David Noakes’s own visit to Toronto in 1994.

David Noakes continues his personal account of witnessing the Toronto ‘experience’.

This week’s re-printed excerpt includes a NEW additional note from the author on the practice of laying on hands.

My Toronto Experience

The phenomenon of Kansas City did recede, although it left behind a lot of confusion and unresolved issues, and I thought little about the beach picture (outlined last week) again for some years.

Then, in the early months of 1994, we began to hear of the amazing things which were being reported from Toronto. As the reports continued to flow in, I was being urged by many people to visit and experience what was happening there. Having no great desire to go and with a busy schedule, I resisted the idea for several months, but finally I was convinced that the Lord was requiring me to make the trip and I went to Toronto for a week's visit.

I arrived in Toronto on Friday 14 October, 1994 and attended meetings in the concluding days of the large 'Catch the Fire' conference which had been taking place during that week. These meetings took place in a large auditorium of a local hotel, which was capable of containing, I would guess, some two to three thousand people.

During the times of worship, I felt as if I were in a rock concert. The level of noise was deafening to the point of being physically painful and oppressive, and brought an increasing sense of unreality. This, together with the insistent rhythmic beat of the drums and of the bass guitar tends to induce a state bordering on hypnosis in susceptible people and creates a spiritual atmosphere in which I would say without hesitation that the demonic can thrive.

During these times of worship, many people began to exhibit jerking bodily movements which were unnatural. Some of these people appeared to be in a state of trance. From a number of years' experience of deliverance ministry, I would identify a good deal of what I saw as proceeding from demonic spirits associated with occult practices, particularly voodoo.

I was urged by many people to visit Toronto and resisted the idea for several months, but finally I was convinced that the Lord was requiring me to make the trip.

There were some women near to where I was standing whose bodily movements were unmistakably those of increasing sexual excitement, reaching a point at which they fell to the floor. All of this was perhaps hardly surprising in an atmosphere which was really not unlike that of a pop concert in which the fans get worked up to an increasing height of frenzy. What disturbed me most was not that satan was active - of course he always is - but the failure of leadership to distinguish between the spirits which were operating.

Particular Line of Teaching

The teaching which I encountered in Toronto was to the effect that because God is doing a work amongst his people, therefore everything which takes place is by definition an activity of the Holy Spirit and it is assumed that satan is inactive.

I have never encountered any form of teaching which is more dangerous or which could open the door so widely to deception and the undetected activity of a demonic spirit. To make such an assumption was a total abdication of one of the principal responsibilities of Christian leadership. The warnings in Scripture about deception were being completely ignored and such teaching flies in the face of scriptural commands that when any form of spiritual activity is seen to be taking place, it is to be weighed and tested and an assessment is to be made as to whether its origin is truly from God.

The teaching from Toronto, however, set aside the spiritual gift of distinguishing between spirits (1 Cor 12:10) and ignored the clear teaching of other scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 14:29 we are told that where prophecy is being spoken in the assembly of the church, we are to “weigh carefully what is said”. The words underlined are a translation of a Greek word which comes from exactly the same root as the word used in 1 Corinthians 12:10 for the discerning of, or distinguishing between, spirits.

The instruction of 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, again in the context of spiritual manifestations, is that we should “test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil”. Here the Greek word translated 'test' has the meaning of examining a thing, putting it to the test to determine whether or not it is genuine; and the identical word is found in 1 John 4:1: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (emphasis mine).

The word of God warns us consistently never to accept spiritual manifestations as being from the Holy Spirit unless their source has been put to the test by the body of believers and discerned to be genuine.

The word of God warns us consistently never to accept spiritual manifestations as being from the Holy Spirit unless their source has been put to the test by the body of believers and discerned to be genuine.

It is the height of folly and irresponsibility to ignore such scriptures in days when not only the activity of God but also the activity of satan is becoming greater and more widespread. If we are to accept that in some particular situation such as this, it is in order for discernment to be discarded, where will such a teaching end? How are we to know where, if at all, we should draw the line?

The warnings of Scripture in, for example, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 and Revelation 13:13-14, are now coming all too close for comfort, and a Church which had not learned to distinguish between good and evil (Heb 5:14) will be a target for any kind of deception which begins to take place. I am concerned about the demonic activity which I saw taking place in some people in Toronto, but I am far more alarmed at the potential results of this particular line of teaching.

Laying On of Hands (see also NEW Author’s Note, base of article)

On a number of occasions since my visit to Toronto, believers have requested prayer at the conclusion of a meeting at which I have spoken. They have done so because they had previously submitted to laying on of hands in order to receive the 'Toronto Blessing', and had since felt unaccountably troubled in spirit in a way which had previously been foreign to them.

Every such person to whom I have ministered has shown evidence of being under demonic oppression and has received specific deliverance in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is not of course to suggest that all those who have had contact with the Toronto Blessing have come into spiritual bondage; to jump to such a conclusion would be entirely unwarranted. What has seemed to me to be of considerable significance, however, is the repeated combination of two factors.

In every one of these cases, the person for whom I have been asked to pray had first received a spiritual impartation by means of the laying on of hands by another person who had themselves already received it; and secondly, had subsequently become disturbed in spirit in a way which they had not experienced before.

I believe these facts should draw our attention to an issue which is of greater importance than perhaps we have previously realised. A few days before I went to Toronto, I was waiting upon the Lord and was given a short word of encouragement and instruction. I wrote it down, and now quote a passage whose relevance has become increasingly apparent:

Do not accept the laying on of hands from anyone except those whom you know from experience to be trustworthy and to have my Spirit within them. To submit voluntarily to the laying on of hands is to submit to the spiritual power that is within a man. When this power is that of the Holy Spirit, then you will receive blessing through that which is good; but where it is not, evil can be transferred.

More recently my attention has been drawn to the lesson contained in Haggai 2:10-14. In it, two questions are posed. The first is whether if consecrated meat comes in contact with other food, the consecration is thereby transferred to the un-consecrated food; and the answer is that it is not. The second question is whether if a person who is ceremonially defiled through contact with a dead body touches food, that defilement is transferred to the food so that it also becomes defiled; the answer this time is affirmative.

It is the height of folly and irresponsibility to ignore such scriptures in days when not only the activity of God but also the activity of satan is becoming greater and more widespread.

