Skip to main content

No More Common Sense

This past Sunday I preached on John 16:5-15 concerning the work of the Holy Spirit.  In that passage, Christ tells his disciples that the Spirit will convict, lead them in truth, and focus on glorifying Christ.  These three things are not found in many ministries that claim to have the corner on the Holy Spirit.  I suggested that any ministry that lacks these things, could not rightly be called a ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Today I returned to my desk and came across a blog by a well-respected evangelical pastor.  I will not name him because, in general, I have high regard for the man and his ministry.  However, in the article, he argues that those of us who are not part of the Charismatic movement have no right to speak out against what we see happening within.  In particular, he contended that there was no reason to believe that the gift of prophecy had ceased.  He made no claim to have this gift himself, but he gave credence to those who claim that they do.

Has all common sense been abandoned by the church of Jesus Christ?  Can we really believe that prophecies inspired by the Holy Spirit of God would have a lower percentage of accuracy than the participants at the local psychic fair?  He is the Spirit of TRUTH.  How can the Spirit whose very essence is truth inspire prophecies that are lies?  It seems to me that is the work of a very different spirit. 

Further, how can the Spirit who inspired every word of the Bible give revelations that contradict the Bible?  If He is the Spirit of Truth, any new truth must line up with the truth He has already revealed.

Can we not say that the Holy Spirit is not changing ordinary fillings to gold?  Can we not say that any Spirit that tells someone to drop-kick a sick person in the stomach to cure his cancer, is not God's Spirit?  Can we not say that the Spirit never tells any huckster that they need a 65 million dollar jet?  Can we not tell our people the Words of John to "not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world (1Jo 4:1 ESV)" without being told that we are judgmental?

It would seem to be common sense to me, but I guess that's in pretty short supply today.
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Families' Fridays

From Focus on the Family 10 helpful tips for single parents Imagine this: you’re the sole parent for your children. You get them up, get them fed and send them to school. You do the housework, maybe you go to work yourself, you get home and you’re still the only adult there. There’s no one to relieve you. No one to pass the baton to while you take a shower or take a few minutes for yourself. You make dinner and gather the family around the table to eat. You play with them, read to them, give them baths, get them to bed and there’s no one there to sit with and process your day. There’s no one there to laugh with you or pray with you. Instead you keep working. You clean up the house again. You pack lunches for the next day. And you eventually crash into bed, knowing you’ll be doing the same thing tomorrow. For many, this is not an imagined scenario. When you parent alone – whether due to divorce, the loss of your spouse or having a spouse who works away from home for long periods of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Death For a Believer

We picture death as coming to destroy; let us rather picture Christ as coming to save. We think of death as ending; let us rather think of life as beginning, and that more abundantly. We think of losing; let us think of gaining. We think of parting; let us think of meeting. We think of going away; let us think of arriving. And as the voice of death whispers,  "You must go from earth," Let us hear the voice of Christ saying, "You are but coming to me."   Norman Macleod
Post a Comment
Read more

Let Me Introduce

It is almost a joke to imagine I am introducing John MacArthur Jr. to you.  In our circles of evangelicalism his is a well known name.  He has spoken at the national convention of our Fellowship of Evangelical Baptists on at least three different occasions.  However, the last of these was almost twenty years ago.  I believe that is because we have changed as a Fellowship and have strayed from the message that Dr. MacArthur preaches.  Dr. MacArthur has served his congregation since 1969.  That, in itself, should commend this man's message to us. As a pastor, I appreciate his commitment to the expository preaching of the Bible.  He has published an entire New Testament commentary set based upon his faithful preaching of the text.  I have never met this man personally, but I have appreciated him laying down a faithful path which younger men, like myself, have been able to follow. Grace to You  
Post a Comment
Read more