- Mar 28, 2005
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"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile" (Romans 1:16).
After careful thinking and prayer about the power of God, I have come to the firm conviction that the power of God comes only through the preaching of the gospel, and the purpose for the power of God manifested is to bring salvation to the unsaved. This is the power that manifested through the Apostles that turned multitudes of pagans to Christ, and actually Christianised the Roman Empire.
We have read about the power of God manifested in more modern times in the Great Awakening in New England, the Welsh Revival, and other revivals around the world that resulted in multitudes turning to Christ and receiving Him as Saviour. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that brings the conviction of sin to hardened hearts, breaks through the hardness and unbelief and causes unsaved folk to cry out to God for mercy. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that gives saving faith to those people to trust in Christ for their salvation.
In short, if the power of God is manifested, there is widespread conviction of sin, and people turning to Christ. Jesus, speaking about the coming of the Holy Spirit, says: "When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8). This is the whole mission and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not some indeterminate mist or electricity that hovers in the air. He indwells the spirit of true Christian believers. Therefore it is through these believers preaching and sharing the gospel of Christ that manifests the power of God as the Holy Spirit takes the words of the gospel and applies it to the hearts of those who are listening.
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14). This is why Jesus commissioned the Apostles and their successors to go into all the world and preaching the gospel, making disciples for Him. And "Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it" (Mark 16:20). This shows that the power of God accompanied the preaching of the gospel, and the signs and wonders that were performed were in connection with it.
Paul knew this when he went to Corinth to plant a church there. This is what he said:
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). So, when Paul preached Christ and Him crucified, the power of the Holy Spirit confirmed what he was saying was totally true: "My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power" (1 Corinthians 2:4).
So, if we are to see the power of the Holy Spirit manifested, we are to preach the gospel which consists in Christ crucified and risen again. When the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit will work with the preacher, because that is His principal mission - to get souls saved.
The manifestations that many are describing as the power of the Holy Spirit, such as shaking, trembling, compulsive weeping and laughing, falling down, jerking, etc., are not the power of the Holy Spirit according to Paul's description of it, and neither are they included in Mark's description of the disciples going everywhere preaching the gospel and the Lord working with them with accompanying signs and wonders. Nor is it Luke's description at the beginning of Acts when the disciples were gathered in prayer in response to the persecution they were experiencing where the room was shaken and they were filled with boldness to preach the gospel without fear. It was the room that was shaken and not the disciples themselves. What they received was the filling of the Holy Spirit which made them bold to preach the gospel.
I have come to the opinion that all the shaking, jerking, trembling, falling down, and other sensory manifestations are not the power of the Holy Spirit at all. They are not even the result of the power of the Holy Spirit. These have all to do with "me" and what is happening to "me". Most of it does not result in a greater degree of concern for the lost and boldness to go out and preach to them without fear. All these ones are satisfied with is the "feel good" sensory manifestations which they are deceived into believing that what is happening is the power of the Holy Spirit. There are no parallels to this in the New Testament at all.
Nor are there parallels in the accounts of the revivals. What we see in the Great Awakening under Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney, are people falling down and agonising under conviction of sin, and once they receive Christ, the manifestations cease. The same manifestations occurred in the Welsh Revival, but some manifestations started to occur among believers which gave rise to Jesse Penn-Lewis writing to show the difference between true Holy Spirit manifestation through conviction of sin, and fleshly/even demonic counterfeit manifestation (War On The Saints). Jonathan Edwards became concerned about spurious manifestations which he called "affections", and also wrote describing the differences between what was genuine and what was counterfeit. I believe that if Jonathan Edwards and Jesse Penn-Lewis were to observe most of the manifestations that we see in such meetings today, they would certainly identify them as counterfeit. Jonathan Edwards may have described them as of the flesh, but Jesse Penn-Lewis would have been more likely to label them as demonic!
Maria Woodworth-Etter, the "mother" of Pentecostalism, in the late 19th Century, had people falling down in her meetings, and up to a mile away from her tent. The difference with her ministry was that it was mainly unsaved people who fell down under the power of the Spirit and then got up saved!
So my conclusion is, that if the manifestation results in a believer having a great burden and conviction for getting the gospel out to the unsaved, and the boldness to do and do it, there it is more likely to be motivated by the Holy Spirit, but it is not a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit until they actually preach the gospel and see the unsaved coming under conviction of sin and receiving Christ. Also, we must be aware that conviction of sin can result in opposition and persecution, as what happened to Stephen when he preached the gospel to the unbelieving Jews.
It is interesting to me that in the large mega-meetings, where much manifestation occurs in the form of falling down, trembling, shaking, etc., the actual preaching of Christ crucified and risen again is absent, and what is preached is that Jesus is your friend, will make you wealthy, and will give your guaranteed healing - as long as you give your "seed" offering to the ministry.