The message is plain: spiritual consecration cannot be transferred by physical contact, as in the laying on of hands. If a man has received spiritual blessing, he cannot pass it on to another in this way (if he is spiritually undefiled and lays hands on another, the Holy Spirit may move directly upon that other person but where that is the case, there is no spiritual transference taking place between the persons themselves).

Spiritual defilement however, can be transferred from one to another through physical contact. It is well established, for example, that such a transference of spirits can take place through illicit sexual activity. If one man has come under the influence of an evil spirit, the influence can be transferred to another who submits voluntarily to the laying on of his hands.

We need to beware of careless practices and to exercise godly vigilance and caution. Paul warns: “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure” (1 Tim 5:22). It is imperative for our safety that we take heed to the instructions of Scripture; they are given for the protection and wellbeing of the whole Body.

Misuse of the Word of God

While I was at Toronto, and even more in the months which followed, I had an increasing concern - to the point of considerable alarm - at the ways in which the word of God was now being mishandled by many leaders in the charismatic churches.

The misuse and distortion of Scripture in order to try to justify bizarre spiritual manifestations with some sort of theological explanation has been appalling; it has been as if attempts were being made to underpin a collapsing building with any piece of rubble which comes to hand.

The difficulty has been that the 'building' in question does not have any foundation in Scripture, however desperate the attempts to find one. At the Airport Vineyard Fellowship in Toronto, I heard the Pastor give a message in which he declared that Isaiah 25:6 was a description of what God was currently doing - God was in 'feasting mode'. Yet that Scripture had no possible relevance to any present situation; it is lifted straight out of the context of an apocalyptic passage relating to the events of the Day of the Lord and what will happen at the Second Coming of Christ.

Again, in the course of the same message, he made reference to the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32, and declared that it teaches that God loves any opportunity to hold a party. Yet its emphasis is nothing of the sort, but rather the greatness of God's fatherly forgiveness and restoration of a repentant sinner.

The misuse and distortion of Scripture in order to try to justify bizarre spiritual manifestations with some sort of theological explanation has been appalling.

A further example of such extraordinary misuse of Scripture came when a prominent Anglican leader visited a church where I have a friend in leadership. His message consisted of encouragement to welcome unusual spiritual manifestations, including the making of animal noises, and it was based on one sentence taken out of Isaiah 28:21: “to do his work, his strange work”. These few words, again lifted out of context, were declared to justify the idea that the bizarre activities were a 'strange work' which God is doing in these days, and that they should therefore be accepted without further question.

But in the context, what is actually being described is a work of judgment and destruction by God against his own covenant people of Israel, and it is to him a 'strange work' and an 'alien task', because it is foreign and abhorrent to God's normal desire to bless his people and to act in mercy rather than in judgment. Theologically, therefore, the previous sort of teaching has no validity.

Drunk in the Spirit

The strange and un-coordinated behaviour of many who have been touched by the Toronto experience has frequently been described as being due to people being 'drunk in the Spirit'. I have myself for many years been familiar with the phenomenon of people who are receiving ministry from the Holy Spirit experiencing loss of bodily strength so as to be temporarily too weak to rise from their chair or from the floor; indeed, I also have had the same experience. Never before, however, have I seen the spectacle of people staggering about, slurring their speech and showing other characteristic signs normally associated with alcoholic intoxication.

The concept that a person can be 'drunk in the Spirit' is one of which Scripture knows nothing. Two passages have been used frequently to try to justify the idea, but they entirely fail to do so when subjected to proper interpretation.

In Acts 2:1-13, what is being described is the phenomenon, historically unprecedented and utterly amazing, of about 120 people suddenly beginning to declare the wonders of God in a host of different foreign languages. It was only those who mocked what was happening who suggested drunkenness as the cause, but the majority of the onlookers were simply described, understandably enough, as “amazed and perplexed”. There is no suggestion whatever of any behaviour which justified the description of physical drunkenness, and to try to read it into the text is to abuse the word of God. Is Peter's sermon that of a drunken man?

The second Scripture used in this context is Ephesians 5:18, but it says nothing whatever about being drunk in the Spirit. Indeed, coming at the end of a lengthy passage urging the believer to avoid ungodly behaviour, it would be astonishing if it did! The verse forbids being drunk (literally 'soaked') with wine, the evidence of which is debauched (literally 'unsaved') behaviour (v18). Instead, believers are to be filled with the Spirit.

Everywhere in Scripture, drunkenness is condemned as ungodly. How can we therefore accept that the Spirit of God would deliberately bring about in a believer the evidence of drunken behaviour?

The Greek verb used is pleroo, which had nothing to do with drunkenness, and the evidence of being in that condition is that they will produce psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (v19), thanksgiving to God (v20) and submission to one another out of reverence for Christ (v21), not slurred speech and drunken behaviour!

Everywhere in Scripture, drunkenness is condemned as ungodly. How can we therefore accept that the Spirit of God would deliberately bring about in a believer the evidence of drunken behaviour as if he were intoxicated with alcohol? The thing is utterly unthinkable, unless one discards the consistent teaching of the Word of God as irrelevant. Sadly, and most frightening of all, this is what some charismatic leaders are now beginning to do.

Extra-Biblical Experience

Animal noises, convulsions, bodily jerkings, loss of speech control and the like, are being described as 'extra-biblical' phenomena - which they certainly are. This feature of the activities should, however, put an immediate question mark over their authenticity; normally, unbiblical experience is found to emanate, not from the Holy Spirit, but from the realm of the demonic.

But among many leaders, no such questioning has taken place; but rather the reverse. It has even been suggested that the spiritual experiences and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit recorded in the pages of the New Testament were the experience of the Church in its infancy in those early days; but that now in our day the Church is being brought into maturity and we must therefore expect experiences from God which were unknown to the early Church and therefore not to be found in the Bible. We are consequently in uncharted waters, being led solely by the Spirit. This opens the Church to precisely the danger which Paul defines in Ephesians 4:14.

This sort of teaching, if pursued to its logical conclusion, is the height of dangerous folly. It is like saying that our maps are no longer of use to us because we have gone beyond their boundaries. We can no longer check our course, but must trust that any wind which happens to blow will take us in the right direction. We have discarded, however, all means of knowing either where the wind is coming from or the direction in which we are heading. In fact, we are drifting helplessly at the mercy of any force which may influence us.

