The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 52

The Advent Part 44

Acts 2:13, “Others mocking said, ‘They are full of new wine.’”

Ever since the beginning of the Church there have always been mockers and scoffers, there have always been those who have fiercely opposed the work of God, and there have always been those who have openly declared their hatred of God Himself. No matter the number of those standing in open rebellion to God however, no matter their clout, position or power, the truth has persevered, the truth has overcome, and the truth has remained even though generation after generation of mockers and scoffers have gone into the earth.

Even though some mock the work of salvation, it does nothing to hinder God from fulfilling His plans, and from bringing to pass that which He has purposed. When we mock that which we do not understand, we are twice guilty of sin. First, to mock someone or something in and of itself is a sin, even when it is rooted in reality, but when we mock something as important as the work of the Holy Spirit based on presuppositions and the hearsay of men, we are twice guilty first for mocking, and second for believing the words of men over the Word of God. As a friend of my grandfather’s once said, ‘mockers are the devil’s minstrels, and they fill the world with the poisoned music of death.’

The tragedy of it all, is that it’s those who call themselves Christians, believers, and followers of Christ that are some of the most vitriolic and vociferous mockers when it comes to the work and power of the Holy Spirit. It is men and women who ought to know better that denigrate the gifts of the Holy Spirit, that scoff at those who continue to believe in them, and write off anyone who has experienced the true power of God as delusional or psychotic. If you don’t understand something, don’t be too quick to mock it; don’t be too quick to scoff at it, especially if what you don’t understand has to do with the power of God, the work of God, or the Word of God. We heap up judgments upon our own heads because rather than take the time, search out the Bible and discover the truth, we follow after the crowd chanting the same tired one-liners, lemming like in our devotion to a certain denominational doctrine rather to the truth of the Christ who bought us and redeemed us by His blood.

It is no surprise that the number of those who mock the gifts of the Holy Spirit has grown in our day and age, it is no surprise that revilers and scoffers have multiplied exponentially, because as Paul writes to Timothy, one of the signs of the last days is that such individuals would multiply.

Being the objective individual you all know me to be, I will concede the point that the modern day church has brought much of the scoffing and mocking on itself by allowing strange non-biblical practices to worm their way into the household of faith, and by not holding to the truth of scripture when it comes to the work and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we’ve brought these things upon our own heads by being childish, gullible, and infantile in our spirituality, looking for new experiences that require no sanctification of us, rather than biblical experiences, and embracing anything that has even a tentative whiff of the spiritual, tangential and tenuous as it might be.

Instead of running first to the Word of God to confirm that indeed at least one of the disciples barked like a dog, writhed like a snake, clucked like a chicken, got oily hands, woke up with gold fillings, punched cancer patients in the stomach or began seizing uncontrollably, we embrace what amounts to foolishness as being of God, lending our name, our reputation and our credibility to these new waves of ‘the supernatural’ encouraging others to join in as well, only to have our names dragged through the mud once these new monolithic paragons of virtue and spiritual authority turn out to be lecherous, adulterous, deceptive and downright evil conmen preying on the easily swayed and those looking for a new experience.

When we abandon scripture, when we sidestep the Gospel, when in our hunger for something exciting and new we fail to confirm that it is Biblical, our failure is ensured, certain and inevitable.

The true work of God, the power of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are glorious, life altering and above all real and available to us as believers. What more could we desire of the supernatural if all the gifts of the Holy Spirit operated within a congregation? We would see miracles, hear words of prophecy, have wisdom and knowledge and faith and discernment, hear tongues as well as the interpretation thereof. Why the need to be led around by a dog collar and bark like some mental patient? Why the need to check our molars in the mirror every morning for gold fillings? There is more than enough power within the framework of the gospel when it comes to the work of the Holy Spirit, to keep us excited and engaged for ten lifetimes never mind the handful of years we spend on this rock.

As wise and sober minded children of God, we must be ever aware that although the true power of God is still among us, and the work an gifts of the Holy Spirit are readily available to those who believe, counterfeit spirituality is likewise at an all-time high, and the enemy will go to any lengths in his attempts to deceive us, or cause our hearts to grow cold and distant toward the work of God.

2 Peter 2:1-2, “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.”

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.