I have discovered a conference called, “Strange Fire.” John MacArthur has his friends bash the Charismatic Movement and all of the gifts of the Holy Sprit. They claim that God speaks through His Bible, and that is it. He does not speak to us through other means. He does not perform miracles like the ones found in the Bible. God does not act like He did in the Bible. Those times are over.
Here is my problem… It is true that God speaks through His Bible. But is it true that God does not speak to us in any other way? It is mentioned that the point is that God’s Bible is the ultimate word. We cannot add to it. There is nothing more that can be prophesied.
Is this true? Do the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 not happen anymore? Are there no longer healings and miracles and gifts of tongues and prophets and apostles and prophesies and other forms of the Charismatic Movements of the Spirit?
Here is the thing: there is no doubt that there are dubious signs. There is no doubt that many of these gifts of the Spirit are abused. There is no doubt that many times it is right to call into question the validity of such ministries that we see on TBN. But does that mean we should throw the baby out with the bathwater?
I want to give a biblical primer to the idea of the gifts of the Spirit. Lets try to set the stage for where they would come in and in what context, and maybe then we can further discuss their usage and whether they are still around.
God told Moses to come up the mount and be there. Jesus told us to be witnesses. The being precedes the doing. This is why we are still in need of apostles and prophets, of which I believe I am one of them. It is given to God’s apostles and prophets an understanding to teach and to edify and to reveal the secret things of God that have been hidden until such a one can be called to receive such as these mysteries. God gave His apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers to edify the saints. This verse in Ephesians also precedes the doing of the work of the Spirit.
If we have no need for these foundational men (apostles and prophets), and if they are indeed something of the past that have passed away with the first century, then why are there so few who teach these hidden things that Paul proclaims so mightily? Why is there so little teaching about us being grafted into Israel that we might drive the Jew to jealousy? Why is there so little teaching that this grafting in is into their root? Why is there so little teaching about Israel and the Church being one – without Israel the Church cannot fulfill her role and without the Church Israel cannot fulfill hers? Why is there so little teaching about “And all Israel shall be saved,” Romans 11:26?
We have missed these hidden things, and it is only the mystery of the Church and Israel. There is the mystery of Christ. There is the mystery of the gifts and callings of God. Each thing needs to apprehend us before we can say that we truly understand it. There is an eschatological understanding of the faith that is hidden from modern understanding. We subscribe to the doctrine that Jesus will come back, but we can’t even tell whether we’ll be here or in heaven when He comes back. Does the Bible not give clarity of these things? If it is clear about things like rapture and assurance of salvation, then why are there so many people who don’t know where to stand on such issues?
We have missed very much the teaching of the apostles and prophets. In the lack of such teachings and words from these men, we have also missed the aspect of being in the faith. It is the third chapter of Ephesians that Paul concludes with, “To Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
To the degree that we have dismissed this verse as simple rhetoric or dramatic language, we have missed the calling of God. Our calling and ultimate purpose as the Church is the glory of God. The glory of God is only fully present when He has established His Kingdom here on earth forever. Our calling is not to something here and now, but instead to something eternal. Our calling is to live in a way and have a mode of being that transcends time and space. We ought to live as though we truly are seated with Christ in heavenly places. If we are seated there, then certainly we can see into the future and know our calling well enough to not debate of stupid things like freewill and sovereignty. Our calling is to Israel and their salvation only – they are to be the priestly nation to the nations. Our evangelism and “winning the world” for Christ is in vein if it does not take into account the glory of God forever, which takes into account the promises of God to Israel – which are irrevocable (Romans 9).
