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It’s amazing to think that the way I pray could result in Jesus saying, “Amen” at the end of my prayer!
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I’m not sure that any other aspect of the Christian faith generates as much discussion as the role of the Person of the Holy Spirit. Specifically, I would say “nuanced discussion.” By that I mean, people carefully choosing their words to remain biblically accurate but not sound weird. “After all,” they might say, “we don’t want people looking at us strangely because we’re talking about signs, wonders, and speaking in unknown languages. Yet at the same time, we don’t want to grieve the Holy Spirit.”
I believe there is a better way to handle this: Let Scripture speak for itself.
Let me share one recent example with you that will address this point. A rather well-known Christian apologist, who happens to be quite skilled in ancient biblical languages, was recently asked in an interview, “Can you explain the gift of speaking in tongues?”
Here are some of the main things he said in reply: “I think there is something going on in the New Testament that is different. … There is a uniqueness to that time period. It’s normative in a way that it is not now” because, he says, we don’t see today what we see in the New Testament, “because the disciples are building the foundation of the Church. … Now we have the books of Scripture where God speaks to us in a different way. … Speaking in tongues, prophesying happen; I just don’t think they’re normative in the way we see them happening in the New Testament.”
There’s a lot to unpack here, but I want to focus on a word he repeated: normative.
The dictionary defines that word: implying, creating, or prescribing a norm or standard; especially an assumed norm regarded as the standard of correctness in behavior, speech, writing, etc.
So I guess we need to ask, “What is normal?”
Let’s begin with this question: What did the pre-Ascension followers of Jesus consider normal?
First, Jesus was with them bodily form, and He regularly explained Scripture to them. Jesus healed people and so did His followers. Jesus told them He was leaving in bodily form, but that He would send the Holy Spirit to be with them (John 14:16-17).
The next question is: What did the post-Ascension followers of Jesus consider normal?
There was a joy of anticipating the Holy Spirit’s outpouring (Luke 24:50-53). Jesus was no longer with them bodily, but they still operated in His name and authority. They understood Scripture without Jesus in bodily form explaining it to them. They wrote the books of the New Testament, which are really a commentary on Scripture (the Old Testament) in light of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They healed people.
Our final question should be: What should we consider normal?
Let’s go back to John 14:16-17 where Jesus promised the arrival of the Counselor. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is empowerment in a wholly different level. At salvation, He is “with” us; at baptism, He is “in” us. Jesus is still not with us in bodily form, but we can still operate in His name, we understand Scripture without Jesus in bodily form explaining it to us, and we can operate in a realm of power that seems extra-ordinary to others!
Listen to a couple of key phrases from Peter’s Pentecost Sunday sermon. He says this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of a promise made by Jesus, and it is proof of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus (Acts 2:33, 38-39).
Nowhere is this implied that this is a one-time empowerment, nor an exclusive empowerment for those living in that time, nor is it exclusively for those called apostles. The saints lived this out as their normal daily life. See just a few examples in Acts 4:20, 30-31; 6:3, 8-10; 8:4-8, 14-17.
“The secret of our strength is the living testimony that Jesus Christ is every moment with us, inspiring, directing and strengthening us. This is what made the disciples so bold in preaching Him as the Crucified One in the midst of His enemies. They never for a moment regretted His bodily absence, for they had Him with them, and in them, in the divine power of the Holy Spirit.” —Andrew Murray
I think we have accepted sub-normal as normative for so long, that we now call that normal. Instead our normal should be a lifestyle, a language, a power that is called extraordinary by others.
Spirit-baptized Christians should live in the normalcy of extraordinary power!
Please check out the other messages we have covered in this series called We Are: Pentecostalby clicking here.
