Holy Spirit Manifestations

I recently came across this Youtube clip and again the reality of Holy Spirit Manifestations is brought into the spot-light alongside some dodgy demonic manifestations.



Before watching, for those of you that have tangibly encountered Holy Spirit, have drunk deep from the realities of the Person of Joy and Love - and have often been frowned upon for it, I say this:

Act 2:13-18 But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine." But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
"'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions (that is: an appearance divinely granted in an ecstasy or dream), and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.



2Ti 3:1-5 But understand this, that in the last days there will come.... vs5... people having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power-(That is: power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work; specifically miraculous power; which a person or thing exerts and puts forth) . Avoid such people.
VS 7 and 8 continues about these type of people... "always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith."

(A Jewish History study shows that Jannes and Jambres were Pharaohs the two magicians: "According to Unger's Bible Dictionary, page 554b, "Jannes and Jambres were two of the Egyptian magicians who attempted, by their enchantments, to counteract the influence on Pharaoh's mind of the miracles wrought by Moses," as recorded in Exodus chapters 7-8"....
They attempted to discredit the real manifestation of Gods power by showing it alongside the FALSE. They were - under the influence of Satan - trying to make Pharaoh sceptical of Gods manifesting power.)

Again, for those of you that have tangibly encountered Holy Spirit, have drunk deep from the realities of the Person of Joy and Love - and have often been frowned upon for it - I say, continue drinking deep!
For those who have not (and there is nothing wrong with that by the way :), I have attached an Objective study by Santo Calarco on the subject of Holy Spirit manifestations in Scripture that may help you. A Careful inquiry is awesome, but an offended heart will often cut you off from receiving revelation.







MANIFESTATIONS - IN SCRIPTURE AND HISTORY

I have received many phone calls and emails from sincere people who are attempting to understand the various spiritual manifestations taking place at my fellowship meetings in Sydney.

In order to meet this need I will attempt to give a brief biblical explanation of what is taking place.

The purpose of this paper therefore, is to succinctly describe what the Bible says about human reactions in the presence of the supernatural. This topic will be dealt with in two sections. The first will deal with God’s relationship to human objectivity and logic. The second will then build on this platform in order to examine some of biblical man’s bizarre responses when in the presence of the supernatural.


INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS: PRESUPPOSITIONS

It is important to realise that God is not human and so is not bound by human logic and reason.

Western thinking is conditioned by Greek rationalism and thus maintains that logic is supreme. The scientific method and empiricism, major processes by which western man establishes truth, are totally dependent on rationality, reason and logic. These are the ways western man studies and analyses the natural world.

However, God is supernatural not natural. His ways therefore may not necessarily be able to be tested by the scientific method. God is not tied to man-made logic and reason.

God’s Ways not Ours

The bible emphatically states that God’s ways are not our ways, nor are his thoughts ours. See Isaiah 55:8-9. In fact, Paul says that God has “made foolish the wisdom of this world” because “the foolishness of God is wiser than man and the weakness of God is stronger than men”. 1 Corinthians 1:20-25. As a result “the natural man [man without the Spirit of God] does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him” 1 Corinthians 2:14. Hence God operates from the platform of human foolishness and not within the parameter’s of “natural man’s” rationalistic abilities. Hence Paul can say, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” 1 Corinthians 1:20.

Consequently, Paul continues to say that “if anyone among you seems to be wise in this age let he become a fool [God’s modus operandi] that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” 1 Corinthians 3: 18-19.

Jesus plainly taught on a number of occasions that God had “hidden these things from the wise [naturally intelligent] and learned [educated] and have revealed them to little children”. Matthew 11:25. Little children are not too concerned with the rules of scientific method nor are they impressed with the hermeneutics and exegetical methods of biblical scholarship [as important as these may be]. In fact these things oftentimes get in the way.

Both Moses and Paul were brilliant scholars according to man’s reasoning. They were some of the most educated men of their time; the former in secular thinking and the latter in spiritual. But they had to learn God’s wisdom [foolishness to man] for many years in the desert before they could be of any use to God. They had to first unlearn man’s wisdom before they could learn the things of God.

