This is the final blog of this series and our discussion on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  This “baptism” has often been misunderstood and often maligned by those who believe that God’s miraculous interventions and the miraculous gifts of the Spirit have ceased to function. However, I believe it is still an essential part of the Christian life.  Let me bullet point what I have said so far.

• John the Baptist declared to the Jewish crowds around him that Jesus was going to baptize them (or some of them) with the Holy Spirit and fire.  That is recorded in all four gospels.
  

• Jesus stated on several occasions that it was better for him to return to the Father because only then could he send the Holy Spirit.  This obviously meant that the Spirit would come after the ascension of Jesus and manifest himself in ways he had not done before.
  

• After his resurrection, Jesus commanded his disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit which would impart power for effectively being his witnesses to the world.
  

• After Jesus ascended to heaven, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was “poured out” on about 120 believers who had gathered in a room to pray and fast as they waited for direction from the Father.
  

• Suddenly, the Holy Spirit came as a mighty rushing wind and formed tongues of fire above the believers, who then began to speak in languages they had not known before and began to preach in the temple courts with a boldness they had never known before.
  

• The language used to describe this “baptism of the Spirit” was:  to receive the Spirit, be filled with the Spirit, have the Spirit come on you, have the Spirit fall on you, and for the Spirit to be poured out.  (Remember the world “baptism” means to be immersed, saturated, overwhelmed, etc.).
  

• The Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles in Acts 10 as Peter began to share the gospel with the household of Cornelius.  Peter explains that this was another moment when Gentiles were baptized in the Spirit just the disciples had been on Pentecost.  The evidence of their “baptism” was that they began to speak in tongues.  
  

• This “power” experience of the Holy Spirit sometimes came directly as the Spirit would fall on someone or as people, who were Spirit-filled, would lay hands on others who were then empowered by the Spirit. In Acts, we see evidence of the “baptism” as the gifts of tongues, prophecy, and boldness which were displayed by those who were filled with the Spirit.
  

• On several occasions, people who had already been water baptized in the name of Jesus were then baptized in the Spirit.  At other times, people were baptized in the Spirit and then water baptized.  
  

• On several occasions, those who had been baptized in the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, seemed to get a “fresh filling” of the Spirit on occasions where it was required for boldness, healing, miracles, etc.
  

All of this suggests that there are two functions of the Holy Spirit in relation to us.  First of all, when we come to faith and confess Jesus, the Spirit comes to live in us and begins to bear his fruit of love, joy, peace, etc. in us as well as giving us understanding of scripture, comfort, counsel, and so forth.  He takes up residence and then begins an interior renovation of our soul. 

The other function of the Holy Spirit is power for ministry through the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12-14, Romans 12, and few other places.  I believe we can receive both at once, but we can also receive them as separate events based on our understanding of the Holy Spirit and God’s sovereignty.

The final question is whether that power is for the believer today, or if it was just a first century phenomenon.  You already know what I believe, but let me walk you briefly through my reasoning.

First of all, Jesus clearly stated, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (Jn. 14:14-16).  

This declaration by Jesus was in the context of miracles.  There is nothing in his statement that suggests this promise was only for a few followers or had a shelf life of only a few years.  Jesus said this capacity to do miracles was for anyone who had faith. The only limitation stated was a lack of faith.

Secondly, Jesus clearly stated to his followers that they could not fulfill the “Great Commission” in their own strength and abilities, but had to receive power via the baptism of the Holy Spirit for them to adequately witness the reality of Jesus as they evangelized the world.  Why would our need be less today as we go into a hostile world of atheists, satanists, Muslims, Hindu’s, and a vast array of other cults and religions?  

Paul declared that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but rather against the spiritual powers of darkness (Eph. 6:10).  The spiritual gifts of healing, prophecy, words of knowledge, spiritual discernment, and even miracles are often needed to free people from demonic bondage or sickness.  Those “power gifts” come only through the baptism of the Spirit.

Most conservative, Bible believing churches look for patterns in the New Testament that we are to replicate if we want to be like the church that Jesus and the apostles established.  One pattern we see over and over is the gospel being preached and then followed by supernatural signs – healings, casting our demons, and even raising the dead.  That is what Jesus did.  That is what the twelve did when he sent them out on their own as well as the seventy.  That is also what we see in the book of Acts as men like Philip, Barnabas, and Stephen went out to preach the good news.  If we are to replicate that pattern for evangelism, we must do the same and to do so requires baptism in the Holy Spirit.

We could add numerous other scriptures that teach that the followers of Jesus are to have power and authority over the enemy and that we are to preach the gospel and then demonstrate the kingdom through miracles.  There are no time limits in scripture attached to these promises and commands.  Faith or a lack of faith seem to be the only limiting features.  For me personally, being baptized in the Spirit and having spiritual gifts activated by the Spirit, has made all the difference in my ministry and in my personal life.  Being with people who believe in the power of God for healing and spiritual warfare, for speaking prophetically, and for the move of God to take on supernatural dimensions make life as a believer an adventure more than a struggle.  Multitudes of believers who do not know about the baptism of the Spirit live a life of following Jesus with the sense that “there must be more.”  There is if you know how to receive it.

