October 2017
Similarly Saul, the first king of Israel made a
monument for himself (1 Sam 15:12).
Let us not project ourselves and build our own
kingdoms. Let us not draw people to us. Let us lead them to
Jesus. Let us glorify Him. We need such a reformation in our
organizations and churches.
3) Reformation In Operating Gifts
Gifts are given to people by the Holy Spirit according
to the measure of faith of the individual and as He wills (1
Cor 12:11). All gifts are given for the benefit of all
(1
Cor 12:7). We are also commanded to desire spiritual gifts (1
Cor 12:31).
We come across two kinds of people - those who do
not use the gifts and those who abuse the gifts. The former
group needs to stir up the gifts and start using them, or else
the gifts might become dormant and useless for the Kingdom
of God.
Today we find many preachers and the believers
misusing their gifts. I want to expose three such areas:
a) Leading in anointing of the Holy Spirit
When it comes to leading people in the anointing of
the Holy Spirit, please do not use any carnal methods like
shaking the head and telling people to imitate. It is not a
parrot-method. If we resort to such types of practices, even
those who want the baptism of the Holy Spirit will run away
from us. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is a God-given
experience. We should depend on Him. We read in the Bible
that the early church believers 'spoke' as they were inspired
by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).
Never press your hand on the believers. Do not speed
up the music as though infilling of the Spirit depends on fast
and loud music. During our earlier days, when brother
Stanley and I were invited to preach in a church we found
that a brother was playing the drum very loudly. As we were
thinking what to do, we took the drum and kept it on the stage
and started to preach. We strictly told the Church that there
will be no jarring and disturbing music because it is God who
anoints us. We need such practices to be corrected in our
gatherings. This, is reformation.
Jesus is the baptizer and people receive the power of
the Holy Spirit simply by asking and believing His promises
like a child. If a person is not filled with the Spirit you can
never force him or her. There might be 100 reasons why
he/she has not received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It is
only God who can fill a person and not us. We can neither
take credit nor be upset. In some situations, we find the
worship leader repeating one particular chorus again and
again thinking that might help people to be filled with the
Spirit. People might be excited and start jumping but they
will not be filled with the Spirit. We need to bring
reformation in this area as well. Everything is to be natural
and spontaneous as in the days of Pentecost. Let us learn to
operate the gifts according to God's Word.
b) Casting out demons
Mar 1:34 “And he healed many that were sick with
divers diseases, and cast out many demons; and suffered not
the demons to speak, because they knew him.”
Here we find that Jesus did not allow the demons to
speak. But sadly we find today people encouraging the
demons to speak. Do we not know that demons speak only
lies? Sadly we like to listen to the sermons of demons. I have
also seen some ministers of God spitting on the people.
Some others beat the person with a broomstick and pull the
hair. I once saw a minister stamping a woman who was
possessed with a demon. Some people pour oil and water
into the mouth of the demon possessed person. The demons
will not be afraid of all these things. They will laugh when
we practice them. But they are afraid of the Name of our
Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. There are people who keep
the Bible on the head of the demon possessed people. Bible
has to be in our heart. All these heathen practices are not
found in the Bible and should be avoided. The Bible
commands us to resist the devil and cast out the devil.
We need not copy television preachers and foreign
evangelists. We need to follow Jesus Christ alone.
John 12:26 -“If any man serve me, let him follow me;
and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man
serve me, him will my Father honor.”
THERE IS NOT ONLY CASTEISM BUT ALSO A
STRONG SENSE OF REGIONALISM AMONG US.
SOCIAL EVILS SUCH AS DOWRY IS RAMPANT
AMONG CHRISTIANS TODAY.
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