 3:5).
The countenance of the people of Jerusalem was a witness. (Isa. 3:9).
God gave King David to Israel as a witness. (Isa. 55:4).
In all of these instances, the existence of these people and objects served as proof of God’s reality. It is strange therefore that none of these witnesses “witnessed” in the manner we call on fellow Christians to do today. None of these sought to convert unbelievers to the Jewish faith, yet all were identified in the Scriptures as “witnesses.”
New Testament Witnesses
Crossing over into the New Testament the only person we find specifically identified as a witness in the four Gospels is John the Baptist. (John 1:7,8,15).
The Scriptures declare John to be a witness, but we do not see him “witnessing.” He did not go from door-to-door, attempting to thrust his beliefs off on strangers.
He ministered mostly out in the wilderness.
To even hear him, individuals usually had to go some distance out into the wilds. Once there, he didn’t greet you with a warm cup of coffee, a pastry, give you a 10-minute sermonette, and pronounce blessings upon you as you returned to your homes.
No.
John preached repentence.
If people sincerely repented, John would baptize them.
If they didn’t, he wouldn’t.
And he told all who came that “he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost,” would soon come on the scene.
None of the Old Testament witnesses fit our idea of witnessing, and neither does John the Baptist.
Could it be that we actually don’t have a clue what Jesus meant when He said, “ye shall be witnesses unto Me?”
I believe so.
Christ’s Idea of Witnessing
If we are to be witnesses to the reality of Jesus Christ to a lost world, how are we to go about it?
Giving our testimony of what Jesus Christ has done in our lives is certanly a legitimate method. However, Jesus tells us that there is a witness greater than the testimony of man:
“But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me.”–John 5:36.
What are these “works” Jesus is speaking about?
Miracles, signs, and wonders. The miracles that Christ performed were an even greater witness than the testimonies of men. Now note what Christ said later in the same Gospel of John:
“…He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”–John 14:12.
Jesus said believers would be able to do these “works” and “greater works.”
Why? How?
“Because I go unto my Father.”
At the throne of God, Christ poured out the Holy Spirit to empower believers to do signs, wonders, and miracles. Does Jesus truly expect to use all Christians, not only in sharing our testimony, but also in being a witness unto him by working signs, wonders, and miracles?
Absolutely.
In the Great commission, Christ even listed some of these miraculous signs:
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the workd, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe;
In my name shall they cast out devils;
they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents;
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;
they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
…So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”–Mark 16:15-20.
We have only partially obeyed Christ’s command in the Great Commission.
We have gone into all the world and preached the Gospel to every creature. But that is only the first half of the Great Commission. The other half is that Christ “sat on the right hand of God,” from whence He poured out the baptism in the Holy Spirit, empowering the Early Church to work miracles.
We Christians of today are to receive this same outpouring,
this same baptism,
and this same empowerment.
The natural result will be these miraculous signs listed in Mark 16:17-18 will acoompnay our ministry, bearing witness to the reality of Jesus Christ.
Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit:
We are to cast devils out of the demon possessed.
We are to speak in other tongues.
We are to take up serpents.
No, this doesn’t mean we are to conduct “snake-handling services.” A serpent first appears in Genesis as a creature that Satan indwelt in order to deceive, tempt, and to promote false doctrine to Adam and eve. There are many such evil situations and tools present in the world today that Satan uses to decieve, and to lead people away from faith in Christ. We are to “take up” these “serpents” in prayer, and release our faith for the deception to be exposed so that people can see clearly to receive faith in Christ.
An additional sign is that if, as we are serving Jesus Christ, we somehow accidentally drink something deadly we are to expect to make a full recovery.
And the final sign in this list is that we are to pray for the sick, laying our hands on them in the name of Jesus, and expect that our prayers will be answered with a manifestation of God’s healing power.
Some Christians discount the second half of the Great Commission because in some of the oldest manuscripts, the last several verses of Mark Chapter 16 are missing. they therefore turn to Matthew’s comments on the Great Commission, an dstate that Matthew makes no mention of signs, wonders, or miracles.
That is only half true.
Read Matthew’s words with me:
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Hoy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”–Matt. 28:18-20
They were to go throughout the entire world, leading people to Christ, baptizing new convertsin water, and teaching all believers to observe–to do exactly–everything Jesus commanded the Apostles to do. The key word here is “commanded.” What did Jesus command the Apostles to do?
Read with me one of the commands Jesus gave the original 12 disciples when he appoointed them to be Apostles:
“…These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying
…as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers,
raise the dead,
cast ouot devils:
freely you have received, freely give.”–Matt. 10:5,7,8.
Matthew reports that when Jesus called and appointed the original twelve Apostles, he commanded them to heal.
Healing the sick was not optional.
Healing the sick was not a helpful suggestion.
Healing was a command.
Matthew and Mark agreed that the Great Commission was not to consist of salvation sermons and baptismal services alone. Both declared that there was to be a supernatural element to the fulfilling of the Great Commission, involving various signs and wonders.
The Apostles and Early Church took Christ’s command seriously. They expected to obtain miraculous results, and they did:
“And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.“–Mark 16:20
Sadly, we have not taken Christ’s command seriously.
We have not fully obeyed the Great Commission.
We have gone, without allowing Jesus Christ to first baptize us in the Holy Spirit. We have unknowingly ignored Jesus Christ in his role as “he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.”
Indeed, the modern teaching of the Baptism has been so muddied that many do not even realize that there is a Baptism of power available to every believer.
The Lord has worked with the Modern Church to a certain extent. Some results have been attained. Never-the-less, the signs God promised have not accompanied the preaching of most churches and minsters.
The plain fact of the matter is that we have settled for being testifiers about Christ, rather than being witnesses unto Christ as he commanded us to be.
A testifier:
Tells what he has experienced with Christ.
Talks, preaches, weeps, and shouts.
Thinks up gimmicks.
Tries to convince skeptics with Scriptures and enticing words of men’s wisdom.