A teaching which discards the Bible as the final authority for the validity of Christian experience is a teaching which emanates straight from the master of deception himself. It tears down the boundary walls which God has erected for the safety of his people, and it opens the door wide for the charismatic Church to join in an unwitting embrace with the New Age movement and all its occult activities.

A teaching which discards the Bible as the final authority for the validity of Christian experience is a teaching which emanates straight from the master of deception himself.

In the mid-90s, I even had reported to me instances of levitation occurring at Toronto-type meetings at a church in the north of England. Where will the line be drawn? On the basis of this sort of thinking and teaching, why should not telepathy or astral travel or any other occult practices be embraced under the deception that they are God's latest blessings to his maturing Church?

Unless there is repentance and a return to an acknowledgment of the supreme and ultimate authority of the word of God, the Church is being led into a place of great spiritual peril.

Next week: David concludes his chapter, looking at the need for repentance and discernment.

**NEW**

[Editor: Following some feedback that Blessing the Church? seems to advocate against the practice of laying on hands, we felt clarification was necessary and approached David for further comment. His response is below.]

Author’s Note

The issue which I was seeking to tackle [in Blessing the Church?] was the very important one of transference of spirits from one human being to another. 20 years ago this was a subject which hardly ever received any attention by bible teachers; but to those of us who had been brought into experience of deliverance ministry, it was realised to be an important factor in some cases where folk were being demonically troubled. Our brothers Edmund Heddle and John Fieldsend in particular highlighted its importance to me.

This significant issue was underlined in my own experience following my visit to Toronto in 1994; following that visit, I found myself being asked to pray after almost every meeting for believers who had sought to receive the ‘Toronto Blessing’ - and had subsequently found themselves in unexpected spiritual difficulties. In each such case, when I ministered to such people, they received specific deliverance from certain powerful demonic spirits which had not been troubling them previously.

It was a matter of some perplexity for a time, however, that I was also being told by some who had been to similar ‘Toronto’-type meetings that they had received a genuine fresh experience of the Holy Spirit. This perplexity was finally resolved when I began to find that those people had been seeking the Lord for himself - and in his faithfulness, he had met with them by the Holy Spirit.

Those who were troubled, however, had attended with a different motive - not to seek the Lord for who he is, but wanting to receive the ‘Toronto Blessing’ because it was new, exciting and carried with it spectacular manifestations. The former group had met with the Lord, with good results; while the latter had received what they had gone for, which was actually demonic and brought harm to their spiritual lives, and also to many churches.

What I also found was that without exception, in my experience, those who had been affected by ungodly spirits had received an impartation of the ‘Blessing’ through the laying on of hands by another person who had already received it.

This drew my attention to the vital matter of what can occur through the laying on of hands - impartation of spirits from one to another. The Holy Spirit is not imparted from one human being to another, but is given to individuals by the sovereign act of God (e.g. Num 11:17, 25). In John 19:22, Jesus breathed on the disciples and said "Receive Holy Spirit". In Acts 8:17 and 19:6, we are told of the apostles laying hands on new believers, and the Holy Spirit came upon them - but there is no suggestion that the Holy Spirit was transferred from them to the believers; He came upon them in response to the action of the apostles, which is very different, being a sovereign work of God.

These verses attest to the transfer of the Holy Spirit to a person in response to a believer's obedience in laying on of hands. However, experience in ministry has shown over and over again that other spirits can transfer through physical contact to a person who is open to receive them. Illicit sexual intercourse is one outstanding example; but voluntary submitting to the laying on of hands is another easy means of physical transference of demonic spirits (it is important to emphasise that the person has to be willing and receptive. It cannot just happen simply by being in the company of someone who is demonised; we must be willing to receive from them).

When we allow a person to lay hands on us, we open ourselves to receive from them. There is danger in this if we don’t know the person. They may be harbouring one or more unclean spirits, and when we allow them to lay hands on us, these can and often do transfer to us if we are open and unguarded. For this reason, we should certainly not allow unknown people to minister directly to us. Scripture urges us to "guard our hearts with all diligence" (Prov 4:23).

I do hope this brief attempt to explain will prove to be of some help.

David Noakes, 12 April 2018

Series Information

This article is part of a series, re-publishing the 1995 book ‘Blessing the Church?’, an analysis of the ‘Toronto Blessing’ and a wider critique of the charismatic movement in the late 20^th Century. Click here for previous instalments and to read the editorial background to the series.

Peter Fenwick concludes his assessment of the Toronto Blessing in the light of Scripture.

This article is part of a series. Click here for previous instalments.

The Receiving Methodology

The claim has been made widely that via Toronto ‘receiving meetings’ people have gone on to experience great advance in the realm of sanctification. It has been claimed that people have moved into areas of very significant holiness where besetting sins previously dominated.

As has been shown earlier in this chapter, the style of receiving methodology is not new in the charismatic movement. It has prevailed for years and therefore comes as no surprise to thousands of Christians. What I am going on to say may well produce a reaction of 'So what? Who cares? The whole thing works so does anything else matter?'

First of all, yet again, the New Testament, indeed the whole Bible, never gives an example of meetings being convened for the laying on of hands, resulting in Christian people being significantly more sanctified. None of the Bible's teaching on sanctification so much as hints that procedures like this could help. Yet we have been presented with this method as the great thing that God is doing in these days.

The second point at issue is that the New Testament tells us most clearly how sanctification will come about. In John 17:17-20, Jesus is praying to his Father for his people and he says “[Father] sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth”. He had previously taught in John 15:3, “Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you”.

The Bible never gives an example of the laying on of hands resulting in Christian people being significantly more sanctified.

Paul taught in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is...useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”. When Paul addresses his farewells to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, he says in verse 32, “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified”. We have very similar teaching in the Old Testament, for example, Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you”.

What are all these scriptures saying? They are telling us very plainly that sanctification, cleansing and living in righteousness come to the people of God through the word of God, that is, through the scriptures. It is necessary to feed on the scriptures, to meditate upon them, to digest them, to absorb them and hide them away in our hearts. Through them we learn to respond to God's disciplines and to benefit from them; we learn to trust in God working out his purposes in times of turmoil and trial and tribulation.

