The secret place is the deepest part of your personality that is made for fellowship with God. It is best pictured by the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament Temple. It was the private, sacred room which housed the Ark of the Covenant and where God’s presence manifested in visible, palpable glory. For New Testament believers, the secret place is deep within our spirit where God lives and manifests himself by his Holy Spirit. It is a place of deep rest, inexpressible joy and pure worship – it is unblocked communion with the Living God.

The story of our secret place is the story of two bridges. The first bridge is the bridge between our outward life and our inner world. Our lives are often so centred on external necessities, on the blessings we long for and the suffering we try so hard to avoid. God is calling us away from the outer courts of daily concerns and lifelong ambitions. His Spirit is beckoning us to cross the chasm and draw near to him in the secret place, to a place where nothing else matters but him. The bridge is Christ himself who has made the way open for us to enjoy unimaginable delights in the Father’s presence.

The second bridge is also where Christ leads us. This time from the secret place by a new route back to the outside world. Before we were centred on ourselves – our peace, our blessing and our sense of entitlement to a happy, trouble-free life. This time we bring the fragrance of Christ with us, the fragrance which speaks more of his glory than our comfort. Those who travel by that bridge carry something valuable with them. Something that can bless both fellow-believers and those who are yet without Christ.

The world is waiting for the kind of testimony that only true communion with God can bring. This testimony is not centred on our proven success and our ability to impress. Rather, it comes from the sweetness of a life that exists always to make God look good. It is most powerful when we show in good times and (more particularly) in bad times that we demand nothing from God but depend on him and him alone for all things.

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As we prepare to celebrate Pentecost Sunday Colin Dye reminds us of the purpose of the power that is at work in us through the Holy Spirit.

As Pentecostal believers we know that the Holy Spirit is God?s power in action. So, obviously, one main work of the Spirit is to bring power to those whom he fills.

In the Old Testament, when the Spirit fell on a select few, he caused them to break out in inspired speech. It is the same with the New Testament pre-Pentecost fillings. After their anointings, John, Elizabeth, Simeon, Zechariah, and Jesus all spoke with power and authority. People constantly remarked upon Jesus? powerful speech.

We might think that disciples who had healed the sick, cast out demons, accompanied Jesus for three years and seen physical proof of his resurrection would be more than adequately equipped to be witnesses. This was not so.

They possessed experience, training and knowledge, but lacked the only acceptable qualification – power. In Luke 24:48-49 and Acts 1:4-8, Jesus promised that the anointing with the Spirit would remedy this deficiency. The book of Acts is the result. Pentecost was the first fruit of the harvest. The three thousand converted in one day were the result of the power – with the promise of much more to follow.

The Greek word for power is usually dunamis: this describes a moral, physical or spiritual ability which resides in a person or object. It is the explosive energy which makes things happen! It is the supernatural power of God by which miracles occur, preaching is made effective, and people are strengthened to endure terrible persecutions and adversity.

Power for proclamation

Old Testament prophets were given power to speak by the Spirit. They knew what to say and they had God?s authority to say it. In the New Testament, the Spirit also enabled men and women to speak with a power and authority that they did not naturally possess. Paul testified to this in 1 Corinthians 2:4, ?My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.?

At Pentecost, the Spirit transformed the disciples? speaking, ?And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak? as the Spirit gave them utterance? (Acts 2:4)?. This prophetic speech – especially tongues – is still the key sign that somebody has been baptised in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables men and women to speak with a power and authority that they do not naturally possess.

This has been the testimony of God?s people throughout history. By the anointing of the Spirit, believers have been changed from people whose words about Jesus are widely ignored, into those whose words have an enormous impact. They may say almost exactly the same things as before, but now with supernatural authority and power. This is what makes a vital difference to our evangelism. This sort of prophetic speech is the distinctive sign of the Spirit?s anointing today.

Power for miracles

The prophets were the miracle workers of the Old Testament, and so it is in the New Testament. Because of the miracles, the people constantly assumed that Jesus was a prophet. They knew that the signs and wonders meant God was with Jesus in a special way. This is another key difference that the Spirit makes.

It is important we grasp that the Spirit gives power for miracles essentially in the context of evangelism. Signs and wonders are mainly given to convince people that the message about Jesus is true. Of course God heals because he cares about sick and needy people, but he cares even more about their eternal destiny!

The Spirit gives power for miracles essentially in the context of evangelism. Sometimes the focus on miracles can be all about the healing of believers? minor ailments. But the power of the Spirit is given to help believers persevere in hardship, and to demonstrate to non-believers by miraculous signs that Jesus is alive. It is a fascinating study to read Acts and carefully note both the contexts and the consequences of the amazing miracles.

Power for warfare

We know that all Christians are involved in a titanic struggle with the forces of darkness. We can feel weak and inadequate when we think about all the evil in the world, when we struggle with personal temptation, and when we try to answer people?s objections to our faith.

Thank God that the Spirit gives us all the power we need for this spiritual warfare. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 promises that ?the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ?? Time and again, we have to cry to God, begging him to help us, to strengthen us, to give us power to speak and act in the right way, to make us equal to the pressures we face. Only the Spirit?s power can give us victory in the fight against evil.

Without exception, we all have to go on fighting evil in its many different forms – both within us and around us. It is crucial we understand that only the Spirit?s power can give us victory. We will be defeated whenever we rely on our own resources or experience. In Ephesians 3:16, Paul prays for his readers that God would grant them, ?according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with dunamis through his Spirit in the inner man?.

Surely this should still be a constant prayer both for ourselves and each other. We desperately need the Spirit?s explosive power to help us push back the frontiers of evil in society and establish God?s kingdom in our locality.

Power for victory

Some Christians see every difficulty as demonic activity, and seem to be obsessed with spiritual warfare. Yet many of the problems we face are just part and parcel of fallen humanity. The devil is not necessarily the reason why rain falls on our washing, our car fails to start in the morning, we wake up with toothache, or next door?s cat digs up our seedlings.

The ordinary problems of life can be overwhelming, but God does give us the grace and strength we need to overcome our weaknesses and troubles. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul records God?s promise and his response.

??My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.? Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ?s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.?

Power for hope

Our observation and experience of society?s breakdown, and our exposure to the media?s constant reporting of the world?s problems, can trigger real depression and despondency. We feel that everything is getting worse, and that there will never be an end to the hardships.

Most Christians know about God?s glorious promises. But we need the power of the Spirit to translate these promises into a tangible experience which fills us with joyful hope in the face of yet more grim news. We need to go on praying Paul?s Romans 15:13 intercession for each other: ?May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.?

Power for perseverance

Western society increasingly demands instant solutions. The fashion is for ?fast? everything. If something breaks, it is discarded and replaced. Many believers have been influenced by this pressure to seek quick solutions to their difficulties rather than God?s power to persevere through hardships. God?s strength for endurance is often his way for us to overcome hardships.

It is the power of the humble Spirit which stiffens our resolve to persevere. It is the Paraclete – ?the Encourager? – who urges us to keep going in adversity. It is ?the Spirit of Truth? who teaches us to recognise that patience produces faith, and to reject worldly thinking and attitudes.