A witness:
Demonstrates that God still gives miraculous answers to prayer.
Shows that the sufferings of Christ really took place, and the stripes laid on the back of our Lord still bring healing in answer to faith in God’s Word.
That Jesus Christ has been given the name which is above every name, and that every devil must bow to that name.
The Apostle Paul was not a testifier.
He was a witness unto Jesus Christ.
To the Corinthians he wrote:
“And I, bretheren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
…And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”–I Cor. 2:1-5.
To the Thessalonians Paul wrote:
“For our gospel came not unto you in word only,
but also in power,
and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance…”–I Thes. 1:5
We have come mostly “in word only.”
The Early Church did not.
We have come “with enticing words of man’s wisdom.”
The Apostles did not.
They evangelized the known world in a little more than a generation.
We have not.
Modern Patriarchial Witness
Christ’s baptizing the believer in the Holy Spirit actually empowers us to walk with God as did the Patriarchs of old.
The world knew there was One True God because He accompanied Abraham.
In like manner, the Lord desires to reveal Himself to this unbelieving world by His Presence flowing through us to others. He wants the entire world to know that He is the God that created them, that He loves them, and His Son bled and died for their sins.
Through Calvary God has issued an open invitation:
Whosoever will may come!
All are invited to come into God’s Kindgom through faith in Christ, enjoy His presence and power in this life, and then when this life is over, all believers can go be with Him.
Because we believers are His beloved, His prized possession, His jewels, His sons and daughters, He wants to accompany us like He accompanied Abraham, I saac, Jacob, and Joseph.
He wants to cause us to overcome every obstacle, triumph over every enemy, and to end up with the best end of any deal. He desires that we prosper, be in health, and live long on the Earth. Additionally, God wants the blessing of His Presence in our lives to be so strong that it flows out from us to meet the needs of a hurting humanity with signs, wonders, and miracles.
The Heavenly Father’s goal is nothing short of:
His Presence accompanying us.
His anointing upon us.
His love motivating us.
His character reproduced within us.
And His miracles flowing through us to others.
In every way, God is to be so evident in our lives that the whole world envies us, and even kings come and bow down before us and exclaim like King Abimelech of Old,
“God is with you in all that you do.”
Then we reply,
“Let me introduce you to Him through His only begotten Son.”
“Copyright Mel C. Montgomery All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others if done so without charge, in entirety, and if attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on October 31, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
These posts are designed to help instruct new people who are just beginning to be used in prophetic ministry. In these posts I will share with you as frankly as I can, the principles of genuine prophetic ministry I’ve learned over the years.
I compare developing in prophetic ministry to the process a baby zebra goes through.
When a baby zebra is born, there is a critical point that is reached 15 to 20 minutes after birth. The foal falls from his mother’s body, and hits the ground with a gloppy thud. The jolt of the fall helps to contract the foal’s lungs, and he gulps in his first breaths of air.
He lays there, startled, for a minute or two. Then he automatically begins to struggle to stand on his shaky legs. And he opens his eyes, and starts to take in the scene around him.
Here is the critical part:
The second that foal is born, the mother zebra stands in such a way as to block his view with her body. And for the next 15 to 20 minutes, she will continue moving again and again to keep blocking his view. She has to.
No two zebras have the exact same pattern of stripes. And in those first few minutes of life, whatever zebra’s pattern imprints on the foal’s mind is the one he will forever afterward believe to be his mother.
If another zebra mother’s pattern imprints on the foal’s mind, he will refuse to nurse from his mother–who has just given him birth–and he will go to the other zebra mother and will try to receive from her. She knows he is not her foal, and will kick him away.
Within hours or days he will die, because he does not know who his mother is.
Principle Number One
As with the zebra foal, so is it with new people coming up in prophetic ministry:
Whatever you see on a regular basis in another prophet, will imprint on your spirit, and guide you for the rest of your life.
Therefore:
Be careful who you follow.
Be careful who you pattern yourself after.
Be careful who you accept as a spiritual parent.
God opened a wonderful door for my preparation in prophetic ministry. He put me under Sister Goodwin’s instruction for the last ten years of her life. Her type of excellence in prophetic ministry is what was imprinted on my spirit, and I have been truly thankful to God that it was her pattern, and not that of some flakey so-so prophet.
I realize though, that few will have a similar opportunity. So allow me to share in these posts exactly what I would tell you, if we could sit together in my living room, as I sat with Sister Goodwin in her living room.
She is not the only person I have learned from though. Kenneth Hagin is a good source also. I particularly recommend his books, “The Ministry Gifts,”"The Ministry of a Prohpet,” “The Gifts of the Holy Spirit,” and “Following God’s Path For Your Life.”
I have learned from, and recommend:
Drink in deeply the teachings on this site, and the above materials. These are balanced, scriptural materials, written by seasoned individuals that will impart to you a sound understanding of spiritual gifting and genuine prophetic ministry.
Principle Number Two
The following instructions given to new recruits in Boot Camp demonstrate another important component of genuine prophetic ministry.
I was watching a TV documentary about new recruits being trained in an Army Boot Camp. It was comical to watch, but it was no fun for the recruits.
Here were these young men who looked like they were hardly old enough to shave. They had never been away from home before, never faced this kind of discipline, and they were going through quite an ordeal. Several drill sargeants came into the barracks, and each recruit stood at attention beside his bunk.
The drill sargeants were stomping all around, disapproving of everything in sight, getting up in each man’s “personal space,” nose to nose, and screaming orders and questions at the tops of their lungs. The young recruits were spooked, ready to jump out of their skins, and wanting desperately to do whatever it took to satisfy these crazed drill sargents.
The drill sargents repeatedly gave the same instruction:
”THERE ARE ONLY FOUR ACCEPTABLE ANSWERS TO ANY QUESTION I ASK YOU!
THEY ARE:
YES SIR!
NO SIR!
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION SIR!
AND
NO…..EXCUSE….SIR!”