What are the criteria that we judge successful church? It is not a lie to say that when we get into the parking lot that one of the first things we ask whoever is seated next to us, “What did you think? Was the meeting good? Did you like the sermon? What did you think of the worship?” We base successful church on size and popularity of ministries. As long as the preaching isn’t wimpy and the speaker isn’t a heretic, we think that these circumstances to be success. We have lost the apostolic distinctive: the glory of God in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Our primary call as the Church is to physically display a relationship with God in a tangible and realistic way to Israel that will drive them to jealousy. What do I mean by this? In Daniel 11, we read that the antichrist will kill many believers by the sword and burning them alive. He will imprison many believers. And we also read that there will be some “helpers.” These helpers will cling to the “wise.” The wise are the saints who have the end time understanding to stand up and proclaim the truth. They blow the horn. These are the ones who declare to the world what is really happening and what God has to say about the world events.
These wise will be killed and imprisoned. Some will hear their testimonies and will follow them. They will turn many to Christ through their words. You can find this in Daniel 11:33-35. Those who help these wise are called hypocrites in one translation; it is said they cleave to the wise with flatteries in another. These helpers follow the saints. They hear the words and they believe them. Yet, there is something about their following and their helping that is fake. We read in verse 35 that the persecution of the wise brings about refinement, purging, and cleansing of the helpers. Who are the helpers?
I have to imagine that these helpers are the Jews. The antichrist stirs up anti-Semitism throughout the world in the earlier verses of Daniel. He sets himself up as god (the abomination of desolation) in their temple. We know that the Jews will be sifted through the nations and found to flee into the wilderness places (Revelation 12). I say Jews for the simple fact that we aren’t sure where the rest of the tribes are, but I am sure that God knows. It is possible (and highly probable) that even the lost tribes will endure end time suffering along with their Jewish kinsmen.
We are the wise. We are the ones who are supposed to have understanding. Many don’t see this perspective, though. We will be killed and imprisoned on behalf of Israel. We will stand up and identify with that People in their end time calamity in a priestly way that we are the altar and the sacrifice. We are the priest and the altar at the same time. We offer our own lives – “Loving not our own lives even unto death.” We acknowledge the sins of Israel as our own sins because we are one with Israel and we cannot claim to be of the same root (grafted in) without claiming those same faults.
God’s chosen people will see in us a character that only Jesus displayed. This is what is meant when Paul said that we are to drive the Jew to jealousy. This is our calling. This is our eternal purpose: to sacrifice our lives on behalf of Israel.
But it doesn’t stop there. We read in Ephesians 3 that the whole reason that God created the universe is that we might display the manifold wisdom of God to the principalities and powers of the air. In our sacrificial attitudes and compassion toward Israel we are displaying that very thing. This is where all the mysteries come together. We are one under the same Head. You cannot separate Israel and the Church. When you speak of one you speak of the other. They are the same because they are under the same Head. Though they are recognized as two different entities and given two different names, they go hand in hand. Man is physical and spiritual – you cannot separate them.
Our eternal purpose is to display this kind of reality and understanding. We can’t simply display it as individuals. Corporately we need to show forth the glory of God – which is the character of God. Words cannot express the depths of this. We can’t look into the dictionary or lexicon to find the words for glory and what they mean. It isn’t sufficient. These concepts need to apprehend us.
There will be no glory of God in the Church until we can wrestle with these foundational truths. We must humble ourselves to seeking first His Kingdom. Righteousness exults a nation, and a nation with an apostate Church will be cast down. Apostasy comes from a half Gospel. When our good news is about getting into heaven instead of being a part of the Kingdom and ruling and reigning forever with Christ, then we have missed it.
How severe can our misunderstanding be? After every great revival movement in the Western World there has been a great war to follow. After John Wesley came the war of 1812. After Finney came the Civil War. After the Welsh Revival came World War 1 and 2. What happened? If God was pouring out His Spirit and people were coming to Christ and morals were being practiced in the most immoral places, then why do we find such severe wars and racism after the most prominent revivals? Right down the line – the bigger the revival movement the more harsh the war that follows.
I fear that we have taught a half gospel. A half gospel is not the Gospel. The Gospel takes into account the beginning to the end. It looks at the whole picture. It grips the eternal perspective.