After careful thinking and prayer about the power of God, I have come to the firm conviction that the power of God comes only through the preaching of the gospel, and the purpose for the power of God manifested is to bring salvation to the unsaved. This is the power that manifested through the Apostles that turned multitudes of pagans to Christ, and actually Christianised the Roman Empire.
We have read about the power of God manifested in more modern times in the Great Awakening in New England, the Welsh Revival, and other revivals around the world that resulted in multitudes turning to Christ and receiving Him as Saviour. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that brings the conviction of sin to hardened hearts, breaks through the hardness and unbelief and causes unsaved folk to cry out to God for mercy. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that gives saving faith to those people to trust in Christ for their salvation.
In short, if the power of God is manifested, there is widespread conviction of sin, and people turning to Christ. Jesus, speaking about the coming of the Holy Spirit, says: "When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment" (John 16:8). This is the whole mission and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not some indeterminate mist or electricity that hovers in the air. He indwells the spirit of true Christian believers. Therefore it is through these believers preaching and sharing the gospel of Christ that manifests the power of God as the Holy Spirit takes the words of the gospel and applies it to the hearts of those who are listening.
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14). This is why Jesus commissioned the Apostles and their successors to go into all the world and preaching the gospel, making disciples for Him. And "Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it" (Mark 16:20). This shows that the power of God accompanied the preaching of the gospel, and the signs and wonders that were performed were in connection with it.
Paul knew this when he went to Corinth to plant a church there. This is what he said:
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:1-2). So, when Paul preached Christ and Him crucified, the power of the Holy Spirit confirmed what he was saying was totally true: "My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power" (1 Corinthians 2:4).
So, if we are to see the power of the Holy Spirit manifested, we are to preach the gospel which consists in Christ crucified and risen again. When the gospel is preached, the Holy Spirit will work with the preacher, because that is His principal mission - to get souls saved.
The manifestations that many are describing as the power of the Holy Spirit, such as shaking, trembling, compulsive weeping and laughing, falling down, jerking, etc., are not the power of the Holy Spirit according to Paul's description of it, and neither are they included in Mark's description of the disciples going everywhere preaching the gospel and the Lord working with them with accompanying signs and wonders. Nor is it Luke's description at the beginning of Acts when the disciples were gathered in prayer in response to the persecution they were experiencing where the room was shaken and they were filled with boldness to preach the gospel without fear. It was the room that was shaken and not the disciples themselves. What they received was the filling of the Holy Spirit which made them bold to preach the gospel.
I have come to the opinion that all the shaking, jerking, trembling, falling down, and other sensory manifestations are not the power of the Holy Spirit at all. They are not even the result of the power of the Holy Spirit. These have all to do with "me" and what is happening to "me". Most of it does not result in a greater degree of concern for the lost and boldness to go out and preach to them without fear. All these ones are satisfied with is the "feel good" sensory manifestations which they are deceived into believing that what is happening is the power of the Holy Spirit. There are no parallels to this in the New Testament at all.
Nor are there parallels in the accounts of the revivals. What we see in the Great Awakening under Jonathan Edwards and Charles Finney, are people falling down and agonising under conviction of sin, and once they receive Christ, the manifestations cease. The same manifestations occurred in the Welsh Revival, but some manifestations started to occur among believers which gave rise to Jesse Penn-Lewis writing to show the difference between true Holy Spirit manifestation through conviction of sin, and fleshly/even demonic counterfeit manifestation (War On The Saints). Jonathan Edwards became concerned about spurious manifestations which he called "affections", and also wrote describing the differences between what was genuine and what was counterfeit. I believe that if Jonathan Edwards and Jesse Penn-Lewis were to observe most of the manifestations that we see in such meetings today, they would certainly identify them as counterfeit. Jonathan Edwards may have described them as of the flesh, but Jesse Penn-Lewis would have been more likely to label them as demonic!
Maria Woodworth-Etter, the "mother" of Pentecostalism, in the late 19th Century, had people falling down in her meetings, and up to a mile away from her tent. The difference with her ministry was that it was mainly unsaved people who fell down under the power of the Spirit and then got up saved!
So my conclusion is, that if the manifestation results in a believer having a great burden and conviction for getting the gospel out to the unsaved, and the boldness to do and do it, there it is more likely to be motivated by the Holy Spirit, but it is not a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit until they actually preach the gospel and see the unsaved coming under conviction of sin and receiving Christ. Also, we must be aware that conviction of sin can result in opposition and persecution, as what happened to Stephen when he preached the gospel to the unbelieving Jews.
It is interesting to me that in the large mega-meetings, where much manifestation occurs in the form of falling down, trembling, shaking, etc., the actual preaching of Christ crucified and risen again is absent, and what is preached is that Jesus is your friend, will make you wealthy, and will give your guaranteed healing - as long as you give your "seed" offering to the ministry.