Power for the church

Ephesians 1:19-23 is one of the greatest New Testament descriptions of God?s power – and makes it clear that God gives power essentially within the context of the church. In recent years, there has been a tremendous emphasis in western society on the individual.

Unfortunately this has spread into the church, and many leaders have overstressed the importance of our individual response to God. This truth must be complemented by the New Testament focus on our corporate response, relationships and activities.

Generally, the word ?you? in the New Testament means a plural ?you all? rather than a singular ?you on your own?. The promises of God are more for us together than they are for us apart. This is why the pictures of the church describe one united entity – the body, the bride, the temple, and so on – rather than many small separated units.

Ephesians 1:19-23 is a healthy reminder that God?s power is given mainly in a church setting. It is the. Church against which the gates of hell cannot prevail – not isolated, individual believers. This means that our prayers for power should be ?give us? rather than ?give me?!

Power for witness

If we tried to wrap together all the different reasons why the Spirit gives us his power, we would surely have to come to a verse like Acts 4:33, ?And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.?

The Spirit gives us power to proclaim and to persevere, for miracles and warfare, in order that we will become powerful witnesses to the risen Lord Jesus. Miracles are not only to bless us. Victory and hope are not only to make our lives more comfortable. They are to provide an eloquent and effective testimony for others.

Power to know Jesus better

Every aspect of the Spirit?s power is given to enable us to know Jesus better, and to help us reveal Jesus more clearly to the world around us. The real test of true spiritual power is whether or not it brings people into a deep knowledge and understanding of Jesus.

The test of true spiritual power is whether it brings people into a deep knowledge and understanding of Jesus Jesus? stark warning in Matthew 7:15- 23 shows clearly that the ability to cast out demons, to prophesy, to perform miracles is not enough on its own.

Too many believers are praying for power for reasons other than knowing Jesus better and revealing him more clearly. And too many leaders are trying to manipulate divine power at their own will, when they should be experiencing the Spirit?s power as they obey God?s will.

The Spirit does bring breathtaking changes through his dunamis power. He does provide us with the strength and ability to do what we know we ought to do. This empowering from Christ through the Spirit is a glorious truth which we should want to experience more and more. But only so that we may know Jesus better. And only that we may reveal him more clearly!

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It is said that truth is the first casualty of war. Nations at war use propaganda as a significant weapon against each other. In spiritual warfare truth plays an even more crucial role. It defines the very nature of the battle. The heart of spiritual warfare is the battle for the hearts and minds of people. All demonic strongholds are rooted in deception and can only be overcome by the truth of God’s Word.

The arguments Satan uses are often plausible and always appealing to fleshly human thinking. But they go beyond what is rational or appealing because they are charged with demonic power. We must learn how to launch and effective and long-lasting attack on this power base of the enemy of our souls.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

The answer to error is truth. Jesus told us that God’s word is truth (John 17:17) and this truth must be effectively proclaimed, genuinely professed and consistently practiced. That’s the only way to pull down strongholds in our own lives, as well as our families, our communities and our nation.

It is time for every Christian to be a disciple of the Word of God. We must make sure we know what we believe and why we believe it if we are going to pull down the strongholds of the mind. God wants us to be equipped with the weapon of truth that has been powerfully revealed in Christ and in Scripture. Getting to grips with God’s Word is an unavoidable must for everyone who wants to stand against the onslaughts of the enemy in our day.

Knowing what God says, however, is not enough. We must understand it, believe it and deeply receive it so that it becomes a profound conviction in our hearts. We must also be able to defend the truth before those who argue with human wisdom. Finally, we must actually do the truth. Putting God’s Word into practice is the very thing that releases Satan’s grip on our lives and that of our society as a whole.

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At the most crucial moment in his life Jacob knew he had to be alone with God. We also must learn deliberately, self-consciously to get alone with God.

This is where it?s just you and God ? in the secret of your heart. It?s where all else is stripped away, all clutter removed ? no background noise of the mind, no stress or straining of human effort ? just waiting on him, resting in him. No programme, no agenda of self, no goal of getting, no drivenness, no undercurrent of human desires or motives.

?Communing with God in that secret place; that part of you designed for him and him alone; that secluded garden of your soul, the holy of holies of your heart where all is solitariness until God comes to meet with you. At times like this you learn to settle for nothing less than God himself, as Jacob said, ?I will not let you go unless you bless me.?

Here, there are no substitutes, no alternatives, no supports to prop up your soul, no supplements, no additives ? just pure communion with the Holy One ? just God and you.

CH Spurgeon, the great Baptist preacher in 19th Century London said, ?There are times when solitude is better than society (company), and silence is wiser than speech.?

When was the last time you were deliberately and consciously alone with God? No distractions or diversions.

Your mobile phone switched off. Computer, iPad, television, all disconnected. Your ?to do? list out of sight. We would be better Christians if we spent more time alone with God with our hearts completely stilled, distanced from all distractions, all interruptions, all diversions, all entertainments ? just waiting upon God, meditating on his Word and basking in his Presence.

The Christian life is about community. You are not alone. We have each other ? we care, we share, we encourage, provoke one another to love and good deeds, witness and evangelise together as a community. Being alone with God does not mean you have to be lonely or isolated. But you never really know who you are until you are alone with God. All important business in life can only be effectively conducted alone with God.

For more on this topic watch Colin Dye?s Sermon Alone with God available on http://www.kt.org/sermon/2447.

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Taken from the book Prayer That Gets Answers, by Colin Dye

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Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper, is the ‘communion’ or ‘fellowship meal’, instituted by Christ for the benefit of his church

As a sacrament, communion is no mere memorial service; it is a living encounter with the risen Lord. All that Christ has done for us at the cross, and all that we have received from him by faith, is powerfully confirmed and continually sealed as we faithfully participate in communion.

The Lord’s Supper is based on the last meal that Jesus ate with his apostles before the cross; and it soon became the centrepoint of fellowship and worship in the early church, where it was called ‘the breaking of bread’.

Passover meal

Jesus instituted the communion meal during the last supper he shared with his disciples. It was part of the Passover festival. He took aspects of the Jewish Passover meal and invested it with new significance for his followers.

The Passover meal was rooted in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. In Jesus’ day, the meal involved four principle aspects.

• The people looked back – they remembered God’s mercy in delivering them from slavery in Egypt.
• The people looked in – they purified themselves and their homes from anything which was evil or dirty.
• The people looked around – the feast was not a private affair, it was thoroughly corporate. The whole family took part in the meal.
• The people looked forward – they looked forward to the Messiah and his new age and prayed for his coming. It is obvious that the church’s fellowship meal has been greatly shaped by the Passover. All these four elements are present in Communion.

Looking back – a memorial

In Luke 22:19, Jesus told us to ‘do this in remembrance of me’. We are called to remember with thanksgiving God’s grace and mercy in delivering us from the slavery of sin through the once-and-for-all death of Jesus – the true Passover lamb.

Just as the Passover meal was a continuing memorial of God’s saving work in the Exodus, and as the rainbow is a continuing sign of God’s saving work in the Flood, so communion is both a sign and an abiding memorial of God’s saving work on the cross.

