The Baptism And Gifts Of The Holy Spirit

Home \| Foundation Truths \| Original Sin & Eternal Punishment \| C L Parker \| Bill Turner \| Bibliography \| Contact
< > Chapter Seven The reception of the gifts of the Holy Spirit Satan's test of our character and spiritual gifts. Mt.4v1-11 Like our Lord, we will find that temptation and spiritual conflict are inevitable after the baptism in the Spirit and the reception of spiritual gifts. God will allow Satan to test and try our experience, character and use of spiritual gifts. Lk.4v1. Heb.2v14-18. 4v14-5v2. 2Cor.1v3-7. 1Pet.1v6,7. James.1v12. Let us consider how Jesus defeated Satan, and how we can defeat him too. SATAN WILL TRY TO ROB US OF THE POWER OF GOD BY AN ATTACK ON OUR FAITH. Satan will try to cast doubt upon our most holy and blessed experiences. John testified that Jesus was God's Lamb and only begotten Son, and Israel's promised Messiah. Jn.1v15-19,29-36. John said he had seen the Holy Spirit as a dove rest upon Jesus in unlimited power. Jn.3v27-36. The Father’s voice confirmed John's witness, for all to hear, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Mt.3v11-17. Yet Satan had the audacity to challenge the witness of God the Father and God the Spirit, and cast doubt on Christ's blessed and holy experiences. What evil affrontery! Satan will try to challenge and cast doubt on our lovely God-given experiences and gifts; we must resist him and rejoice in what God has given to us, for God's word and promises to us are always true and reliable. Satan will try to cast doubt upon God's Word. “Hath God said,” still comes from the serpent's lips. Gen.3v6. with Rev.12v9. Satan still challenges the reliability of the Word of God and the reality of the promises that God has given, including the promise of the baptism in the Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ's experience was based upon the Holy Scriptures, and we see that these same Scriptures confirm that the Pentecostal experience and gifts of the Holy Spirit are for today and the heritage of the children of God. Acts.2v38,39. Satan will try to cast doubt on our love and devotion to God. Christ had lived a life of perfect holiness and purity for 30 years, and Satan knew it; yet he dismisses and casts doubt on Christ's beautiful life of perfect love and devotion to His Father, with his lying and sarcastic, “If.” Satan tried to bring Christ to a place of dejection and despair by his evil insinuations, and he will try to give us feelings of guilt and despair by casting aspersions on our character and work for God. Satan will try to dismiss all our acts of love and devotion to God by his evil insinuations; however, the Scriptures assure us that “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love.” Heb.6v10. Nagging, condemning, destructive attacks upon our minds, come from the accuser Satan, not from God. Rev.12v9-12. Do not accept Satan's lies about yourself; only recognise and confess what the Scriptures say you are in Christ. Mt.7v7-11. Lk.11v9-13. Jn.3v16. 15v9. 17v23. Eph.1v3. Jesus understands and cares, and even His disciplines spring out of His great love for us. Heb.4v14-16. Christ is made unto us all we need; His strengthening grace is more than sufficient for us. 1Cor.1v30,31. Phil.4v13,19. Let praise and worship take the place of your heaviness and despair, draw near to God in praise and prayer, resist Satan and he will flee from you. James.4v7-9. God is love; He appreciates our love and work for Him. Satan will try to attack our sonship. Jesus created Satan, and he knew it, yet he tried, by lies and insinuations, to destroy Christ’s faith in His sonship. If he attacked Christ's sonship, he will certainly attack ours. Do not give place to him for an instant, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” 1Jn.3v1,2. Do not let Satan take away your assurance of your position in Christ; we are joint heirs with Jesus, His own dear beloved brethren. Rom.8v17. Satan will try to attack our faith in God's provision for us. Satan was in effect saying to Christ, “You say that you acted on the revealed will of God, and look where it got you, into a wilderness with no provision, what a good God you serve.” Satan loves to imply that God has failed us, or does not love us, because God has not miraculously intervened in our circumstances; but it is a lie, we are always upon our Father's heart. God may allow our faith to be tried by difficult circumstances, temptation, and trials; but He will never leave us or forsake us. Heb.13v5,6,8. 1Pet.1v3-9. How much more reliable than the closest of earthly ties is the abundant affection, unceasing care, and unfailing love of our heavenly Father. Satan will try to cast doubts on the reality of our spiritual gifts. Satan taunted Christ, “You have not had one miracle. What, you God's Son? What an imagination you have. Where is the evidence of your experience? Where are the miracles, if you have been baptised in the Spirit? If you have received the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, why are you having such a terrible time?” The Lord Jesus knew that God's power and gifts are manifested under the guidance of God's wisdom and in God's time and will. We cannot demand great manifestations of God's power at our will; it is “severally as He will.” 1Cor.12v11. The lack of great spiritual gifts after our baptism in the Spirit can be a major temptation, but great gifts of revelation and demonstration, are given to mature Christians, and in particular to the leading ministries of