Supremely we discover who God is - that is, his nature and character - and we read over and over again how much he supports us and how much he has done for us, and indeed, is doing for us.

We become familiar with the full revelation of God in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we look to in order to lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us. This is the pattern set for us in the New Testament. It is the Lord Jesus himself and the apostles who have taught all of this and we surely finish up at odds with them if in these last years of the 20^th Century we go down a different route altogether.

The Bible is clear that we can be converted in a moment following repentance from sin and faith in the Lord Jesus; it is equally clear that the work of sanctification takes a lifetime.

It is a consequence of the Holy Spirit working in the life of the believer, through the ministry of the word of God, as shown above. In Ephesians 5:26 Paul teaches that Christ will sanctify and cleanse the Church which he loves with “the washing with water through the word” (emphasis added) in order to ultimately present to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. We will take this matter a little further in the next section.

The work of sanctification takes a lifetime, and is a consequence of the Holy Spirit’s work, through the ministry of the word of God.

The Claimed Testimonies

There were those who claimed that, as a result of the type of ministry I have described, they had an experience of God resulting in a new love for the Lord Jesus Christ, a new love for the scriptures, increased zeal in witnessing and freedom from besetting sins. These are very significant claims.

However, these claims were made and accepted very soon after the ministry experience from which they were said to result. No experienced and responsible pastor would have allowed such a situation to arise. Proper pastoral responsibility to those who believe they have had an experience of God does not involve only the offering of encouragement and support; it also involves ensuring that spiritual progress is maintained and also determining whether the experience stands the test of time.

It is irresponsible to give instant public prominence to someone who believes he has had such an experience, and this for two reasons. First, it does not allow the experience to be tested. Secondly, public applause is the worst possible environment for spiritual growth. Many Toronto leaders were not without pastoral experience. Why then did they allow this?

I believe the reason is that sanctification, love of God, love of Scripture etc were demonstrably biblical, whilst all other features of the Toronto Blessing were not. These testimonies were, in fact, being used to authenticate the Toronto Blessing as a whole, the argument being that if the Toronto Blessing resulted in sanctification, it must be of God and so therefore must its manifestations and methodology.

But did it result in sanctification? As I have said, no time was allowed for testing the claims; testimonies were accepted long before anyone could be sure that there would be permanent fruit. We were being asked to accept these testimonies as genuine in order that we might also accept the Toronto Blessing as genuine, with all that this implied. This was no light matter. We were surely entitled to ask that the testimonies be proved over time before being presented as evidence. I heard of many claims of changed lives, but my own knowledge of the people concerned did not support these claims.

Testimonies of sanctification and increased love for God were, I believe, used prematurely to authenticate the Toronto Blessing as a whole.

I know many people who accepted the Toronto Blessing; most of them I have known for many years. Before they became involved in the Toronto Blessing the majority were agreeable and amiable Christians, and they remain so; but I have not noted startling changes in them. Others were less agreeable before their Toronto experience and unfortunately they also have not changed! Many of both groups reported pleasant experiences of 'carpet time', but I detected no fundamental changes of the sort that were being claimed. To me, of course, this came as no surprise, in view of the general absence of the word of God within the Toronto Blessing.

We may hope that there were some who, because of their genuine and earnest seeking of God, truly met with him and received blessing at his hand. But before we can accept the huge claims of widespread personal renewal, we must have solid evidence which has met the standards of Scripture and has stood the test of time.

Conclusion: Return to the Bible

I feel strongly that the reservations I have set out in this chapter need to be heeded. The Bible must be restored to the position of honour which it formerly had within the evangelical tradition. Unless this happens there is no knowing where Christianity will end up.

Some supporters of the Toronto Blessing object to this emphasis on Scripture on the grounds that it circumscribes God's actions. God, they argue, must be allowed to work in any way he chooses. I fully endorse this latter point, but we must recognise that one of the things God has chosen to do is to give us responsibility for testing things. He has also chosen to give us in the scriptures an account of his character and his ways, thereby equipping us with the means of testing whether or not something is of him.

Scripture contains many warnings, both from the apostles and from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, concerning the danger of deception and counterfeit works. Some of these will be so subtly disguised as to deceive the very elect. We are exhorted to watch, to test, to be on our guard, and to examine all things; and to be ready to reject those things which fail the test.

The Church must return to the Bible as the supreme authority in faith and practice. As I said at the beginning of this chapter, we are in a battle for the Bible. We must reassert its sufficiency as a criterion for judging all things. What possible grounds can there be for thinking that now, at the end of the 20^th Century, God is introducing any other?

In the new year: We turn to Chapter 4 of ‘Blessing the Church?’: From North Battlefield to Toronto, by David Forbes.

Peter Fenwick asks: was the Toronto Blessing biblical – and does it matter?

(This article is part of a series. Click here for previous instalments.)

The Toronto Blessing consisted of three distinctive parts: the manifestations, the receiving methodology and the claimed testimonies.

The Manifestations

I do not propose to spend a great deal of time on these. In Toronto receiving meetings strange things happened; people who were prayed for displayed unusual behaviour. Falling to the floor and lying supine was almost universal, and laughing uncontrollably almost as widespread.

There was a good deal of trembling and jerking, often known as the 'Toronto twitch', weeping and staggering in a seemingly-drunken fashion. Less common, but nonetheless widespread, were many other different physical movements, including certain sorts of dancing and animal movements, and, of course, the notorious animal noises. For the most part, all of these things were declared to be the result of the Holy Spirit being upon people in order to bless them.

When engaged in dialogue about the issue of the Toronto Blessing I found that all who were supporters of it nevertheless sought to play down the matter of the manifestations. It was said to me by people that they did not like them, but it was necessary to put up with them in order to lay hold of God's best.

Even though the whole of the Toronto Blessing was claimed to be a sovereign move of God, the mood amongst the practitioners generally ended up being to get these particular things under control - a strange way to respond to an alleged sovereign act of God!

Toronto practitioners generally ended up playing the manifestations down and trying to get them under control – a strange way to respond to an alleged act of God!

