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The Holy Spirit & the Local Church 3
Supernatural
Control & Guidance, Part Two
by
Pastor John Hamel
“And when the day
of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where
they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like
as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit
gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)
We are continuing
with the series, “The Holy Spirit & the Local Church.” In our
last study we saw how the Holy Spirit provides Leaders for the Local Church. He also
sets individuals in the Local Church of His choice to
do the work of the Ministry.
We saw how the Holy Spirit determines
the order of Worship, leads in bold congregational prayer and also leads in
loud music and shouting. Once we take music out of our services, like
some denominations would have us to do, we remove the potential for the anointing.
The anointing is simply the power.
The Prophet Elijah
was dependent upon music, both singing and playing, to bring the anointing
when nothing else would. (2Samuel 3:15)
The Bible
says, “I am God and I change not.” If God enjoyed music in Elijah’s
day, He still enjoys music today. He is not a grumpy, white-robed,
moody, puritanical monster who hates music, joy and exuberance. He is
a happy Father God because He knows how this whole thing is going to turn
out. Ultimately He is going to be surrounded with a family of
Believers for Eternity.
Believers who chose to
love Him as a conscious act of their own free wills and that is enough to
make Him turn the volume up and dance a little Himself,
I am sure.
Let us pick right
up today where we left off in our last lesson.
The
Holy Spirit Commands Believers to Lift Holy Hands
“I will therefore
that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and
doubting.” (1Timothy 2:8)
Somebody once said,
“I’m not lifting my hands in Church in front of people. That’s what
the Pentecostals do.” Well, there you have it. It is the power
of Pentecost that makes people want to lift their
hands to a Holy God in Church. To the carnal, religious mind it is an
unusual thing to witness, but it is so precious to God that He said we
should do it everywhere.
“Let my prayer be
set forth before thee as incense; and THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS as the
evening sacrifice.” (Psalm 141:2)
King David lifted
his hands up before the Lord and he was a mighty warrior. He was not
ashamed and he was not offended when he realized that God was calling him
to do it. Somebody said, “Well, I’m just not going to do it in
public. I’ll do it in private.”
“LIFT UP YOUR HANDS
IN THE SANCTUARY, and bless the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and
earth bless thee out of Zion.” (Psalm 134:2-3)
This verse
specifically says we are to lift our hands when we come into the House of
God. When we tell God what we will and will not do, we quench His
Holy Spirit. If you want to see the power of God move in your life,
lift your hands without wrath, doubting or backtalk. Anyone who is
Born Again and filled with the Spirit desires to lift his or her hands to
God. It just takes a time or two to get used to it and it becomes
pleasurable.
While we are on the
subject of lifting hands, we must say something about clapping hands.
Nowhere in the New Testament are we instructed to clap our hands while in
the presence of God. Clapping is a fleshly way for man to express his
appreciation of man. God does not desire for us to honor Him in the
same way we honor one another. Now, I am not talking about clapping
our hands to the beat of the music. The Bible clearly tells us that
we should clap with the music.
“To the chief
Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the
voice of triumph.” (Psalm 47:1)
Notice that this
Psalm is to the chief Musician. It is a specific reference to
clapping to music. It is also instruction to unregenerate people
under the Old Covenant who did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit.
This is the only time in the Book of Psalms where clapping is referred
to. You will find absolutely no New Testament precedent for clapping
today.
I have been in many
services where the Holy Spirit began to move by the Gifts of the Spirit. (Prophecy, Word
of Knowledge, healing anointing, etc.)
Suddenly one person would begin to clap like a child and then many others
would follow suit. Soon the whole place was applauding as if it were
a concert hall. Suddenly I would experience a tight “knot in my gut.” The Holy Spirit
of God was grieved and the Gifts stopped operating. My spirit was
grieved because the Holy Spirit within me was grieved.
Many of you
have experienced this “knot in the gut” as well during congregational
clapping and did not understand why. Now you do. It grieves the
Holy Spirit when we bring His meeting down to a fleshly, carnal
entertainment level.
God is a Spirit and
those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John
4:24) To worship in spirit and in
truth is to worship according to the truth of God’s Word.
God’s Word says to lift holy hands to God not to clap holy hands for
God. The congregation should never applaud speakers and
singers. Their job is to direct people towards God and His Holiness,
not towards themselves.
It is one thing to greet a guest with
applause, but it is another thing altogether to applaud a Preacher for his
preaching or a Music Minister for their music Ministry. These
individuals are called of God to lead us into the presence of the Holy
Spirit, not to get our focus onto them.
I am going to say
it again. It is wrong for congregations to applaud a Minister’s
preaching or the musicians. It is wrong for the Minister or the
musicians to receive the congregation’s accolades. Ministers and
musicians are to lead people into the presence of God, not to entertain or
to be seen of man.
Jesus appeared to
Dr. Kenneth Hagin and told him, “Clapping is
neither praise nor worship. It brings God down to a human level.”
The
Holy Spirit Inspires Spontaneous Dancing
“And David DANCED
before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen
ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark
of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. And as
the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul's
daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing
before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. … And David said unto
Michal, IT WAS BEFORE THE LORD, which chose me before thy father, and
before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the
people of the Lord, over Israel: THEREFORE WILL I
PLAY BEFORE THE LORD.” (2Samuel 6:14-16,21)
There is no New
Testament precedent for dancing in the Spirit. But that does not mean
that the Holy Spirit does not lead in spontaneous expressions of joy
through inspired dancing or other spiritual outbursts. Keep in mind
that when David danced, he danced before the Lord, not before man to bring
attention to himself or to “boogie down.” He was not entertaining
himself or anyone else. He was praising God.