Think on that last phrase: “No excuse Sir!” Do you know that is the perfect definition of repentence?
You come before God, no longer saying, “Well, she made me do it.” Or, “If he hadn’t done this then I wouldn’t have done that.” Or “You know what he did to me Lord, so I have every right to…”
True repentence is when you finally say to God, “There is no excuse for my sin…there is no excuse for my trespass…there is no excuse for my wrong attitide…” Instead, you simply say to Him: “God…No excuse…I was wrong…please forgive me.”
God loves it when we repent. He is quick and merciful to forgive us when we fail.
Note what He said to us through the Prophet Isaiah:
“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit…” Isa. 57:15.
Notice in the first part of that Scripture it describes God as “the High and Lofty One.” It further says that He “inhabits eternity,” and that He “dwell(s) in the high and holy place.” Notice who also dwells there too, “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.”
This tells us that one of the requirements to operate in prophetic ministry, to flow in strong gifts, or as Sister Goodwin termed it, to “minister in the Spirit,” is to have a “contrite and humble spirit.”
Strong’s Hebrew dictionary tells us that this Hebrew word “contrite” means:
”Very much crushed, broken very small, hence as a substitition–that which is very small, poetic for dust.”
Webster’s Dictionary defines “contrite” as:
”Feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming.”
God loves all people, but He draws close to Himself in the High and Holy place those who are contrite and humble. In other words, those who are quick to sincerely repent, saying basically, “No excuse God…just, please forgive me, I was wrong.” And those who also have a small opinion of themselves, and of their own abilities.
Sister Goodwin who mentored and prepared me, Kenneth Hagin, and others for prophetic ministry, exemplified these two qualites: sincere repentence and humility. Hearing her pray, was a beautiful experience. I remember hearing her pray one time, “Father….We know not whether to come in, or to go out…We know not whether to stand up, or sit down…except You should tell us.” The humility expressed in that prayer, still brings tears to my eyes.
Her home was like the Holy of Holies of old–God’s manifested presence was there every time I visited her. She dwelled with Him, and He with her, because she kept their roles straight. He was the High and Lofty One, and she was dust in comparison. She was small in her own eyes, but served a great God.
I have found in my own experience of being used by the Lord in many, many manifestations of the revelation and utterance gifts particularly:
The stronger the anointing in manifestation, the more humble and contrite my own heart has to be as the anointing is flowing through me. The slightest amount of pride or any attempt to draw attention to self, grieves the Spirit and quenches the anointing almost instantly.
Principle Number Two
As it was with the new recruits, so is it with us in genuine prophetic ministry:
When we offer God “no excuse,” genuinely repenting and humbling ourselves before Him, He draws us deeper into the Holy Spirit and His anointing.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery. All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others as long as it is done so in entirety, without charge, and attribution is given.
Posted in Principles of Genuine Prophetic Ministry | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on October 30, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
Although the Bible gives us no examples of the Apostles prophesying, never-the-less, their response to a particular church problem gives us a principle that is characteristic of genuine prophetic ministry.
Read with me Acts 6:1-4:
“And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.“
They did not say:
“We will give ourselves continually to prophesying.”
Nor did they say:
“We will give ourselves continually to working miracles and healing the sick.”
And finally, they did not say:
“We will give ourselves continually to evangelism.”
They focused continually–not just from time to time–on prayer and the ministry of the Word. They knew that by maintaining a vibrant prayer life, they would receive from the Lord His plans for ministry. Getting away from the people and their problems and cares, and getting alone with the Lord in prayer was vital.
In prayer in other tongues, for instance, they would be edified, built up, recharged, as Paul would later write, “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself.” (I Cor. 14:4). Also, the twelve Apostles, like Paul, would privately pray in tongues, and pray in Hebrew. (I Cor. 14:15). They would sing in tongues, and they would sing in Hebrew. And by doing so, they would be built up in faith and in the anointing in order to minister to the people, fulfill their responsibilities, and keep themselves morally pure and on track.
In addition, they said that they would give themselves continually to the ministry of the Word. They remembered the Lord’s instruction that the person who heard God’s words and did them, was like a wise man who built his house upon a rock, and how that house withstood the storms of life. (Luke 6:48,49). Regardless of being Apostles, and regardless of being anointed, they had to build their own lives and ministries on God’s written word. And they taught everyone else to do the same.
One of the great pitfalls of prophetic ministry is the temptation to build your entire ministry on the operation of spiritual gifts. Prophecy is precious, but don’t build your ministry on prophecy. Tongues and interpretation are a blessing, but don’t build your ministry on them or on the operation of any of the other gifts. Build your ministry, like the Apostles did, on prayer and ministering the word.
Brother Hagin urged all ministers, regardless of the gifts God used them in, to develop a solid preaching or teaching ministry. Sister Goodwin was adamant about that same principle. She had no interest whatever in sitting down and listening to someone’s prophecies and visions. She much rather preferred to discuss God’s written Word and to listen to God’s Word.
I was surprised one day when she told me who was one of her favorite TV ministers: Charles Stanley–A Southern Baptist. He did not preach and teach on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the same way that Sister Goodwin believed. But she admired him, “because he gets up there and he preaches…. the…..Word.” She simply would not attend or watch meetings which consisted almost entirely of prophecy and spiritual gifts. She did not believe in an over-emphasis on spiritual gifts.
That is wise.
In her prime, Sister Goodwin herself was a very strong preacher and teacher. Dad Goodwin wrote one time that Mom had preached a sermon so hot that you had to have on “an asbestos suit” in order to withstand the heat.
The plain fact of the matter is that any ministry built primarily on spiritual gifts, will not last.
I was an eye-witness to this some years ago.
In a phone conversation, I was invited by a pastor I had never met, to come visit a series of services being held in his church by a prophet. Having seen so much nonsense over the years passed off as “prophetic ministry,” I was skeptical, but I attended. And what a blessing it was!