But that is not all, for we also re-live our personal application of the cross. The bread and the wine are not empty signs, they are God’s ‘solemn oath’ – the pledge or confirmation of God’s mercy and forgiveness. In a similar way, when we take part in communion, we remember the presence and power of Christ among his people, we celebrate his victory over sin and death, and we claim our part in that activity.

A memorial is also an equally important reminder to God. This means that when we take communion, God is present to fulfil every promise signified by the memorial. Because communion is a memorial, whatever the bread and wine symbolises is available by faith to all who receive it.

At communion, we do not just remember Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we claim it for ourselves, we ‘fellowship’ or share in it. Our physical receiving of the bread and wine emphasises this important truth.

Looking in – preparing yourself

1 Corinthians 11:17-34 underlines the importance of preparing ourselves before communion. Before receiving the bread and the wine, we should examine ourselves, confess what we know to be wrong, and ask God to forgive and cleanse us.

We share the communion meal recognising that it is a sign of God’s grace. We come trusting in Christ’s righteousness and not in our own worthiness. We come in humble repentance, seeking mercy and forgiveness for our wrong thoughts and actions.

This self-examination is not to prevent us from taking part; rather it is to bring us to the meal ready to meet the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart – we can think of it like washing hands before eating.

The nature of communion means that we are encouraged to come with our needs. If the communion is a memorial and participation in the benefits of the cross, we can come expecting our needs to be met. We should expect to be forgiven and restored in our hearts, strengthened and nourished in our faith, renewed in our spiritual experience and healed in our body.

Looking around – ministering to others

Communion is not a private matter, it is ‘the’ expression of the church’s koinonia. All God’s family – the men, women and children of the ‘household’, and any guests and visitors – assemble together to celebrate their communion with each other and God.

We know that the church is a family, and this is the family meal. It is tragic, therefore, that some churches have formalised the fellowship meal into some sort of ritual, that others have lost the sense of festive joy which characterised the Passover, and that many have removed the sense of community.

It is a joy to celebrate communion during an extended fellowship meal in which Christ is central and fellowship with one another is at the heart of the gathering. It offers an ideal opportunity to minister to one another according to 1 Corinthians 14:26. Each person comes prepared to bless and strengthen their brothers and sisters in Christ through a word of encouragement, a prayer or the impartation of a spiritual gift.

Looking forward – expecting Jesus’ return

1 Corinthians 11:26 states that communion is ‘until he comes’. In communion, we look forward, full of hope, to the coming of the Bridegroom, to the ‘marriage feast of the lamb’.

Unlike the Jews, we believe that the Messiah has come, and that his reign has begun. But we know that his kingdom has not yet come in all its fullness, that we are ‘living in the overlap’. This means that we should always be alert and attentive for the return of our saviour. Again, Paul makes this clear when in 1 Corinthians 11:26 that in the communion, we ‘proclaim the Lord’s death till he comes.’

Spiritual food

At communion, the Anglican liturgy encourages believers to ‘feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving’. This stresses that communion is food for our spiritual life. In some mysterious way that we do not fully understand, Christ communicates his life to us as we receive the bread and wine. And so we fellowship with him, feeding on him by faith.

The imagery of flesh and blood occurs throughout John 6, and this seems to be pointing towards communion and to the ‘Word of God’ as the fulfilment of the ‘Wisdom of God’ in Proverbs 8:1 – 9:12 who cries, ‘Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Forsake foolishness and live.’

While we are right to reject any foolish literal interpretation of physically eating Christ’s flesh and drinking his blood, John 6, especially in verses 47-57, Jesus shows how central communion is to the Christian life. It is a feeding and fellowshipping in his body and blood; and, by it, Jesus confirms to us his life, his indwelling presence and his provision of spiritual nourishment. This is confirmed by 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul compares communion with the spiritual food and drink that Israel was given in the wilderness.

Covenant promises

Jesus stated that the wine represents the blood of the new covenant. In the Scriptures, God’s relationship with his people is often expressed in the form of blood covenants, whereby the blood indicates the binding nature of the covenant: blood is both the pledge and the sign of the covenant.

The New Covenant supersedes the Old Covenant, and communion is the meal at which we renew our participation in the covenant: we renew our commitment to covenant obedience and pledge again our loyalty to the Lord. But it is also the occasion when the Lord seals in our hearts the benefits of the covenant and works in our lives to fulfil the covenant promises. We can say that the covenant promises are not just exhibited in communion, they are also executed through communion; and that they are not just modelled in communion, they are also manifested through communion.

As we take the bread and wine we take hold of the covenant promises, we thank God for them, and we enter into everything that the blood has purchased for us.

Unity of the body

Communion also enhances our oneness in Christ. As we share communion, we are drawn together as members of our local fellowship, and we also experience our union with all God’s people in the universal church. We can say that, by participating in communion, we both demonstrate and develop our oneness in Christ: communion is much, much more than a visual aid or symbolic act of unity.

Paul puts this in tremendously strong language when he says in 1 Corinthians 10:17 that we are ‘one body because we eat one bread’, that is, the bread of communion. This means sharing in the church’s fellowship meal is one of the most effective ways we have of developing our cross-forged oneness. This means that communion is as much about fellowship with each other as it is fellowship with God. 1 Corinthians 11 stresses the importance of honouring relationships among believers as part of our preparation for communion. This is what Paul meant by ‘discerning the Lord’s body.’ When we take communion we should consider each other, put away anything which hinders fellowship, and ensure that broken relationships are mended in a godly spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Thanksgiving

Some sections of the church call the Lord’s Supper, ‘The Eucharist’. This comes from the Greek word eucharisteo, which means ‘to thank’, and refers to Jesus’ prayer of thanksgiving or blessing over the bread and wine at the last supper.

Too many communion services are morbid memorials riddled by dry ritual rather than glorious celebrations throbbing with thanksgiving.

When we begin to grasp the true sacramental nature of communion – when we realise all that God pledges and confirms in communion, and appreciate all that we can receive by faith at communion – it naturally becomes an occasion for great thanksgiving in the church.

Central

We must never overlook the significance of Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 11 – 14. In these chapters, he weaves together worship, communion, the gifts of the Spirit and the primacy of love. This suggests that those churches which stress the gifts should also make much of communion, and that the gifts should be an important part of communion.

We have seen that the ‘breaking of bread’, the Lord’s Supper, is central in the life of the New Testament church: it is ‘the’ expression of koinonia – of sharing together with Christ and with each other, and so should be more central in our church life today.

In the communion meal, we gather together to be with each other and the Lord: we remember, we give thanks, we love, we look to the future with confidence, we receive from God, we are strengthened for service, and we build one another up in the love of Christ.

UNDERSTANDING THE SACRAMENTS

Some branches of the Christian Church refer to the sacraments as ‘the ordinances’ of Christ, but they use the phrase in the same way that many Bible teachers throughout history have used the English word ‘sacrament’. This word is derived from the Latin word sacramentum, which literally means ‘dedicated or set apart’. From the 3rd Century, sacramentum was used to translate the Greek word musterion (mystery) which referred to any spiritually symbolic act or object. Whether we use the word ‘sacrament’, ‘ordinance’ or ‘mystery’, the meaning is essentially the same.