Christ's Church. Jn.5v19,30. Satan will try us as he did the Lord Jesus, and we answer as the Lord Jesus did. The Lord Jesus quoted from Deut.8v3., and through this Scripture He told Satan that God always allows His children to be tried by adversity, but He is always with us in our trials. The Lord Jesus knew that the God who looked after the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years would look after Him, and we know that He will look after us. Let us answer Satan with, “It is written,” God's truth stands forever sure; our God will never fail us. SATAN WILL TRY TO GET US TO USE OUR GIFTS IN THE WRONG WAY. Mt.4v5-7 Satan again attacked the faith of Christ and His sonship, but we will not dwell on this, as we have already covered this point. The temptation to self-will, presumption and fanaticism. Satan will tempt us to pride manifesting itself in self-will, presumption and fanaticism. When Satan quoted Ps.91v11,12., he omitted some very important words, as can be seen by a comparison with Lk.4v10,11. and Mt.4v6.. Satan omitted the words “in all thy ways,” that is, the ways of Christ directed by God. Satan misquotes Ps.91v11,12., doubtless one of Christ's favourite portions of Scripture, and suggests that Christ had a Scriptural authority for a daring act of faith. Satan was in effect saying, “This is one of the Scriptures that you particularly love and rest your faith on; this is one of the words out of the mouth of God, why not put it to the test? If you are God's Son and He has given you authority and power, then, prove it to me and everybody.” Christ completely rejected the temptation to misinterpret the Scripture, and to put His Father to the test by going ahead on His own, He knew the promises of God must be used in the context in which they are quoted, and in conjunction with the whole tenor of Christian truth. Great manifestations of spiritual gifts can only be expected in the will and purpose of God. Jn.5v19,30. Jesus quoted from Deut.6v16., “Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah,” from the incident in Exod.17v1-7., where Israel put God to the Test. Our Lord inferred that those who embark upon presumptuous enterprises without the guidance of God, put God to the test; to doubt the guiding and providing hand of God is to repeat the sin of the children of Israel at Massah and Meribah. Those who usurp the Holy Spirit's position in the Church, and run it as they feel, have committed this sin of pride, self-will, and presumption. Satan will try to incite us to start us upon presumptuous and fanatical enterprises, and try to get us to misuse spiritual gifts; he still comes to us “with a Bible under his arm, and a text in his mouth.” Satan attacks every revival with misinterpretations and perversions of the Scriptures; we have to make sure that our manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are according to the Scriptural pattern. If we want to pervert or dodge the truth, Satan will certainly find us a Scripture to back us up, but this will involve misinterpreting the Scriptures, or wresting a text out of its context, and wilfully ignoring and neglecting other Scriptures upon the subject. The perils of pride, self-will, presumption and fanaticism are very great and lead to “great transgression,” let us follow the example of Jesus and resist Satan's attacks upon us and dependence upon God. Ps.19v13. The temptation to love the spectacular, and the praise of people. Satan will tempt us to use spiritual gifts in a spectacular way to win the support, praise and admiration of the people. Satan fell through the sins of pride, covetousness and love of praise and position; he tries to make His creator fall into the same sins that had caused his own downfall and doom. Ezek.28v17. Is.14v12-14. Satan challenged Christ to do an outstanding sign before the people. Jesus resisted this appeal to pride and love of praise; He had come to die, not to lead Israel to victory over Rome. He had come to save people from their sins, not to receive empty adulation. If Christ had followed Satan's suggestion, it would have been a complete denial of His mission, and would have been a rejection of His Father's Word, love, provision and guidance. Satan will tempt us to use the power of God and His spiritual gifts in a proud and spectacular manner. There can be a desire to show people that God has called us and used us, and this is wrong. We can tell people what God has accomplished through us, if we do it in humility to God's glory, and in order to help people's faith, as Paul and Barnabus did in Acts.14v27.. Satan's servants, like Simon the sorcerer, may boast that they are a great one, but servants of the meek and lowly Christ must be genuinely humble. “Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.” Prov.27v2. Satan puffs up his servants; God humbles His, and measures their greatness by their humility. Mt.18v1-5. The temptation to seek position and prestige in men's religious power structures. Satan will tempt us to use spiritual gifts in a spectacular way to win position and prestige in Christ's Church and denominational structures. God has not given His spiritual gifts to us to increase our prestige and position, He has given them to us to increase His kingdom and glorify His name. Jesus entirely resisted the temptation to use the power of God in a way that would win over the influential over to His side, and win a position amongst them. Satan was in effect saying to Christ, “Cast yourself down at the Temple before the elders