Our gospel starts in Genesis 3; the Gospel starts in Genesis 1. Jesus’ death on the cross was not to bring life and life abundantly. That is one of the effects, but it is not the main purpose. Jesus’ death and resurrection are cosmic events to bring about cosmic redemption. Through our righteousness and justification we can bring redemption to the world around us. What do you think the first chapter of Ephesians is about? We are sharers with God in the story of the redemption of all things.
My fear is that we look to revival because it is an easy way of avoiding God. We want a spiritual high that only comes once in a lifetime. We want to feel God’s presence and know that He is close to us. Our calling isn’t for revival. It isn’t to evangelize the world. Our calling isn’t to bring God’s presence down to earth. Our first and foremost calling is to display to the principalities and powers the manifest wisdom of God. The way we do that is by living in step with the cosmic redemption story and God’s plan of redemption for all nations. Israel is the key – without them we have no Kingdom.
Revival is looked to as a means to avoid this calling. I am growing more and more convinced that even the people with good intentions desire revival simply to have the spiritual shot in the arm. It makes it easier to endure the day. It is still a focus upon self. Revival is looked to in order to relieve me from burden because I can just soak and bask in the glory of God instead of being the glory of God.
This call to displaying the glory of God is an ultimate one. It brings everything into question. We are to bring down strongholds of the devil and release men from their bondage. If strongholds and bondage are simply looked upon as external things like, “Pharaoh took away our straw and told us to increase our quota,” then we have no idea what we’re doing. Bondage and strongholds go deeper than trying to relieve us from suffering. The bondage wasn’t Pharaoh’s oppression. The bondage was the system itself.
We suffer the same problem. We want to be relieved of our bondage to bills and debt and mean bosses and everything else that societal workplaces and lifestyles promote. Yet the bondage isn’t in the debt. The bondage is in the system of loans and banking. The bondage is in the system of business. We don’t try to free people from that Pharaoh. We don’t pray against that stronghold. We have to make a living, right?
We are living far beneath the glory of God. We cannot even identify where our oppression comes from.
This is why we cannot discern whether there really are gifts of tongues and prophecy and miracles. If we were to take the ultimate battles into hand, and were to wage war against the Kingdom of Darkness at its roots, and were to truly combat against the antichrist spirit that so permeates through our world, then we would have need of these gifts. When Satan and his unholy angels come after us with all Hell unleashed, we will need the gifts of the Spirit. The challenge is that we have not needed them in our midst. We only use them as a novelty.
Because we have only desired them and not needed them as an intimate part and aspect of our daily lives, I can claim that we have lived far beneath the glory of God. We will need to know what God is saying in this very moment and time. We need to hear God’s words here and now. We need to know what the Spirit is uttering. We can’t continue to live in a way that doesn’t truly need it, but altogether desires it.
The gifts are vital. God truly speaking to us in tangible ways and giving us clear cut revelation of His path and His way for our lives is necessary. Reece Howells is known as a great intercessor. He prayed with a group of people about Britain’s air force winning a battle, and it happened. Why? According to the biography on Reece Howells, God had actually spoken to them and told them to pray for it. God then also spoke to them to pray that Hitler would turn to Russia and start to war against them. Hitler’s army did.
To this day, no one can understand why Hitler’s army would do such a thing. It was obviously going to end him. Yet, in the biography of Reece Howells, it mentions that God Himself spoke to this group in Britain and they prayed accordingly. It actually affected the outcome of history. Does that not happen? Is that fake? Does God not truly speak to us in this way? He might not speak to you in this way, but He speaks to those whom are devout and truly listening. He does indeed speak to those who are looking to advance His Kingdom by His Spirit and in His power.
What it all comes down to is this: when we live according to the glory of God, and we take hold of His purposes, He will pour out His Spirit. He will give the appropriate measure of gifts according to the need. Your need might be a little razzmatazz for your Sunday service, but God’s need is that we combat the kingdom of darkness. If we take up thatcalling, then we will be equipped with all spiritual gifts and callings. We might even find prophets and apostles in our midst.
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