“When you teach a child writing, you hold its hand while it forms the letters: that is, it forms the letters because you are forming them. We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand while we do it.” —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse.” —Florence Nightingale
“Be like the brave Spartan who would never lose his shield, but would come home either with it or on it. ‘Cast not away your confidence.’ You trusted in God in those early days, and nothing seemed to daunt you then. ‘Cast not away your confidence.’ Rather, get more to add to it. Let there be no thought of going back, but may there rather be a distinct advance!” —Charles Spurgeon, commenting on Hebrews 10:34-35
“Nobody can imagine how nothing could turn into something. Nobody can get an inch nearer to it by explaining how something could turn into something else. It is really far more logical to start by saying ‘In the beginning God created heaven and earth’ even if you only mean ‘In the beginning some unthinkable power began some unthinkable process.’” —G.K. Chesterton
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“To be a mother is the greatest vocation in the world. No being has a position of such great power and influence.” —Hannah Whitall Smith
A mother’s power impacts her children while she is alive, and a mother’s influence continues to empower them after she is gone. Other than Jesus Himself, I’m not sure who has a greater influence than a God-fearing mother.
A mother’s influence is seen in her children.
Paul was a prolific evangelist and letter writer. His letters make up a huge part of the New Testament of the Bible. Much of his travel and his letters were thanks to a faithful traveling companion named Timothy.
Paul’s very last letter was written to Timothy, in which he called him my dear son (2 Timothy 1:2)
Paul met him in Lystra where Timothy was well spoken of (Acts 16:1-2)
Paul knew the anointing that was on Timothy (2 Timothy 1:6; 1 Timothy 1:18)
Timothy stepped right into the fire of ministry—persecution in Philippi and Thessalonica; then he followed Paul to Corinth (Acts 18:1-5)
Timothy was entrusted to deliver valuable letters and answer questions (1 Corinthians 4:17, 16:10-11; Philippians 2:19-23; 1 Thessalonians 2:18—3:6)
In his first pastoral epistle, we see that Paul commissioned Timothy to pastor in Ephesus (a challenging place), and he reminds Timothy that he is my true son (1 Timothy 1:2)
Paul knows that this godly man, this trusted friend, this faithful companion is a product of the power and influence of his mother, who in her turn was influence by her mother (2 Timothy 1:5).
There is very little mention of Timothy’s father, other than he was aGreek. That could mean he was of Greek nationality or that he was a Gentile. We know Gentiles were looking for Jesus (John 12:20-21) and were turning to Jesus (Acts 14:1), but it would seem this wasn’t the case for Timothy’s dad, since neither Luke nor Paul mention him by name.
The fact that we don’t know his name may means that he passed away or he may have been uninvolved in Timothy’s upbringing. We can at least tell that his father—who had the right to name his children—was hoping for great things from his son. The name Timotheus means honoring God.
The main influence in Timotheus’ life was his mother and grandmother. Already he was known as a disciple. Recall that Luke seldom used the word “Christian” but usually called the followers of Jesus saints, believers, and disciples. We also read that the fellow brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him (Acts 16:2).
Paul says this is because Lois (mimi) and Eunice (mama) had a sincere faith (2 Timothy 1:5), which literally means “without any hypocrisy.” Andrew Murray wrote, “Your motherhood is in God’s sight holier and more blessed than you realize.” This was in a time before the Church was very well established, so there were very few supports around them; certainly Timothy’s father wasn’t a supporter.
Timothy felt this impact just as King David did (Psalm 86:16). Paul tells Timothy to follow my example (v. 13-14) and follow the example of your godly mother and grandmother (v. 5).
Mothers and grandmothers, keep the faith!
Your life has power and it has influence. Charles Spurgeon said, “The devil never reckons a man to be lost so long as he has a good mother alive. O woman, great is thy power!”
Great, indeed, is your power, Mom! Don’t give up, don’t give in to despair.
I hope you get to see your power and your influence in your lifetime, but even if you don’t, be assured that your influence will outlive you—I am persuaded [the faith of your mother] now lives in you also!
Kids, today would be an especially good day to let your mother and grandmother know the positive influence they have had on your life. Trust me: nothing would make their day more than hearing those words from you!