This prophet ministered by the Word of Knowledge and the Word of Wisdom to many people in the service, including me. I had been living in this area only a few days, and I did not know the pastor, and had never heard of this prophet. So what he said to me, was entirely by the Spirit of God.
He said:
“Direction, direction…I need direction. Do I go this way? Or that? Inside, partly I’m happy, and partly I’m miserable.”
He took my hand in a handshake and said:
“The word of prophecy is in you, you know that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Be sure to give that when it comes to you.”
“I do,” I replied.
He finished, “God is going to put a new anointing upon you, and then the financial problem is going to turn.” He laid his hands on my head for a second, then returned to the platform and ministered to others.
The prophet’s “word” described me correctly at that moment. And the “new anointing” he told me would come, did indeed come about a year later. That anointing was the pastor’s anointing, and afterwards, my finances did improve dramatically and have continued to do so to this day.
I was introduced to the prophet and pastor after the service. And over the course of the next two weeks or so, we had lunch together, and fellowshipped together several times. I also attended every one of his meetings that I could.
But I quickly became concerned about this brother. His gifts were real. In fact, he had flowing through him the strongest manifestations of the Word of Knowledge and the Word of Wisdom I had seen since my days with Sister Goodwin. But he was building his ministry entirely on spiritual gifts.
In each service, his pattern was the same. After the praise team left the platform, he would sit behind the piano, and sing a chorus or two of some old-time Pentecostal song. Sometimes he would go from that to immediately ministering to people through his gift. Other times, he would get out his bible, begin a sermon or read just a couple of Scriptures, but as soon as his gift began operating, he would stop the sermon in mid sentence, and begin ministering through his gift to individuals.
Night after night, he would read a Scripture or two, give about 10% of a sermon, and then go into ministering in the Spirit to people. After the anointing lifted, he would give a quick instruction about how to receive Christ as Savior, and give an altar call. A number of people came to Christ in those meetings.
I began to meet other ministers who had known this prophet for years and I asked them, “Have you ever heard this brother actually preach a full sermon?” And even those who had known him for years admitted they had not.
The meetings ended, and he returned to his home in a state hundreds of miles away. Months passed, and fellow ministers told me that the prophet was having a lot of financial problems. Churches weren’t supporting him like they really should have. Some of his meetings doubled and tripled the new converts and new members joining these churches, but the churches that received such a blessing from his ministry, did not support him financially in return. So he was frequently in dire straits financially.
He began preaching seven days a week, sometimes leaving a meeting, driving hundreds of miles without sleep, and walking in to a church just in time to start the service. He wasn’t taking time to be refreshed in prayer. He wasn’t feeding on the Word at all. In fact, he knew very little about the Bible.
Several forces came together at once in his life, and he sinned a sin. And the sin was one that was also illegal. He pled guilty, and was sentenced to a long prison sentence. He has been in prison for the last 12 years, and is still there. I’ve remained in touch with him, writing from time to time, remembering him at holidays, and sometimes sending him books. The day will come when he is released, and can slowly be restored to ministry, and I look forward to that day for him.
When he fell, people were shattered, and all asked “Why?”
Why?
Too much ministry. Not enough sleep.
No prayer to speak of. No study or ministry of the Word to speak of. He just built his whole ministry on spiritual gifts.
My friend’s life and ministry imploded. And so has the life and ministry of every other prophet or minister I’ve known or heard of who did not exalt the preaching of God’s Word above all else.
Brother Hagin and Sister Goodwin and many of the Pentecostal giants of old, were adamant about this principle. They had witnessed many genuinely anointed ministries eventually collapse into error and sin, from not adhering tightly to God’s Word.
If you question this principle remember how long Brother Hagin and Sister Goodwin ministered prophetically, stayed true, never got off into error, and went to Glory with a clean, scriptural record:
Brother Hagin ministered over 60 years.
Sister Goodwin ministered over 50 years.
I’ve ministered for 17 years.
Someone who reads this blog recently asked me, “Well, what did they do when the Spirit of God started moving? Did they basically ignore that, until they had finished their message?”
No. Many times when the Spirit begins moving, especially prophetically, you have to respond rather quickly and yield to that anointing, or you quench it.
So the Goodwins took an approach that is worthy of us following. Mom and Dad had times in which their service turned into a Holy Ghost meeting. During praise and worship the Spirit of God would begin moving so strongly that various miracles took place, God’s presence moved in, and Mom and Dad ministered to numerous people through their prophetic and pastoral giftings. This might happen for an hour or more.
At the point when the moving of the Spirit began to lift, most preachers would have sent the people home.
Mom and Dad did not do that.
Dad would have the members all sit back down, and he would tell them, “We have been blessed by the moving of the Spirit of God today. But we never come here to church without hearing from God’s written Word. So, I’m going to teach you from God’s Word for five minutes, and then I will dismiss you.”
And he would take off his watch, lay it on the edge of the pulpit, and would keep his eye on the time. He would give them a brief exhortation from God’s Word, and then when the five minites were up, he dismissed them and sent them home. By doing so, he taught the people to build their lives NOT on the moving of the Spirit, NOR even on spiritual gifts–wonderful though they are–but to continually look to God’s written Word as their source of instruction and strength.
Do you see the wisdom in this approach?
Are you beginning to see how the Goodwins were able to minister prophetically for over 50 years, and yet they never got off into the error and goofiness that some in the 1980’s and 1990’s did?
God never intended people to place their faith in someone’s spiritual gift. He wants them to have faith in His written Word. The spiritual diet we are on, and that we feed to others, must be a diet of the meat of God’s word. Then if, over and above our teaching ministry, the gifts manifest–fine. If not–fine.
We learn from the Apostles:
We must build our ministry on prayer and the ministry of the Word, giving people the solid meat of God’s Word and letting the Gifts of the Spirit be the dessert.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery. All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others as long as it is done so in entirety, without charge, and attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | Leave a Comment »
Posted by brothermel on October 8, 2006
By Rev. Mel C. Montgomery
The manner in which Agabus the prophet ministered prophetically can teach us much about genuine prophetic ministry.
