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4.11 Problems
a) to make the Word of God powerless
Of course there are problems and obstacles, if we want to follow Jesus on the way to perfection. Satan won’t allow us to follow this way without resistance (..). If he hated Jesus and has tried to seduce him, he will certainly also try this with us!
Exactly there where the fullness of Jesus Christ is to be experienced, satan will try everything to prevent the pure impact of it.
A great problem in our time is the attitude towards the word of God, in modernism as well as in religion, as in all kinds of habits and dogma’s of people. Through this the power of the Word of God is being robbed from many people.
The person who pushes the Word of God aside shouldn’t think that he can claim eternal life.
He will end up in a state of being eternally separated from God, in the climate of darkness, that he (also) cherished in his life on earth.
But the person, who hears God’s Word and acts upon it, will be and become ‘glorious’ (perfectly happy). The believers in Berea examined the Scriptures, to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). And as they received the confirmation in that way, they gladly accepted the Word. And so it is also advisable, for us to check according to the Bible if ideas and studies (also for example this study!), that come on our way, are correct indeed. We shouldn’t accept anything inthinkingly, especially when it concerns issues of eternal value!
Paul says to Timothy about people, who bring a powerless gospel with an appearance of religion (for example by rejecting the gifts of the Holy Spirit): “Have nothing to do with them” (2 Timothy 3:5 and 7) or as T.E.V. says: “Keep away from such people.”
Which side are you on?
b) the gift of speaking in spiritual languages ‘doesn’t break through’
What is the cause of this?
This is a question that is being asked a lot (unfortunately). There are believers, who consciously have received the Spirit but they haven’t experienced the impact of it in every aspect.
We can summarize this problem in three principal points:
1) ignorance ' lack of knowledge'
There can be too little security amongst believers (what do they ‘believe’?) about what God has said; they have lack of clear insight of what God has promised to the believer personally.
Do you know his will for your life?
When you are in doubt, this will strongly undermine your ability to accept God’s promises for yourself! Specifically when it concerns the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Accepting the forgiveness of guilt is usually not a problem ….
What to do, is clear:
Discover in God’s Word, what He has to say to you personally. Forget all sounds and remarks (despite of good intentions) around you for a while (…) and focus exclusively on this subject. There are also many good books written about this subject.
Simply believe that this is also for you, that God absolutely doesn’t make any exceptions, even when people say He does. “That was only meant for that time, not all people have that gift, it is only for people of a certain unstable kind, you receive the Holy Spirit automatically when you repent”-
Choose consciously for what God has to say to you about this subject in the Bible!
2) ignorance concerning ‘how’
How is it working now? Many don’t experience the impact of spiritual languages, because they have made a wrong imagination of it.
Previously an attempt was made to prove that it is not about a miracle in speaking, it is all about a word-
After the baptism in the Holy Spirit (for example by the laying on of hands or after prayer) you don’t have to wait on the moment that you are ‘forced’ or ‘obsessed’.
You (just) open your mouth and start speaking. You try to express sounds – of course with an attitude of respect and worship to God. Then the Holy Spirit will form new words that are unknown to you.
As long as you keep your mouth closed and hold your breath, you understand that no word or sound can come out of you, not even through the working of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit won’t force you, He only asks for your conscious belief commitment!
An example of the experience of the Church will be helpful to you.
Someone has asked for the baptism in the Holy Spirit and this, according to our faith also happened. There is however no impact of the gift of spiritual languages. Still this is part of it as we have seen.
After a time of prayer and searching for a possible blocking (there could still be sins or spiritual bondage) we decide with a number of brothers and sisters to surrender to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit before the face of the Lord.
We ask the Lord for a clearly inspiring commitment from his side according to his promise.
We then advise our brother to open his mouth, together with us, and to use this act to speak strange (for his feeling ‘crazy’) sounds. Don’t start speaking your own language. We pray out loud in spiritual languages.
A stream of words will find its way out, often first hesitating, under the control of the Holy Spirit, in a relaxing way of commitment to the Lord. As God has meant it to be!
3) bondages with the kingdom of darkness
It is proven repeatedly how ‘refined’ satan is, how he can hide himself in a person for a long time – until he will have to make himself known by the confrontation with the Holy Spirit!
So we sometimes see that with the baptism in the Holy Spirit a clear inhibition is being revealed, that finds its origin in some kind of connection with the kingdom of darkness.
Then there is often a case of bindings out of the occult, that consciously or unconsciously, have been laid in life earlier in time.
It doesn’t always have to be a case of guilt. It is possible that the surroundings, the parents or family (sometimes this was well meant) also have played a role in this.
It is a good thing that God points out all elements of darkness. The more cleansing is being done in your life, the cleaner you will be after all. Literally!
Because their distinction in which spirits are operating (also an expression of the Holy Spirit), your brothers and sisters in the Lord will be able to help you.
Be delivered form these dark bindings when the Lord points this out to you!
Demons can only be expelled by the power of God’s Spirit.