of Israel. Seek the help and patronage of the influential. To do the work that you want to do, you need the people with money, power and authority behind you.” Many have compromised truth and experience by throwing themselves down at the Temple of worldly and religious prestige, and in trying to win the praise of men, or by fighting for position in their church or denomination, have offended God and lost the power of God. Those who seek the praise of men, inevitably find that they compromise the truth because of the fear of man. Jn.12v42,43. Christ fearlessly preached against traditions that made void the Word of God, and exposed hypocrisy and sham. It cost Him His life, but He pleased the Father. These religious leaders opposed Christ and in the end murdered Him. He threatened their power structure and they could not tolerate this. The test of the spiritual greatness of any Christian leader, is their willingness to step down from position and humbly serve others. Jn.13v1-17. Mt.20v20-28. Phil.2v1-11. Christ humbled the religious leaders of His day by showing His preference for the prayerful, spiritual, consecrated, and sincere ordinary working men, as leaders in His work; He can and does do the same today, when religious leaders lack spirituality and sincerity. SATAN WILL TEMPT US TO EXCHANGE GOD'S BLESSING FOR EARTHLY GLORY. Satan will tempt us to seek worldly wealth, prestige, and glory. Satan showed Jesus all the beauty and glory of every nation and said, “Why fight me? Why have a battle? You can have the entire world without a fight if you will go my way, accept my standards, and worship me. Don't take up your cross; exchange your path of consecration and dedication for the world’s pleasures, power and wealth.” The temptation to fill our lives with worldly things, and to judge our lives by worldly standards will come to every Christian. We need to realise, like our Lord Jesus did, that God owns all things, and that our allegiance should be His alone. Deut.6v13-15. A curse, not glory, comes upon all those who forsake God for the broad and easy way. Mt.7v13,14. with Deut.28v15-68. Satan's offer of his corrupted kingdoms was certainly no bargain, particularly as Christ already owned the world. There was a strong implication from Satan, that if Jesus did not follow his advice, He would experience the most sustained and vicious opposition from these kingdoms, for they were under Satan's control. Indeed, Jesus had to face the most ruthless slander, hatred, envy, malice and persecution from the children of Satan, and we will experience the same if we are going to do the will of God, and glorify God through the manifestation of His spiritual gifts. When we think that materialism, worldly standards and compromise have more to offer us than serving God, we are getting very close to bowing down, serving and worshipping Satan. Let us follow the example of our dear Lord Jesus, He refused to sell His heavenly anointing and call for the things of the world, or compromise because of the fear of the hatred and opposition of the kingdoms of men. Nothing deterred Him from the mission that the Father had sent Him to do. Satan will tempt us to supplement the power of God with the glory of the world. Jesus refused to use the glory of the world to supplement or replace the power of God; He chose people who had no worldly power or influence to be the leaders of His Church. 1Cor.1v26-31. The further we get away from God, the more we rely upon human resources. However, culture, music, art and literature, cannot replace dependence upon God and His power. We are in real spiritual danger when we rely upon what we can do, and feel that we can manage on our own. We praise God for Christian scholars, and we would be lost without them, but our first need is for men with truly apostolic ministry. Mt.9v35-38. Paul was an outstanding scholar, but he gloried in his limitations, not his abilities, so that the power of Christ would rest upon him. In 2Cor.12v9., “rest,” is “episkenose,” the aorist subjunctive of “episkenoo,” “to dwell, to abide, to take up residence, to pitch upon him like a tent,” like the Shechinah over the Tabernacle. 1Cor.2v1-8. 2Cor.12v9-12. Acts17v15-34. 18v1-18. N.B. v10. Even aggressive evangelism can be based upon faith in human oratory, and this can be looked upon as a substitute for the power and miracles of the early Church. Churches that allow worldly glory and human ability to replace God's power, become empty husks that disillusion those who are broken in heart, weary, sick and sinful, who are seeking and longing for a loving fellowship, where they can find God, peace and spiritual reality. Only the power of God can meet people’s needs, human endeavour and worldly glory will always fail. Satan will tempt us to build on earthly empire around ourselves. Christ refused to build an earthly empire around His ministry, His kingdom was not of this world, He lived just to glorify the Father and perform His will. Jn.4v34. 5v30. 6v38,39. 12v28. 17v1,4,5,10. 18v33-37. 21v19. Heb.10v5-7. Someone has said, “How often has ambition conquered those who have conquered nearly all else.” If our only motive for desiring the gifts of the Holy Spirit is to build our personal or denominational kingdom, then we desire them for the very worst of reasons. We are not here to build our kingdoms, or our bank balance, by exalting Christ and His gifts; we are to follow the example of the Holy Spirit, and use His gifts for the sole purpose of exalting Jesus and glorifying God. Jn.16v12-15. 