Generally speaking, people who went forward more than once at successive meetings tended to repeat whatever was the manifestation which they first received. If they became pogo jumpers, for instance, that is probably what they repeated at future meetings. It was also common for people who were prayed with to receive the specific manifestation characteristic of the person praying for them.

Backtracking from a Biblical Defence

During most of 1994, claims were made that all of these manifestations could be successfully held up to biblical examination, though I have to say, I have only ever seen attempts to give biblical authentication to the following seven: drunken staggering, losing bodily strength and thus falling down, laughing uncontrollably, weeping, trembling, lion roaring and convulsions.

This last one, convulsions, is a strange odd one out. Gerald Coates wrote in 'Toronto and Scripture' (Renewal magazine, November 1994) concerning “manifestations of the Holy Spirit's presence” that “Scripture gives more than sufficient evidence and endorsement for the following responses”. It was the strange odd one out because when he talked about convulsions he said “most if not all references to do with convulsions have a demonic source”. He proceeded to quote only Mark 1:25-26 and Mark 9:18, both of which are examples of the demonic at work.

This matter is in fact doubly strange as Gerald began by declaring he would give scriptural ‘endorsement’ for such responses. Convulsions, either in the form of strange uncontrollable jerks, or on the floor contraction-like writhings, were very common features of Toronto meetings, but I have never seen or heard of any being declared demonic.

Around the world at conferences and in papers, the claims that these things were biblical were strongly challenged. I do not propose here to repeat the basis of that challenge because the attempt to biblically vindicate, such as it was, has now been largely withdrawn.

The attempt to biblically vindicate the manifestations has now been largely withdrawn.

Late in 1994, the Vineyard International Council, a body which had some oversight of the churches which related to John Wimber, made the following statement which was reported in Alpha magazine:

We are willing to allow experiences to happen without endorsing, encouraging or stimulating them; nor should we seek to explain them by inappropriate proof-texting. Biblical metaphors (similar to those concerning a lion or dove, etc.) do not justify or provide a proof text for animal behaviour...The point is, don't try to defend unusual manifestations from biblical texts that obviously lack a one to one correspondence with a current experience. (emphasis mine)

I can only presume that this is a complete retraction of what was said in the earlier days. For example, in May 1994, Bill Jackson of the Vineyard Champagne Church, Illinois, produced a paper which was subsequently widely circulated and entitled, 'What in the world is happening to us?'. In his introduction he says, “Our purpose in putting this paper together is to develop a biblical apologetic for what we see happening among us. Much of what we are seeing is strange to the natural mind.”

That paper was issued to leaders who went to the Airport Vineyard Church, Toronto, and was then well used by them in their own churches in this country. The proponents have since clearly conceded that there was no biblical foundation for these manifestations.

I am in little doubt that no concession would have been made were it not for the fact that lots of us who are profoundly troubled by these things had made a very strong challenge about the feeble biblical ground the claims stood on. Without that challenge, for the reasons that I have already given, thousands of ordinary Christians would have continued in the delusion that it was all thoroughly biblical.

What Needs Biblical Justification?

However, that was not the end of the debate, because that same Vineyard International Council effectively then asserted that a biblical basis was not needed for such things. I quote again:

The absence of proof texts does not disallow an experience. If so none of us would, a) go to Disneyland, b) use computers, c) have worship bands.

All Christians ought to find a statement like this at very least surprising if not outrageous. How anyone can dare to say that we need no more biblical justification for something that is supposed to be a great move of God than we need for going to Disneyland, is completely outside the range of my whole Christian experience.

I am in little doubt that no concession would have been made were it not for the strong challenge made by many who are profoundly troubled by these things.

As this issue of what needs biblical justification and what does not will be dealt with in future instalments of Blessing the Church?, I will take this matter no further. Sufficient for me to say that it is now acknowledged there is no biblical basis for these strange things, even though they were a fundamental part of the whole Toronto experience.

Changing Declarations

We are not at the end of our problems with these manifestations. Many of their advocates have since begun to acknowledge that there is “a lot of flesh” and some demonic activity. In other words, they are saying 'there is something wrong'. But I have to draw attention to a number of things concerning these new statements.

• They do not go on to eradicate that which is of the flesh, or the demonic.
  
• They do not even go on to identify it.
  
• For most of 1994 it was emphatically declared to be the Holy Spirit at work - all of it.
  

Manifestations accelerated and got stronger when the one ministering cried such things as, “More Lord”, or wafted his hand towards the receiver. I ask myself what kind of Lord did they suppose they were appealing to, who will give them control of that sort over another believer? I further ask, what kind of Christian would want to have that kind of control?

Instead of being disturbed by this, many in this movement rejoiced that, as they supposed, God was using them.

But if they did find manifestations which were wrong after all, what were they going to do with the 'prophetic' interpretations which accompanied them? When someone roared like a lion, it was said that manhood was being restored to the Church; a man cock-a-doodle-dooing was God saying 'Church wake up!'; when young girls danced as round a totem pole, God was giving them a warrior spirit, and if your feet became hot there was God giving you the gift of evangelism. There have been many other such prophetic interpretations.

Next week: The receiving methodology and the claimed testimonies.

Continuing our series on the spiritual ‘manifestations’ of 1 Corinthians 12.

This article is part of a series. Click here to access the archive.

“Anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God” (1 Corinthians 14:2)

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good… to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Speaking in tongues is recorded in the New Testament as occurring at the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) and on two other occasions (Acts 10:44-46 and Acts 19:1-6) as the early Church grew, but it is also listed as a spiritual manifestation by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. It not only was misunderstood by believers in the early Church but also has created division in the Church down through the ages.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul does list an accompanying gift of ‘interpretation of tongues’ to go alongside, so that others who hear the manifestation of tongues can also be blessed – that is, they are both intended to be for the common good. But even the understanding of this has led to some confusion.

What is Speaking in Tongues?

The word glossa (Greek for language or tongue) appears in the Greek New Testament more than 50 times, most of which refer to known languages. It is also used when referring to the flames of fire shaped like ‘tongues’ (glossa) which appeared over the believers at Pentecost (Acts 2:3) and at least once in a metaphorical sense when referring to speech, “my tongue (glossa, speech) was glad (joyous)” (Acts 2:26).