Paul was making his final rounds of some of the churches he had founded, and his goal was to complete this journey and be at Jerusalem by Pentecost. From Miletus, Paul sent to the Elders at Ephesus, and asked them to come to him. When they arrived, Paul told them some things and I want us to note a couple of his comments:
“And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. ”
Paul said that in every city, the Holy Ghost witnessed that bonds and afflictions lay ahead for him. How did the Holy Ghost “witness” to Paul this fact? He did so by flowing through various believers, giving prophecies and messages in tongues and in the interpretation of tongues, telling Paul that “bonds and afflictions” awaited him. Please note in the next verse, Paul’s attitude to the suffering that lay ahead:
“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more…” Acts 20:22-25.
Paul knew this was his last missionary journey. He told them, “I know that ye all…shall see my face no more.” He knew that whatever lay ahead, there was no coming back. He was saying his final goodbyes to his beloved Christian brethren. And he faced his future with the boldness of a lion.
Note in Acts Chapter 21, what happened when he arrived in Tyre:
Vs. 4: “And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem.”
Paul had said that in every city “the Holy Ghost witnessed,” to him. And here in Tyre, disciples “said…through the Spirit…” Here too, several Christians either prophesied to Paul, or gave messages in tongues and in the interpretation of tongues. And these messages went a step further, than those that occurred in other cities up to this time. These utterances told Paul that he should not go to Jerusalem at all.
From Tyre, Paul and his travelling companions went to Caesarea. When they arrived there, they ran into more prophecies:
Vs. 8: “And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Phillip the Evangelist, which was one of the seven, and we abode with him.”
Vs. 9: “And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.”
What they specifically prophesied to or around Paul, we do not know.
Up to this point in the narrative, we see example after example of what we would call ordinary believers, “lay people” as some would term them, prophesying to Paul and/or giving him messages through tongues and the interpretaiton of tongues.
I find Paul’s response to these prophecies to be most interesting: as far as we know, he had no response to them at all. He didn’t agree or disagree with them. He didn’t say that they were true prophecies or false prophecies.
After the prophecies of Phillip’s daughters, we are given the example of prophecy operating on a higher order, through an experienced and established full-fledged prophet from Judea by the name of Agabus. It was quite dramatic:
Vs. 10: “And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus.”
Vs. 11: “And when he was come to us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owns this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.”
Now observe closely:
Vs. 12: “And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.”
Who “besought” Paul not to go up to Jerusalem?
“…both we…”–Luke and Paul’s companions.
“…and they of that place…”–Phillip the Evangelist, his prophesying daughters, and local Christians.
Who said nothing?
Agabus the prophet.
You see, Agabus had “came down from Judea.” He was not one of the local Christians, and he was not a part of Paul’s travelling company. So the Bible does not include him among those who urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.
Agabus had come to Caesarea apparently for the specific purpose of giving Paul this word through prophecy, or through tongues and interpretation. And he acted it out like the Goodwins did countless times, and like I have done many times also.
Everyone said, “Paul! Don’t Go!”
Everyone, but Agabus.
He said nothing.
Why?
Because the Holy Spirit was not telling Paul to avoid Jerusalem. It was God’s will for Paul to go to Jerusalem at this time. And in this prophecy through Agabus, the Holy Spirit was simply telling Paul what awaited him at Jerusalem.
Now, those not familiar with how the Holy Spirit flows in the Gift of Prophecy, assume that Paul made a mistake by ignoring this word and going to Jerusalem.
No, Paul did not make a mistake.
You have to remember what the Lord told Paul when He first called him into the ministry after Paul’s blinding experience on the road to Damascus. The Lord sent a disciple named Ananias to go minister healing to Paul. And the Lord said to Ananias:
“…go your way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the Children of Israel. For I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.“ Acts 9:15,16.
All believers suffer persecution and affliction to a certain extent in their Christian walk. However, a frequent part of true Apostolic ministry is the ministry of suffering. For instance, of the original eleven remaining apostles, no two died in the same place, and all were crucified, tortured, or painfully killed except for John who was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos and eventually died a natural death later.
Recently I read an article about an Apostle in China. He has been imprisoned and beaten countless times. Yet, inspite of all of the persecutions and afflictions, he has helped to start several thousand undergound churches throughout China. Like Paul, this Apostle is fulfilling the ministry of suffering that often goes with the Apostle’s office. Like Paul, he can say of the beatings and the scars,
“…I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus…” Gal. 6:17.
Or as the Amplified Bible translates it:
“…for I bear on my body the brand marks of the Lord Jesus, [the wounds, scars and other outward evidence of persecutions]–These testify to His ownership of me!”
Suffering had been a frequent occurrance throughout all of Paul’s ministry. He wrote of his previous sufferings:
“of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen , in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”–II Cor. 11:24-27.
Paul was well acquainted with suffering. All of the Apostles were. Christ had told Paul that he would suffer, on a level far beyond what most Christians suffer, as a part of his Apostolic calling.
It was revealed to Agabus by the Holy Spirit that additonal suffering lay ahead for Paul. And he wisely said ONLY what God had inspired him to say, and he drew no conclusions from it as to whether Paul was to go or not go.
The disciples at Tyre had ”said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem.”
Quite a difference between their prophecies and the one given by Agabus.
They said, “Paul, don’t go!”
Agabus said simply, “This is what lies ahead of you.”
The disciples at Tyre were right in what they perceived, but wrong in what they concluded from it. They assumed that the Holy Spirit had given them this word for Paul so that they could warn him away from danger. But the Holy Spirit wasn’t warning Paul away from danger. He simply sent Agabus to confirm to Paul, what Paul already knew in his own spirit: bonds and afflictions are ahead for me.