The word ‘sacrament’ has been absorbed into English as a technical word for a ‘sign of God’s grace’. It carries the idea of an act that is regarded as ‘an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace’.

The medieval church identified seven acts as sacraments: baptism, confirmation, the Lord’s Supper, penance, anointing the dying with oil, ordination and marriage. Eastern Orthodox Churches and Roman Catholics still believe that these acts are sacraments, but Protestant churches maintain that Christ ordained or instituted only two: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are ‘sacraments’ or ‘mysteries’ because they are ‘outward, visible signs’ of the blessing of the gospel. They are ‘ordinances’ which Christ gave to the Church as powerful demonstrations of his grace and life in the body. We participate in them by faith, and they are central to the life of most churches. In fact, there can be no real expression of a biblical church without them.

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Whatever the disciples where expecting as they obeyed Jesus’ command to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, I am sure that the sights, sounds and sensations of that first Pentecost must have taken them by surprise.

Whatever the disciples where expecting as they obeyed Jesus’ command to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, I am sure that the sights, sounds and sensations of that first Pentecost must have taken them by surprise. But surprised or not, they were ready when the ‘power from on high’ came to walk out of the room and immediately begin their ministry.

It was the Baptism of the Holy Spirit that changed them from waiting disciples into the mighty men of God we see in the book of Acts. On that day Peter was able to stand up and boldly present the Gospel at the first ever evangelistic rally and see 3,000 added to their number.

As Pentecostals today we know that we do not have to wait for Pentecost Sunday to pray for people to be baptised in the Holy Spirit but we take time to ensure that all new believers understand that he is Jesus’ promised Helper to release each one of us to stand up and speak for him wherever we are – our schools, colleges, workplaces, homes and communities. We will be praying for everyone at the services on Pentecost Sunday to be filled or refilled with the Holy Spirit.

We know also as part of the discipleship cell vision that we need training to help each one to rise up in the calling that the Lord has given them to make disciples of all nations. From Living Free! to full-time IBIOL there is something for everyone! And this month we are introducing a new initiative to give everyone the tools to form relationships with the intention of sharing the gospel, it is called Share Life and details can be found on page 13. As the first disciples heard that they were to be witnesses for Jesus in “Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) so may we live our lives immersed in the Holy Spirit as we reach out to London and the World for Christ!

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Today I want to challenge you to allow the oil of God?s encouragement to be poured into you so you can rise above negative thinking and prepare to fulfill God?s plan and purpose for your life

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me”. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph!’ And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” John 1:43-46

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?? That was the cynical, piercing remark of a man who probably lived in Bethsaida, a colourful, cosmopolitan, attractive place. Nathaniel, along with others, had nothing good to say about Nazareth.

Is that how others talk about you? More importantly, is that how you talk about yourself? God is more interested in what you say about yourself, than what others say about you. Many people are influenced by a form of negative thinking which is destructive and inhibits them in everything they seek to do. You may have a bold exterior, but you know that on the inside you are plagued by self-doubt that comes out of negative experiences. And the enemy, of course, puts his spin on it all so that God?s will for our lives is frustrated through the negativism that I call ?Nazareth thinking?!

Nazareth was a remote, tiny Galilean town, high up on the hills. It was inaccessible, insignificant and wasn?t even included in the census lists of the period. It didn?t count! Nothing great or particularly important ever happened there. Nazareth was a byword for insignificance itself.

Are you suffering from ?Nazareth negativism??

Now, this deep seated negativism surrounding Nazareth is a problem that we can all face. You may say, ?None of my family ever amounted to much? and therefore you have a very low expectation of yourself. You may be suffering from Nazareth negativism. It?s like a weight that presses you down and holds you back – an inferiority that chokes your self-confidence. You keep saying to yourself over and over again, ?I can?t! I can?t!.? But it is time to learn to say, ?I can! I can! I can!?

It is not just a question of positive thinking. We are walking with Jesus, so Christians ought to be the most positive people on the earth. But sadly, we?re often the most negative people because the enemy has a vested interest in accusing us and tearing us down. We become slaves to the opinion of others as we strive to show them that we?re not really as bad as we think we really are! And then we?re trapped in an encircling gloom of depression and hopelessness. You wake up morning by morning to the daily realisation that you are living in Nazareth!

Jesus is at your address!

Jesus is forever known as ?Jesus of Nazareth?. That is what made Nathaniel jump in and say, ?This is ridiculous. The one who is supposed to fulfil the law and the prophets is from? Nazareth?? God had a purpose in raising Jesus in Nazareth! First of all, it was a means of protection. He came up out of Egypt and was raised in Nazareth – a place of security, a place remote and out of view – where Jesus could be kept secure and where he wouldn?t be noticed for a period of time. But also it was a fulfilment of prophecy. It was God?s way of doing things!

God caused Jesus to arise out of the obscurity of Nazareth because he specialises in picking up the lonely, the despised, the rejected, the forgotten and the forsaken and giving them a place in his kingdom. If you are living in Nazareth today – God is on your side. Look at the marvellous way the apostle Paul puts this:

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

1 Corinthians 1: 26-29

Because we serve the God of Nazareth we?ve been delivered from everything that makes us insignificant including the accusations of the enemy. God will bypass the complacent and the arrogant, the mighty and noble, and put his Spirit upon the hungry hearts of the lowly people who say, ?Lord I may not have much to give you, but such as I have I give it to you.? You are a brand snatched from the fire. In Zechariah 3 we read the story of Joshua the high priest who was clothed in filthy garments. Standing next to him was Satan, the adversary, accusing him constantly.

And the Lord said to Satan, ?The Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?? Zechariah 3:2

And then the Lord commanded that Joshua?s filthy clothes be removed and that he be given the beautiful, dignified, spotless garments of the high priestly ministry. And so God silenced forever the accusations of the enemy!

You count before God!

God has set you free, given you new clothes and has silenced forever the accusations of the enemy. Jesus Christ God?s Son cleanses from every sin! The accusations of the enemy have no more power over you. No weapon formed against you shall prosper and you shall refute every tongue that accuses you. This is your heritage because you belong to him! He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that he may seat him with princes ? with the princes of his people. Psalm 113:7-8

We are a kingdom of priests

The Lord Jesus raised us out of the dung hill and he?s set us among princes. And now the stench of the dung hill is no longer around us. Instead there is a fragrance of heaven, the sweet perfume of the kingdom resting upon us. It speaks not of who we were but of who we are. We sit now in a dignified place among the other nobles in the kingdom of God. We are a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood. That?s what he?s made us because he?s the God of Nazareth! Another reason why Jesus is identified with Nazareth is because God takes the devil on his own grounds.

God doesn?t do his battles in the safety and security of heaven – he goes into enemy territory! He doesn?t play at home, he goes and plays in enemy territory. Because that?s where it counts, and that?s where he wins! He?s the God of Nazareth. God has no fear of the devil. He defeats him on his own ground. Where is the devil?s ground? What is the devil?s territory? Sin, sickness, demonisation and death – and Jesus met each one and defeated them at the cross!

