The first part of chapter eight from Professor Williams’ book, The Gift of the Holy Spirit Today, about the greatest reality of our time.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit Today: Context (Chapter 7)

Chapter Eight: Effects, Part 1

We come finally to a consideration of the effects or results of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our concern is not so much with long-range effects, though they are certainly not excluded, as with the immediate results of the Spirit being given. A number of these may be noted.

First of all, there is an extraordinary sense of the reality of God. As has been observed, the gift of the Holy Spirit is the gift of God’s own presence. It is not something the Holy Spirit grants—such as life, power, wisdom—but it is the Spirit Himself who is given. Since the Holy Spirit is God in His essential being, the reception of this gift means the reception of God Himself. This then signifies the stupendous fact of the coming of God, the Holy Spirit, in fullness to lay claim to His creature, and to pervade the totality of human existence. In the action, God without ceasing to be wholly transcendent is also wholly immanent as He possesses the heights and depths of creaturely life. This extraordinary event of the divine self-giving is at the same time a divine self-disclosure, a revelation of the divine reality. The reality of God, His divine presence, is made known to man with compelling force.

Further, the God who comes through the gift of the Holy Spirit is the triune God. Hence, though it is the Spirit who is given—and thus not the same personally as Father or Son—nonetheless His very presence also makes real other persons of the Godhead. He constantly points to, glorifies, makes real the Son, the exalted Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit the exalted Lord constantly makes Himself known to His believing people. Jesus Christ, though now at the “right hand” of the Father and not bodily present, becomes spiritually present among those who believe in Him. Likewise, the Holy Spirit makes real God as Father, for it is through the Spirit’s indwelling and moving presence that the fatherhood of God takes on more intimate and personal meaning. By the Spirit we say “Abba! Father!” not as address to a distant deity but as the cry of the heart to one near at hand.¹  To summarize: the reality of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit is vividly disclosed through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

As we turn again to the books of Acts, it is apparent that the reality of God is the paramount fact in everything that occurs. When the Spirit is given at Pentecost, the company immediately begins to declare the marvelous works of God and thus to exult in His wonderful presence. It matters not that thousands are gathered around them, for so full are they of God’s Spirit that they go right on praising Him. The reality of God’s presence has gripped them as a community, as individuals, and in such fashion that in all that follows they sense God moving in their midst.

What does the coming of Elijah and the casting out of demons have to do with showing Jesus as Messiah? Journey through the Gospel to the Hebrews with Kevin Williams and find out.

And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).

In the previous issue of the Pneuma Review, we looked at the mount of transfiguration in much greater detail and how the Jewish elements surrounding the event might have been interpreted by the disciples. We also saw that Yeshua’s (Jesus’) final word on the experience was “Tell the vision to no one …” (Matthew 16:9). This is curiously followed with one of disciples asking, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first.”

As this was some of their conversation back in Matthew 11:11-14 and is by now what we might call “old news” we may rightly wonder, “Why are they asking this when Yeshua said it was not to be discussed?”

There may be several options as to why this question surfaced. Most notably, they were just coming down the hilltop where Moses and Elijah had appeared with Yeshua. The text tells us that only Peter, James, and John were there and that Yeshua had commanded them, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead” (Matthew 16:9).

The opening of our passage above “And His disciples asked Him …” does not give anyone’s specific identity, yet imagine you are Peter, James, or John, having just witnessed the very presence of Elijah when one of your peers asks this question! The knowing glances that passed between the three of them must have been remarkable!

It is possible that the question came from one of the three—hoping to draw the experience with Yeshua out for the other disciples to hear (and in this cunning way, not break Yeshua’s commandment to remain silent).

Or, perhaps the passage from Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD” had been a part of the prior or approaching Haftarah (prescribed Sabbath reading) and was on the forefront of their minds.

Pneuma Review: What is the biblical role of the prophet today?

Michael Sullivant

Allow me to begin by stating that I define “prophetic” in a simple and broad way. It has generally to do with direct divine communication by the Holy Spirit to and/or through human beings. “Prophetic” then serves as an umbrella term that has many sub-categories: the prophetic scriptures (2 Pet 1:20); a spirit of prophecy, a spirit of wisdom and revelation; the gift of prophecy, a word of wisdom or knowledge; a prophet or prophetic ministry, spiritual dreams and visions; angelic visitations, Holy Spirit induced trances; audible voices from the Spirit realm and the like. Direct divine inspiration and communication is intrinsic to all prophetic activity and causes its recipient to be animated and activated by a power beyond this earth.