In closing, I also want to mention that baptism in the Spirit does not always look like tongues of fire dancing on your head or falling and having spasms for hours.   It can look like that, but it can also look like a quiet moment of faith that the Spirit will fill you when you ask and the evidence will simply be something noticeably different in your life or ministry over the next few weeks.  Speaking in tongues is the normative evidence of “the baptism” in scripture, but not all speak in tongues, at least not right away.  Receiving power from the Spirit is like hearing the voice of God.  It can sound like thunder, but it can also sound like the still, quiet voice of Elijah’s cave.

 The important thing is that you desire everything that God has for you and that you ask for it,   seek it. And knock on every door to find it.  We will not evangelize the world without demonstrating the power and authority of our Lord.  Many have tried to do so in their own strengths and with natural talents that are often impressive.  But the natural cannot overcome the spiritual.  Power and authority to do that comes from the Holy Spirit.  I hope you will go after that power and authority and ask for fresh fillings on a regular basis  because it essential for being His witness to the world.

We are speaking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. From the gospels and the book of Acts, it is clear that the “baptism” was a central theme of Jesus and the early church. It was a baptism of power that equipped the followers of Jesus for ministry. The church clearly experienced this promised coming of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. In my last blog, I listed several phrases that were used to describe the moment when the church was baptized with power.

There are two questions I want to address in this blog. (1) Was that experience of baptism in the Spirit for the apostles only or for every believer, and (2) Is the baptism of the Spirit a one time event in the life of a believer.

To begin with the first question, there is a pervasive belief among many denominations that only the apostles received supernatural power on Pentecost as a confirmation that they were chosen by God to lead the fledgling church and to confirm their authority and inspiration to write the New Testament. Once the apostles died, the supernatural move of the Holy Spirit ceased. Let’s examine that view briefly.

First of all, a careful reading of Acts 1:13-15 makes it clear that about 120 followers of Jesus were gathered together in Jerusalem awaiting direction from the Lord. In Acts 2:1, we are told that they were all together in one place (all the believers) when they experienced the baptism of the Spirit which appeared as tongues of fire above each of them. The text then says, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

From this text, we can see the the baptism of the Spirit was not for the apostles alone. In addition, we are told that some non-apostles also operated in the power of the Spirit shortly after Pentecost. Speaking of Stephen, the writer says, “Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power performed great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8). In Acts 8, we are told, “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed” (Acts 8:6-7).

It’s not a stretch to believe that Stephen and Philip were part of the 120 on Pentecost, but the point is that others beside the apostles were operating in power and that power is seen to come through the baptism of the Spirit. In addition, in Acts 10, while Peter was sharing the gospel with the Gentile family of Cornelius, the texts says, “While Peter was still speaking those words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God” (Acts 10:44-46). Notice that the language is very similar to the language of Acts 2 and Peter himself identified the experience of the Gentiles as being baptized in the Holy Spirit in Acts 11:16. As a side bar, we might also notice that hearing clearly from the Spirit is a product of baptism in the Spirit. We all believe that the New Testament writers were inspired by God as they wrote. Luke wrote the gospel of Luke and the of Acts. James and Jude and perhaps the writer of Hebrews were also inspired by the Spirit and yet these were not apostles. So, the power of the Spirit imparted in Holy Spirit baptism was clearly for others than the twelve.

So, the baptism of the Spirit was an impartation of power for all the followers of Jesus – Jew and Gentile – and not just the apostles. We also discover that the Spirit can fall on, come on, or be poured out on believers directly or by the laying on of hands by those who already have been baptized in the Spirit. In Acts 8, we discover, “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the the new believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:14-17).

It’s important to note here, that water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism can be two different events. We see the same in Acts 10, when the Spirit fell on the Gentiles and then Peter had them water baptized after they spoke in tongues and praised God. I don’t believe it has to be in separate events, but it certainly can be and often is.

As for the second question about whether we are “baptized in the Spirit” or “filled with the Spirit” once or whether that can happen numerous times, let me respond briefly. In Acts 2, the believers were baptized in the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. In Acts 4, the same believers were gathered together again and we are told, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31). This sounds like a fresh filling by the Holy Spirit for a particular situation. There are numerous other texts in the book of Acts where it looks like someone who was present at Pentecost is “filled with the Holy Spirit” in a critical moment. My sense of this is that once we are initially baptized in the Spirit, we have a residing level of power for ministry manifested through spiritual gifts, boldness, etc., but on critical occasions, we may get a fresh filling or a supercharge from the Spirit for that circumstance.

I want to finish this study up in my next blog, as we discuss whether the “baptism in the Spirit” was only available in the first century or is it God’s intention for his people now. Thanks for joining me.

SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THIS BLOG ALREADY, BUT I AM HAVING PROBLEMS WITH WORDPRESS, SO I’M SENDING IT OUT AGAIN IN CASE YOU DID NOT SEE IT LAST WEEK. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

When we speak about Holy Spirit baptism, the first question should be whether or not it is a biblical concept or just a crazy, charismatic notion held by a few extreme believers.   The answer is that it is a very biblical concept central to the New Testament. John the Baptist spoke about it in relation to the ministry of Jesus. “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:7-8;) Some of the other writers added that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (See Lk. 3:16; Matt. 5:11, Jn. 1:33). This idea of Jesus baptizing with the Holy Spirit is mentioned in all four gospels plus the book of Acts which strongly suggests it is a concept and experience central to the doctrines of the New Testament.

Jesus himself emphasized this experience when he spoke to his disciples and said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’” (Acts 1:4-8; Emphasis added;).

Earlier, Jesus had alluded to the moment when the Holy Spirit would come on them when he said, ““Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (Jn. 16:5-7).   Jesus promised that when he returned to the Father, he would send the Spirit.

In summary, Jesus mentioned several times in the gospel that he would go to the Father and then send the Spirit. John the Baptist declared that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit.  Just before his ascension to heaven, Jesus told his followers to wait in Jerusalem and that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit within a few days.  He also related this baptism to power for ministry…power for being witnesses for Jesus.

It may be helpful to mention here that the word “baptize” is not a translation, but a transliteration of the Greek word “baptizo”… meaning that the translators simply created an English word from the Greek,  but did not give the meaning of the word as understood by those who spoke Greek. The word actually means to dip, drench, immerse, overwhelm, saturate, etc.  If the word had been translated, it would have pointed to a time when the followers of Jesus would be immersed, saturated, drenched, or overwhelmed by the Spirit.

After his ascension, about 120 of his followers gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem where they fasted and prayed for direction from the Lord. Luke tells us, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:1-4).

In that setting, the Holy Spirit showed up as fire and supernaturally enabled them to proclaim the works of God in languages they had not known before.  When explaining what was happening, Peter declared, “No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:” ‘In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:17-21).  In addition to tongues, the believers received a supernatural boldness to proclaim Jesus that had certainly been absent before that day and a capacity to be directed by the Holy Spirit as they proclaimed the good news. Certainly, Peter had shown no capacity for such bold and eloquent preaching before that moment.

Let me also point out the language that was used to describe the same experience:

•          baptized by (or with) the Holy Spirit

•          the gift my Father spoke about

•          receive power

•          when the Holy Spirit comes on you

•          filled with the Holy Spirit

•          poured out 

The language above describes the experience of being baptized with, in, or by the Spirit.  All three of those prepositions are allowed by the original language. But in general, it describes Jesus returning to the Father and sending the Spirit in a measure that could be described as being poured out from heaven so that men and women would be immersed or saturated by the Spirit in a way that would give power to believers for extending the kingdom of heaven on earth. The experience would also be described, from the believer’s point of view, as receiving, being filled with, or having the Spirit come on them. 

The next question might be whether that one moment was the baptism of the Spirit on the apostles only or whether it was meant to be an experience for every believer in every age.  Secondly, we might ask whether that experience would be a one-time experience or whether it could be repeated.  I will address those questions in next week’s blog.

We are unquestionably living in the last days.  The renewal of Israel as a nation in 1948 started the countdown of the final days of the last days which actually began at the resurrection and ascension of Jesus when Joel 2 was fulfilled.  On the day or Pentecost as described in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit was put on display in Jerusalem.  The sound of a mighty wind, the appearance of tongues of fire, the gift of tongues, and the sudden boldness of those first followers of Jesus demonstrated that God had once again begun something new.  

The public display was explained by Peter in Acts 2:17 as a “last days” fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel who spoke about God’s Spirit being poured out on all people.  Notice that Peter identified that time frame as the beginning of the “last days” which could also be called the “age of the church.”  Peter preached in the beginning of the last days while we are certainly living toward the culmination of the last days.

Whether we are two years, five years, or fifty years from the return of Christ I am not certain, but I am certain that as that time draws closer, the activity of Satan is becoming more intense. Over the past five years, I have been amazed at the number of believers we have encountered  who were being afflicted by demons and who had begun to recognize demonic activity and oppression in their own lives as spiritual warfare, even though they have had no church background to prepare them to understand that experience.  Those who think Satan cannot afflict the saved or that those coming out of the world can’t bring demonic spirits with them into the church are misinformed. 

When you look through the pages of the gospels, you can see how active Satan was at the first appearance of Jesus.  He is no less active now as he senses the second appearance of Jesus drawing near.  Because of that, it is essential that every follower of Jesus be equipped to battle the forces of darkness with the divine weapons that Paul spoke about in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 and the armor of God he described in Ephesians 6:10-18.  Remember, Paul said that the real battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph.6:12).