Isaiah 53 tells us this so clearly: For He was despised and rejected hy men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:3-6

That?s what it means to be a Christian! You acknowledge that Jesus Christ has carried your sins on the cross and that by believing in him you are set free! Jesus had no fear – he went straight into sin?s territory itself and broke the power of the enemy.

He still calls himself ?Jesus Christ of Nazareth?

After Jesus had emerged from the grave as the victorious, resurrected Lord, he still called himself ?Jesus Christ of Nazareth?! Forever he is recognised as Jesus of Nazareth – not Jesus Christ of Bethlehem, the place of his birth, nor Jesus Christ of Jerusalem, the place of his death, but Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the place of his obscurity! And it?s that name he?s pleased to honour.

Throughout the book of Acts, starting in chapter 3:1-10, when the beggar outside the Temple is healed, disease, demons and death itself are challenged by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It?s that name that the Father is pleased to honour and it?s that name that Jesus is pleased to give credit to!

But what about Nazareth and you? You say, ?Well, the world doesn?t recognise me! It doesn?t even notice me!? But that may be part of God?s plan. The world and mankind in general look on the outside but God looks on the inside – otherwise David would never have been chosen to kill Goliath or to become King. When Samuel the prophet was called to anoint one of Jesse?s sons, he went through all of the sons – the finest, the oldest, right through all the way down to the shepherd boy tucked away in the hills (see 1 Samuel l6:1-l3). God said to the prophet Samuel, ?You anoint him.? And there was an argument going on. The others where strong and attractive but it?s what?s going on in the inside that counts. If the world looks on from the outside and discounts you, know that you count before God!

Jesus? hidden period, the period of his obscurity in Nazareth was an essential time for him. Before Jesus was to be revealed publicly he had to first satisfy the Father privately. That?s why, after those years of obscurity, he had this testimony from the Father: ?This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!? Before you ever set foot in the public arena to be noticed you need to know what it is to please God in the private place. It is far more important to get commendation from heaven than to yearn after the approval of men which is short-lived.

The world may not notice you but God is watching! And when the time is right he will tell the world about you! That?s what Nazareth living is all about!

You need to change how you see yourself

God can take your negative Nazareth and make it his glorious Nazareth! It?s time to stop empowering the enemy with your weakness and to start giving God an opportunity to show his strength through your weakness. You can allow the enemy to beat you and manipulate you and bring you down so that you are forever imprisoned by Nazareth thinking, or you can yield your life to God and say, ?God, come and take my weaknesses and make them an occasion for your strength!?

It doesn?t matter what you?ve done, or how much you feel you still have to learn. It doesn?t matter how much you feel you?ve failed, the God of Nazareth is with you! Jesus is living on the inside of you!

That, after all, was the great strength of the apostle Paul. On one occasion he put his finger on it when he testified how he asked God to remove a certain weakness from him and God said to him, ?My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness?. It wasn?t just Paul?s evaluation of himself. It was God?s way for his life and Paul knew it: ?When I am weak, then I am strong?. The anointing of God was upon him! And so he said, ?Now you know that when I preach, you?re not believing me because I?m good-looking. You?re not believing me because I?ve learnt how to polish my diction. You?re believing me because the anointing of God is upon me and you see in my weakness God?s strength made perfect! So I would rather glory in weaknesses than to try and boast in some supposed strength that I don?t have anyway.?

God himself… was living in Nazareth!

No-one noticed Jesus when he lived in Nazareth and the very first public announcement linking Jesus? name with the town met with scepticism and cynicism: ?Can anything good come out of Nazareth?? But God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, was living in Nazareth!

Be ready to believe that God lives in your Nazareth and be ready to live your Nazareth unto him! Make it your aim to please God no matter what your circumstances and despite your weaknesses. If you are going to wait before you get completely healed of everything before you do anything, you?re going to end up doing nothing! You have to accept the fact that you are surrounded by weaknesses, but you need to know that you can please God despite such things.

God cares for you and he?s willing to bind you up if you?ve been damaged in some way. If you felt that you?ve been isolated in some ghetto of Nazareth thinking, he says, ?It?s time to change your thinking!?. You?ve got to stop saying, ?I?ll never amount to anything.? You?ve got to say, rather, ?I am his workmanship in Christ Jesus. He?s making something beautiful out of my life! God is always working in me to do his will and his good pleasure.? You can also stop saying, ?I?m no good? and you can start learning to say, ?God has chosen me for good!?

You?ve got to see yourself as God sees you!

This is not arrogant boasting – it?s boasting in Christ and in what he has made you. Turn your back on the things that hold you. And say, ?Lord, I am now living in the new identity you have given me. I am no longer dominated by, ?I can?t! It?ll never work! I won?t be able to do it!?? That?s why so many people fail to serve God as well as they could, because they don?t think God is interested in them. They don?t think God can do anything with what they?ve got. No, God can use you and will use you!

You?ve got to change your thinking. Stop being so down on yourself. You?ve got to see yourself as God sees you! From now onwards when you think of Jesus of Nazareth, say, ?YES, Lord! That?s me! That?s me!?

Think about this then allow the Holy Spirit to bring these words into your heart, deep into your spirit. The devil has a vested interest in bringing you into self-condemnation – don?t do his work for him – neither in your own life nor in the lives of other people! You must see yourself as God sees you! Secure in Jesus Christ. Don?t let accusation or criticism, coming from outside or coming from within, hinder you. Show the devil who you are in Christ by your attitude, your words and by your actions.

Be set free in Jesus? name from anything that holds you back. You can do what God has called you to do. God loves you, God wants to lift you up. God wants to bless you and use you. You are a royal person! You?ve been made in the image of God! You?ve been redeemed by Jesus Christ! You are part of his body on the earth, and the Spirit of God lives in YOU!

Yes, good things do come from Nazareth!

The post Something Good from Nazareth appeared first on Colin Dye.

Never underestimate the revelatory power of spiritual vision. By faith you see the invisible. That enables you to believe the unusual and to do the impossible

People of our generation generally look only at the things that are seen, the things that are perceptible through the data coming through our five senses. For them, faith is irrational ? a leap into the unknown, a clutching after the straws of wishful thinking. But for us, faith is far more than that. It is reaching out into the invisible realm of God?s revealed truths and holding onto them as the substance of our faith, until them become a reality in our lives. Hebrews chapter 11 verse one says that faith is ?the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.?

The apostle Peter declares that we have ?obtained a like precious faith? along with the apostles of the first century (2 Peter 1:1). This means we share the same confidence in what we believe that the early apostles had who were eyewitnesses to the events of the Gospels. Peter is very clear about the historical reality of the Christian faith:

? We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.? 2 Peter 1:16

The foundation of apostolic faith is the testimony of the power of God manifested in history and evident in our lives as modern day disciples of Jesus. But do we really connect with the truths of the Gospel? It is one thing to hold fast to the faith ?entrusted once for all to the God?s holy people? (Jude 1:3). Evangelical and Charismatic believers are good at declaring what they believe. However, we need to see this historic faith take apostolic shape in our lives and in our society today.

?Our faith is not make-believe but connects to spiritual realities proven in the world of time and space.?

