My own situation has a parallel to your own, where admittedly my inability to be able to pray in the Spirit was not so much with years but hours. I was invited to an FGBMFI meeting where I was later prayed for by some very well meaning and enthusiastic individuals within a group setting, but maybe I was feeling a bit self-conscious as I left the meeting certainly impressed with what I observed but I was unable to speak in tongues. About four hours later I was sitting in my car waiting for someone to come out of a store and during those minutes while I was pondering over the mornings events before the Lord, I simply began to speak in tongues. From what I have observed over the years, it seems that we very inconsistent humans can at times get in the way of the Spirit where maybe we ‘try’ to hard or have unrealistic expectations.
The following chart does not relate to your own situation, but it may help to explain why some have differing experiences or understandings to our own, where the chart is not about
spirituality but about spiritual
cognisance, where our spiritual state and our spiritual cognisance do not always correlate with each other – again,
we humans can be very, very inconsistent where our inconsistency is something that we are actually consistent with!
Hi. Thanks for the info. I think I'm more in the middle than the right. I'm actually really careful with what I believe. I know there's many who mean well but have faulty understanding. Then there are some whose goal is to deceive. There are our spiritual enemies. And last but not least, there's my lying heart. I see myself as a disciple of Christ and have walked out the daily cross for 16+ years. I've been asking God what He's going to teach me next. Maybe it's to learn about cessationism. I don't know much about it except for what you gave me. Thanks again. Peace.
Hardcore cessationism
For those Believers and churchgoers who have been raised within a denominational system that essentially stands formally against the Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit, then it can be easy for anyone who resides within such a cultural environment to be blinded to the Word of God, for that matter, we can all be blinded to various degrees no matter who we are.
For these people everything seems to be against them and unless they have a spiritual ear to hear and an eye to see then they will unknowingly continue down this pathway.
There are others who have been rejected by a Full Gospel congregation, where some may have refused to repent from certain serious sin to the point where they not only reject any admonition that has been sent their way by some Elders but they have also turned their back on the Word and even the Lord for a safer and less threatening environment. There are also those who have been unjustly treated by a Full Gospel congregation and due to their immaturity, instead of moving to another congregation (providing there is one nearby), they may have been unable to shake off the dust from the feet where they should have found another congregation.
Open-but-Cautious
Since the 1980’s this very hard to define category probably covers many millions within the contemporary Church, where they are neither cessationist nor
experientially Continuist. With the first sub-category of the
“Uneasy Cessationist”, this type of cessationist is one who may reside within a denomination or congregation that formally rejects the position that the Holy Spirit’s ministry to both the Church and through the individual Believer is the same today as it was in the Church of the first few centuries. As they reside within what we would deem to be a hostile environment, where their family and many long-time friends may belong or where they may even receive a stipend from such a church, then it can be traumatic for some to embrace the Full Gospel as they can feel that the sacrifice may be too great. Even though I can understand the trauma that they can go through, I don’t really think that it will be a great excuse to use before the Lord. This means that they are not so much vocally against the Full Gospel but due to their fears they have chosen to remain quiet.
When it comes to those who are
“Theologically Continuist” but where most Pentecostals would deem them as being “
experientially cessationist”, this category in itself has various levels, where many theologians who fall into this category can sound if they are more Pentecostal than are some Pentecostals. In fact I find theologians such as Alan F. Johnson who fits into this category to be a superb example of someone who is obviously theologically Continuist but as with many others within this category they are happy to accept and embrace the Word of God as it stand, but for whatever reasons they have chosen to keep to their denominations way of doing things – they really are a fascinating group to observe.
On the chart you will notice that this category moves into the Full Gospel category, as there are Pentecostals or at least individuals who attend a Pentecostal congregation who themselves may not be experientially Full Gospel.
In fact, I would recommend the
supposed “cessationist” Alan Johnson’s book
1 Corinthians (2004) to anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of chapters 12, 13 & 14.
Full Gospel categories -
Pentecostal:
Anyone who connects the Salvific (our initial conversion-initiation) where we are ALL baptised in the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. This does
NOT imply that one has to speak in tongues to be saved but merely that the normative Biblical experience for someone who gives repents and gives their heart to the Lord is that they should be taught and encouraged to either immediately or quickly seek to be able to pray in the Spirit (tongues).
Classic-Pentecostal:
This is the classic view of the early Pentecostal church (such as the AoG) where they believe that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is subsequent to our initial conversion-initiation experience.
Charismatic:
The early Evangelical charismatic movement of the 1960’s and 70’s tended to hold to the classic-Pentecostal understanding of the BHS, whereas the Reformed and Roman Catholic charismatics saw their sacraments etc as being the benchmark for receiving the Spirit.
Neo-Charismatic:
This is a complicated category as the neo-charismatic evolved from the earlier charismatic movement where it can often by more “open-but-cautious”, where it attempts to produce a blend of traditional Evangelicalism with the things of the Spirit.