The disciples at Tyre crossed a line that Agabus did not cross, and that must not be crossed in genuine prophetic ministry: Agabus told Paul what the Holy Ghost said, but he did not tell Paul what to do about it. He left it up to Paul to seek the Lord’s direction in prayer on his own.
Additional prayer was not necessary though for Paul already knew in his heart what lay ahead, and he had already made up his mind what he was going to do about it. Read Paul’s response to those who urged him to turn aside and avoid the suffering that lay ahead:
“Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”–Acts 21:13.
Had Paul heeded the prophecies given to him by believers at Tyre, and the urgings of the believers at Caesarea, he would have gotten completely out of God’s will.
He might never have been arrested, and eventually brought before kings to testify of Jesus Christ. And with Paul cowering away from suffering, many other Christians in that day when faced with suffering might also have compromised their testimony. But because Paul knew suffering was coming, and he met it head-on in the courage and strength of God, other believers were inspired to likewise meet their fates with the same courage. And thus the Christian faith spread throughout the known world in only a generation or two.
Nero, the other Caesars, and other persecutors found they could not beat Christianity out of the Christians, neither could he burn it out of them. And that same group of Christians look over the banister of Heaven at us today, cheering us on in the challenges we face.
Glory to God.
Much, much, much can be learned from the way Agabus handled this ‘word’ and the way believers in Tyre handled it.
Allow me to give you an example from my own ministry.
About 15 years ago, God gave me an experience.
I was sitting at my kitchen table, getting ready to read the morning newspaper when the Holy Ghost showed me something.
In a vision, I saw a woman from the Church I was attending. Let’s say her name was Lucy. Lucy stood before me, and the Holy Ghost said, “Tell her, I am the Healer of the breach, and the Restorer of paths to dwell in.” That was drawn from the Scripture:
“…and you shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.”–Isa. 58:12
I started to put this off. I did not know this woman well at all. I had attended at this church for only a few weeks. I had seen her at church services several times, and had shaken her hand, but had had no conversations with her of any depth at all.
She was always well dressed, and seemed like she had it all together. I wondered what this “healer of the breach and restorer of paths to dwell in,” could possibly mean to a woman who seemed to have everything.
But I knew the Holy Spirit had shown me this for a reason, and I needed to be faithful to share it with her. So I found her name in the phone book, and called her.
I told her, “Lucy, I’m don’t know if you remember me or not, but I attend church with you.”
She said, “Yes, I know you.”
I said, “Ok. I don’t know if this means anything to you or not, but I just had a vision about you. I saw you standing before me in this vision, and the Holy Spirit said, ‘Tell her, I am the Healer of the Breach and the Restorer of paths to dwell in.’ So, I wanted to pass that along to you, and ask you, does this mean anything to you?”
She began crying over the phone. Then she said, “Yes. That is very meaningful to me.”
She continued, “You see Mel, you don’t know this, but I am going through a divorce right now. My husband has cheated on me so many times, and I have forgiven him time and time again. But I have finally reached the point where I won’t put up with this anymore.”
“And this is costing me dearly, particularly financially. My husband makes far more money than I do. And I know by divorcing him, my income is going to drop dramatically. I am going to have to sell my house, because I can’t afford the payments on my salary alone. Not only am I losing my marriage, but my standard of living is going to drop dramatically.”
“Before you called, I took a walk around the block. And on the outside, I was silent, but on the inside, I was screaming out to God. I said, ‘God, I know I can get through this if I can know that the things I am losing today will be restored to me some day.’ So for God to tell me, ‘I am the Healer of the breach and the Restorer of paths to dwell in,’ that lets me know that God knows what I am going through, and that one day He will restore all that I have lost.”
Now, here is where the temptation came in. Here is where the disciples at Tyre crossed a line that Agabus refused to cross, and that I refuse to cross.
Lucy said, “I have the divorce papers laying on the table before me. All I have to do is sign them, and they become final. Do you think I should sign them? Or do you think that God is going to restore my husband and marriage to me?”
I replied, “Lucy, I won’t go there. I won’t make a decision for you. You need to get alone with God, and pray until you get your direction from Him as to what you are to do. All I know is, that whatever happens, God is going to heal and restore your life.”
She said, “Thank you.” And the conversation ended.
I can not remember the specific details now, but I know I left that church very shortly after that, and I didn’t get a chance to see or talk to Lucy again. I didn’t know what her decision was.
About a year later, I was in one of the government buildings downtown. As I walked across the lobby, the elevators opened, and Lucy stepped out.
And she was glowing!
I went up to her, and I said, “What has happened to you?”
She said, “After our conversation, I went ahead and signed the divorce papers. And some time after that, I met a Christian man. A real Christian man. The kind of man I wished my husband had been. We have dated for quite awhile. And he loves me, and he loves my daughter. And I was just upstairs getting a marriage license. We are going to be married soon.”
And I said, “Well Lucy, He is the Healer of the breach and the Restorer of paths to dwell in isn’t He?”
She said, “He sure is.”
She and this brother married, and the last I heard of them they were very happy. To God be the Glory.
Prophetic ministry, when it is genuine, and when the opinions of men are not mixed in with it, can minister great strength and encouragement to those going through difficult times. But when it is polluted by the ideas of men, it can become absolutely toxic. It can do far more harm than good.
Before we leave the story of Agabus, I want us to notice learn two more lessons from him.
One lesson is this:
Just because you have a few prophecies, does not make you a prophet in God’s eyes.
There has come forth an erroneous teaching in recent years in Charismatic circles, which claims that there is no longer an office of the prophet, just believers all prophesying equally.
Nonsense.
We see that the Bible make clear distincitions in this incident:
In Tyre, “disciples… said through the Spirit…”
In Caesarea, Phillip had four daughters, “…which did prophesy.”
Then, “…there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus.“
The Bible does not identify the disciples at Tyre as prophets. Nor does it state that Phillip’s daughters were prophets. These prophesied, but they were not full-fledged prophets. Agabus, however, was specifically identified and called “a prophet.”