Abraham is the great Old Testament prototype of apostolic faith. We call him the ?father of those that believe? and walk in the footsteps of the faith he exercised 2,000 years before Christ (Romans 4:11-12). God?s plans have been a long time in the making and the astounding thing is how relevant Abraham?s life of faith is to God?s call upon our lives today. God?s plan in raising up Abraham as a man of faith was that he should bring the blessing of apostolic faith to all the nations of the world.

?God chose one man to reach all humanity, one nation to reach all nations. That is our spiritual inheritance.?

God called Abraham (he was called Abram at the time) when he was living in the Mesopotamian city of Ur. The book of Acts records the encounter like this: ?The God of glory appeared to Abraham? (Acts 7:2). I think that is remarkable, to say the least. Here is this man, totally without the knowledge of the One True God, probably sharing the same lifestyle and belief system as his contemporaries in that society – when suddenly, God appears to him. The God who created the heavens and the earth reveals himself and makes himself known to this unsuspecting individual.

That is exactly how God works ? he begins with a revelation of himself. Without that, we would know nothing because we could never see the invisible God unless he first showed himself to us. Two thousand years later, God showed himself again, this time fully and definitively, not in a vision, but in a living, breathing human being ? Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. This revelation continues today as we see Jesus through the revelation that comes to our hearts by the Holy Spirit through faith.

The revelation does not stop there. It is important to encounter the living God, but it is also crucial that we hear what he has to say. God reveals himself in order to place his call upon our lives. For Abraham it was a call to leave his country and his father?s house and go to a certain far away country, that God would eventually show him. The migratory journey from Ur in Southern Mesopotamia, to Haran on its borders in the north, and finally south into Canaan, was both epic and universally significant.

?The blessing of God is always linked with the call of God. As you obey the call, he will bless you and, like Abraham you will be blessed in all things.?

God called Abraham to be the ?Father of many nations.? God?s plan was to reach the world?s multitudes through him. Abraham and Sarah were to have a son (Isaac) through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed. In being an instrument of blessing to the world, Abraham was himself to be blessed in all things. In Genesis 24:1, we see the realisation of this blessing in Abraham?s life, and it also points to God?s best purposes for us who follow in Abraham?s footsteps of faith: to be blessed in all things!

It is hard to take all this in, but it is nevertheless a clear revelation of Scripture. It begins with the original Great Command of God to Adam and Eve: ?Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it? (Genesis 1:28). God makes his purpose clear ? he wants to see the earth full of people in loving fellowship with him. That always has been and always will be his purpose. Following the fall and disobedience of the human race, God sets up his plan of redemption. Abraham is called to bring the promised seed of Isaac who is a picture of Christ, the means of salvation for all the world. This same Jesus, crucified and now resurrected repeated the Great Command of Genesis in the terms of the New Testament Great Commission: ?Go and make disciples of all nations? (Matthew 28:19), and with this commission came the all-encompassing promise of blessing: ?I am with you unto the end of the age.? This is the New Testament equivalent of the blessing of Abraham. It is the absolute assurance that God is with you in all circumstances, that he will come through for you in every situation and that his blessing will be with you in everything.

One thing is absolutely clear from this: the blessing accompanies those who follow the plan of God. If Abraham had not obeyed the call of God, he would have stayed in Ur and never have inherited the blessing. But he did obey, he did live the life of faith and he did receive the promise.

You must obey the call of God upon your life if you want to enjoy the blessing that comes with the call. God told Abraham, ?I will bless you and make you a blessing.? This is the purpose of apostolic faith ? to be blessed and to be a blessing. Charismatic Christians are renowned the world over for being blessing-chasers. You can fill the largest auditoria of the world with eager charismatics just as long as you focus on the blessings of God ? healing, deliverance, prosperity, and so on.

There is nothing wrong with seeking the blessings of God ? he is a loving heavenly Father who delights in giving good things to his children. But we must realise how and why the blessings come. The promises come to us by revelation and we experience them so that we can live out God?s plan every day of our lives. There is no shortcut to enjoying the blessing. We have already been ?blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ? (Ephesians 1:3). But in order to enjoy these blessings, we must first see them accomplished in Christ and we must also see how they apply to us in our day to day lives.

Vision connects you to the promises of God

The apostle Paul often spoke of his vision of Christ on the Damascus Road when he met the living Christ and received his call to serve God through the Gospel. But he always stressed the need to obey the call. He said, ?I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision? (Acts 26:19). He saw and he obeyed. It is impossible to obey without seeing. It is true that we walk by faith and not by sight. That is, we are not led by the visible circumstances or the physical evidences of the world. We follow the Spirit of God as we are enlightened by the revelation of God. In other words, we follow the vision God gives us.

This is one of the most important principles of the spiritual realm. We connect to the promises of God through vision. We can see this principle at work even in the natural realm. Advertisers know this all too well. They get us to buy their products through the power of enticing vision.

Holiday brochures are timed to arrive through your letterbox in the dead of winter when the days are dark and the weather is miserable. The sunny picture of a sandy beach with palm trees and turquoise ocean water soon has your imagination running wild. You see yourself bronzing on the beach, swimming in the sea and sipping fruit cocktails by the pool. Straight away, you connect with the promise of an amazing summer holiday and you book it online without delay!

The same applies to your spiritual life. You will never connect with the amazing promises of God until you see these promises come to life before your very eyes. I have never seen the fulfilment of a single promise of God in my life until I have first seen that promise appear in living form before my eyes of faith. You have to first see the promises by faith before you experience them in fact. That is how God?s spiritual truths become physical facts.

Dreams and visions are the language of the Holy Spirit

We have to learn to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. He speaks to us in dreams and visions. This is at the heart of what he does when he brings God?s promises to us. He shows us what the promises look like. We get to live in them by faith before we enjoy them in actuality. This is not as difficult as it sounds. After all, in virtually every discipline of life our brain responds to concepts and ideas in picture form. We see before we act. When we plan a course of action ? it may be a business plan or a holiday plan ? we first picture the outcome we desire. Then we work towards that picture in our minds. No plan can succeed without a clear picture of what it is we are going for.

We do this naturally, even unconsciously. However, we must learn to do it consciously and deliberately when it comes to spiritual matters. Otherwise, we will never connect with the promises of God. God helped Abraham who was finding it difficult to connect his faith to the promise of God. The promise of an heir had not been fulfilled, time was running out and Abraham was frustrated. His faith was weak. But God gave him a powerful visual aid which connected him with the promise and launched him to a new level of faith.

God told Abraham to look up at the stars and count them if he could. Then he said, ?So shall your offspring be!? (Genesis 15:5). As Abraham gazed up at the heavens, he saw the promise, he understood what it looked like, and this concrete vision of the promise fulfilled enabled him to connect with God?s word ? he believed God! In the same way, the promises of God must become real to you. You must have a clear vision in your spirit of God?s word to you. As Paul puts it, ?the eyes of your heart must be enlightened? (Ephesians 1:18).

?You must see in order to believe. You must see in order to know. You must see in order to obey.?

Never underestimate the revelatory power of spiritual vision. By faith you see the invisible. That enables you to believe the unusual and to do the impossible. Living for God in today?s world brings its own unique challenges. Society, ever more tolerant of faith in general, is becoming increasingly more intolerant of Christian faith. To meet this challenge God is raising up a new generation of apostolic believers who know how to lay hold of the vision of God. Those who know how to believe God and obey his call. Who know how to walk in his promises and do mighty exploits for him.