14v12-14. Our emphasis should be “Our Christ,” not ourselves, or our church, God is the only one to be served and worshipped. Jesus has left us the perfect example of financial integrity and sincerity; His attitude to money was beyond reproach. Christ's enemies mocked His preaching against love of money and worldly-mindedness, and His total lack for any desire for money. Lk.16v10-15. Jesus was called many things by His enemies, but He was never called a “money-grabber.” Christ's simple needs were met by grateful, kind-hearted people, mainly women, who had been greatly helped through His ministry; and others gave food and shelter for Himself and His disciples. Lk.8v1-3. 19v5. etc. However, Jesus often had no shelter and had to “sleep rough,” out in the open air; He knows what it is to be homeless. Mt.8v19,20. Lk.9v57,58. Christ never tried to squeeze finances out of the people that He was preaching to; no one was to be charged for Divine healing, “Freely ye have received, freely give.” Mt.10v7,8. There were to be no demands for money, indeed, as they were able, the apostolic band gave money to the poor and needy. Jn.12v5-8. Jesus did not financially put upon those who sympathised with Him and helped Him in His work; He did not sleep at the best hotels, He had nowhere to lay His head on many occasions. Lk.9v57-62. Christ did what the Father told Him to do, not what He felt was good or necessary. It is a striking fact that the Father never told Jesus to do things that are looked upon as essential today. Christ built no buildings, His means of transport was His own feet, He did not employ Scribes to write down and distribute His sermons. Jesus just made Himself a channel of His Father's will, love and power. Jn.5v18,19,30. It is wrong to do everything that comes to our minds; we have to make quite sure that we meet the priorities that God lays down. Jesus kept His needs down to a minimum, His base was a simple home in Capernaum, and we will do well to follow His example. Mt.4v13. Mk.2v1. 9v33. Christ's one aim was to glorify His Father and do His will, and if we want to defeat the attacks of Satan, our aim will have to be the same. N.B. Satan still tries to stop Christians from manifesting God’s power and love through His Gifts. Luke.11v52. (NKJ) “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” Luke.11v52. (TLB) “Woe to you experts in religion! For you hide the truth from the people. You won't accept it for yourselves, and you prevent others from having a chance to believe it.” Satan has also been busy in our day, and has deceived Christian teachers into thinking that the God-given experiences of the early Church are not valid for us today. This heresy has prevented Christians from experiencing God and His gifts, which are so clearly promised in the Scriptures. Like Israel’s religious leaders, these false teachers, ignore and twist the truth of the Scriptures on the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit. They foolishly argue that the historical accounts in Scripture cannot be used for formulating doctrine, or as a basis for our experience of God and His gifts. They will not seek God for His gifts, and by their unbelieving example and incorrect exposition, they actively hinder Christians from seeking and receiving an experience of God and His gifts. The historical parts of the Scripture show the outworking of Divine truth; they reveal God's desires by His acts. Christ's life and acts, and His sufferings and death, have revealed God's love and redemptive purposes for men, far better than any doctrinal statement could ever have done. Are we to lay aside the historical accounts of Christ's life and actions as having no doctrinal importance? All true Christians will deny such a dangerous and pernicious theory. The facts about our Lord's life, death and resurrection are best entered into and understood by reading the actual events in the Gospels. Paul informs us in 1Cor.10v1-15., that God has instructed and taught His people vital doctrine through history. Paul also tells us in 2Tim.3v15,16., that, “All Scripture is profitable for doctrine.” Indeed, in many cases, it is only through the insight revealed by the historical passages that we can correctly interpret Scripture truth. Such things as water baptism, demon exorcism, the baptism and gifts of the Spirit, and even the Lord's Supper, can only be properly understood from the historical portions of Scripture. Indeed, the epistles deal mainly with practical historical problems in the churches, not just with theoretical problems. Some of our most valuable doctrines for living, preaching, and praying, are found in the historical parts of Scripture. The full extent of the authority of the name of Jesus is best seen in the lives of those in the Scriptures who have called upon the name of Jesus. The mighty power that is available to us through the invocation of the names of God, and the name of Jesus, is best seen in the lives of those who invoked them in power. Let us take the Divine names that have been given to us in the name of Jesus, and use them as instruments of power for the glory of God, and for ministration to the needy. We learn best about prayer and the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit by seeing their operation through men of God in the Scriptures. < >
The Disastrous Effects Of The Doctrine Of Original Sin \| By His Stripes We Are Healed \| The Book Of Revelation \| The Second Coming Of Christ \| The Baptism And Gifts Of The Holy Spirit \| The Comforter Is Come

