The Operation Of The Spirit

The minds of many brethren and sisters are being exercised on this subject at the present time. Does the Holy Spirit really operate in our lives in any way? There are so many references in the New Testament to the work of the Spirit. Just a few examples —

“Who (God) bath sealed us and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” II Cor. 1:22.

“Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?” Gal. 3:2.

“God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Gal. 4:6.

These references appear to embarrass some brethren. They feel awkward about them and so pass them by as having little or no relevance to the 20th Century. A good example of this is found in the INDEX RERUM where there are dozens of quotes for words such as SOUL and KNOWLEDGE which are set out in full, but the quotes for SPIRIT are references only, and lay heavy stress on the Old Testament and omit the above and similar references.

It is because of this avoidance that brethren are not well equipped to deal wisely with dangerous views on this subject such as are propounded by modern Pentecostalists. But the dangers lie just as much in extreme rejection as in extreme acceptance. In throwing out everything that Pentecostalism or similar “experience” based sects stand for, we may be blinding ourselves to our own shortcomings. Is there not a kind of “emptiness” in our religious devotions which is a direct cause of making some brethren and sisters seek in other pastures for things they sense are lacking in ours. When Paul said that, “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us” (Romans 3:5) we must ask — is that meaningful to us?

One of the functions of this magazine will be to encourage thought on these matters. We hope all readers will appreciate the motive behind this. It is clear from correspondence (e.g. FORUM Column last month) that brethren and sisters are anxious for more light on this. Those with positive views, draw attention to themselves and perhaps create an unhealthy “personality cult” in pressing their views, this is certainly true in Pentecostal circles. As a body we have largely neglected the power of communal prayer, and yet it was one of the four “pillars” on which the early ecclesias were founded. “And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42) It is plain that prayer on a communal basis was an important feature of the life of the first century believers. Acts has many references. (e.g. 12:12; 13:3; 14:23; 16:16; 20:36; 21:5). Our neglect of this has created a vacuum, and when individuals seek to fill this vacuum the ecclesia is often in a dilemma. The problem becomes acute if the individual has associated peculiarities” of belief, and brethren in opposing these may find they are cast in the role of opposing the whole concept of communal prayer.

The fact that many other faiths place great emphasis on this practice seems for some to be a good enough reason for us to avoid it! Such an attitude is ridiculous, and will only add to our problems. Pentecostalism in its various forms, and some of them are becoming quite moderate and therefore more appealing, is gaining ground at an enormous rate. It is being described as the “third force” in Christianity. just what does it stand for at the moment?

To generalise and be very brief—Pentecostalism places little or no emphasis on the importance of Scriptural knowledge and understanding. It embraces within its many factions a multitude of contradictory ideas. A particular example is the British Israel Theory, held by the ‘Christian Revival Crusaders’ but rejected by ‘The Assemblies of God.’ The thing which is all important is “experience” — i.e. the experience of the “second blessing” — baptism of the Holy Spirit evidenced by being able to speak in tongues.

This attitude was well illustrated by the brother who wrote in the November “Shield” (p.273) describing his experiences and sensations in “tongue speaking” as practised in the Pentecostal Community to which he formerly belonged. These deluded believers seek for “signs following” (Mark 16:17) and blame it on their lack of faith if at least some of these “signs” are not apparently manifest. The sign of “healing” is a particular case in point.

An overseas brother has told us of his contact with a sister in Canada where he was introduced to an interested friend who wanted help with the matter of speaking in tongues. It appeared that this woman had previously been involved with the Pentecostals, had received the “gift” of the second blessing and now wanted help in getting rid of it! Whenever she became emotional this “gift” broke out, even when she was shopping. She was embarrassed by it. Another illustration is of a girls’ class conducted by a lady of Pentecostal ideals, who literally trained the girls to speak in “tongues” by getting them to repeat continually certain words and phrases. Such illustrations could be multiplied, but the conclusion they all generally point to is that here is a form of self-hypnosis, a manipulating of the mind, so that those involved suffer some form of mental disturbance, but in a medical sense they normally appear in full possession of their senses.

Actually in a sense the “experience” can appear helpful, for it is a proven fact that hypnosis relaxes the mind and its tensions. If those involved link their practice with prayer meetings, as they often do, the effect appears (to them) very edifying at the time.

What are we to do about this? That we cannot in any way countenance modern tongue-speaking as it is generally practised is obvious. But if this “experience” occurs to one in our midst what action should we take? If we say we cannot tolerate it — what exactly do we mean? Do we reject the offender — cast him or her out as a leprous, unclean thing? Or do we treat the matter with sympathy and understanding? If anyone claims a modern Pentecostal type experience, it immediately creates doctrinal implications. The person has to explain how they relate this to Scriptural teaching, and it is here where our present Statement of Faith is adequate to deal with the situation. The Pentecostal believes that his experience of speaking in tongues is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and by reference to John 16:13 that this Spirit will guide him into all truth. This puts at a discount Bible Study; a full knowledge of the gospel is not necessary prior to baptism, rather to seek baptism of the Spirit as well as of water, and this will guide him into all truth. The Statement of Faith is equipped to deal with this e.g., “Doctrines to be rejected No. 31. That a knowledge of the truth is not necessary to make baptism valid”, and the foundation clause at the beginning of the Statement. If the Pentecostal view of other views contrary to fundamental truth as we have it now in the B.A.S.F. begin to be advocated, then there are obvious grounds to consider breaking fellowship; if not, then there is no just cause to completely “cast out” such a person.

There have been cases of our young people being attracted into Pentecostal spheres of influence. If such get the modern type “experience”, and know that brethren are disfellowshipped simply by claiming an “experience” they are likely to leave us completely and give us no opportunity to sympathetically encourage them to consider their “experience” in the light of scripture and the facts of psychology. We must obviously remove such a person from spheres of influence within the Ecclesia, although each case would have to be judged on its merits. This is the course of wisdom, a course to be commended, not scorned by those whose rank intolerance is leaving the spirit of Christ far behind; for such, the need to experience the blessings of power of prayer, to experience a closer spiritual fellowship with our Creator, are lost. They are substituted by an academic calculating attitude to fellowship which generates a hardness of spirit which erodes the spiritual heart of the ecclesias in which it is being manifest.

Let us all turn again to the sacred word, but this time with a feeling of urgent need in our hearts, to gain greater spiritual awareness of Christ, to discover Him with our hearts, to recognise more readily His influence in our lives, that we might “be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” (Eph. 3:16).