After that you can, preferably together with your brothers and sisters, ask the Lord for a first or renewed (full)filling with the Holy Spirit.
Surrender yourself, completely trusting the Lord, under the inspiration of his Spirit!
c) fake spiritual languages
Can speaking in spiritual languages be ‘humbug’? Can it be deceit? Can it be from the devil?
To begin with: yes, that is possible indeed!
There is a manifestation from satan, that looks like languages, that are being inspired by God’s Spirit. This happens in spiritualism and satanism. People addicted to drugs sometimes know a symptom that looks like it. It also happens in occult religions.
It was also known in the days of Paul within the pagan mystery religions. You can read this in all books about religion phenomenology (dogma of religion).
Isn’t all this therefore a reason to be extremely scared of this?
No! there is absolutely no reason for that!
Speaking the devil’s spiritual languages happens under the force of dark powers, where the person in question speaks oracles in a sort of trance. This happens in a mediumistic state of trance, wherein the speaker has none or hardly any control over his body and spirit.
Paul – and this is very remarkable – doesn’t warn once for a possible false or demonic speaking of spiritual languages.
But: we are not dealing with believers, who consciously walk on satan’s occult road. If there would be people that do this, the demons living in them will be revealed by the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit! Believers who have the gift of distinguishing spirits working in them, will recognize the powers in these people, as belonging to satan.
But: we are dealing with a life focused on God. Along the way of repentance and faith in the God of the Bible there is really no danger to fear!
So… speaking spiritual languages (after the baptism in the Holy Spirit) can never be wrong!
God doesn’t give his children stones instead of bread. (Matthew 7:9 – “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” And the parallel verse out of Luke 11:13 – “… how much more will your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
If we make sure that our contacts with the kingdom of darkness are and stay disconnected, then the way to God and his Spirit is completely open! Without any danger! On the contrary!
Because God is only light, there are only good things coming out of his Father‘s hand (James 1:17 – “ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows”).
In all these correcting remarks of Paul there is not one focused on the possibility of a humbug-
The only warning in this context is focused on the Spirit filled Christian, who allows the expressions of the Holy Spirit to function without God’s love.
By this spiritual languages don’t become wrong or humbug, but the speaker himself is compared to a ‘resounding gong’ or a ‘clanging cymbal’ (1 Corinthians 13:1).
d) doubt about the authenticity
Sometimes we see people wrestling with this. Is ‘my’ language really a spiritual language? In the past, as a young child, I would also babble now and then.
And… I don’t feel anything at all with it. Could it then really be from the Spirit?
Friends, satan abuses everything to be able to seduce us. In this way he abuses your feeling and memory.
Speaking spiritual languages is ‘praying with my spirit’. My mind is not involved in the process of forming the words.
Also the feeling is not normative, you don’t have to feel anything, because it is about the construction of your ‘inner, spiritual being’. “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ...” (Ephesians 3:16).
It is something different of course, for you to experience the immeasurable happiness from God indeed, when you pray to Him and live with Him in this way in communication with Him.
Also concerning the ‘babbling’ you can be at ease. By speaking spiritual languages often, these are developing into beautiful and richly diversified languages, that in no way reminds of ‘speaking like a child’. It is God’s desire for you to grow up also in this case. Isn’t this what we desire concerning our children as well?
In both of the situations above you for yourself will come to a deep security about the reality of your spiritual languages.
Seek the presence of God with other believers from your Church, when you experience difficulties. Sanctify yourself before God’s throne en worship and exalt the Lord. Then continue to worship in spiritual languages and belief (= the security of the things you hope for) then also, that these languages come to existence by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
You also belief that your sins are forgiven indeed and that you are saved for eternity? Well, that is exactly the same faith.
In this way you will throw doubt overboard and you will experience that ‘your’ spiritual languages are indeed languages, in the way the Holy Spirit gives them to you to express/ speak.
Magnificent!
e) ecstasy
There are negative stories going around about extreme happenings concerning the use of spiritual languages. There is no denying, there are also negative things happening concerning this. Of course satan doesn’t sit still where the Lord works.
Is ecstasy from the Lord?
First and most of all it has to be clear, that with the expressions of the Holy Spirit something like ‘being pushed without a will’ or ‘being used without a hold’ never exists.
Order and self-
We behold control over our body (our tongue) and over our will (expressions) in any way.
There is however a great conciseness with Paul concerning his instructions for the use of spiritual languages and other expressions of the Spirit.
Take time to read 1 Corinthians 14 again. You will notice that there is spoken about this subject in order and with ‘control’!
This doesn’t mean we are not allowed to worship and exalt the Lord when we have the need to do this. It is a good and allowed case to ‘en-
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:13; “If I am in my right mind it’s for your sake, if I’m in ecstasy it’s for the sake of God.” Ecstasy = to be out of your mind, to be in an intense contact with God, forgetting the world around you in that process.
This is the way it is and this is the way it is allowed to be! But this ecstasy is therefore not without control of your own will and body!
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