Chapter Seven

The reception of the gifts of the Holy Spirit

Satan's test of our character and spiritual gifts. Mt.4v1-11

Like our Lord, we will find that temptation and spiritual conflict are inevitable after the baptism in the Spirit and the reception of spiritual gifts. God will allow Satan to test and try our experience, character and use of spiritual gifts. Lk.4v1. Heb.2v14-18. 4v14-5v2. 2Cor.1v3-7. 1Pet.1v6,7. James.1v12. Let us consider how Jesus defeated Satan, and how we can defeat him too.

SATAN WILL TRY TO ROB US OF THE POWER OF GOD BY AN ATTACK ON OUR FAITH.
Satan will try to cast doubt upon our most holy and blessed experiences.
John testified that Jesus was God's Lamb and only begotten Son, and Israel's promised Messiah. Jn.1v15-19,29-36. John said he had seen the Holy Spirit as a dove rest upon Jesus in unlimited power. Jn.3v27-36. The Father’s voice confirmed John's witness, for all to hear, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Mt.3v11-17. Yet Satan had the audacity to challenge the witness of God the Father and God the Spirit, and cast doubt on Christ's blessed and holy experiences. What evil affrontery! Satan will try to challenge and cast doubt on our lovely God-given experiences and gifts; we must resist him and rejoice in what God has given to us, for God's word and promises to us are always true and reliable.

Satan will try to cast doubt upon God's Word.
“Hath God said,” still comes from the serpent's lips. Gen.3v6. with Rev.12v9. Satan still challenges the reliability of the Word of God and the reality of the promises that God has given, including the promise of the baptism in the Spirit, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ's experience was based upon the Holy Scriptures, and we see that these same Scriptures confirm that the Pentecostal experience and gifts of the Holy Spirit are for today and the heritage of the children of God. Acts.2v38,39.

Satan will try to cast doubt on our love and devotion to God.
Christ had lived a life of perfect holiness and purity for 30 years, and Satan knew it; yet he dismisses and casts doubt on Christ's beautiful life of perfect love and devotion to His Father, with his lying and sarcastic, “If.” Satan tried to bring Christ to a place of dejection and despair by his evil insinuations, and he will try to give us feelings of guilt and despair by casting aspersions on our character and work for God. Satan will try to dismiss all our acts of love and devotion to God by his evil insinuations; however, the Scriptures assure us that “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love.” Heb.6v10. Nagging, condemning, destructive attacks upon our minds, come from the accuser Satan, not from God. Rev.12v9-12. Do not accept Satan's lies about yourself; only recognise and confess what the Scriptures say you are in Christ. Mt.7v7-11. Lk.11v9-13. Jn.3v16. 15v9. 17v23. Eph.1v3. Jesus understands and cares, and even His disciplines spring out of His great love for us. Heb.4v14-16. Christ is made unto us all we need; His strengthening grace is more than sufficient for us. 1Cor.1v30,31. Phil.4v13,19. Let praise and worship take the place of your heaviness and despair, draw near to God in praise and prayer, resist Satan and he will flee from you. James.4v7-9. God is love; He appreciates our love and work for Him.

Satan will try to attack our sonship.
Jesus created Satan, and he knew it, yet he tried, by lies and insinuations, to destroy Christ’s faith in His sonship. If he attacked Christ's sonship, he will certainly attack ours. Do not give place to him for an instant, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” 1Jn.3v1,2. Do not let Satan take away your assurance of your position in Christ; we are joint heirs with Jesus, His own dear beloved brethren. Rom.8v17.

Satan will try to attack our faith in God's provision for us.
Satan was in effect saying to Christ, “You say that you acted on the revealed will of God, and look where it got you, into a wilderness with no provision, what a good God you serve.” Satan loves to imply that God has failed us, or does not love us, because God has not miraculously intervened in our circumstances; but it is a lie, we are always upon our Father's heart. God may allow our faith to be tried by difficult circumstances, temptation, and trials; but He will never leave us or forsake us. Heb.13v5,6,8. 1Pet.1v3-9. How much more reliable than the closest of earthly ties is the abundant affection, unceasing care, and unfailing love of our heavenly Father.

