BT14:  Cessationism forbidding of tongues or despising prophecy will Quench the Spirit and retard the gospel’s effectiveness

 

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Paul warns Christians against doing either of these as certain ways to “quench the Holy Spirit” instead of “zealously-desiring the Spirit-kind-of grace-gifts” (b) or  “zealously-desiring the meizon ‘greater in value’ (a) grace-gifts” (b) or “de mallon ‘however even-better to prophecy” than even Paul “presently/ongoingly thelo optimally-desired them ALL to speak in tongues” (b), and that those who do so are “meizon more valuable to others” (a) than the ones who speak in tongues unless someone interprets so that [in either case] the church-assembly may be built up” (b) or “[I strongly urge you to] zealously-desire to prophesy and/coupled to in-possibility-NOT forbid tongues” (b).  If tongues is Paul’s optimal desire for them ALL and prophecy even tops that as “greater,” why would Christians not zealously pursue either?  <Notes> a) meizon: ‘more than megas great in size, weight, age, degree, strength, ability, authority, virtue, etc. but here in the importance/value of their grace-gift to others.  Meizon is also used in 1 Corinthians 13:13 of unconditional-love compared to trusting-relying-faith and elpis ‘hope, expectant faith for the future,’ but not as much as megistos ‘ultimate’ used only in 2 Peter 1:4 of God’s promises to us, b) 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20; 1 Corinthians 14:1, 12:31 [later, less reliable manuscripts of the KJV have kreitton ‘more excellent, better’], 14:5, 14:39.

 

Paul proves that God has appointed for the entire Church Age (a) prophecy and tongues as grace-gifts (b).  Prophecy is a proving-sign that builds up the Body-of-Christ, as also Body-ministry tongues can be if interpreted (c).  However, tongues can also build oneself up in their eulogeo ‘eulogizing prayers of thanksgiving’ and spontaneous psalming to the Lord, just as Paul boasts for himself and desires for them (d), even though tongues regarding ministry is a proving-sign for unbelievers to have trusting-relying-faith in the gospel (e).  Paul is clear that there are 3 major ‘intended audiences’ and thus 3 purposes for the 3 genos ‘families/kinds/sorts of’ glossa tongues/languages with 3 different sets of advice!  See also Tongues – BT4, Tongues – BT6, and – BT7.  <Notes> a) Last days/times, end of the age(s):  1 Peter 1:20; Hebrews 1:2, 9:26; Acts 2:17, 39; 1 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Timothy 3:1; James 5:3; 2 Peter 3:3, until it’s finality at the great harvest when the Church is “raptured/removed” before the Judgement of the earth:  Matthew 13:39-40, 49; 24:3, 28:20, b) 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28, c) 1 Corinthians 14:5-6, 22, d) 1 Corinthians 14:14-16, 18, e) 1 Corinthians 14:22.

 

Cessationists who say the miraculous gifts of the Spirit ‘ceased’ are breaking every rule of biblical interpretation, and Church history completely invalidates their position – see Spirit-Baptism – BT3.  From Pentecost on, God’s Holy Spirit through the authority of the name of Jesus Christ has never stopped being poured out upon people in order to “work with us, accompany, and confirm” the gospel logos message per Mark’s account of the Great Commission (a).  The apostles never reached “the ends of the earth” in Luke’s account (b) nor “the end of the age” of Matthew’s account (c).  “All the promises of God find their ‘Yes’ in Him” per 2 Corinthians 1:20.  The mission is the same and so are the means to accomplish it! <Notes> a) Mark 16:15-20, b) Acts 1:8, c) Matthew 28:18-20.

 

Since the mission hasn’t been completed, the need for God to “work with us, accompany, and confirm” His gospel logos message still remains, and since the authority of Jesus’ name hasn’t changed, I can see no reason why the “signs, wonders, and healings” of the early Church shouldn’t be happening wherever the gospel logos message is preached and there is trusting-relying-faith by its preachers, per Mark 16:17.  And in fact, it happens all the time, especially in the mission field where the Church isn’t so much for entertaining the believers as it is in America, but where the mission is still to reach the lost and ‘equip’ the saints for service to reach the lost. These are the “front lines” where God is doing battle to win people’s souls!  Wouldn’t He be there doing His mighty works to give authority to His gospel logos message of The Truth of Jesus being preached?  Sure He would!