The proper role of a contemporary prophet is not to take the place of the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of any believer or congregation. Neither is it to lead, command, correct or the Church without reference to the other ministries appointed by God. It isn’t to establish new essential doctrines of our common historic faith. And, it certainly isn’t to write new Scriptures.

The proper role of any modern-day “prophet” is akin to the “prophets” that are referred to in the New Testament. There are similarities between the New Testament prophets and the Old Testament prophets, but there are also many differences. The major one being the fact that through the New Covenant, every believer in Christ has an abiding anointing of the Holy Spirit that has transformed them into a living “temple”. Thus, every Spirit-filled believer has a “dose” of the prophetic spirit. In the OT there was “prophetic concentration” in which relatively few people had the “word of the Lord” come to them directly. In the NT, there is a “prophetic distribution” in which the actual voice of God would be directly heard by many.

This is reflected in Acts 2 where Peter uses the Old Testament prophecies of Joel to characterize the Pentecostal outpouring as being a “prophetic” infusion. The Church of Jesus Christ is therefore to be “prophetic” by nature. In essence, God answered the ancient “sigh” of Moses that “all the Lord’s people would be prophets”. I like to think of it this way: on the day of Pentecost, the pillar of fire that had led the children of Israel in the wilderness, broke apart and was distributed as a “tongue of fire” resting upon every recipient of the Spirit’s power. Since then, wherever a Spirit-filled believer in Christ goes, the power of the Spirit goes with her or him. This power is “prophetic” in its essence. Through the Body of Christ, the power of God has become highly mobile and the life and ministry of Jesus has been multiplied. This was right in line with the God’s passionate intention and ingenious strategy to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory.

This wide distribution of the prophetic ministry of the Holy Spirit through the New Covenant significantly changed the dynamics of prophets and their role within the community of God’s people. The prophets of God are now to be relationally and functionally integrated within the larger Body of Christ where they are surrounded with the blessing and safety of many other divinely gifted believers. They do not stand alone or apart from their fellow members, and are in no way superior because of their extra dose of prophetic revelation or experiences. They simply make their special contribution along with everyone else. New Testament prophets prophesy “in part” and “according to the measure of their faith”. They don’t see the whole picture because they need the gifts of the other members to see and experience all that God intends to reveal. God has purposefully created this interdependent dynamic within the NT church. This characteristic distinguishes it from the prophetic dynamic of Israel in the OT in which only a selected few had the word of the Lord come to them.

The Resurrection of Jesus, A Jewish Perspective. Pinchas Lapide. Wipf and Stock Publishers (Eugene, OR: 2002).

I first encountered Rabbi Lapide in the mid-1980s in a televised debate with noted Christian theologian Walter Kaiser, Jr. I was dumbfounded to hear this Orthodox rabbi state that Jesus “might be the Messiah” but that the Jewish community would not know for certain until His return. I learned that this rabbi had been one of only a handful of Hebraic scholars permitted to examine the gospel texts, and that he had been permitted to author a book on his findings. At that time, this book was only available in German. When I learned it had been reprinted in English, I was quick to request a copy and I was not disappointed with its contents.

Lapide does not question the fact of Jesus as a man who literally existed. He notes that apart from the testimony of several Jewish men, his reality is noted in both secular and Jewish literature of the day. Nor is Jesus’ crucifixion in question—as it was Rome’s punishment of choice in Jerusalem.

At issue is Jesus’ resurrection. Did it or did it not occur? Lapide is quick to state that this un-provable point is strictly a matter of faith. But faith not withstanding, Lapide makes a strong case that the theology of “resurrection” is Jewish through and through. As the Psalmist writes, “to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death” (Ps. 68:20).

Lapide does not shirk from the historical criticisms of the resurrection. The pagan similarities of Attis, Adonis, Isis and so forth have often been used to defend a resurrection “myth.” But these arguments present no challenge to Lapide. “The resurrection of Jesus can be proved—or refuted—only from Jewish sources since the Nazarene, both in his lifetime and after Good Friday, has ministered only within his homeland and his people Israel” (p. 46). This Talmudically reared scholar stridently asserts, “in whatever way one wants to understand [the resurrection], it was primarily and chiefly a Jewish faith experience” (pp 45-46). While Lapide never professes that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, he makes it perfectly clear that the context of his resurrection fits within the overall framework and contemporary messianic expectation.