Satan will try to cast doubts on the reality of our spiritual gifts.
Satan taunted Christ, “You have not had one miracle. What, you God's Son? What an imagination you have. Where is the evidence of your experience? Where are the miracles, if you have been baptised in the Spirit? If you have received the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, why are you having such a terrible time?” The Lord Jesus knew that God's power and gifts are manifested under the guidance of God's wisdom and in God's time and will. We cannot demand great manifestations of God's power at our will; it is “severally as He will.” 1Cor.12v11. The lack of great spiritual gifts after our baptism in the Spirit can be a major temptation, but great gifts of revelation and demonstration, are given to mature Christians, and in particular to the leading ministries of Christ's Church. Jn.5v19,30. Satan will try us as he did the Lord Jesus, and we answer as the Lord Jesus did. The Lord Jesus quoted from Deut.8v3., and through this Scripture He told Satan that God always allows His children to be tried by adversity, but He is always with us in our trials. The Lord Jesus knew that the God who looked after the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years would look after Him, and we know that He will look after us. Let us answer Satan with, “It is written,” God's truth stands forever sure; our God will never fail us.

SATAN WILL TRY TO GET US TO USE OUR GIFTS IN THE WRONG WAY. Mt.4v5-7
Satan again attacked the faith of Christ and His sonship, but we will not dwell on this, as we have already covered this point.

The temptation to self-will, presumption and fanaticism.
Satan will tempt us to pride manifesting itself in self-will, presumption and fanaticism. When Satan quoted Ps.91v11,12., he omitted some very important words, as can be seen by a comparison with Lk.4v10,11. and Mt.4v6.. Satan omitted the words “in all thy ways,” that is, the ways of Christ directed by God. Satan misquotes Ps.91v11,12., doubtless one of Christ's favourite portions of Scripture, and suggests that Christ had a Scriptural authority for a daring act of faith.

Satan was in effect saying, “This is one of the Scriptures that you particularly love and rest your faith on; this is one of the words out of the mouth of God, why not put it to the test? If you are God's Son and He has given you authority and power, then, prove it to me and everybody.” Christ completely rejected the temptation to misinterpret the Scripture, and to put His Father to the test by going ahead on His own, He knew the promises of God must be used in the context in which they are quoted, and in conjunction with the whole tenor of Christian truth. Great manifestations of spiritual gifts can only be expected in the will and purpose of God. Jn.5v19,30. Jesus quoted from Deut.6v16., “Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted Him in Massah,” from the incident in Exod.17v1-7., where Israel put God to the Test. Our Lord inferred that those who embark upon presumptuous enterprises without the guidance of God, put God to the test; to doubt the guiding and providing hand of God is to repeat the sin of the children of Israel at Massah and Meribah. Those who usurp the Holy Spirit's position in the Church, and run it as they feel, have committed this sin of pride, self-will, and presumption.

Satan will try to incite us to start us upon presumptuous and fanatical enterprises, and try to get us to misuse spiritual gifts; he still comes to us “with a Bible under his arm, and a text in his mouth.” Satan attacks every revival with misinterpretations and perversions of the Scriptures; we have to make sure that our manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are according to the Scriptural pattern. If we want to pervert or dodge the truth, Satan will certainly find us a Scripture to back us up, but this will involve misinterpreting the Scriptures, or wresting a text out of its context, and wilfully ignoring and neglecting other Scriptures upon the subject. The perils of pride, self-will, presumption and fanaticism are very great and lead to “great transgression,” let us follow the example of Jesus and resist Satan's attacks upon us and dependence upon God. Ps.19v13.

The temptation to love the spectacular, and the praise of people.
Satan will tempt us to use spiritual gifts in a spectacular way to win the support, praise and admiration of the people. Satan fell through the sins of pride, covetousness and love of praise and position; he tries to make His creator fall into the same sins that had caused his own downfall and doom. Ezek.28v17. Is.14v12-14. Satan challenged Christ to do an outstanding sign before the people. Jesus resisted this appeal to pride and love of praise; He had come to die, not to lead Israel to victory over Rome. He had come to save people from their sins, not to receive empty adulation. If Christ had followed Satan's suggestion, it would have been a complete denial of His mission, and would have been a rejection of His Father's Word, love, provision and guidance. Satan will tempt us to use the power of God and His spiritual gifts in a proud and spectacular manner. There can be a desire to show people that God has called us and used us, and this is wrong. We can tell people what God has accomplished through us, if we do it in humility to God's glory, and in order to help people's faith, as Paul and Barnabus did in Acts.14v27.. Satan's servants, like Simon the sorcerer, may boast that they are a great one, but servants of the meek and lowly Christ must be genuinely humble. “Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.” Prov.27v2. Satan puffs up his servants; God humbles His, and measures their greatness by their humility. Mt.18v1-5.