In academia, the term ‘glossolalia’¹ is used to identify the phenomenon of speaking in an unknown language, or with language-like sounds, and is made up of the Greek glossa and lalia (speech). Often this is used in reference to the pagan practice of ‘ecstatic utterances’ - unintelligible, language-like sounds given while in a state of ecstasy.²

There is an incident in 1 Samuel 10:5-11 which many biblical scholars believe to be an early example of glossolalia being used in worship. Before he became king, Saul met a procession of prophets playing a variety of musical instruments and “prophesying”. We don’t know exactly what was happening but some think it is reasonable to interpret this as an example of ecstatic praise and worship.

The gift of tongues was misunderstood by early believers and has created division in the Church down through the ages.

Ecstasy is observed in many pagan religions around the world, in which it involves the generation of mystical insights by holy men, often by entering a trance. It is an ancient practice found among the shamans in the Sudan, the Shango cult of the West Coast of Africa, the Zor cult of Ethiopia, the Voodoo cult in Haiti and the Aborigines of South America and Australia. Some care should be taken in creating a distinction between pagan ecstatic utterances emanating from a trance and the biblical gift of speaking in tongues.

To be more specific, ‘xenoglossia’ (or ‘xenolalia’) is the ability to speak spontaneously and fluently in a language the speaker has never learned, but is nevertheless a known language. This interpretation is taken from Acts 2:8 when believers were enabled to speak in the languages of the many other nationalities present in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost. They “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.”

Just Earthly Languages?

Many Christians who speak in tongues today believe that they are speaking a language that is not similar to any known earthly tongue but rather is a heavenly tongue. The usefulness of tongues as a personal prayer language is when we run out of human words to express our thoughts to God. This is what Paul refers to when he says “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Rom 8:26). It may sound like gibberish to unbelievers, but God understands what we are trying to express.

The practice of speaking in tongues was heard frequently in the church at Corinth in the 1^st Century AD but has been experienced rarely down the ages, until the 19^th Century when it was accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) and then by Pentecostals in the early 20^th Century, followed by Charismatics as the century progressed, since when it is being much more widespread amongst Christians.

The usefulness of tongues as a personal prayer language is when we run out of human words to express our thoughts to God.

TO God – Not FROM God

It is important to understand that neither of these two manifestations, speaking in tongues and their interpretation, are God speaking to us, and so should not be confused with prophetic words. Speaking in tongues is a praise and prayer language addressed to God: “Anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God” (1 Cor 14:2).

This is the one manifestation of the Holy Spirit which involves us speaking to God, rather than God speaking to us. It enables us to praise God more than we can do in the flesh – it enables us to “utter mysteries by the Spirit” (1 Cor 14:2), which are not understood by others unless they are interpreted by those who are enabled by the Spirit to do so.

Private or Public? Both!

Speaking in tongues can be very uplifting, especially when used in private devotions, as believers can speak as often as they wish and are free to choose whether they will pray or praise with their minds or with their spirits, i.e. in tongues: “I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding” (1 Cor 14:15). This verse goes on: “I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding”. Singing in tongues is often very moving, adding greatly to any corporate act of worship as it becomes a shared experience.

In a public meeting Paul reminds us that this worship needs to be orderly, "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace" (verse 33). He recommends that only a few should share their worship in tongues at any one time and, in order that others can be edified and be able to say ‘Amen’ to these prayers to God, they should be interpreted or translated.

This is the one manifestation of the Holy Spirit which involves us speaking to God, rather than God speaking to us.

Worshippers should have control over how and when they speak in tongues as although it is a manifestation given as and when the Spirit wills, it is a phenomenon in which believers speak with God, without losing their own self-control and personhood.

Interpretation

The manifestation of interpretation of tongues is given so that the Body of Christ may not remain perplexed and unedified, but may be built up. A translation will enable the congregation to get the gist of what was expressed in the tongue, so that they too can share in the prayer or praise - without this it will be impossible to add a meaningful 'Amen!' (1 Cor 14:16). Neither tongues nor interpretation should ever disrupt a service, but should contribute to it.

Paul reminds the believers that “If the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” (1 Cor 14:23). So interpretation is necessary when others are present. However, like tongues the interpretation will always be TO God – and never a message from him. It will enable all to praise God with their minds, which will enrich their own worship in the future.

Misuse – Ancient and Modern Errors

It is obvious from the letters that Paul wrote to the early churches, especially to those in Corinth (e.g. 1 Cor 11-14) that errors were coming into the Church on this subject and that it was causing division. Paul’s responsive teaching can help us from going astray.

James also reminds us of the danger of the physical organ the tongue, if uncontrolled:

…the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. (James 3:5-10)

Paul also reminds us that none of the gifts or manifestations are of any value unless they are manifested with love (1 Cor 13:1) – in fact, without love “I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal”.

Speaking in tongues enables us to praise God more than we can do in the flesh – it enables us to “utter mysteries by the Spirit” (1 Cor 14:2).

False Teaching

In the early days of Pentecostalism, in the 1920s, a tradition developed that tongues should be followed by a 'message' which was regarded as the interpretation. This was carried over into the charismatic movement of the 1960s and sometimes resulted in words purporting to be ‘prophecy’ being accepted without being either tested for their origin or weighed, with unfortunate results. This was directly against Paul’s teaching that “anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God” (1 Cor 14:2) and his instruction that all prophecy must be weighed (1 Thess 5:21).

God does not need to disguise his words to us in a strange language. He can and does communicate directly with believers in words that all can understand. Tongues can help in expressing our innermost thoughts and praise to God, when we simply do not have words to express what is in our hearts.

As tongues is a manifestation, given as the Spirit wills, and not a permanent gift, many churches today allow it but do not encourage it in public worship. Cessationists, on the other hand, believe that all the gifts and manifestations were restricted to the New Testament period only.

Does Speaking in Tongues Come with Baptism?

Paul indicated that new believers would receive the Holy Spirit when they first believed (Acts 19:2). New Testament teaching is that whoever believes, repents and is baptised will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Repentance and conversion are essential pre-requisites for this.

However, the ability to speak in tongues, though given by the Spirit, is not an essential sign of receiving the Spirit. Though this is often taught in Pentecostal churches, it cannot be supported from the New Testament.