It is time for you to see with the eyes of faith. What has God told you to believe him for? What promises are you holding onto? How have you responded to his call to be fruitful and to multiply? What exploits do you dream of achieving for him before you die? For all these things God has a specific vision to give you ? a vision of the promise fulfilled. Allow him to open the eyes of your heart and energise you to lay hold of his promise.

The post Seeing the Invisible appeared first on Colin Dye.

A woman praying in tongues- Some will argue ‘It is not a language, it is gibberish?.The truth is that most foreign languages sound gibberish to those who do not understand them.

Speaking in tongues occurs when we pray to God in a language that we have never learnt, and that must be a miracle! Speaking in tongues is a supernatural phenomenon ? it is the Holy Spirit providing us with words we cannot understand so that we may speak more effectively to the Father.
 

Some leaders accuse Pentecostals of making far too much of tongues. They suggest that the gift of tongues is a minor irrelevancy, a Corinthian aberration tucked away in a half-verse here and there. Others have argued that the phenomenon of tongues ceased with the apostolic age and should not be desired or practiced today. However, related to this debate, there are five important passages of Scripture which need to be examined and read most carefully: Mark 16:15?20; Acts 2:1?13; Acts 10:44?48; Acts 19:1?7 & 1 Corinthians 11:2?14:40. These suggest that we should believe in the contemporary manifestation of tongues and encourage those who have the gift to practice it.
 
A language
Tongues are a language given by the Holy Spirit ? who then enables the believer to enunciate words. It is not just sounds. Sounds may precede words, as in all language development, but language, with proper syntax, quickly follows.
A sign
In Mark 16:17, Jesus said that tongues would be one of the five signs which would accompany those preaching the gospel.
This means that tongues have a place in bringing unbelievers to faith in Christ. Paul emphasised this in 1 Corinthians 14:22, and it was seen at Pentecost when the praise and mystery of the tongues were part of the challenge to the crowd.
 

In Acts 10:44?48, tongues are accepted as the evidence that Cornelius? household had received the Holy Spirit. The person who has not been filled with the Holy Spirit by Jesus will not speak in tongues. Prayer in tongues is reserved for those who have been filled with the Spirit.
 

1 Corinthians 14:5 teaches that speaking in tongues is a gift which is available to all believers to enhance their prayers and worship. It also shows that it is a gift given to the Church to build it up in worship and challenge unbelievers.
From the way this gift is received and developed we can see that tongues are a product of divine and human co?operation. On our side, we cannot invent a language; and God, on his side, does not impose a language against our will. We provide the vocal chords, breath, tongue, palate, teeth and lips; the Holy Spirit supplies the words. We move our speech?making mechanism and ? as the Spirit suggests the words ? we speak them out. Volume, speed, starting and stopping ? these are all are under our control.
 

The gift is described as ?new? tongues in Mark 16:17 and as ?other? tongues in Acts 2:4. In Greek, this is kainos and heteros, which means it is new, not in the sense of never having been heard before, but new to us, different from the language we are accustomed to using.
 

A particular tongue may not necessarily be a known human language. 1 Corinthians 13:1 suggests the possibility that it might be an angelic language.
 

Acts 2:3 describes ?tongues of fire?. In the Old Testament, fire fell upon the altar of the newly built temple to ignite the offering ? thus demonstrating its acceptance by God. Tongues are given to believers today to equip us for ministry and ignite us for action.
This gift has been a trigger releasing many people into supernatural devotion and service, and is often a conscious experience of assurance.
 

In John 4:14, Jesus indicated that the living water he was to give ? which we understand to be the Spirit ? would continually well-up inside believers. This alludes to Psalm 36:9 & Isaiah 58:11.
Is it too much to suggest that the gift of tongues is one facet of this fountain bubbling up inside, offering light and praise to Jesus? Praying audibly in tongues would then merely be the adjustment in volume to allow the inner, everlasting bubbling to be heard.
 

Many make much of ?messages in tongues? but 1 Corinthians 14:2 is unambiguous: tongues are God?-ward in direction, not-human?-ward. Speaking in tongues is a mode of prayer, not a means of communication. When we use the gift, we address God. This means that any explanation or interpretation of tongues will be in the form of prayer or praise. It will be us speaking to God, not God speaking to us.
 
This is not to say that an interpretation of tongues may not be used by God to convey a message. For example, the phrase, ?Oh promise?-keeping God, we praise your holy name?, might be the very word to aid someone struggling with an unfulfilled promise. However, the interpretation would, properly speaking, have been a prayer of praise to a promise?-keeping God, not a message from God to remind us that he keeps his word.
 

The gift of tongues was not, and is not, a shortcut to communication in missionary work. Tongues were not necessarily languages of the people to whom the disciples were preaching. The crowds on the day of Pentecost heard the disciples praising God in their own languages, but when Peter preached he used his native tongue.
 

Speaking in tongues is not an ejaculation from the subconscious. It is not a result of suggestion, nor linked to schizophrenia, catalepsy or hysteria. In fact, the lack of excitement in tongues means that it can be a disappointment to those seeking a spiritual thrill instead of an aid to deeper prayer.
 

Some suggest that the miracle of tongues does not take place in the mouth of the speaker, but in the ear of the hearer. That would be a remarkable miracle, but the Bible never suggests this. In fact the opposite is true, for such a miracle would make the gift of interpretation unnecessary.
 

Some, who correctly suggest that the ?Do all?? questions of 1 Corinthians 12:29?30 presume the answer ?No?, go on incorrectly to assume that this means tongues are not for all, but only a few.
But 1 Corinthians 12:27?30 refers to the structure of ministry in the Church. It emphasises the plurality of ministry by listing nine different categories of ministry. Paul?s implied ?No? is a reply to these two questions: ?Should all believers bring public prayers in tongues during the public worship of the church?? And, ?Should all apostles, prophets and teachers ? and so on ? also have a public ministry in miracles, healing, tongues ? and so on??
Paul?s ?No? does not suggest that only a restricted number of believers will be able to pray privately in tongues. It seems to me that 1 Corinthians 14:5 shows that it is possible for all to pray in tongues. This echoes Mark 16:17.
 

Some still maintain that speaking in tongues is ?ecstatic? ? that we cannot control the gift, that we pray in tongues only when God ?makes? us. But we have complete control over the phenomenon. This is why tongues can be suppressed.
We can adjust the volume and vary the speed. Most people can pray in tongues without making an audible noise. The words are formed in the usual way, with the tongue moving rapidly, but the lips are not opened, thus preventing the sound from being heard. Unfortunately, some people ?mutter in tongues? and it is this which conveys the impression that tongues is involuntary.
 

The key verb of chapter 14 is oikodomeo. This is usually translated as ?to edify?, but is better rendered ?to build?. We can understand this more fully by the phrase ?to build together in order to build up?. If we desire the up-building of the Church we must pay special attention to 1 Corinthians 14.
 