Every born-again, Spirit-filled believer can potentially be used in the gift of prophecy. But that does not mean that they stand in the office of a prophet. Every believer can similarly be used to lead others to Christ, but that does not indicate that they stand in the office of the Evangelist.
When Christ arose from the dead and ascended to the Father, He set in place specific ministry offices:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers…” Eph. 4:11.
One of the most devestating occurrances to ever occur in modern Christianity took place in the 1990’s in Charismatic Churches. There was a gross over-emphasis on personal prophecy in those years. The Holy Spirit would use a believer in prophecy, once or twice, and those around them would foolishly tell them, “See? You’re a prophet! You need to go out and prophesy to the world.”
So that poor believer would hang out his shingle, “John Smith, Prophet at Large,” and would prophesy over anything and everyone in sight. Such believers then began writing books, “How to Be a Prophet,” “How to Prophesy,” basically trying to teach, “How to be a prophet in five easy lessons!” They held “prophetic conventions, ” and “prophetic conferences.” They started “Prophetic churches,” and “Prophetic Networks.” And almost all of it was simply the blind leading the blind. And what did our Lord say would happen if the blind lead the blind? “They shall both fall into the ditch.” And that “New Prophetic Move,” did indeed fall into the ditch. Churches were wrecked, lives were shattered, and erroneous teachings went forth which we are still struggling to dig ourselves out of!
The disciples at Tyre prophesied. It was not false prophecy per se. It was genuine leadings of the Lord run amok. It was everybody and his brother prophesying at the drop of a hat. And it was wrong. And all of Christianity in that day would have been devestated had Paul listened to any of it.
Did you notice that neither Paul nor his seasoned ministry companions had any reactions to these prophecies?
But when Agabus ministered to them, through the full prophetic office, there was such an unction in his words, that immediately ALL of the assembled Christians, including seasoned ministers, reacted strongly.
Prophecy, when it operates through everyday believers, can be a real blessing. But when it comes through an actual Prophet–it carries a much greater intensity of anointing and authority.
I’ve seen the difference as I have observed, for instance, Kenneth Hagin or Kenneth Copeland prophesy. There is something much stronger in their prophecies, than in the prophecies that you hear from most believers.
I’ve experienced the difference myself.
In my home church where I ministered some years ago, the pastor and several others were occasionally used in prophecy or in tongues. What they flowed in was real. But when, not just prophecy, but the full office of the prophet would come upon me, the difference was quite substantial.
I was scheduled to minister on a Sunday night. As I drove to the Church, the prophet’s office began to manifest in me. I knew exactly what the Lord wanted to say to the people that night. The Lord revealed to me that there were several people in the congregation that were deeply worried about matters in their lives, and worried specifically about the future. And He wanted to speak to them about the future, and assure their hearts that He would see them throuogh whatever came.
As the praise and worship began, I was seated next to my pastor since I was the guest speaker that night. Although I was scheduled to teach that night, I knew that the way they structured their services would quench the anointing in me if I wasn’t careful. After praise and worship, they always had a bunch of announcements, received the offering, and then introduced the guest speaker.
I knew if they went through all that, the prophet’s anointing on me would lift before I ever got the chance to speak. So as the music played, I leaned over to the pastor and said, “I have a word from the Lord. Would it be alright for me to give it at the end of praise and worship?” And for just a moment, I saw a look of doubt move across his face.
Why?
Because he too was used from time to time in utterances. But he was called to be a pastor and a teacher. He did not have a specific calling in the area of the prophet like I do. So I knew he doubted for a moment, because he didn’t sense any unction within himself to prophesy at that time. And it was therefore only natural for him to wonder for a minute whether I really had a ”word” or not. But we knew each other well, and I had ministered in the Spirit there several times. So he gave me the benefit of the doubt and said, “Yes, go ahead and give it at the end of praise and worship.”
As I have written in this post and in others, God uses me in an unusual combination of speaking in tongues, interpreting the message, and acting out the gist of the message.
Is this Scriptural?
Certainly.
We have already seen the account of Agabus acting out a prophecy by taking Paul’s girdle, binding his own hands and feet, and so on.
In Hosea 12:10 (Amp). the Lord says:
“I have also spoken to you by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions [for you], and [have appealed to you] through parables acted out by the prophets.”
I had never seen a prophet act out a prophecy or a parable, until I saw Sister Goodwin minister. After learning from her for several years, she laid her hands on me and the same anointing began to flow through me.
I did not, and I do not, choose to act these out in some kind of fleshly way in order to make it more dramatic, or to crave the attention of men. To do so would grieve the Spirit of God, and He would cease using me at all in utterances. No, from the moment that anointing came into me, the tongues, interpretations, and gestures have all been wrapped up together. It came as a “package deal,” I guess you might say.
So when praise and worship ended, I stepped forward and turned on my portable tie microphone.
And I waited.
You see, I can not prophesy at will.
Neither can anyone else.
I knew what the Lord wanted to say, but I had to wait for the unction to speak it out. In a few seconds, that unction came.
This word flowed through me in a church service in my home church towards the end of 1999. Through tongues and interpretation, I began to speak and act out this parable. The word was along these lines:
“Just as with a tall man…
And a short man…
Walking down the road together.
And the short man looks down the road,
and he is afraid…
Because there is a bend in the road…
and he can not see around the bend in the road.
And the short man says, ‘I am afriad…
For I can not see around the bend in the road.’
And the Tall man says,
‘Behold, I am Tall.
And I can see around the bend in the road.’
Thus saith the Lord,
I am that Tall Man to you.
You can not see around the bend in the road of life…
But I can.
I can see things that you can not see.
And I can tell you this,
There is nothing around the bend of the road…
That is bigger than Me.
For you know not your future,
But I do.
And some would worry,
What shall I do?
What shall I face in the future?
What shall become of me?
What about my job?
What about my family?
What about my health?
What about the year 2000?
Know this, Saith God, that I am with you…
so there is no need for fear.