Scripture teaches that God has not revealed all things to man. Man’s knowledge and hence learning capabilities are limited. See Deut 29:29. Paul says that we “know in part”. 1 Corinthians 13:9. As a result man cannot empirically test God’s ways and thoughts!



God - A Law unto Himself

As a matter of fact, God is not even bound by the guidelines He sets out for limited, sinful, man. The Law of God states that a human judge was never to justify the wicked. Deut 25:1. Any judge who performed such an act committed an abomination, a detestable act! Proverbs 17:15. However, we read that our God does the very thing condemned! “God justifies the wicked,” says Paul in Romans 4:5.

The bible also says that any person caught in the act of adultery should be stoned. Lev 20:10. However, Jesus did not apply the law with the adulterous woman in John 8. Scripture further dictates that no man was to ever marry an immoral woman. Deut 22:20. Yet we find God commanding Hosea to marry a harlot! Hosea 1:2.

These few examples suffice to highlight the fact that God can not be bound to human logic and reason and neither does He have to conform to them. In fact there is only one place in Scripture where God invites us to reason together with Him. And even this scripture is not humanly logical. The gospel prophet Isaiah quotes God as saying, “Come now, and let us reason together” and then goes onto to say “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white”. Isaiah 1:18. Here God invites us to come and reason with Him and then goes onto say that red is white and white is red! This statement does not conform to human logic!

Having said this we can now list some of the many humanly bizarre and unreasonable phenomena found in Holy Writ. Phenomena originating within the mind of God!




Is God Weird?

In scripture and at the command of God we find the following:

*Donkeys speak ………………………………………………………Numbers 22:28-30

*Touching a dead man’s bones brings about a resurrection ………….……2 Kings 13:21

*Prophets publicly walk naked for 3 years ……………………………………….Isa 20:3

*Spirit falls/Saul prophecies naked & lay naked all day & night ………...1 Sam 19:23,24

*Men drop dead at God’s command & instantly devoured by worms ………...Acts 12:23

*Passing shadows heals …………………………………………………………Acts 5:15

*Handkerchiefs and Aprons heal and cast out demons ………………………..Acts 19:12

*People make important decisions by drawing straws ………………………Acts 1:24:26

*Sick await angels to stir waters of pool before entering in order to be healed …John 5:4



Please note the following practices of Jesus

*He speaks to, gets angry at and curses a tree for not having fruit when it is not even fruit bearing season! ……………………………………………………………Mark 11:12-14

*He spits in a man’s eyes in order to heal him …………………………….Mark 8: 22-23

*He put his fingers in a man’s ears and spat and touched his tongue in order to restore sight and hearing ……………………………………………………………….Mark 7:33

Is it any wonder then that men, yes even god-fearing believing men, in response to the activities of Jesus “were all amazed and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today!’” Luke 5:26.

At this point we can conclude that God does not necessarily operate at all times within the boundaries of human logic and reason. Being supernatural He does not of necessity at all times conform to natural reasoning.


Human responses to the Supernatural

Having demonstrated some of the unorthodox and “irrational” methods of God, we will now be better able to understand some of the humanly bizarre manifestations that people display when they come into contact with the supernatural.

Before we launch off into an examination of what the Scriptures teach us about manifestations and human responses to the presence of God [and angels] I would like to share with you a relevant story.

Moon-walking and Electricity

I was 10 years old. Neil Armstrong had just set foot on the moon [now you can work out how old I am] and my fifth grade class was involved in our own scientific experiment. The teacher asked for volunteers and so I foolishly jumped up without first knowing what I was getting myself in for.

Eight of us were told to form a circle and hold hands. What was happening? The teacher told us that she was going to run a gentle electric current through us. She assured us that none of us would get hurt. Some type of battery was set up. One person held onto the first terminal and the last onto the second. A complete circuit was established.

Slowly the teacher increased the power. At first we all laughed because we felt nothing. Then slowly but surely the power manifested itself. At first tingling, then laughing and finally shaking.

I thought that the girls [being girls!] would be the first to break the chain. Well was I surprised? Some girls laughed as the tingling passed through their bodies and some boys felt nothing. But me? I displayed the greatest manifestation and reaction to the power running through my nervous system!