 
Some people think that an interpretation makes the preceding tongue redundant. ?Why the tongue?? they say. ?Why not just the interpretation?? There are two answers.
Firstly, though the two gifts do make a complete unit, each element has a unique function. The tongue is a sign to unbelievers in that it is an obvious supernatural manifestation; the explanation builds up the Church. Taken together, they glorify God.
Secondly, the gifts are presented in the context of ?body? teaching. Each gift requires another to be complete. This underlines the point that nobody is omnicompetent. The interpretation needs a tongue, and the tongue needs an interpretation. Together they make a whole.
 

Mark 16:16?17 lists five signs which demonstrate to unbelievers the truth of the proclaimed word and reveal an insight into the power and glory of the living God. Speaking in tongues is one of these signs which are given for use in serious evangelism.
1 Corinthians 14:22 makes it clear that tongues are a ?sign for unbelievers?. Here Paul reveals that tongues are a part of Christian worship which particularly challenges unbelievers.
Some leaders reserve prayer in tongues for believers? meetings. They think that praying in tongues will put the unbelievers off, and they base this on the idea that the reference in 1 Corinthians 14:21 to Isaiah 28:11?12 shows that tongues are a sign ?against? unbelievers.
But the fact that the Samaritans would not listen to God does not mean that God does not speak to them. All the Mark 16 signs can be ? and often are ? rejected by those who observe them, but this is no reason for not using them in evangelism.
Christians who have been exposed to false teaching about the gift often profess to having been offended by the use of tongues ? even quiet, graceful, orderly, worshipful ones! However, the right use of tongues and interpretations often intrigues and amazes unbelievers.
The use of tongues in evangelism is essentially that of a sign. It demonstrates that a supernatural God has broken through; it drives back the evil one; it enables vital guidance to be received. For the world?s sake, this use of tongues must be rediscovered.
 

The gift of tongues can be used in every area of prayer ? in thanksgiving, confession, petition, adoration, supplication, intercession, praise and so on. However, there appear to be six areas where, if we are living in the Spirit, tongues will naturally be used ? either personally, when we are praying on our own, or corporately, when we are together.
 

When we are worshipping, the gift of tongues helps us to express our love for Jesus in a better way than mere human language. We struggle in human relationships to find a more creative and meaningful way of saying ?I love you?. In our divine relationship, the gift of tongues does this more beautifully, more aptly, than human artistry can ever attain.
 

The gift of tongues is especially valuable in intercession when we do not know what to pray. Romans 8:26 promises that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We are often asked to pray for a person and have no idea of their needs. This is a time when praying in tongues is most helpful. The Spirit will intercede through us, according to the mind of God.
 

The gift of tongues helps in the achievement of spiritual breakthroughs. We looked at ?warfare praying? in Part Seven, and tongues can be used in this ?warring? way.
Replies to prayer are often slow in coming, either due to demonic opposition or because God is pressing patience and perseverance into our lives. When our faith is low because of the delay, we should pray in tongues. God?s faith is never low, and it is our spirits which are in tune with this sort of faith.
In impossible situations, when opposition is great or circumstances are grim, our prayers can easily become statements of doubt. These are the moments when the gift of tongues is so helpful. Prayer in tongues is full of God?s faith. It is full of his self?confidence.
 

The gift can be used to articulate sadness. Many of us have a problem lamenting to God. How can we pour out our anguish over events like Dunblane, Rwanda, an earthquake, a plane crash, a terrorist atrocity such as 9/11 in New York and 7/7 in London? How do we share in God?s agony? Prayer in tongues can be a meaningful lamentation about the unspeakable horrors of a world which is reaping the results of human sin and divine judgement.
 

How can English express adequate gratitude at the conversion of a wayward child or the healing of a close friend? ?Thank you? appears beggarly. Prayer in tongues is much better. We know then that we have said ?thank you? properly. The gift of tongues has a special place in thanksgiving.
 

The gift of tongues builds us up. It is the experience of many that regular, frequent, consistent praying in tongues has played a significant part in transforming them from people with an ineffective witness into people whose witness brings lasting results.
Prayer in tongues is recommended when we know a specific conversation or meeting will take place and are unsure how to proceed. This gift is for those times when we are uncertain of God?s will. We should pray in tongues, focused on the person whom we will meet.
It does appear that we can focus, or direct, our praying in tongues. The praying is with our spirit, and the directing is with our mind. We can picture the individual in our ?mind?s eye?, then begin to pray in tongues for them. It is the experience of many that this discipline, in conjunction with prayer in their own language and fasting, brings results that are not otherwise seen.
 

In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul suggests that there should be only a few consecutive tongues, and that the tongues should be interpreted or explained in some way. He does not comment on corporate tongues.
Many congregations move on from singing a particular song in their own language to singing in tongues. When this happens, they are expressing the theme of the song or hymn in their heavenly languages.
Some people suggest that the Hebrew word selah ? which appears frequently in the Psalms ? represents a congregational pause to allow the musicians to play ?theme music? relevant to the Psalm. Perhaps singing in tongues ? singing with the spirit ? is the selah in a meeting.
 
When people sing or pray in tongues together, there is a God?-given unity to the praising or praying. When two hundred people sing in tongues, there are not two hundred different songs all needing a separate interpretation ? that would be chaos. Instead, one song is being sung in two hundred different ways ? and that is beautiful.
 
It is the same when a congregation prays together in tongues. There is only one prayer being prayed in a variety of ways and languages.
 

We also need to believe that speaking in tongues is for us. Some people have the notion that, ?If God wants me to speak in tongues, he?ll make sure I do?. God does unexpectedly give this gift to a few who do not ask, but normally those who receive are those who have kept on asking.
We should ask the Holy Spirit to give us this gift and we should receive it by faith. Faith is not persuading ourselves about the truth of tongues. Faith is letting the truth about tongues persuade us.
What I am going to suggest may appear somewhat mechanical, but we have to start somewhere. Both the Holy Spirit and us have a part in praying with tongues. Acts 2:4 states, ?They began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance?. The Holy Spirit does not provide lips or breath as his part of the package. They are our responsibility. We need to stop speaking in our natural language ? for nobody can speak in two languages at the same time ? to take a breath and trust the Lord, and then to form our lips into a word.
We then begin to speak that word, trusting the Spirit to give the following words. Some people start immediately with a complete language. Others stay at an elemental stage for several weeks. Many agonise for months, persistently asking, seeking and knocking, before they pray in tongues. Patience, perseverance and obedience are the keys to faith and maturity.
As soon as we receive this gift, doubts start to come our way. The evil one sows disbelief in a frantic attempt to silence the prayers flowing from our lips.
He has great success with two lies. Firstly, ?You are making it up?. Everybody who has prayed in tongues has heard this lie, yet few people possess the ability to create a new language. The gift of tongues is for most their first experience of hearing God speak through them. It is always more natural and ?everyday? than they expected.
The second doubt will be, ?It is not a language, it is gibberish?. All have suffered the agony of this lie. The truth is that most foreign languages sound gibberish to those who do not understand them!
The best advice is to seek reassurance from a tongue-?praying leader. He or she should guide you from the first faltering sounds to complete maturity in your God-?given language of prayer.
 
 

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