The question for us is how do we effectively fight forces in the spiritual realm? The answer is found in scripture.  How did Jesus, the twelve, the seventy, and the early church fight against the kingdom of darkness.  There were a number of weapons they used against demons and the strongholds of Satan, but they all had one foundational experience that set them apart from those who were not equipped.  The foundational experience was an anointing of power and authority that set them above and ahead of all demonic forces in the heavenly realms.

Ever since the Pentecost experience described in Acts 2, that anointing has come through the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.”  In recent decades there has been a great deal of disagreement and misunderstanding about the nature of Holy Spirit baptism.  That disagreement has stretched from positions that deny any present-day miraculous work of the Spirit to positions that are simply unbiblical and weird.  Because this issue of power and authority is so important in the life of the believer, I have decided to do a series on Holy Spirit baptism in which I try to make it biblical, understandable, and desirable.  This serves as the introduction to that series which will begin next week with The Promise of Power.

One of the most quoted proverbs from scripture is, “The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Prov. 18:21).  In general, this proverb means that our words have power and authority and that power and authority can contribute to life or death, health or sickness.  That power and authority comes from being made in the image of God and then his giving dominion over the earth to man.  In addition, if you are a believer you also walk in the authority of Christ so that your words carry even more authority.  We can speak words of life or death over others or ourselves.  Eating the fruit of our words simply means that we will reap what we sow from what we have spoken.  If we speak death over others, it will eventually return to us.  If we speak life over others, that too will eventually come back to us.

One of the ways that words impart life or death is that our words give spiritual beings, angels or demons, a legal right to affect the lives of those we speak over…especially if we have spiritual authority over someone such as parents over children, husbands over wives, ourselves over ourselves, etc.  When we speak a blessing, we give angels a legal right and even a directive to work in someone’s life to bring about positive, life-giving outcomes.  When we speak a curse, we give demons a legal right and a directive to work to bring about negative or life-stealing outcomes.

In several of his books regarding the courts of heaven, Robert Henderson points out how often a courtroom scene is depicted in scripture in which Satan is accusing the people of God and attempting to bring an accusation against them that allows him to afflict or torment those individuals.  The first chapter of Job presents such a scene. In our ministry, we call those “open doors” that give the enemy access to the lives of individuals. For believers, this is not a salvation issue but a matter of spiritual warfare, in which, the enemy can gain more access than simple temptation and can oppress or afflict believers so that they are greatly hindered in fulfilling their destiny in Christ.   

The words we speak can be the very thing that enables the enemy to bring an accusation against us.  Remember the warning of Jesus when he said, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt. 12:36-37). Entire books can be written on this subject, but I want to point out one possible open door created by our words that many believers fail to recognize.  This may be a small thing but I sense it is more than that.

In Exodus 20:7, the Lord says, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”  The King James version says that we shall not take “the Lord’s name in vain.”  The idea of something being done in vain is that the effort was meaningless or empty.  The idea is that God’s name is holy and sacred and must always be spoken with care and reverence.  We usually think of people who use the name of God or Jesus when cussing as being guilty of this sin, but the Hebrew means more than that. It means to use God’s name in any profane, meaningless, empty, indifferent, or careless way. The Jews were so concerned about misusing the Name that many would not even dare to speak it. 

In Christian circles, it is not uncommon for people to say things like, “Oh my God!” or “Good God” or “Good Lord” or God All Mighty,”etc.  as exclamation points for whatever statement they are making.  I know they mean no disrespect, but they are using the Name in a careless, meaningless, or empty way…which is the very definition of “misusing” the name of God. I believe a habit of this can open up believers to the accusations of Satan because they are violating the Word of God.  As a result, he can gain access to oppress or afflict an individual or family.  

I know this may sound like “knit picking” or legalism, but the name of God is a very sacred thing, no matter what age or culture we live in.  If we will have to give account for every careless word, then certainly careless words involving the name of our Creator must be in that category.  

I think this may represent an open door that we rarely consider or recognize. I feel like it is something the Holy Spirit keeps highlighting to me so I wanted to highlight it for those who read this blog.   If this resonates with you at all, pray about it and ask for the Spirit’s leading on this matter.  These are phrases we use so often and automatically that we aren’t even aware we have spoken them.  Ask the Spirit to make you aware of speaking in this way and ask others to make you aware as well, so that you can close any and every door of access that the enemy may have been using against you.  I believe this will honor God and God promises to honor those who honor him (1 Sam.2:30). Be blessed this week. 

I’m reading through the book of Acts once again in my devotional reading.  I continue to be struck by the boldness of the early church in proclaiming the gospel to the world.  This is a time in history when God’s people are going to need that kind of boldness again.  We know that is true for believers in the Middle East, China, parts of Africa, and currently in the Ukraine, but it is also needed by believers in the U.S and Canada. 

We are not yet being beheaded in the streets or having our church buildings bulldozed, but just about every Christian value is being assaulted in our nation by special interest groups and even major political parties.  This is a time when the church must not compromise with culture and must speak out consistently for righteousness as defined by God rather than the state.

