Praise God! The Lord brings refreshing in His presence. I believe some of you are experiencing passing through the fire; or through the water. And I want to emphasize God’s word over you, that the fire- it will not burn you; and the waters-it will not drown you. Hallelujah!
Sometimes I’ve wondered and asked God, ‘Why do You allow us to go thro’ fire?’ [ I mean, no one would willingly go through a period of suffering. Would they?] ut do you know that we will not experience the spiritual and the super-natural, if we do not go through ‘fire’ and ‘water’ experiences? All our lives, we can choose to live the caterpillar life-eating and sleeping. But God’s will is for you to become a butterfly-that can dance in the sunlight. You know, the caterpillar goes through a period of darkness and waiting-into the cocoon. And if someone wants immediate results, and opens up the cocoon before time, the larvae would just die! That is why it is said, wait on the Lord, for your strength, during those ‘dark’ periods.
What we gain in Him, we cannot lose till eternity! [Read about the life of John Elliot and his work among African tribes-some of them cannibals.] Like it or not, someday, we will end this journey and face eternity. If we delay, He will come; and if He delays, we will go! And in this journey, we learn to follow Him-Jesus. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny Himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matt. 16:24) and so we learn, like Paul, to ‘die daily’. That is why He puts before us ‘fire’ and ‘water’, that we may follow Him!
Eph. 1:9 states: “having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself …”
When I came here the last time, I spoke about the mysteries in God, in part. Today, I will conclude the message on the mysteries of God. We have seen these mysteries: Read here: Part-1
- Mystery of Christ’s Incarnation: 1 Tim. 3:16 and John 1:14
- Mystery of Christ’s Indwelling: Col. 1:26, 27
- Mystery of Christ’s Intimacy with the Church: Eph. 5:32
4. Mystery of Speaking in Tongues: 1 Cor. 14:2
I know today, many are scared to speak in tongues-whether at home, or church. When I was young, I remember preaching against speaking in tongues. In 1966, a friend of mine from England (a scientist), invited me for a prayer meeting, asking me “Have you received the gift of the Spirit?” I knew he was baptized in the Holy Spirit, and was into this gift’s manifestation of speaking in tongues– and I told him, ‘See, I will come for prayer, but no ‘tongue’ business for me. OK?’ You see, I had my doctrines and he had his; and I thought there was no harm attending. When I went there, I was surprised to find that it was just him, his wife and I at the prayer meeting.
Anyway, we started to worship. I did not know my doctrine was wrong. But I was hungry for God and longed to go deep in my relationship with Him. The three of us were overwhelmed in God’s presence and our worship continued well into the night. It must be around 1:30 am, when the Lord reminded me that I had some bitterness-a grudge, and hatred against some particular person. Now I had reasoned within myself, and with the Lord during that night, that I was in the right and he was in the wrong. But the Lord spoke to me saying, When Adam was in the wrong, was it not I who went to set things right? And when the world was wrong, was it not I who sent Jesus?
Then, I understood that the Lord was calling me to set things right; and that I had no right to harbor bitterness and hatred. Now, asking for forgiveness is one of the difficult tasks one has to go through in life-you can imagine the humiliation and shame as the wrong-doer, and cringe away from it. Anyway, told the Lord that I would obey him and ask for the concerned person’s forgiveness the next day. Immediately, I felt a burst of release in my spirit and began to speak in tongues… the husband and wife joined in, and we were all laughing and speaking mysteries…
According to my promise to the Lord, I went to that person and told him that I had sinned and asked for forgiveness. But the story does not end there… After 13 years, this same person- during his encounter with the Lord, came to me and asked for my forgiveness! What a gift of the Spirit! As Romans 8:26 says: Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
That is why I tell you, do not despise the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The nine gifts of the Spirit, mentioned in 1 Cor. 12 can be divided into 3 groups of 3 gifts each: the first three gifts of Prophecy, Tongues and Interpretation of tongues reveal the character of God the Father. The second group of 3 gifts- word of wisdom, knowledge and discernment relate to the revelation of God the Son. And the last 3 gifts – faith, healing and working of miracles brings a revelation of the work of God the Spirit. The triune God, is interested in manifesting Himself through the working of the gifts in us. And in the same way, we can group the fruit of the Spirit, mentioned in Galatians 5:22, 23. The fruit (of the Spirit) manifests in our character, and the gifts manifest in our ability- in God. These are given to God’s children, that we- who receive it whole-heartedly, may have the character of Jesus and the conduct of the Holy Spirit.
5. Mystery of transformation: 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed- in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Time is short. This is the only unfulfilled mystery. Paul is emphatic about the revelation of this mystery. He broaches the subject to Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 4: 15-17. Dead in Christ will raise first… And thus we shall always be with the Lord. What a hope we have. This is very practical and true in every Christian’s life: God with us, God in us, we in God and we with God.
May His Spirit bring a revelation of the mysteries of God and make it real in our lives. Amen.
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