We are born with a certain level of intuition, but we can definitely build a stronger intuition by learning lessons from history. Check out the full conversation Greg and I had about a leader’s intuition + execution.
“It is idle to talk always of the alternative of reason and faith. Reason is itself a matter of faith. It is an act of faith to assert that our thoughts have any relation to reality at all. If you are merely a sceptic, you must sooner or later ask yourself the question, ‘Why should anything go right; even observation and deduction? Why should not good logic be as misleading as bad logic? They are both movements in the brain of a bewildered ape?’” —G.K. Chesterton
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who. —Rudyard Kipling
“All the work of man is but the spinning of a righteousness which is undone as quickly as it is spun; but Christ has finished the seamless and spotless robe of His righteousness which is to last for ever.” —Charles Spurgeon
The Institute for Creation Research opens an article about the impact of and recovery from the biblical Flood with this, “In the beginning, God created plants and animals to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:11–13, 20–25). So, when areas are devastated, living things are engineered with the innate ability to rebound and recolonize. This was seen in the rapid recovery of life at Mount St. Helens after the cataclysmic volcanic eruption of May 18, 1980. But conventional scientists seem to be finally recognizing and appreciating the reality of rapid recovery a bit more after studying the life that existed after the supposed Chicxulub impact.”
John Piper addressing the role of spiritual affections in the life of a Christian says, “No machine, no computer, no AI will ever duplicate the spiritual reality of the soul’s enjoyment of God.”
“Ignorance of Scripture is the mother of error. … Many lay aside Scripture as rusty armour (Jeremiah 8:9); they are better read in romances than in St. Paul; they spend many hours inter pectinem et speculum—‘between the comb and the glass’—but their eyes begin to be sore when they look upon a Bible. They who slight the Word written, slight God Himself, whose stamp it bears.” —Thomas Watson
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Nearly every church has a pulpit where the pastor stands to deliver the weekly sermon. And almost every evangelical church gathering has the same order of service. Where did these things originate?
I talk more about biblical and non-biblical issues in this video, and in my blog post and video called “Use the right term.”
The full sermon from which this clip came is here.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
Imagine a couple being invited to a dinner at another couple’s house. The host and hostess want to create a special evening for their guests, so they carefully plan the meal, shop for all the ingredients, and then spend the afternoon putting together all the components of their meal.
Their friends arrive and sit down to dinner. One friend thoughtfully samples the food, letting it sit on her tastebuds, and offering comments like, “I love how you got the spices to bloom on this meat … Wow, look at the vibrant colors in your vegetable medley … I really like the way the lemon zest cuts down the sweetness of your cake frosting.” The other dinner guest inhales his meal without hardly tasting it.
For which guest would you rather spend hours preparing the meal—the thoughtful foodie or the hasty gobbler? It doesn’t have to be food. What about the one who appreciates the effort you put into your design project, noticing the fine-tuned details versus the one who simply says, “It looks nice”? Or the one who graciously receives your loving insight about something that could really help them versus the one who sulks and attacks you because you didn’t tell them everything about them is wonderful?
Statement #19—Don’t cast your pearl before swine. Is that in the Bible?Yes.
Matthew 7:6 is a paragraph unto itself. Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
But its placement in the Sermon on the Mount is interesting because Jesus has just addressed the hard but loving word we may need to speak to a brother or sister (vv. 1-4). I’ve discussed this before, and this requires maturity, humility, and introspection before speaking.
In v. 6, Jesus seems to be telling us to consider whom we are addressing.
The word sacred (Greek: hagios) means saintly, holy, set apart for God’s use. This word is used for the Holy Spirit and for God’s holy people. So sacred things are not to be used just anywhere by anyone in any situation in which we choose. Sacred things must be used with discretion.
The apostle Paul said, “Yet when we are among the full-grown—spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding—we do impart a higher wisdom—the knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden…” (1 Corinthians 2:6 AMPC).
The word dogs in Matthew 7:6 can me a 4-legged canine, but it can also mean a person of an impure mind (see Philippians 3:2; Revelation 22:15).