The Bible declares that “we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Tim. !:7).  There is a spirit of fear operating throughout the world and that spirit has certainly been evident in the U.S. over the past two years. Cable news and other media sources have done their part in creating a sense of dread and hopelessness in our country revolving around Covid, inflation, crime, and now war.  It’s not that these aren’t real issues, but the question is whether we bunker in, isolate ourselves, and stop reclaiming the culture for Christ or face the issues with boldness and confidence.  This is a time to remember that our God is still sovereign and watches over his people while we go about the business of the kingdom.

As I read through Acts, I see three great sources of strength for those believers.  First of all, is the Word and prayer.   In Acts 1 and 2, we see about 120 disciples hiding from authorities in a locked room.  Eleven or so of those leading believers had run away into the night when Jesus was arrested only a few weeks earlier.  There was no evidence of boldness in this group, but they were doing two essential things: they were considering the word of God and praying together for answers to their future.  

Clearly, we need to be spending more time considering the Word of God and praying than watching cable news.  And, we need to be doing that together rather than isolating ourselves from the body of Christ.  There is a spirit of fear operating through the media, most of which, is owned and run by unbelievers and opponents of the cross.  We don’t need to get our “daily bread” from them. I’m not saying we should be willfully ignorant about what is going on in the world because we need to pray about much of that. But, we should limit our exposure to that spirit and our time mediating on scripture and praying should out-weigh our time of exposure to any media outlets that pander fear.

The second source of boldness for the early church was the baptism of the Spirit.  As those 120 met and prayed, the Spirit fell and rested on all those in the room. That “filling” with the Holy Spirit caused an immediate  transformation in those believers. The obvious miracle of speaking in languages unknown to these believers was not the greatest miracle that day.  The new found courage and boldness that led the church into the temple courts to proclaim Jesus was the greatest miracle. We need to pray daily to be filled with the Spirit of God and for his Spirit to impart boldness to us and his church.  That constant prayer is more critical than ever in our day.

Thirdly, the early church had an expectation that differed from most of us in the west.  They anticipated hardship as believers, so that when it came, they did not feel abandoned or betrayed by God.  Most of us in America, feel like it is God’s job to keep our lives trouble free, even though Jesus declared, “In this world, you will have trouble” (Jn.16:33). When we face opposition, criticism or even persecution, we often feel as if God has failed us.  The early church saw trouble as evidence of their faith.  

When threatened by authorities and jailed, the Jerusalem church prayed, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly (Acts 4:29-31). 

In Acts 5, after being flogged by the Sanhedrin, the apostles left “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name (Acts 5:41).  We may need to pray that God will give us a biblical expectation for life as a believer, so that when trouble comes, we are not discouraged and afraid, but emboldened, knowing that God is with us and will give us what we need to endure and overcome.

So…as we face a time when boldness and courage is required, we should consistently meditate on the Word of God and pray with other believers while limiting our exposure to the spirit of fear attached to so many things in our culture.  We should pray fervently to be filled with the Spirit daily and to be filled with boldness.  In addition, we may need to ask the Holy Spirit to adjust our expectation about living as a believer in a fallen and hostile world…for we have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.

Lord, give us boldness and courage to face every obstacle in our lives today as children of God, rather than children of this world.  

An acceptable part of our culture in 2022 is for a couple to live together without being married and even to have children together outside the covenant of marriage. Celebrities have paved the way for the normalization of that arrangement, and many young Christian couples have followed in their footsteps.  

It is not uncommon for couples to come to premarital classes at our church or come to Free Indeed, our spiritual warfare component, while living together unmarried…maybe even with children. Many seem to be unaware of the biblical injunctions against that arrangement.  Culture does not change the Word of God and it clearly declares that any kind of sex outside the covenant of marriage is sin.  The biblical term for sex outside of marriage is “fornication” or “adultery” if either party is still married to another. Some want to argue that cohabiting is not sin because both parties are being monogamous and are verbally committed to one another.  This skirts the definition of marriage in scripture but, since either party can take off when they feel like it without legal actions and because they do not present themselves as married, it is not marriage.

Much of the blame falls on my generation of postwar “baby boomers” who took on the mantle of “free love” and living together either as a statement against social norms or as a trial-run before marriage. So many of our children have experienced divorce in their homes that they simply fear making a mistake in marriage and then going through what they saw their parents go through. They also fear putting children through the divorce experience if their own marriages fail.  The response seems to have been almost a cultural decision to test the waters for marriage by living together for months or years to see if life under the same roof was manageable.  In the natural realm, the approach seems to make sense.  Don’t by a car until you have taken a lengthy test drive.

However, in the spiritual realm, it is outside of God’s will (sin) and, therefore, invites the devil into the relationship.  Anytime believers participate in a sin for an extended period without repentance, it opens them up to the enemy.  Since they have come into agreement with Satan in that part of their lives, he has a legal right in the courts of heaven to afflict them and the persistent sin of that relationship withholds God’s blessing from what they are doing.  David declared, “Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psm.66:16-19).