All that the future holds…
The victories and the challenges…
We will walk through them together.
For did I not say unto thee…
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee?
You do not walk this road alone.
So roll the cares of the future over onto Me.
You are not sufficient for them, but I am.
Lift not the burdens that are not yours to carry anyway.
Release the future unto Me.
Fear no evil, for I am with you.
And go forward in confidence…
For the God that is Greater than you…
is your constant Companion.”
I acted out the message with these and other gestures:
When I said “tall man,” I held my hand out over my head, indicating a tall man.
When I said “short man,” I held out my hand indicating a short man.
“Walking down the road together…”–I walked in place. And so on.
There was such an unction, such a powerful anointing in that word. It spoke directly to the hearts of the people. It broke the Spirit of Fear off of them, and released them from worry.
If you remember that time, there was a great deal of concern, especially in Christian circles, over the possibility of all the computers in the world crashing on January 1, 2000. I knew in the natural, of course, that just about everybody was somewhat concerned about this possibility. And there was an overall bondage on the congregation because of that concern. But more than that, I knew by the revelation of the Spirit that there were five people, or five families, that were very worried over matters in their personal life. This word was directed more to them than anyone else. But this word, never-the-less, broke the Y2K worry and fear off of all of us. None of us were huddled down in a hole in the ground with food and guns when the clock struck midnight. We had been prepared. God had reminded us that He was with us. He is obviously bigger than Y2K, or anything else. So what is there to fear?
And being delivered from fear in that instant, then the Presence of God just filled the sanctuary.
When I finished the message in tongues I returned to my seat beside the pastor.
We waited a minute or two in silence. Then he turned to me and asked, “Would you mind if I change the order of the service? We can schedule another time for you to minister.”
I said, “Go ahead and go with what you have in your heart.”
He sent the Associate Pastor forward to give the announcements, but he never got to give them. He said something so beautiful. He said to the people, “You know, one of the names of God literally means, ‘the Lord is there,’ and He is, isn’t He? Wherever we go, there He is.”
With that added comment, the Presence of God got so strong in there, that the announcements were forgotten.
Everything was forgotten.
When He gets so strong in a room, all you can do is just worship Him. So we continued worshipping God for another thirty minutes or so. Then the Pastor went to the pulpit, taught the people a little bit about the move of God we had just experienced, and then turned to me and asked me if I had any more from the Lord.
I gave another couple of quick messages in tongues and interpreted them. Then we closed the service. I don’t remember if we even received the offering or not. When God gets that strong in your midst, you don’t care about anything but Him.
I got to preach my sermon the next Sunday night, and it bombed.
I bombed. ( lol ) 
But I didn’t care!
Now the reason I told you that long story is to get across to you an example of the difference between a believer prophesying and a prophet prophesying. The pastor that night sensed no anointing to prophesy. And indeed, there wasn’t any anointing to prophesy from the congregational level, or from the pastor’s office. But my, oh, my! There was a strong anointing to prophesy from the office of the prophet. I yielded to it. It proved real, bore good fruit, and we were all set free by the power of God that night.
Do not misunderstand me and think that I am discouraging prophecy from the congregational level, or in other words, disciples or believers prophesying. I’m not discouraging it at all. I simply want you to understand that it operates at a much lesser intensity of anointing from the congregational level. And without proper training and oversight, members of the congregation can experience what the disciples did at Tyre. They can indeed pick up something in their spirits from the Spirit of God, and can very easily draw absolutely the wrong conclusions from what they perceive, and be almost completely wrong in what they prophesy.
Kenneth Hagin estimated that the strength of anointing he experienced in prophesying from the office of the prophet was probably about 100 times stronger than what most believers are used in.
I agree.
The last lesson I want us to learn from Agabus is that his prophecy did not tell Paul anything new. It did not tell Paul something of which he was completely unaware. It merely confirmed what Paul was already understanding in his own heart from the Spirit of God.
Why did God send Agabus from Judea to Caesarea to merely “confirm” what Paul already knew?
There wasn’t anything “mere” about it.
Paul was about to enter into the persecution and abuse that would in time lead to his martyrdom. This word brought him comfort in the loneliness of his imprisonment, in the discomfort, in the ridicule, and in being later abandoned by all but one or two of his staff ministers. It reinforced to Paul the fact that he was in the center of God’s perfect will, and assured him therefore, that God would be with him in all the struggles, and that God would see him through the suffering into Glory.
In other words, God would accompany Paul “around the bend in the road,” in the same way that 2,000 years later He assured us that He would do with us.
Such prophetic confirmations can serve to keep you steady through difficult times, and help you to stand strong against temptations.
I have never had a genuine prophecy given to me by a genuine prophet that was absolutely new to me.
Never.
Sister Goodwin prophesied to me, but the overall message she gave, I had already known in my own heart for many years. It simply served to confirm to me what I knew the Lord wanted. Now there were a couple of elements, or a detail or two in the prophecy that were new, but it wasn’t a prophecy that just took me by complete suprise.
Brother Hagin used to say, “If I give you a word, and it doesn’t confirm what you already sense in your spirit–FORGET IT! I can miss it. I have missed it.”
I agree.
I’ve given anywhere from hundreds to a thousand or more messages in tongues and interpretation, or through prophecy. I can not think of a single one that took the hearer completely by surprise. A minor detail or two may have surprised, but the vast majority of the ‘word’ served to confirm what the believer pretty well already knew.
Although there were numerous prophecies spoken in the Old Testament which took the hearers by surprise, I can find no New Testament example of one.
We Learn From Agabus:
More principles will be added to this blog as I have the time and the leading of God to do so.
Copyright 2006 Mel C. Montgomery All rights reserved. Material may be copied and shared with others if done so in entirety, free of charge, and if attribution is given.
Posted in Articles, Charismatic, Church History, Holy Spirit, Principles of Genuine Prophetic Ministry, Prophets, Speaking in Tongues, Theology, Word of Faith | 2 Comments »