I was shaking and screaming, my calf muscles began to twitch and suddenly I began to fall to the ground! But why only me? Some girls laughed, some boys too and others displayed no reaction whatsoever!

I was confused. Why was it that we all had the same power source running through our nerves, yet only some of us displayed some type reaction? [Just for the record, others finally began to shake and fall as well].

I believe that this small incident in my life well describes what can happen when the power of God, the Holy Spirit, manifests itself when the body of Christ meets for worship. We do not all react in the same way.

Admittedly I rarely experience any manifestations when worshipping with Christ’s body but have at these same times seen other worshippers, shake and tremble and even laugh or fall.

When I first encountered these phenomena [and as skeptical as I am] I thought the cause was more than likely hormones rather than Holy Spirit. I maintained that no such manifestations were in the Bible--- or so I thought.

Having given these manifestations more thought I remembered a book that I had once read on worship a decade prior. I remembered reading something about human worship expressions. Eagerly I turned it up and found the relevant chapter.

I was challenged by this brief summary and so decided to study the issue further.

The Weight of Glory

In my research I discovered many passages in the bible that described individuals as falling to the ground in the presence of God. These statements puzzled me for sometime until just recently.

I was recently talking to a scholar-friend of mine about this issue and he explained to me that the Hebrew word for God’s “glory” was “kabod”. According to him this word actually meant, “weight”. He concluded then that when God revealed His glory in bible times, His weight [glory, kabod] would sometimes prostrate people to the ground. God’s weight would cause them to fall. He also continued to point out that the modern practice of swaying back and forth by Jews at the Wailing Wall at Jerusalem reflected the jerking action of the OT prophets when, under the power of God, they would prophesy.

Being the skeptical person I am I researched the issue. Strong’s Concordance was revealing. Strong informs us that the Hebrew word kabod, and its derivatives and roots means “to be heavy, to make weighty, be heavy, be heavier, lay heavily, weight”. See Strongs Hebrew Dictionary word numbers 3513, 3514, 3515, 3517, 3519. Strong also points out that by extension the word means heavy-laden, a lot, much and so great. As a result God is “a lot, much and so great”. Hence glorious! These meanings grow out of the root meaning of weight. So God’s glory is a “lot, much, so great, laden”; hence weight.

Examination of bible dictionaries revealed the same truth. A standard dictionary, the “New Dictionary of Theology” edited by Professors Ferguson, Wright and the late and famous J I Packer state the following:

“Glory of God, The, fundamental characteristic of God to which believers respond by giving him glory. Biblical. ‘Glory’ in Heb is Kabod, from a root signifying ‘weight’ (a fact which Paul seems to remember in 2 Cor. 4:17)” p.271.



We will now turn our attention to the various human responses to the presence of the supernatural.


Human reactions to Angels

In the presence of angels both believers and unbelievers can exhibit fear, falling and shaking:

Daniel ………………………………………………………………………...Dan 8:16-17

Roman Guards ………………………………………………………………..Matt 28:2-4

Ordinary Jews…………………………………….……………….Luke 1:11-13,26-27,30
…………………………………………………….…………..Luke 2:8-10

A Gentile Centurion …………………………………………………………...Acts 10:3,4


Human Reactions to the Godhead

In the presence of the Godhead, humans and creation itself can react in fear, loss of strength, falling, trembling, become unconscious, shake, cry, laugh and even take on the appearance of being drunk. Note the following.

