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Is It Right To Say Holy Ghost Fire In The Church? by EMILO2STAY(m): 5:29pm On Jan 12, 2013 |
Instead of carefully scrutinizing what they have been taught in the light of the Scriptures, many professed Christians today allow themselves to be carried away by every wind of doctrine as long as such appear to satisfy their immediate emotional and material concerns. One of such doctrines is the teaching that there is something like "holy ghost fire" which can be invoked to destroy one's enemies or whatever obstacles that may lie in one's way. Wrong notions We must point out that the incident in Acts 2: 1-41 in which the 12 apostles spoke in tongues in fulfillment of the Lord's promise cannot be used to justify holy ghost fire prayers. In the first place what happened on that day was that the apostles spokevarious languages other than their own Galilean tongue .The testimony by those who heard the apostles is clear on this, as it is written: "And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God." - Acts 2:7-11. From the text above one could see that the tongues spoken by the apostles were known languages which were understood by the people who had converged at Jerusalem for the Pentecost, a later name for the feast of weeks which comes up on the 50th day after the Passover. The apostles did not behave in a wild manner. They were preaching, not praying. What obtains these days however is that the congregation keep shouting sometimes for hours on end, uttering unintelligible sounds (which they call speaking in tongues) - all in the name of prayers. This is of course the direct opposite of what happened on the day of Pentecost. What these professed Christians fail to realize is that speaking in tongues was necessary when Christianity was at its infancy so that the gospel could reach those who were not Jews. After a while, the gift ceased. The time of speaking in tongues has passed as St. Paul himself declared. - 1 Corinthians 13:8. When Jesus Christ spoke of the kingdom of heaven suffering "violence" and the "violent" taking it by force, he meant that the devil and his agents use violence to continually persecute the true servants of God and make false claims to the kingdom(2 Corinthians 11:13-15) History is replete with records of atrocities committed by so-called Church leaders against those they called "heretics". Such churches have proved themselves not to be the servants of God. - Revelation 2:9; 3:9. Another place cited by those who believe and teach the doctrine of holy ghost fire is Matthew 3:11. In the text John the Baptist, speaking of Jesus Christ stated: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire" It should be noted that this text does not say one should pray for fire to destroy one's enemies. The statement of John the Baptist meant that the mission of Christ was of a far higher order than his. After Christ had been baptized with water by John the Baptist, the holy spirit alighted on him in the form of a dove. (Matthew 3:16-17) Thereafter he promised the apostles the gift of the holy spirit (or the spirit of anointing) which fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when the spirit descended on them in the form of cloven tongues of fire. (Luke 24:47-49; Acts 1:3-8; Acts 2:1-41) This was the baptism with the holy spirit spoken of by John the Baptist. Holy Spirit not Holy Ghost There is nothing like Holy Ghost. The word ghost, according to The New Imperial Reference Dictionary comes from the archaic English word g'ast which is derived from the German word geist, meaning "a spirit appearing after death". The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary says it means "the spirit of a dead person appearing to somebody who is still living" while the Websters New World Dictionary defines ghost as among other things "the supposed disembodied spirit of a dead person, conceived of as appearing to the living as a pale, shadowy apparition" The word ghost was wrongly used by the translators of the King James Version of the Bible to stand for "spirit" which is the same thing as "breath of life" - the power of God which is responsible for the functioning of the organs. For instance John 19:30 is rendered in the King James Version as follows: "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." But the New King James Version has translated it thus: " So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit". Other translations such as the New American Standard Version, the New International Version, the Revised Standard Version, The Living Bible, the Jerusalem Bible and so on have all changed the word ghost to spirit. The term Ghost" is also wrongly used to stand for holy spirit. For instance Matthew 28:19 is rendered thus in the King James Version "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." But this has been amended in the New King James Version to read "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Jesus' Example That