In the biblical record of the early Church, tongue-speaking was not seen as a common every-day occurrence, but rather a miraculous sign for special occasions (as at Pentecost) as the apostles preached the Gospel and the Church extended. Paul’s teaching was that the gift of tongues is not important for salvation although it can have some importance for edifying the individual and the Church. But even in this role he said that prophesying is much more important: “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church” (1 Cor 14:4).

The ability to speak in tongues, though given by the Spirit, is not an essential sign of receiving the Spirit – neither is it a permanent gift, but a manifestation, given as the Spirit wills.

It would appear that Paul’s practice was to use tongues privately in his personal intercessions, but not in the assembly of believers (the church). He says, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church, I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than 10,000 words in a tongue” (1 Cor 14:18-19).

Mark’s version of the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-18) lists the signs that will accompany the baptism of those who believe, many of which are other gifts of the Holy Spirit that might enable witnessing to be more effective. Next week we will move on to looking at the last three of the manifestations from 1 Corinthians 12, focusing especially on how they are given for the common good.

References

1 'Glossology' is that department of Anthropology which has to do with the study and classification of languages and dialects.

2 Unlike the biblical gift of tongues, some research conducted by the Lutheran Medical Centre has demonstrated that glossolalia can be learned by following simple instructions or by imitating a semblance of words said by others. See Got Questions' page on glossolalia, here.

The first two manifestations of 1 Corinthians 12.

This article is part of a series. Click here for the archive.

“To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:7-10)

“In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3)

The introduction to this part of the series established a few background details about the manifestations and put them in the context of their surrounding chapters and verses. Bearing this in mind we will now look at the first two of the ‘gifts' listed in 1 Corinthians 12: ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’.

It is important that we look at the two together as they invariably need each other and can be ineffective if they operate on their own. Although knowledge can appear to be good, it is of little use unless you also have wisdom to apply it in the right way – and vice versa. The one relies on the other to be truly effective.

As manifestations of the Spirit, they are given to whom - and when - and wherever the Spirit wills. They are not given to any one person permanently. Neither do they operate in the ways of the world; the world has its wise men as well as those who have amassed knowledge and they do have their place – but in affairs of the Spirit the Lord sees things differently. We are commissioned and sent, as Paul was, “to preach the gospel – not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Cor 1:17).

The Spiritual Nature of Knowledge and Wisdom

So what is this knowledge and wisdom that is mentioned here in 1 Corinthians 12? Proverbs 2 (the whole chapter) is an excellent help in understanding the true meaning of this. The writer starts by saying to his children that “if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding – indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding…then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God” (vv1-5).

He continues, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (v6); “for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones” (v7). “Then you will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” (vv9-10).

Knowledge is to know the facts; wisdom is to know what to do with them.

These insights continue throughout the rest of the chapter, describing how discretion and understanding will guard you and wisdom will save you from evil distractions so that you will keep to the paths of the righteous. True knowledge and wisdom come from knowing God, understanding his will by studying his word and seeking to stay close to him at all times.

Bestowed on Jesus

The prophetic words in the Old Testament speak of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear having been bestowed on Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord – and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. (Isaiah 11:1-5)

Knowledge, wisdom and understanding in the ways of God were the essence of Jesus’s ministry and the Holy Spirit ensures that these are available to his followers, albeit as manifestations rather than as actual gifts. “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives” (Col 1:9, emphasis added).

The Tribe of Issachar

In the time before the advent of Christ, an understanding of the ways of God usually came to individuals such as priests and prophets and this information was then passed on to the people – but there are also records of a whole tribe being gifted in this way.

We know that when the Lord turned Saul’s kingdom over to David at Hebron he received support in the form of fighting men from all the different tribes, except the Tribe of Issachar who sent men of wisdom and knowledge: “from Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do – 200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command” (1 Chron 12:32).

Today, followers of Christ all have the opportunity to have that close relationship with the Father and receive knowledge in order to bless others, and to help their communities and even their nations understand what is happening around them and to know the right steps to take.

To know God’s will is to have wisdom.

Back to Origins (or Translations!)

1 Corinthians 12:8 speaks of the gifts of wisdom and knowledge being given as ‘messages’ - the “message of wisdom” and the “message of knowledge”. The word being translated here as ‘message’ is the Greek word logos, which in the King James version is translated as 'word' and in the RSV as 'utterance'. Each translation gives the impression of something quite concise, often no more than a sentence or two. 'Utterance' can imply speaking forth generally, rather than to just one person.

Both gifts as described in this passage have a strong speaking element rather than a doing element, which the New Life version translates as just “the gift of teaching words of wisdom or what he has learned and knows”; The Living Bible as “the ability to give wise advice; someone else may be especially good at studying and teaching”; JB Phillips version as “One man’s gift by the Spirit is to speak with wisdom, another’s to speak with knowledge”. And The Message just has “wise counsel and clear understanding”.

Special Revelation

So we turn now to the expression of wisdom and the (closely associated) expression of knowledge. We are told “in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3), but the believer does not have a reservoir of wisdom and knowledge, from which he can draw at will. In these two gifts wisdom and knowledge are made available by special revelation in the needed moment through the believer, as the Spirit gives expression in his time and way.

The word 'revelation', which is used three times by Paul (1 Cor 14:6, 26 and 30), is probably used as a synonym for these two gifts of wisdom and knowledge: it is the Greek word apokalupsis, which literally means 'to take the covers off’ and this is the special function performed by these gifts. Paul says that he went up to Jerusalem “in response to a revelation” (Gal 2:2).

What About Manifestations Today?

We can understand the invaluable nature of spiritual knowledge and wisdom to ALL Christians as they grow to maturity and this comes with constant reading, study and understanding the word, alongside prayer. But is there something special about a message or word received as a spiritual manifestation by a selected few, as Paul intimates in his list here?

The desire to know all things, and especially to know the future, has always been with mankind, from the times of the oracles. Notoriously, gypsies have been reading crystals and palms for centuries, and the reading of horoscopes in newspapers is still sought after in a ‘secular’ world. Christians have often viewed these either as a bit of fun or as evil and coming from the wrong spirit.

If knowledge is to know the word of God, spiritual wisdom is to understand God’s will for service.