(2) …do not throw your pearls to pigs.
Pearls is a word of great value; a treasure that you spent dearly to acquire. Jesus talks about precious, costly treasures in two parables in Matthew 13:44-46. And Solomon opens the Book of Proverbs by contrasting those who receive precious wisdom—those who “listen and add to their learning”—with those who reject it—“fools [who] despise wisdom and instruction” (see Proverbs 1:1-7).
Pigs in Matthew 7 are those undiscriminating gobblers of food, like the thoughtless friend I mentioned earlier who just inhaled his food without any savoring of the perfectly-prepared meal.
We want to give a good answer to everyone without quarreling. But giving a good answer doesn’t necessarily mean you are giving them your best pearls. Here are a few things I have learned the hard way.
Do gauge their sincerity with questions. Notice the masterful way Jesus did this in Matthew 22:15-46. In several exchanges, you can tell which people in His audience were getting the pearls and which weren’t. We would do well to learn this lesson from our Savior.
Don’t try to be a know-it-all. Saying, “I don’t know,” is a perfectly acceptable answer, but then come back to continue the conversation later.
We have precious, invaluable, life-changing treasures to share with people! Let’s share with them what they are ready to hear, reserving our pearls for those who are truly seeking a treasure.
If you’ve missed any of the other statements we have looked at in our series “Is That In The Bible?” you can find them all here.
In discussing how Thomas Huxley coined the term agnostic, John Stonestreet and Dr. Glenn Sunshine note, “If God is rational and created an orderly universe and human beings in His image, we can study the universe. Without these assumptions, there is no reason to assume the world is knowable or that humans are able to know. It is the theistic assumption, not the agnostic assumption, that grounds science. By rejecting God, scientists undercut the foundations for their work.”
“There will come a time when every culture, every institution, every nation, the human race, all biological life is extinct and every one of us is still alive. Immortality is promised to us, not to these generalities. It was not for societies or states that Christ died, but for men.” —C.S. Lewis, in The Weight of Glory
“If Patrick Henry could arise from the dead and revisit the land of the living, and see the vast system and social organization and social science which now controls, he would probably simplify his observation and say, ‘Give me death.’” —G.K. Chesterton, speaking in New York City’s Time Square Theatre in 1921
T.M. Moore has an excellent series of posts about God and reason. In the post Since God is Reasonable, he writes, “If we are sluggish in reason, so that we do not like to have to think hard and long about matters; or if our skills in reasoning are inadequate, poorly honed, or rusty from disuse, then we should make it our business to overcome our laziness and improve our use of reason, since the great prize of reasoning with and knowing God lies open to us.”
I’m always impressed by the historicity of the Bible. “Archaeology has demonstrated that numerous people, places, and events within the books [of Ezra and Nehemiah] are historically accurate,” says this post.
“The Jewish high priests went once a year into the Holy of Holies. Each year as it came round demanded that they should go again. Their work was never done; but ‘He entered in once,’ and only once, ‘into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.’ I love that expression, ‘eternal redemption’—a redemption which really does redeem, and redeems forever and ever. If you are redeemed by it, you cannot be lost; if this redemption be yours, it is not for a time, or for a season, but it is ‘eternal redemption.’ Oh, how you ought to rejoice in the one entrance within the veil by our great High Priest who has obtained eternal redemption for us!” —Charles Spurgeon
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Gut instinct, a feelings, a sixth sense—we have a lot of different phrases for intuition. Whatever you want to call it, we all have those moments where we just know what the right decision is. Join Greg and I as we discuss why it’s important to develop this skill, and how to find the right time to turn your intuition into execution.
[0:00] Introduction
[1:02] Are we born with intuition?
[2:34] Intuition is hard to measure, but important to develop.
[4:23] Intuition is a gift that can be developed.
[7:04] How can leaders gain more intuition?
[8:40] Leaders need to reflect on their day to grow their intuition for future challenges.