The temptation to seek position and prestige in men's religious power structures.
Satan will tempt us to use spiritual gifts in a spectacular way to win position and prestige in Christ's Church and denominational structures. God has not given His spiritual gifts to us to increase our prestige and position, He has given them to us to increase His kingdom and glorify His name. Jesus entirely resisted the temptation to use the power of God in a way that would win over the influential over to His side, and win a position amongst them. Satan was in effect saying to Christ, “Cast yourself down at the Temple before the elders of Israel. Seek the help and patronage of the influential. To do the work that you want to do, you need the people with money, power and authority behind you.” Many have compromised truth and experience by throwing themselves down at the Temple of worldly and religious prestige, and in trying to win the praise of men, or by fighting for position in their church or denomination, have offended God and lost the power of God. Those who seek the praise of men, inevitably find that they compromise the truth because of the fear of man. Jn.12v42,43. Christ fearlessly preached against traditions that made void the Word of God, and exposed hypocrisy and sham. It cost Him His life, but He pleased the Father. These religious leaders opposed Christ and in the end murdered Him. He threatened their power structure and they could not tolerate this. The test of the spiritual greatness of any Christian leader, is their willingness to step down from position and humbly serve others. Jn.13v1-17. Mt.20v20-28. Phil.2v1-11. Christ humbled the religious leaders of His day by showing His preference for the prayerful, spiritual, consecrated, and sincere ordinary working men, as leaders in His work; He can and does do the same today, when religious leaders lack spirituality and sincerity.

SATAN WILL TEMPT US TO EXCHANGE GOD'S BLESSING FOR EARTHLY GLORY.
Satan will tempt us to seek worldly wealth, prestige, and glory.
Satan showed Jesus all the beauty and glory of every nation and said, “Why fight me? Why have a battle? You can have the entire world without a fight if you will go my way, accept my standards, and worship me. Don't take up your cross; exchange your path of consecration and dedication for the world’s pleasures, power and wealth.” The temptation to fill our lives with worldly things, and to judge our lives by worldly standards will come to every Christian. We need to realise, like our Lord Jesus did, that God owns all things, and that our allegiance should be His alone. Deut.6v13-15. A curse, not glory, comes upon all those who forsake God for the broad and easy way. Mt.7v13,14. with Deut.28v15-68. Satan's offer of his corrupted kingdoms was certainly no bargain, particularly as Christ already owned the world. There was a strong implication from Satan, that if Jesus did not follow his advice, He would experience the most sustained and vicious opposition from these kingdoms, for they were under Satan's control. Indeed, Jesus had to face the most ruthless slander, hatred, envy, malice and persecution from the children of Satan, and we will experience the same if we are going to do the will of God, and glorify God through the manifestation of His spiritual gifts. When we think that materialism, worldly standards and compromise have more to offer us than serving God, we are getting very close to bowing down, serving and worshipping Satan. Let us follow the example of our dear Lord Jesus, He refused to sell His heavenly anointing and call for the things of the world, or compromise because of the fear of the hatred and opposition of the kingdoms of men. Nothing deterred Him from the mission that the Father had sent Him to do.

Satan will tempt us to supplement the power of God with the glory of the world.
Jesus refused to use the glory of the world to supplement or replace the power of God; He chose people who had no worldly power or influence to be the leaders of His Church. 1Cor.1v26-31. The further we get away from God, the more we rely upon human resources. However, culture, music, art and literature, cannot replace dependence upon God and His power. We are in real spiritual danger when we rely upon what we can do, and feel that we can manage on our own. We praise God for Christian scholars, and we would be lost without them, but our first need is for men with truly apostolic ministry. Mt.9v35-38. Paul was an outstanding scholar, but he gloried in his limitations, not his abilities, so that the power of Christ would rest upon him. In 2Cor.12v9., “rest,” is “episkenose,” the aorist subjunctive of “episkenoo,” “to dwell, to abide, to take up residence, to pitch upon him like a tent,” like the Shechinah over the Tabernacle. 1Cor.2v1-8. 2Cor.12v9-12. Acts17v15-34. 18v1-18. N.B. v10.

Even aggressive evangelism can be based upon faith in human oratory, and this can be looked upon as a substitute for the power and miracles of the early Church. Churches that allow worldly glory and human ability to replace God's power, become empty husks that disillusion those who are broken in heart, weary, sick and sinful, who are seeking and longing for a loving fellowship, where they can find God, peace and spiritual reality. Only the power of God can meet people’s needs, human endeavour and worldly glory will always fail.