Even in the natural realm, statistics show that those who live together and then marry, have a higher divorce rate than those who simply marry.  So, in actuality, the “test drive” gives no real assurance that the relationship will work in a marriage.  I think there are a couple of reasons for that.

First of all, “living together” is a relationship in which partners promise to stay together only as long as it works.  When it stops being fun or fulfilling, one partner has permission and the expectation to pack up and move out.  The relationship is based on the premise that the couple actually anticipates failure, so they will not enter into a lifetime commitment.  That approach to a relationship is a contract, rather than a covenant.  Contracts say “I am in this relationship as long as you meet my expectations.” Biblical marriage is a covenant and covenants are a commitment to make the relationship work…even when one party has a bad day, month, or year.  You know…for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

I think living together reinforces the notion that I’m only in this as long as it feels good and is a good deal for me.  Even if the couple eventually marries, I think they often take the same mindset into the marriage because that has already defined the relationship and is the mindset of our culture…so divorce rates are high.

God, however is a covenant God who is faithful even when we are not and who brings all of his resources to bear to restore and maintain the relationships, even when our hearts have taken a vacation.  Without that same mindset, without the Holy Spirit combatting our brokenness and selfishness, and without the blessings of God, few marriages will make it in this world.  Because cohabiting in a sexual relationship is outside of God’s will, those resources will not be available to the couple or will be greatly hindered.

Successful marriages today, require a strong commitment to work through the issues, the failures, and the rough spots.  We all bring a measure of brokenness and selfishness into marriages that will either be healed or will be a constant source of wounding and conflict. 

My experience is that the Word of God activated in our lives, the healing and transforming power of the Holy Spirit, and the support of God’s spiritual family are the best resources for any marriage to make it and to develop into a relationship full of blessings rather than disappointment.  

Couples who are living together outside the covenant of marriage are living without those powerful resources as well as opening the front door of their lives to the enemy who wants only to kill, steal and destroy.  When couples show up who are cohabiting, we do not run them off because God loves them.  But we certainly encourage them to marry, stay sexually pure until they do marry, and to draw close to the Lord where they will  learn to truly love.

Marriage is designed to shape us into the image of Jesus Christ by illuminating our rough spots, our selfishness, and our brokenness so that these areas of our lives can be submitted to Jesus, when we protect ourselves from potential pain by low level commitments, we will not be changed.  We will simply take our baggage with us into the next relationship and the next.

We have an exceptional residential program in our city for single-parent mothers and their children.  Every year I have the privilege of teaching the mothers a workshop on Boundaries in relationships.  A number of years ago, Henry Cloud and John Townsend wrote the book entitled Boundaries that has become a classic used by counselors in numerous settings. 

Whenever a book begins to have such influence, it is always a good practice to ask whether its contents are consistent with biblical principles.  I have seen books sweep through the American self-help sections of bookstores that are not consistent with biblical principles and, therefore, will eventually lead to bad outcomes.  

Paul spoke to this reality in Galatians when he said, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal.6:7-8). In essence, Paul is saying that whenever we consistently follow the impulses of the flesh or the promptings of the world, we will eventually end up in hurtful or destructive circumstances.  Whenever we consistently do things God’s way, we will experience life-giving outcomes.

The concept of boundaries is that we should establish “fences” in our lives that let in the good and keep out the bad.  These “fences” are basically proactive decisions about what I will let into my life and what I will refuse to let into my life.  They are decisions about what I will take responsibility for and what I will insist that others take responsibility for.  They are decisions about where I will draw the line in my actions and in the actions of others.  It is all about what I say “yes” to and what I say “no” to.  

I believe that the idea of intentionally setting boundaries is a very biblical idea and is an essential concept in spiritual warfare.  Joshua told the Israelites, “Choose who you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” That is a proactive decision to establish boundaries around your family.  Paul wrote in his second letter to the church at Corinth, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” “Therefore, come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:14-18).

In this text, God is calling us to decide who we are and to live accordingly.  Because we are children of God and followers of Jesus, there should simply be things we do and things we don’t do, people we enter into agreement with and people we don’t.  Each of those decisions is a boundary. So let’s quickly examine of few of the areas in which God actually commands us to establish boundaries. The spiritual warfare aspect of this is that godly boundaries keep the enemy out of our lives, while the lack of boundaries invite him in.

First of all. God tells us to avoid covenants, agreements, and influential relationships with unbelievers.  This is a principle that is clearly stated in both the Old and New Testaments.  It is worth noting, that the verb modes are command modes, not suggestions for Christian living.

God maintains a clear boundary or line between believers and unbelievers.  He is very clear about who is in the family of God and who is not and about those who have the Holy Spirit living in  them and those who don’t.  We typically don’t see it as clearly as God does and tend to think there are good people out there who are not yet Christians that we might marry, form some kind of alliance with, etc.