Graham Cooke, Developing Your Prophetic Gifting (Chosen Books, 2003), 284 pages, ISBN 9780800793265.

I operate well in the gift of prophecy and interpreting tongues. I thus enjoy reading the thoughts of others who, too, share this realm. My first experience with prophecy was back in the late 60’s when the Philadelphia Gospel Temple was in its heyday. The Temple sponsored a Labor Day convention each year, and the Saturday afternoon session featured the visiting pastors, the Temple pastors and several members of the Temple board who laid their hands on various candidates and spoke what they perceived as the mind of God over each of those who had sought this experience. I wanted that experience.

The seekers always outnumbered the places available so it took several years for me to work my way up on the list. When my turn finally came, I was dismayed when the voice of God came through Johnny Green, a member of the Temple board, and not through one of those mighty visiting preachers. I wrote down what I remembered Green saying shortly after he spoke. It was something like “You (me) will be like a well re-dug and a dam overtopped with flood waters for out of you will flow rivers of living water, you will touch thousands for Christ and your marriage will be an example to many.”

Nothing much happened to change my life’s direction for ten years, then my wife divorced me, I was relieved of my church teaching duties and I soon moved 2,500 miles to California in 1979 to start over. It seemed at that time that John Green’s prophetic words were merely some nice thoughts uttered among many others one Saturday afternoon long ago. And then after several years in California, they all came true. Amazing and astonishing.

I never heard of Graham Cooke until his book appeared on a list of potential book reviews. Even then his name meant nothing to me until I began to read his book on one of the airplane rides I seem to constantly take. Graham Cooke’s writing was fascinating and compelling as he unfolded his experiences and knowledge about the gifting and calling of a prophet. I ended up with 22 pages of notes in my journal, and then I used those notes in the session on Prophecy in my class at Pacific Rim Bible College. Next year I will add his book to the texts for the class.

The class session on prophecy is always fascinating as I teach my students how to prophesy by doing so over almost every one in the class. After I work my way through this, I invite the students to try their wings and see if they too can fly. Often the class ends with a season of protracted tarrying and tears, students everywhere on the floor all over the class room. In no other class of mine is the power of God so evident.

Robert M. Bowman, Jr., The Word-Faith Controversy: Understanding the Health and Wealth Gospel (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2001), 254 pages, ISBN 9780801063442.

When I came across Bowman’s book The Word-Faith Controversy, I was very interested in his approach and conclusions because I had earlier done my Th.D. dissertation on nineteenth and twentieth century “faith theologies.” Bowman’s book is a significant contribution to the study of the Word of Faith movement. While not uncritical of the movement, he takes exception to many of the conclusions of Hank Hanegraaff (Christianity in Crisis) and D.R. McConnell (A Different Gospel). Contrary to Hanegraaff, he does not portray the movement as monolithic, but recognizes diversity and disagreement within the movement.

Bowman prefers to call E.W. Kenyon the “grandfather” of the Word-Faith movement, citing what he considers three other “fathers”: William Branham and the Latter Rain movement, Oral Roberts (whom he does not classify as Word-Faith), and especially Kenneth Hagin. He recognizes that Kenyon would not accept all that is taught in the Word-Faith movement (e.g., that God has a body or that believers are little gods), nor would Word-Faith leaders accept all that Kenyon taught (e.g., that tongues is not the initial evidence of the baptism in the Spirit). He concludes, “Kenyon is the source of most, but not all, of the distinctive and controversial teachings of the Word-Faith movement” (p. 38). Further, the Word-Faith teachers have sometimes gone beyond anything that Kenyon himself taught.

Taking a more scientific approach than McConnell and Hanegraaff, Bowman lists and compares 23 standard New Thought concepts with Christian Science and Kenyon. From this statistical analysis, he concludes that while there is much in common between Christian Science and New Thought, there is “little resemblance” between Kenyon and New Thought. Further, he concludes that Kenyon is “far closer to orthodoxy than is Christian Science” (p. 46). Kenyon may share some similarity with metaphysical thought, but his views are “fundamentally different” (p. 48). He demonstrates that McConnell’s methodology is faulty, and thus his conclusions regarding Kenyon’s connections with metaphysical New Thought are deeply flawed. While there may have been some metaphysical influence, Kenyon’s views are more unlike such concepts than like.