 

Jesus had already told them “I am sending ‘The Promise’ of My Father upon you, but stay in Jerusalem until you are clothed with enabling-power from on high” (a). So Luke further records after the resurrection, “while Jesus was staying with them, He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to perimeno ‘remain all-around, enduringly even thru difficulty’ for ‘The Promise’ of the Father that you have heard from Me [many times earlier], for although John baptized (b) with water, you shall indeed be baptized (b) by-the-means-of the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (c).  So Peter says in Acts 2:33, 38-39, “Having received ‘The Promise’ of the Holy Spirit, which He has poured out, this is what you yourselves are seeing and hearing (d). . . .Therefore, repent (e) kai and/coupled/thus be water-baptized every one of you in the name/authority of Jesus Christ eis ‘toward and reaching the goal of’ the forgiveness of your sins (f). And moreover, you shall actually lambano ‘grab a hold of to receive’ the dorea free-gift of the Holy Spirit, for ‘This Promise’ is for you and/coupled for your children and/also for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself.”  That sure sounds indefinite to me!  Furthermore, based on the context, this gift clearly comes with supernatural grace-gifts! <Notes> a) Luke 24:49, b) baptizo: transformational immersion in any liquid, even cucumbers in vinegar changed into pickles – water for water-baptism and “the living water” Holy-Spirit for Spirit-Baptism, c) Acts 1:4-5, d) this isn’t an invisible, quiet ‘deposit’ dropped off to many Christians that churches say that you just have to “take by faith” actually happened.  That’s what the Church of Christ told me.  No!  This is clearly manifested in context by prophecy and tongues, e) metanoia:  turn your mind’s direction back, f) clearly repentance and/coupled water-baptism are required for forgiveness of sins in order to save you – see 1 Peter 3:21.

 

In 1 Corinthians 13:8-12 Paul doesn’t even hint that any of the “grace-gifts into us, services/ministries thru us, and energetically-effective work in others by-the-means-of the Spirit” of vv. 12:4-6 will “pass away” in v. 13:8 during the Church Age as Cessasionists claim, but Paul is simply emphasizing that agape unconditional-love will “never end,” even after Paul says “the perfect (Christ) comes” in v. 13:10, and so must in v. 13:13 “remain as the meizon greatest, larger, stronger of these [faith-in-the-present, faith-in-the-future-hope, and agape love]” during our Church life throughout the Church Age.

 

After talking at length in chapter 13 about agape unconditional-love, Paul is NOT pitting “the dioko ‘earnest/zealous pursuit/chase like a hunter’ of agape unconditional-love” against “zeloo zealously-desiring the Spirit-kind-of grace-gifts, de mallon indeed-now-especially that you might presently/ongoingly prophesy,” just as elsewhere Paul says to “zeloo zealously-desire prophecy as mega greater” or “de mallon ‘however even-better” than even him “presently/ongoingly thelo optimally-desiring them ALL to speak in tongues” (a), and Paul is certainly not saying to despise prophecy at risk of quenching the Spirit (b).  NO, Paul uses a conjunction de between these 2 “zeals” for unconditional-love and grace-gifts, which has a wide range of meaning “but, moreover, rather, indeed now, next, so then, on top of that.”  Paul is simply transitioning to the next subject of chapter 14, not saying that chapter 13 negates chapter 14 but must be incorporated as the main motivation behind all the grace-gifts for effective Body-Ministry, even whether it’s unconditional-love for God in your prayers in tongues directed to God that also build you up, your messages of tongues in the church-assembly to build them up by your service/ministry to them, or your preaching/witness to unbelievers in tongues as a proving-sign.  It’s not an ‘either-or’ but a ‘both-and’ in the mind of Paul with unconditional-love saturating everything.  <Notes> a) 1 Corinthians 12:31, 14:5, 39, b) 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20.