In the Scripture
above, David danced before the Lord with all his might. The Hebrew
word for “danced” means “whirled.” The Hebrew word for “might” means
“praise.” David could not contain his joy when the Ark of the
Covenant was returned to Israel and it caused him
to spontaneously whirl as a means of praise.
Like the crippled man
who was healed at the Gate Beautiful, he could not contain his Holy Spirit
inspired joy and began leaping and praising God. (Acts 3:8) David did
not care who was watching.
Some people only dance because they care
that others are watching. That is not praise and worship. That
is pompous and worthless.
By the way, the man
who was healed at the Gate Beautiful began leaping. The Greek word
used there for “leaping” means “to gush forth, to spring forth, to be
filled with joy of the Holy Spirit.”
Notice also how
this dancing of David’s was before the Lord, not before the
congregation. It was spontaneity, not choreography. All eyes
are on the dancers, not on God, during choreographed dance in Church.
When David danced, there were no skintight leotards defining body
components or purple banners flying. No one was being
exhibited. No one was being entertained. No girls in tight
dance costumes were being “oogled” by men in the
congregation. God was being praised spontaneously. All eyes
were on Him, not on the cute little dance team.
There is a place
for spontaneous expressions of joy through Holy Spirit inspired dancing
only.
“A time to weep,
and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and A TIME TO DANCE;” (Ecclesiastes
3:4)
There is a time for
spontaneous Holy Spirit inspired dancing. However, we should not take
it upon ourselves to start dancing in the aisles or to run down in front of
the congregation where everyone can see. When the Holy Spirit
overtakes you with jumping, skipping, leaping, gushing, whirling and
springing about for joy, that is one thing. Choreography and dancing
with one another or to be seen of man is another thing altogether.
I
realize that there are those who will argue with this wisdom, insisting that there is a place for choreographed
dancing in the Church. We would remind them that God is a Spirit and
those who worship Him must worship Him in the Spirit, not in the flesh, and
in truth, not by the traditions of man. (John 4:24)
The
Holy Spirit Inspires Falling Prostrate
The presence of the
Holy Spirit can become so overwhelming at times that it is simply not
possible to continue to stand in His presence. Like the musicians we
have referred to in Solomon’s Temple, the anointing can
be so strong that it is impossible to stand upright. (2Chronicles 5:13,14) Many fall under the power of God
while receiving the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, while being prayed over
for healing and for many other reasons. This is perfectly
Scriptural.
The night that
Jesus was arrested, over 600 individuals fell backwards
to the ground when He opened His mouth and the power of God was
released through His words. (John 18:1-6) At Jesus’ Tomb the soldiers
fell to the ground when the Angel of the Lord appeared to them. (Matthew
28:1-4) On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James and John fell
under the power of God, completely blown away by His presence. (Matthew
17:1-6)
The Apostle Paul and everyone with him fell to the ground
when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9:4;
26:14) When the Lord appeared to Ezekiel, he fell to the ground.
(Ezekiel 1:28) There are many other examples in Scripture of
individuals falling prostrate in the presence of God.
People have fallen
in the presence of the Holy Spirit’s power in every great move of God
throughout history. John Wesley was born in England in 1703 and
preached the Gospel until 1791. He reported that he had hundreds of
people falling prostrate in his services at times.
George Whitefield,
an associate of John Wesley, would draw crowds so large that people would
have to climb up into trees to see and to hear him. When he would see
the people in the trees, he would insist that they come down before he
would start preaching. He knew that when the power of God manifested,
the people would fall under God’s power thereby falling out of the
trees.
Charles Finney, the great 19th Century Evangelist,
said that over 400 unsaved individuals fell under the power of God in one
of his services.
Maria Woodworth-Etter ministered at the turn of the 20th
Century. One night while she was preaching she froze with her mouth
open, upright on her feet, for three days and three nights. All
bodily functions ceased and she could not be moved. Some estimate
that tens of thousands came to see her in this inanimate, suspended
state. At the end of a three-day period, she came back into this
realm and picked up preaching right where she had left off three days
before.
I myself fell under
the power of God for NEARLY THREE FULL DAYS at the time of
my conversion. I did not change positions or dream during this entire
period. All bodily and soulical functions
ceased. When I came back into this realm, I had been supernaturally
delivered from drug and alcohol addiction. I have been preaching and
teaching the supernatural Gospel of Jesus Christ from that very day.
The Apostle John
fell prostrate in Heaven in the presence of Jesus.
“And when I saw
him, I FELL AT HIS FEET as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying
unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:” (Revelation 1:17)
In recent days,
under the Ministry of Rev. Reinhardt Bonnke and
Rev. Benny Hinn, literally thousands of
individuals fall at the same time under the power of God while these men
are preaching.
I know of a
Minister who was afraid of dogs. A blind man with a seeing-eye dog
came up for prayer in his meeting. The Minister shied away from the
dog and the man until the Holy Spirit told him, “You pray for the
man. I’ll take care of the dog.” The Minister then boldly
stepped up to the blind man and put his hand on him. Both the man and
the dog fell prostrate under the power of the Holy Spirit. It is my
understanding that the man was also healed of blindness at that time.
To those who say that people are “faking” when they fall under the power of
God, I submit the following. Do you believe the blind man’s dog was
faking, too?
It is not unusual
for a human being to fall prostrate when the power of the Holy Spirit comes
upon them. It is simply a sign of His supernatural working in their
life.
Jesus told John to not be afraid, and neither should we be
afraid of the Holy Spirit’s power today. Neither should we criticize the Holy Spirit’s power
today.
Be Blessed … John
and Barbara Hamel
How
to Be Born Again (Receive Christ as Your Savior)
How
to Receive The Holy Spirit & Power
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