God is opposed to the practice of praying for fire to burn people is eloquently attested to by the statement of Christ when he was to pass through some Samaritan villages and they would not let him pass as it is written: "And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village." - Luke 9:51-56 It could be seen that when prompted by his enraged disciples to pray for fire to destroy the Samaritans for their slight on him, Jesus Christ rebuked them. But the professed Christians of today would readily call for fire to burn their enemies. God will not answer such prayers. In the light of the above, it is also wrong to use the incident in which the prophet Elijah commanded fire to come from heaven to destroy or consume two captains and their bands (2 Kings 1) as basis for holy ghost fire prayers. The incident was an isolated one in the ministry of the prophet and should not be applied in this time of grace. - John 1:17; 2 Corinthians 3:17. Jesus Christ during his sermon on the mount exhorted: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." - Matthew 5:43-48. See also Luke 6:27,28. Manner of Prayer The Bible says that by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:16,20) It is noteworthy that in the course of prayers, some Christians today behave like the worshippers of Baal in their encounter with Elijah as described in 1 Kings 18. They scream or shout repeatedly at the top of their voices; they engage in outlandish gestures like vigorously waving their hands, stamping their feet, rolling on the floor, pounding the wall with their hands; running helter-skelter, uttering incomprehensible sounds in the name of speaking in tongues and so on. These are not the manifestations of the spirit of God which is "first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." (James 3:17) The spirit of God does not operate in such a way that the person will lose control of himself and behave in a wild manner for, the spirit of the prophet is "subject to the prophets." - 1 Corinthians 14:32 |
Re: Is It Right To Say Holy Ghost Fire In The Church? by Sunnycliff(m): 5:50pm On Jan 12, 2013 |
too long is ur post. I cant read it. Can u make it terse |
Re: Is It Right To Say Holy Ghost Fire In The Church? by EMILO2STAY(m): 8:33pm On Jan 12, 2013 |
^^ read it through it is not that long, i tried modifiying with with ma phone. But it's still showing this way. Be patient it's quit insightful. |
Re: Is It Right To Say Holy Ghost Fire In The Church? by oaroloye(m): 7:36am On Oct 16, 2019 |
SHALOM! EMILO2STAY: You need to learn HTML: it is invaluable. In Forum lingo, what you have done is called "BLOCK-OF-TEXT," and it is usually replied with the abbreviation, TLDR- that is, "TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ." Whom do you expect to be so conscientious to bother to try to read such an ugly essay? . MATTHEW 5:38-48. 38. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' 39. "But I Say unto you, 'THAT YE RESIST NOT EVIL: BUT WHOSOEVER SHALL SMITE THEE ON THY RIGHT CHEEK, TURN TO HIM THE OTHER ALSO.' 40. "And if any man will sue thee at The Law, and take away thy coat, let him have (thy) cloke also. 41. "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42. "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 43. "Ye have heard that it hath been said, [color =#006600]'THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AND HATE THINE ENEMY.'[/color] 44. "But I say unto you, 'LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU, DO GOOD TO THEM THAT HATE YOU, AND PRAY FOR THEM WHICH DESPITEFULLY USE YOU AND PERSECUTE YOU.' 45. "That ye may be the Children of your Father Which is in Heaven: for He maketh His Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good, and sendeth Rain on the Just and on the Unjust. 46. "For if ye love them which love you, what Reward have ye? Do not even the Publicans the same? 47. "And if ye salute your Brethren only, what do ye more (than others) Do not even the Publicans so? 48. "Be ye therefore Perfect, even as your Father Which is in Heaven is Perfect." YOU KNOW THAT A TRUE CHRISTIAN, OR OTHER PERSON WHO HAS ANY INTEREST IN THE SUBJECT, WOULD NOT CARE ABOUT HOW POORLY YOUR POST WAS FORMATTED, BUT TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT, ANYWAY, OUT OF RESPECT FOR THE AUTHOR, THE EFFORT OF THE AUTHOR, THE INTERESTINGNESS OF THE SUBJECT, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT. That everyone has ignored your Post for SIX YEARS shows the fake immature, unworthy nature of people on this forum, in particular, and this country in general. It is a certainty that many of the contributors to this Forum are among those "Whooping and Hollering" "HOLY GHOST FIRE! HOLY GHOST FIRE!" in Church, but It has no application in their personal lives. It has not made them better Christians. It has not increased their love for God, the Things of His Kingdom, nor for their Neighbours and Strangers. EMILO2STAY: |
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