The last few weeks I have reinvestigated the Gifts of the Spirit in these latter times and the Lord has brought to mind moments when I was involved in the Charismatic movement that were to my mind true acts of the Holy Spirit and our Lords grace. The most memorable was a particular Sunday night service when the Holy Spirit took control of the worship. The congregation became as one and the praise of God that was being sung sounded like chimes or handbells that echoed from one part of the crowd to another. It went around the room from the front to the back and to one side or another in no particular order. It was not anything that could have been repeated by the people present and none of us even understood how it was being done. It was joy unspeakable and the beauty of it was beyond description. Perhaps it was a taste of heaven when we will worship our Lord eternally. It did not come from any effort on our part, no beat of heavy music and repetition of words of praise, no babbling of tongues or falling down, no dancing, simply people with their arms raised worshipping their saviour and it is beyond my ability to describe. It was a truly unique experience one that I have not witnessed or participated in since.
Some years after I left the movement I was visiting another Baptist church, not my home church and when the pastor got up to preach it became obvious, to every true believer that the pastor was not speaking a sermon that was his. He was speaking as an oracle of God calling His people to repentance and renewed faith and warning them that the evil in the world would grow worse not better. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I wanted to prostrate myself on the floor the Spirit of God was so powerfully on that preacher. That was the first time that happened and sadly I never heard that pastor preach that way again. I have heard sermons since that came close the power in that sermon but never equaled it. Odd that the SBC rejects, by in large, the Gifts of the Spirit, as manifested in the early church but the pastors I heard that were most moved and controlled by the Holy Spirit have been Southern Baptist. The best bible teacher and preacher I know is Southern Baptist and he does not believe in the Gifts of the Spirit as they were manifested in the early church.
When I was given the Gift of Tongues, I was not in a church and no one layed hands on me. I was in bed reading my bible and before I turned out the light to go to sleep I prayed and asked God to give me that gift and I immediatly begin to speak in an unknown language. He never took it away and I still pray in what I call my “prayer language.” Many believe that the Gifts of the Spirit did not operate in the church after the time of the Apostles but actually the Gifts were operative, at least tongues to some degree throughout church history. In some cases they were false gifts that only mimiced the real thing but some were true gifts. In the London Baptist Confessional of 1689. It states that speaking in an unknown tongue is for private use and not to be done in a public service per Paul’s instructions. The Gifts of the Spirit fell into disrepute and stopped being sought because of the abuse of those that practiced them, in particular tongues. That and the semi-hypnotic and ecstatic state that led to such bizarre and uninhibited behaviour but never truly edified, enlightened, or sanctified its followers. They imposed stringent codes of behaviour that they nor their leaders could follow. The real source of so much of this was not the Holy Spirit. The true Gifts of the Spirit operate without the need of any special “anointing” or wild, bizarre acts. They are given by the Holy Spirit to whom He will and do not impose tongues as evidence of salvation. In fact no where in scripture are Gifts of the Spirit evidence of salvation. With the exception of Cornelius the centurion and that was to convince the Jewish believers that the gospel was also for the gentiles.
No where in the teaching of Christ does He point to Gifts of the Spirit as evidence of a transformed life. He always points to the fruit. Seed that returns 30, 40 or a hundred fold. Giving when we are asked to give and joyfully. Love of the brethren who are our spiritual family. The association of fruit as evidence of a sanctified life are through out His teaching, “A good tree produces good fruit.” No where in His teaching are we to seek after “signs” seeking for signs is evidence of a faithless people. No where in His teaching are we to seek wealth or as He called it, “unrighteous mammon.” “Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and HIS righteousness.” “His” not ours because we have none. Fruit grows one day at a time and does not appear overnight. The production of good fruit takes judicious pruning, rain and fertilizer. It has to be cultivated and cared for. Like Adam tending the garden of Eden we must tend the garden of a new spirit that is planted by the Holy Spirit.
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