[9:56] Don’t forget about the execution that leverages the intuition.
[11:44] Greg has learned to lean into the intuition of his teammates.
[13:27] What is the best ratio between execution and intuition?
[16:18] Watch out for fake intuition!
[17:42] Once the intuition is agreed upon, we have to let everyone execute their own way.
[19:59] We love empowering people to execute, but we also love developing their intuition.
[22:29] Greg tells a story about his “white glover” mother.
[24:44] Four reasons why we’re inconsistent as leaders.
[27:20] An outside coach can help you sharpen your intuition. Reach out to Maximize, we would love to help!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. Check out the video content in this post by clicking here.
I’m going to spoil some of the surprise right up front. We’re going to look at two questions about death, and the answer to the question, “Is that in the Bible?” is “No” for both questions.
Persisting to do unbiblical things is a sin because we are trying to point out why God is wrong and why our opinion is right.
But there is also a danger in pursuing non-biblical things, when we try to give our non-biblical opinion or preferencebiblical weight, and then look down on anyone who doesn’t believe or act like we do. The Bible does tell us tobe peacemakers (Romans 14:13-21).
Statement #17—Cremating a loved one exempts them from heaven. Is that in the Bible?No.
The preferred method in the Old Testament appears to be burial. Sometimes in the ground, but more typically in a cave or man-made crypt. There were exceptions. For instance, the bodies of Saul and Jonathan were cremated (1 Samuel 31:11-13), and King Jehoram could have been cremated, but certainly he wasn’t interred the same way that his father and grandfather were (2 Chronicles 21:1, 4-6, 18-20).
In the New Testament era there was an end-of-life process the Greeks adopted called ossilegium. The Greeks frequently anointed the body with oil and wine and burned it until just the bones were left. The Jews wrapped the dead body in burial shroud and anointed it with spices—as with Lazarus (John 11:38-44) and Jesus (John 19:38-41). About a year after death, the bones would be collected and placed in an ossuary. Most often, multiple family members’ bones would share the same ossuary.
Statement #18—Suicide is an unforgivable sin. Is that in the Bible?No.
We don’t see suicide a lot in Scripture:
Saul died by his own sword—1 Samuel 31:4
Zimri died by self-immolation—1 Kings 16:18
Ahithophel and Judas both hanged themselves—2 Samuel 17:23; Matthew 27:5
But no where does Scripture speak to this form of death as being a reason to exclude that person from Heaven. These deaths do seem like last-ditch, hopeless acts. Because they are the very last act, it seems like these people have utterly rejected God. It has been a misconception for a long time that the way you die determines your eternal home. Consider a scene in Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Hamlet will not kill Claudius while he’s praying and send him to heaven—
And now I’ll do ’t.
⌜He draws his sword.⌝
And so he goes to heaven,
And so am I revenged. That would be scanned:
A villain kills my father, and for that,
I, his sole son, do this same villain send
To heaven.
Why, this is ⟨hire⟩ and ⟨salary,⟩ not revenge.
He took my father grossly, full of bread,
With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May;
And how his audit stands who knows save heaven. …
To take him in the purging of his soul,
When he is fit and seasoned for his passage?
No. …
⌜He sheathes his sword.⌝
When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage,
Or in th’ incestuous pleasure of his bed,
At game, a-swearing, or about some act
That has no relish of salvation in ’t—
Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven,
And that his soul may be as damned and black
As hell, whereto it goes.
Here are the truths we see in Scripture:
We are created in God’s image and given a body—Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7.
Yet our body is called a temporary tent—2 Corinthians 5:1-3.
We will be raised either to eternal life or a second and eternal death—Luke 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 15:42-54, 20-21; Revelation 20:11-15.
How we die and how our body is disposed of makes no difference to where we will spend eternity. The only thing that matters is if our name is written in the Book of Life. Our name is written there only if we are covered by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:10, 17-22).
Check out more of the questions we have covered in our Is That In The Bible? series by clicking here.
Craig T. Owens 