Bowman goes on to show that Kenyon’s teaching was rooted more in the pre-Pentecostal Higher Life, Keswick, healing and proto-Pentecostal movements. He cites examples of such teaching including Andrew Murray, Hannah Whitall Smith, Charles Cullis, A.J. Gordon, and others, especially concentrating on the teachings of A.B. Simpson and John G. Lake. He is less critical of the Keswick/Higher Life stream than Dale Simmons (E.W. Kenyon and the Postbelllum Pursuit of Peace, Power, and Prosperity), seeing less similarity between the Keswick/Higher Life tradition and metaphysical teaching.

Brian D. McLaren, A New Kind of Christian: A tale of two friends on a spiritual journey (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001), 173 pages, ISBN 9780787955991.

Brian D. McLaren, The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of A New Kind of Christian (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003), 203 pages, ISBN 9780787963873.

Brian McLaren’s book may leave you feeling angry, relieved, concerned or even confused, but I doubt it will leave any unaffected. While A New Kind of Christian may seem to be less about doctrine and more about Christian living, nothing strikes closer to the heart of our doctrines than questioning the way we live out what we believe.

Although a work of fiction, McLaren sees his book as more a “philosophical dialogue” (p. xviii) than a novel. In 1994 McLaren found himself so discouraged with pastoring and Christianity that he wrote in his journal, “One year from today I will not be in the ministry” (p. ix). “At the time I could see only two alternatives: (1) continue practicing and promoting a version of Christianity that I had deepening reservations about or (2) leave Christian ministry, and perhaps the Christian path, altogether. There was a third alternative that I hadn’t yet considered: learn to be a Christian in a new way.” (pp. ix-x) That was the beginning of a journey that would lead to a new understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ.

The story is about a pastor (Dan Poole) who is contemplating leaving the ministry. He seeks counsel with one of his daughter’s high school teachers (Neil Edward Oliver or Neo) who serves as sort of a composite of the folks who helped the author in his time of questioning and reevaluation.

Have we cast the Bible in the wrong role in our lives? What does it mean to be saved? Is the modern Christian view of sin actually dangerous? As you read the conversations between Dan and Neo, you will find as I did that you are not a mere bystander. These issues cut to core of our Christian lives. To put it bluntly, these are not “safe” topics.

You can’t talk about this sort of thing with just anybody. People worry about you. They may think you’re changing sides, turning traitor. They may talk about you as if you came down with some communicable disease. So you keep this sort of think like a dirty secret, this doubt that is not really a doubt about God or Jesus or faith but about our take on God, our version of Jesus, our way of faith. You let it out only when you feel you have found someone you can trust (p. xv).

The Story We Find Ourselves In is a continuation of the story of the first book that takes a turn for the practical. What does living as a new kind of Christian entail? What can you expect to happen in your life? How will it effect your church, your relationships, and your walk with God? Using, among other things, the thorny subject of Darwinian evolution, McLaren shows how a “new kind of Christian” may react to real issues.

I was pleasantly surprised by McLaren’s ability to write fiction that is interesting as well as informative. The reading was enjoyable, and quick, which was quite an accomplishment considering the subject matter. These are important books. They may help identify concerns and chart a new course for those who are feeling uneasy in their Christianity. For those more content with their walk of faith they will at the very least challenge you to take a fresh look.

Reviewed by Mike Dies

Amos Yong, Beyond the Impasse: Toward a Pneumatological Theology of Religions (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), 192 pages, ISBN 9780801026126.

The goal of this thorough and erudite book by Amos Yong is explicit in the title, Beyond the Impasse, the impasse in question being the Christological question that throws up immediate blockades to inter-faith dialogue among the world’s varied religious traditions. Yong notes the reality that every attempt by Christians of any stripe over the years to engage in dialogue with representatives of other religions runs almost immediately headlong into the Christian conviction of the finality of Jesus Christ for revelation and salvation. The book is far too comprehensive and conceptually rich to visit every facet of the argument in a short review. Thus, I will briefly comment on a few elements of Yong’s method for approaching theology of religions.

