If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference. A.W. Tozer
Tozer is considered one of the leading statesmen of the faith. He was around when commitment and faith were standard fare in the church. However, he still had to countenance problems that we have today only we have them in more depth.
I would suggest that we should not worry about the Holy Spirit being withdrawn from the church as it seems that he was never invited in anyway. Sometime in the past, I do not know if anyone can pinpoint the exact time, the Holy Spirit was replaced by human knowledge and wisdom.
As long as the church could produce something, all was right with the world. The fact that it was totally devoid of any spiritual power did not seem to matter.
I constantly get told these days that just because we have a programme Sunday morning that is planned down to the last minute doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit is not in charge. They insist that the Holy Spirit is in the planning.
What seems to escape these people is that all their planning denies the scripture that when you come together every one has….a hymn, an exhortation, a revelation and so on and so forth.
How can a person say that the Holy Spirit is in the planning when no one is allowed to do anything unless it is part of the programme? My experience in that the Holy Spirit does not operate according to our dictates. He decides when he will do whatever he wants to do and he decides who he will do it through and nowhere in scripture does it say only those who are paid to be Christians are qualified to be the vehicle through which the Holy Spirit works.
The fact that anyone says that the Holy Spirit is operating through the programme shows how far away we have got from understanding what the Holy Spirit does and how he does it. In essence, we no longer recognise what is spiritual and what is natural.
The people of God are in many cases wanting a visitation of the Spirit but the nearest they are allowed to get to one is the warm fuzzy feeling that loud and soulish music gives when singing a few songs.
As far as the programme goes, I have been in meetings that have one of these programmes and the Holy Spirit has been able to break through. What happens then? He is kindly dismissed as we move onto the next part of the programme.
For those of us who are prepared to face reality, 99% of the time a programme keeps the Holy Spirit at bay, in case he does something that doesn’t fit in with our…programme. After all, we can’t allow that because we have to do things “decently and in order” and for that to happen you need a programme. If you allow things to happen spontaneously, then it is not “decently and in order”.
I asked a Pentecostal pastor once “if you are a Pentecostal church, why are you so devoid of the supernatural.” Answer. “I don’t know.” if they don’t know, how can anyone else come to a suitable conclusion.
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2 comments:
This was an interesting article. Thanks for writing it.
I have been thinking about the Pentecostal Christian group I was involved with as an Undergraduate student at University, and how from my involvement, I began to get some understanding of the supernatural dimensions of Christianity, That is, I had 'knowledge' that God existed, but at university, I learned that God's presence could be felt and experienced.
This, I remember, was something that I found at times overwhelming, especially in a room full of people speaking in tongues, and other visible signs of the Holy Spirit that was encouraged back then.
I can relate to your reference to 'warm fuzzy feeling' we can experience.
The church I attend now is not what could be classed as 'Pentecostal', but I have come to understand that I can feel God's presence in times of quiet solitude. These experiences have been just as real and personal as what I experienced back at University.
You raised some interesting views on how the supernatural is treated in the church today.
Scotty, it is great to hear that someone is experiencing God's presence without all the trimmings that are offered as neccesary for a believer to get in touch with God.
I have discovered if you want to meet God personally, don't go to a Sunday morning meeting. All you meet there is man made ideas or enthusiasm (most of the time).
When Jesus wanted to get in touch with his father he went up into the mountain...alone. Nuf said.
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