*Daniel fears, loses strength, falls and sleeps ………………………...Dan 10: 5-12; 8:27

*Israel at Sinai trembled ………………………………………………………Exod 19:16

*Disciples at Transfiguration fear and fall …………………………………...Matt 17:5-7

*John at Patmos fears and falls as dead ………………………………………Rev 1:17-18

*The Psalmist’s flesh trembles ………………………………………………...Ps 119:120

*Habakkuk shakes at the voice of God ………………………………………..Hab 3:2,16

*Israel fears and trembles at God’s presence ……………………………………..Jer 5:22

*Any person trembles at hearing God’s voice …………………………………...Isa 66:2

*Israel trembles and fears at hearing the law read …………………………Ezra 9:4; 10:3

*Places shake at presence of Spirit …………………………………………..Acts 4:29-31

*Abraham falls at God’s presence ………………………………………………Gen 17:3

*Angels, Elders and four living creatures fall before God’s throne ……………..Rev 7:11

*Paul [Saul] see’s a light and falls at presence of Jesus ……………………….Acts 9:3-8

*Judas and Temple Guards fall backwards at word of Jesus ………………...John 18: 3-6

*Israelites cry at hearing bible …………………………………………………….Neh 8:9

*Humans are filled with laughter from God …………………………………Job 8: 19-21

*God’s people laugh as a response to God’s redemptive acts ………………...Ps 126: 2-3

*Samuel appears drunk when worshipping in God’s presence …………...1 Sam 1: 12-17

*Pentecostal believers appear drunk when baptised in the Spirit ……………….Acts 2:13

It is also important to note that at times some experience manifestations at the presence of the supernatural and others do not --- even though they are also present. This is so with the case of Jesus, Daniel and Paul. See John 12: 27-29; Daniel 10: 5,7; Acts 22: 6-9.


MANIFESTATIONS AND CHURCH HISTORY
LEADING TO THE ADVENT AWAKENING

As we examine modern church history we find the above manifestations recurring at times of revival.

The late Dr J. Edwin Orr, a leading authority on the history of revivals, describes a number of major awakenings including: 1725, 1792 and 1830. The latter refers to the great Advent awakening. Professor R. E. Davies notes that in the ebb and flow of these revivals a number of constants always reappear. Among these constant features he includes (1) persistent prayer, (2) Powerful Christ-centred preaching and testimony and (3) a deep awareness of the presence and holiness of God manifesting itself in shaking, weeping, crying, laughter and holy prostration. Among more variable factors he lists (1) miracles of healing and (2) the exercise of spiritual gifts. See “I Will Pour Out My Spirit”, R. E. Davies (Monarch Publications; 1992) pp. 217-227.

Commenting on the Advent awakening leading to the great disappointment of 1844, Merlin D. Burt, from the White Estate in (DF 205) dated June 1998, states that manifestations of the Spirit including shouts of praise, prayer, testimony, holy laughter, weeping and holy prostration (falling to the ground) were part and parcel of Adventism. He perceptively notes that these manifestations were “a part of their own spiritual heritage. Methodists, Christians, Baptists and many other frontier groups frequently had dramatic physical and emotional activity as a part of their worship of God.” See p. 1. He goes on to quote from twenty three statements from the writings of Ellen White and correctly concludes “that Ellen White believed that the physical responses of shouting, weeping, laughter, and prostration were appropriate and valid under the influence of the Holy Spirit.” See p. 13. He adds, “American religious revival experience during the first half of the nineteenth century and the accounts of early Adventist experiences make it abundantly clear that God did manifest His power to help, comfort and inspire Ellen White and others through healing, a spirit of praise, and physical prostration.” P. 16.



CONCLUSION

In conclusion we have observed that humans respond in bizarre fashions at God’s request or even at his presence. This is because human logic or western etiquette does not bind our God. Even Jesus behaved in a fashion unacceptable to our modern minds! But God transcends human analysis and methodologies.

At his command donkeys speak and men walk naked. At his presence people respond in fear, tremble, shake, laugh, cry and fall. Such are true manifestations at the presence of God—especially at times of revival with special outpourings of the Spirit of God.

His ways are not ours ways nor are his thoughts ours.

It is only man without the Spirit that observes and analyses based on his rationalistic thinking and then concludes that the above is foolishness.

The great apostle Paul appropriately tells us the conclusion of the matter when he says that God has “made foolish the wisdom of this world” because “the foolishness of God is wiser than man and the weakness of God is stronger than men”. 1 Corinthians 1:20-25. As a result “the natural man [man without the Spirit of God] does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him” 1 Corinthians 2:14. Hence God operates from the platform of human foolishness and confounds those who think they are wise!



Hope this helps!!
Loads of love
Andrew