God says that those in the kingdom belong to Jesus and those who aren’t in the kingdom belong to Satan.  He sees one as belonging to the light and the other as belonging to darkness.  One is influenced by the Spirit and the other by the demons – knowingly or unknowingly.  His point is that entering onto covenants or agreements with those who belong to Satan gives him access to your life.  When you marry, you also marry your spouse’s family and the in-laws can have a dramatic effect on you for good or bad.  If you enter into a covenant with an unbeliever, Satan becomes an “in-law”  because you have entered into an agreement with his representatives.

We need to keep the door closed on the enemy and give him no openings into our life. Paul warns us in Ephesians 4 not allow the sun to go down on our anger and not to give Satan a foothold, which in Greek means a territory or a place of standing.  His point is that if we nurture anger and unforgiveness, that sin gives the devil a place to accuse us and to gain access to our hearts or mind.  That foothold can then become a stronghold.

Paul then goes on to say that, in addition to avoiding binding relationships or partnerships with unbelievers, we must consider ourselves different and set apart from unbelievers.  This is not a call to arrogance or self-righteousness, but is a matter of knowing he we are in Christ and knowing that we are set apart from all others on this planet.  We are holy by the blood of Christ and are the temple of God so we conduct ourselves in accordance with the Spirit, not the flesh or the world.

He also says that we are to touch no unclean thing.  That means that we do not involve ourselves in idolatry…not just false religion but even the worship of money, power, fame, pleasure, etc. We don’t touch or embrace what is unclean such as pornography, witchcraft, sexual perversion, dishonest gain, lying, stealing, etc. The world and the flesh will rationalize and excuse those things, but we are to establish clear boundaries in our hearts and minds to say “no” to those things and “yes” to the things of God. That kind of alignment with the Father keeps the enemy at bay.

Those who are afflicted and oppressed by demons have opened the door to their presence through sin and some agreement with the world or have had someone in their bloodline do the same. Boundaries are thoughtful and intentional decisions to let the good in and keep the bad out.  They are for our health and safety. They are lines of demarcation that say we will not go there and are no trespassing signs for the enemy.  God is a god of boundaries and, as his people, we should be clear about those boundaries ourselves.   It might be good to even right down our personal boundaries that keep us close to God…what we will do and what we won’t do, who we will make covenants with and who we won’t, so that, when temptation comes, we have already decided what our course will be.  By living that way, God will clearly be a father to us and we will clearly be his sons and daughters.  

Another interesting cultural trend took the spotlight in Scottsdale, Arizona this past weekend.  Hundreds of members of the “Satanic Temple” held a three-day convention there called SatanCon.  Reported, the Satanic Temple had filed a request to present an invocation before the City Council of Scottsdale.  They were refused the right to offer their invocation, so they decided to have a large gathering in Phoenix to demonstrate the quality of their organization in an effort to discredit the City Council for their rejection and refusal to be “inclusive.”

Although the Satanic Temple uses the satanic pentagram and its symbolism and erects statues of Satan (Baphomet) wherever possible, they declare they are not really Satanists but libertarians joining together to do noble works through social activism.  If you check their website, their mission statement sounds like the Rotary Club.  They claim that they do not participate in satanic rituals or sacrifice, but are simply having fun with the satanic symbols and the name. 

The leaders of the Satanic Temple are either whitewashing their real intent or are incredibly ignorant people playing with fire.  Satan is never more in the driver’s seat than when we don’t take him seriously or don’t recognize his activity.  It is amazing how many people, including believers, think of Satan as mythological or mere superstition.  Many main stream Christians would tell you that they believe that both Satan and hell are real, but have no awareness that there is an actual spiritual adversary scheming against their lives and families on a daily basis.  

The great majority of churches in America have no curriculum or training to address spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:12) or the use of divine weapons. (2 Cor. 10:4). Remember, Paul declared that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms and that divine weapons are required to bring down these demonic strongholds.

If we do not view Satan as a real adversary, he will operate, disrupt, and disable without detection like the invisible man or like a cancer that has not been diagnosed.  I know of several churches that have been divided and rendered ineffective by the strategies of the enemy, but have never identified the real cause of their struggles.  Some of these churches had 2000 members a few years ago but now have only a few hundred in attendance.  They replace their staff over and over, remodel to make the building more attractive, and try to employ the “newest” church growth strategies only to continue to waste away.  Yet, it never occurs to them to enter into prayer and fasting, repentance, cleansing the property of demonic spirits or breaking curses that have given the enemy access to that church for decades.

I personally know of individuals who were former witches in our community, but have now come to the Lord and confessed that they used to sit in Sunday services at influential churches and pronounce curses over the church and the pastoral staff.  Some of those churches have since experienced moral failures by leadership, a loss of passion for the kingdom, serious divisions in their membership, and significantly shrinking numbers.  They continue to look for solutions in the natural realm, but have no idea about how to wage war in the spiritual realm.  