Satan will tempt us to build on earthly empire around ourselves.
Christ refused to build an earthly empire around His ministry, His kingdom was not of this world, He lived just to glorify the Father and perform His will. Jn.4v34. 5v30. 6v38,39. 12v28. 17v1,4,5,10. 18v33-37. 21v19. Heb.10v5-7. Someone has said, “How often has ambition conquered those who have conquered nearly all else.” If our only motive for desiring the gifts of the Holy Spirit is to build our personal or denominational kingdom, then we desire them for the very worst of reasons. We are not here to build our kingdoms, or our bank balance, by exalting Christ and His gifts; we are to follow the example of the Holy Spirit, and use His gifts for the sole purpose of exalting Jesus and glorifying God. Jn.16v12-15. 14v12-14. Our emphasis should be “Our Christ,” not ourselves, or our church, God is the only one to be served and worshipped.

Jesus has left us the perfect example of financial integrity and sincerity; His attitude to money was beyond reproach. Christ's enemies mocked His preaching against love of money and worldly-mindedness, and His total lack for any desire for money. Lk.16v10-15. Jesus was called many things by His enemies, but He was never called a “money-grabber.” Christ's simple needs were met by grateful, kind-hearted people, mainly women, who had been greatly helped through His ministry; and others gave food and shelter for Himself and His disciples. Lk.8v1-3. 19v5. etc. However, Jesus often had no shelter and had to “sleep rough,” out in the open air; He knows what it is to be homeless. Mt.8v19,20. Lk.9v57,58. Christ never tried to squeeze finances out of the people that He was preaching to; no one was to be charged for Divine healing, “Freely ye have received, freely give.” Mt.10v7,8. There were to be no demands for money, indeed, as they were able, the apostolic band gave money to the poor and needy. Jn.12v5-8. Jesus did not financially put upon those who sympathised with Him and helped Him in His work; He did not sleep at the best hotels, He had nowhere to lay His head on many occasions. Lk.9v57-62.

Christ did what the Father told Him to do, not what He felt was good or necessary. It is a striking fact that the Father never told Jesus to do things that are looked upon as essential today. Christ built no buildings, His means of transport was His own feet, He did not employ Scribes to write down and distribute His sermons. Jesus just made Himself a channel of His Father's will, love and power. Jn.5v18,19,30. It is wrong to do everything that comes to our minds; we have to make quite sure that we meet the priorities that God lays down. Jesus kept His needs down to a minimum, His base was a simple home in Capernaum, and we will do well to follow His example. Mt.4v13. Mk.2v1. 9v33. Christ's one aim was to glorify His Father and do His will, and if we want to defeat the attacks of Satan, our aim will have to be the same.

N.B. Satan still tries to stop Christians from manifesting God’s power and love through His Gifts.
Luke.11v52. (NKJ) “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.” Luke.11v52. (TLB) “Woe to you experts in religion! For you hide the truth from the people. You won't accept it for yourselves, and you prevent others from having a chance to believe it.”

Satan has also been busy in our day, and has deceived Christian teachers into thinking that the God-given experiences of the early Church are not valid for us today. This heresy has prevented Christians from experiencing God and His gifts, which are so clearly promised in the Scriptures. Like Israel’s religious leaders, these false teachers, ignore and twist the truth of the Scriptures on the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit. They foolishly argue that the historical accounts in Scripture cannot be used for formulating doctrine, or as a basis for our experience of God and His gifts. They will not seek God for His gifts, and by their unbelieving example and incorrect exposition, they actively hinder Christians from seeking and receiving an experience of God and His gifts. The historical parts of the Scripture show the outworking of Divine truth; they reveal God's desires by His acts. Christ's life and acts, and His sufferings and death, have revealed God's love and redemptive purposes for men, far better than any doctrinal statement could ever have done. Are we to lay aside the historical accounts of Christ's life and actions as having no doctrinal importance? All true Christians will deny such a dangerous and pernicious theory. The facts about our Lord's life, death and resurrection are best entered into and understood by reading the actual events in the Gospels. Paul informs us in 1Cor.10v1-15., that God has instructed and taught His people vital doctrine through history. Paul also tells us in 2Tim.3v15,16., that, “All Scripture is profitable for doctrine.” Indeed, in many cases, it is only through the insight revealed by the historical passages that we can correctly interpret Scripture truth. Such things as water baptism, demon exorcism, the baptism and gifts of the Spirit, and even the Lord's Supper, can only be properly understood from the historical portions of Scripture. Indeed, the epistles deal mainly with practical historical problems in the churches, not just with theoretical problems. Some of our most valuable doctrines for living, preaching, and praying, are found in the historical parts of Scripture. The full extent of the authority of the name of Jesus is best seen in the lives of those in the Scriptures who have called upon the name of Jesus. The mighty power that is available to us through the invocation of the names of God, and the name of Jesus, is best seen in the lives of those who invoked them in power. Let us take the Divine names that have been given to us in the name of Jesus, and use them as instruments of power for the glory of God, and for ministration to the needy. We learn best about prayer and the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit by seeing their operation through men of God in the Scriptures.

< >