Amos Yong

Jack W. Hayford, “Practicing What We Preach” Ministries Today (Nov/Dec 2003), pages 22–27.

Jack Hayford sees the church in a moral crisis. “Favoritism, greed, shoddy morals and shady ethics have found a comfortable home in the church. At the same time, both inside and outside the church there is a rise in intolerance towards leaders who have been allowed to compromise with impunity their various institutions’ self–declared moral and ethical standards” (pg. 22). Despite this laudable intolerance the evangelical church, with its many denominational and independent groups, has no unified voice when in comes to confronting unethical leaders. “… there has been no standard policy guiding the body of Christ as it deals with its mavericks—the small but growing number of leaders who make their own rules and flaunt the ethical demands of a disciple of Jesus Christ” (pg. 22). It is in this context that he proposes a solution: “… I want to propose the establishment of an International Council for Ethical Accountability (ICEA)—or something with another title, but serving the church with what those words represent … Such a council could provide a starting place for an internationally agreed–on standard concerning basic ethical and moral issues as they pertain to church leadership” (pg. 23).

Jack Hayford / The King’s University

Hayford believes that such a council would allow the church to express a “collective voice” when responding to leadership failings: “While any one of a field of leaders may answer a reporter’s question … without a broad consensus, the public is left with the notion that every spiritual leader is basically a law unto themselves” (pg. 24).

Noting that luxury and extravagance has replaced self denial in many places (pg. 24), and that he has had to quietly withdraw from participation in two ministries because of their “law unto myself” attitudes (pg. 24), Hayford sees the need for judgment to come from within the church, lest it come from outside (pg. 27). “This isn’t a proposal for doctrinal agreement beyond basics, or for ecclesiastical or liturgical conformity. But written on all our hearts is a set of ethical principles that we intuitively know are right, and God’s word affirms a fundamental body of moral expectations that we all affirm. So the question is, do we believe that it possible that we can find a consensus on how we can strengthen one another by speaking with one voice where ethics are involved?” (pg. 27)

Hayford believes the answer is “yes.” How many others feel the same is yet to be seen. I look forward to seeing the responses to his proposal from evangelicals in the United States and abroad.

Reviewed by Mike Dies

Read the original article: http://ministrytodaymag.com/index.php/ministry-leadership/ethics/8215-practicing-what-we-preach

Part of the Rightly Understanding God’s Word series by Craig S. Keener.

As appearing in Pneuma Review Spring 2004.

Take a course on biblical interpretation with New Testament scholar, Professor Craig S. Keener.

Continued from Part 1 in the Winter 2004 issue 

8. The Spirit-baptized life in Mk 1:8-13

The Gospel of Mark explicitly mentions God’s Spirit only six times, but half of them appear in his introduction (1:8-13), where he introduces several of his central themes for his audience. His other uses emphasize the Spirit’s work in empowering Jesus for exorcism (Mk 3:29-30), Old Testament prophets to speak God’s message (12:26) or Jesus’ witnesses to speak his message (13:11).

In the introduction, John the Baptist announces the mighty one who will baptize others in the Holy Spirit (1:8); this Spirit-baptizer is Jesus of Nazareth. Immediately after this announcement, we see Jesus baptized and the Spirit coming on him (1:9-10). The Spirit-baptizer thus gives us a model of what the Spirit-baptized life will look like, for he himself receives the Spirit first. That is why what the Spirit does next appears all the more stunning: the Spirit thrusts Jesus into the wilderness for conflict with the devil (1:12-13). The Spirit-filled life is not a life of ease and comfort, but of conflict with the devil’s forces!

The rest of the Gospel of Mark continues this pattern. Shortly after Jesus emerges from the wilderness, he must confront an evil spirit in a religious gathering (1:21-27). Throughout the rest of the Gospel, Jesus continues to defeat the devil by healing the sick and driving out demons (cf. 3:27), while the devil continues to strike at Jesus through the devil’s religious and political agents. In the end, the devil manages to get Jesus killed—but Jesus triumphs by rising from the dead.

9. How to Make Disciples in Matthew 28:18-20

The immediate context of 28:18-20 provides us examples for how to testify about Christ (28:1-10) and how not to testify about Christ (28:11-15). But the context of the whole Gospel of Matthew further informs how we should read this passage, especially because it is the conclusion of the Gospel and readers would have finished the rest of this Gospel by the time they reach it.