The idea of manifestations of the Holy Spirit became more generally accepted again among Christians following the birth of the Pentecostal movement last century, but words of knowledge have gained more prominence in the Charismatic movement.

John Wimber’s definition of knowledge was, reportedly: "This is the supernatural revelation of fact about a person or situation, which is not learned through the efforts of the natural mind, but is a fragment of knowledge freely given by God, disclosing the truth which the Spirit wishes to be made known concerning a particular person or situation".¹ One lesson we must learn from the Charismatic movement is that we need to lay a greater emphasis upon ‘distinguishing between the spirits’ that bring these words (we feel that this is doubly necessary with words of prophecy and we will look at this next time).

Another lesson we must learn from the Charismatic movement is who words of wisdom and knowledge are intended for. Whereas some Christians think that words of knowledge and wisdom are mainly for individuals (or for specific occasions) and are synonymous with personal prophecies or prophetic words, others feel they give an individual the power to proclaim the message or, as the Amplified Version says: “To one is given through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] the message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] the word of knowledge and understanding according to the same Spirit” (1 Cor 12:7-8).

It is important to remember that each of the gifts are intended for the good (or the ‘profit’, YLT) of the whole community.² So the question we need to ask is: are personal words of wisdom and knowledge truly biblical? If so, how do they benefit the whole community? Whatever decision you reach, all of them when exercised should manifest the Spirit’s power and presence.

Final Words…

God keeps before him in the storehouse of his mind all the facts of heaven and earth. He knows everything about every person. He knows every event, every reaction, every intention and every consequence – past, present and future. Therefore he can uncover any information we may need and he can reveal what should be done in any situation. It would be utter foolishness to ignore the potentiality of these gifts.

The manifestations of wisdom and knowledge reveal the love of the Lord for his people: they are audible and have visible consequences - unlike the fruits of the Spirit which are invisible graces. When Jesus turned water into wine John records, “He thus revealed his glory and his disciples put their faith in him” (John 2:11). These manifestations of the Spirit result in God's people seeing his glory and believing more confidently than ever. They also demonstrate to unbelievers that the God we worship is alive, interested and powerful.

References

1 Derived from this site.

2 The gift of the message of wisdom is that 'speaking by the Spirit of God' which manifests some part of God's total wisdom for the direction of the body of Christ; and the gift of the message of knowledge is that 'speaking by the Spirit of God' which manifests some part of God's total knowledge for the information of the body of Christ.

Monica Hill begins the final portion of her series on the spiritual gifts.

This article is part of a series. Click here for the full archive.

“Now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good…”

Having spent some time studying the spiritual gifts in three of the lists given in the New Testament we come now to the most controversial and most often misunderstood list in 1 Corinthians 12.

They are controversial because these gifts were neglected for many centuries, especially in the West once the Church was established, as they were felt to be relevant to the 1st Century Church only. They were misunderstood when re-discovered by the Pentecostal movement at the beginning of the 20^th Century, and even now there can be various interpretations of the meaning of these more experiential gifts.

Setting in Context

We need to start first by looking at the context in which Paul delivered his teaching on this list of nine ‘gifts’ – which more rightly should be termed ‘manifestations’ of the Spirit. This comes from the Greek pneumatikon, which has connotations of invisibility and power. Some of these ‘manifestations’ sound very similar to the gifts we have already studied, but they are also very different.

The Corinthian church was not a united community of believers and they must have caused Paul much heartache. He had to battle not only against a strong Greek culture and systemic thinking but also against immoral behaviour in the church, which affected its witness.

The manifestations of the Holy Spirit were neglected in the Church for many centuries.

Practical Help

1 Corinthians is a very practical book and shows Paul’s concern for this infant community, especially when there was so much division among the members. One of his practical concerns was very much for the use (or against the misuse) of the gifts or manifestations he lists in chapter 12.

In chapter 11 he endeavoured to get relationships in the church right and was especially concerned about the behaviour of its members in their worship times and when celebrating the Lord’s Supper. His concern was to combat their brazen concentration on themselves rather than thinking of others and this is reflected through the next two or three chapters.

Call for Unity

The ‘manifestations’ listed in chapter 12 have an emphasis on unity and use for ‘the common good’. They emphasise that the gifts are all coming from the same Spirit, although they may be of different kinds.

No one person owns these gifts (1 Cor 12:11) – they are available to any true believer and are only given as the Spirit wishes. As Edmund Heddle says “The initiative in the operation of these gifts must remain in the hands of the Spirit and once his purpose is completed the manifestation of the gift will cease”.¹

The Body of Christ

There then follows the lovely passage from verse 12 to the end of the chapter about the Body of Christ being many parts but still only one. Its analogy with the human body – every part is needed and none is more important than the others – is well worth reading and emphasising again and again.

The chapter concludes with a series of rhetorical questions. The translation of verse 31 can be confusing in some versions. I personally do not think it should be read as a challenge for believers to strive for the greater gifts - in view of the arguments that these are given by the Holy Spirit as he sees fit, how can this be? Rather, I believe that it is ridiculing what the Corinthians were trying to be seen doing and goes on to show them the better way of love.

As such, a better translation of 1 Corinthians 12:31 is “But you are striving for the greater gifts! And now I will show you the most excellent thing”. The love poem that follows in chapter 13 is not an intrusion into this section on spiritual gifts but complements it superbly. It can be used for individuals and is of course perfect for marriages - but do read it again thinking particularly of its relation to the use of gifts in the fellowship of believers.

No one person owns these gifts – they are available to any true believer and are only given as the Spirit wishes.

Practicalities

In chapter 14 we look again at the practicalities arising when the Corinthian assembly were using (or misusing) some of the most controversial of the manifestations – gifts of prophecy and tongues. Note how Paul attempted to deliver good teaching from a distance, some of which we will use when we study these specific manifestations in detail.

Need for Harmony

In the next few weeks we will be looking at the nine gifts mentioned here – but we will be looking at them in groups, as none of them should stand alone. Those speaking in tongues need others with the gift of interpretation alongside them; those prophesying need others to distinguish between the spirits bringing the prophetic words and a special kind of faith is needed for gifts of healing and miraculous powers.

When these work in harmony, the Lord’s name will be praised and blessed.

References

1 Heddle, E, 2016. Spiritual Gifts. Issachar Ministries, p16.