If the members of the Satanic Temple think that Satan is not real, but just a mythological character whose likeness and symbols can be used for fun like Santa Claus, they will soon be co-opted, demonized, and controlled for the purposes of Satan.  If you wear his name and wield his symbols, you belong to him…whether you know it or not.  If they are simply putting up a socially acceptable front, we should not be surprised.  After all, the apostle Paul warned us when he said, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:14).

The SatanCon in Scottsdale is symptomatic of a culture who does not take evil seriously and is too “sophisticated” to consider Satan to be a real being who truly is our adversary.  It is symptomatic of a culture who no longer believes in the absolutes of good and evil.  It is a culture that no longer believers that there is a God in heaven who judges individuals and nations.  As believers, we cannot afford to be casual or ignorant about the adversary.  We do not have to be afraid because Christ has all authority, but we need to be wise and know when the enemy is involved and how to take action when needed. We all should ask the Lord daily for spiritual discernment and wisdom to know how to wield.  We must learn how to do battle, how to pray for our families, churches, and nation and how to stand against the intrusions of the enemy withthe weapons he has given us through the  victory of Jesus Christ.

How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth…You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Isa. 14:12-14

You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you…Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, or so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth.   Ezek. 28:12-17

These two passages from the Old Testament are considered by most to be descriptions of Satan before his fall and the reasons that he was driven from heaven and cast down to planet earth.  One is found as part of a prophecy against Babylon and the other against the King of Tyre.  The point is that, in the same way that Satan was strong and powerful once, but lost his elevated position in heaven because of pride and a desire to take the throne himself, these kings would also be judged because of pride and a heart that exalted themselves above God. 

What we need to notice is that Satan, in his corrupted pride and wisdom, desired to take the place of God in heaven where he would then receive praise and worship.  He was created as a guardian cherub who constantly ministered around the throne of God.  Some believe that he was even the worship leader of heaven.  In his beauty and exalted status, he became jealous of the worship God received and wanted it for himself.  He hasn’t changed. Ultimately, his desire is to be worshipped as God himself, although he is a created being.  

In Matthew 4, when Satan appeared to tempt Christ after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, his final temptation was that he would give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Christ would worship him.  In Revelation 13, the dragon (Satan) raises up a beast that all people are amazed at and we are told that all the people of the earth worshipped the dragon.  Satan’s deepest desire is to redirect worship from God to himself.  Scripture reveals that behind every idol is a demon and so demons receive the worship that men give to idols.  Since demons represent Satan, I’m sure he accepts that as worship to himself.

Worship can be a subtle thing.  It doesn’t have to be men and women cloaked in robes in a candle lit room chanting, “Hail Satan.”  It can be as simple as loving the things he loves.  It can be as simple has agreeing with him about values, priorities, and contorted views of God.  It is as simple as calling evil things good and good things evil.  It can be as simple as pursuing the desires of the flesh rather than the desires of the Spirit.  When we love what God loves and hate what God hates, it is an expression of worship because we have aligned our hearts with His.  When we love what Satan loves and hate what he hates, we also are worshipping him. 

We live in a world that constantly exalts and practices the things of Satan – money, power, illicit sex, homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, theft, violence, atheism, racism, witchcraft, etc.  We hear the constant drum beat that these things are part of an enlightened, sophisticated culture.  Those who would push back against these new cultural “norms” are labelled unenlightened, bigoted haters.  

Let’s face it, things that shocked and disgusted the average American fifty years ago, hardly raise an eye brow now.  We have been exposed to these things so often by the media, that our sensitivities are dulled.  What was considered gross sin fifty years ago is now “cute” and is, at least, a subplot in every movie or television series. 

This is all designed to normalize such behaviors and, over time, align our values with the enemy’s. After years of conditioning, our hearts start to compromise and, perhaps, begin to give some credibility to the arguments that these things are actually normal and healthy.  It is all a great strategy to align our hearts, values, and priorities with the enemy’s.  His goal is to pervert every holy thing that God created and to draw disciples after himself.  All this is to draw worship to himself.  Service is a form of worship and when we serve Satan by agreeing with him in word or actions, then we are worshipping.

In the arena of spiritual warfare, agreement is a huge issue.  Whomever we agree with, we empower in our lives and invite to come in and sit down.  We live in an age when we must evaluate constantly which direction our heart is leaning.  When you survey scriptures that speak about end times, a major theme is that people, even God’s people, will be deceived by the evil one and drawn away from the kingdom of heaven.  

We must evaluate, on a regular basis, who or what we are worshipping.  What are we pursuing with the most passion? To whom or what are we giving our time and finances?  What are we thinking about, dreaming about, or imagining when we are alone? What offends us or what no longer offends us?  

What in our lives are out of sync with the Word of God and the holiness of God?  These are serious matters.  God may not be as casual about our sin and agreement with Satan as we are.  Let me encourage you to evaluate your worship…not just on Sunday mornings, but on the other six days of the week as well.  We must worship God and him only and lets encourage one another to do so as the return of Jesus draws closer.