 

We see the history of the Church bearing that truth of Continuationism:   Paul lays hands on people, the Holy Spirit comes on them, and they begin speaking in tongues and prophesying (a).  We see woman prophets in the Church (b) as Paul teaches about “every wife who prays or prophesies” (c).  Sure Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:10 that “We prophesy in part, de however when to teleion the [neuter, singular] perfect ‘completed-end-aim of the parts’ comes, the [neuter, singular] meros ‘part of the complete-whole’ ek out-from [the perfect whole] shall actually [passively] be katargeo ‘cease’ (d).”  The Sola Scriptura “By Scripture Alone” Cessationists say the completed canon of the bible is “The Perfect coming,” But is that really true?  <Notes> a) Acts 19:6, b) Acts 21:9, c) 1 Corinthians 11:5, d) katargeo: down-from/according-to made inactive/idle, emphatically/totally made of no effect/without force/inoperative, done away with, ceased so abolished, invalidated, abrogated, brought to nothing, therefore released from it.

 

Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 13:11 that now we “blepo ‘physically, watchfully or observantly see’ presently dia thru-the-realizing-channel-of a polished-metallic-mirror in/by/with a [singular] ainigma ‘obscure thing, enigma,’ however then-at-an-indefinite-future-time [physical] face pros ‘toward and interfacing with’ [physical] face.”  Paul is not talking about facing pages in a New Testament that wouldn’t be officially voted into place under enormous political pressure the Roman Emperor Constantine over 300 years later, but facing Jesus Christ as Paul will explain!  Paul wrote 51% of the New Testament and even with all his prophetic insight, this was certainly “a polished-metallic-mirror” in comparison with being “face to face” with Jesus!  As a Pharisee expert bible-student, Paul knew exactly what it meant to serve God by-the-means-of God’s gramma writings sporadically collected over 1500 years into graphe scripture and talks often about his previous zeal.  The Old Testament canon wasn’t even finally agreed upon until 90 AD, clearly because of the destruction of the temple, scattering of the Jews, and the threat of Christianity.  Again, political expediency!

 

But now in Romans 7:6, Paul declares: “Now however we have already been katargeo ‘released from what was abolished’ (a) from the Law, already having died-away-from by-the-means-of that which we were continually bound by, in order for us to presently/ongoingly douleuo ‘serve as a slave, willing like a bond-servant’ by-the-means-of [singular] kainotes ‘completely-different-in-kind, superior newness’ of/belonging-to [singular] Spirit, kai and/but absolutely-in-fact-NOT [by-the-means-of] the palaiotes ‘oldness, antiquatedness, worn-out quality of, uselessness, obsoleteness’ of/belonging to [singular] gramma writing.” <Notes> a) katargeo: down-from/according-to made inactive/idle, emphatically/totally made of no effect/without force/inoperative, done away with, ceased so abolished, invalidated, abrogated, brought to nothing, therefore released from it.

 

Paul could be referring to just the Law, but 97.4% of the Old Testament is either the Law or based on it, and everything Paul writes about regarding “serving/ministering by-the-means-of the Spirit” has to do with the rhema ‘directly-spoken/heard word’ of God that involves speaking-types-of grace-gifts like tongues, interpretation, prophecy, messages of knowledge, messages of wisdom, and discerning the will of God through ‘gymnasium-like’ practice – not book-learning!  Romans 8 and Galatians 5 is all about the Holy Spirit directly causing you to ‘walk, be led, and keep in step’ with IT, so as 1 John 2:20, 27 says “because of the Anointing, you have absolutely-in-fact-NO need of any teacher” or presumably the gramma writings that ALL rabbis teach from.  Jesus never asked for anything to be written down, which is radically different from any rabbi that has ever lived!

 

In fact, Paul prays in Colossians 1:9 for God “to fill-to-completion them with the genuine, experiential, relational epignosis knowledge of His will by-the-means-of pas all-kinds-of wisdom and/coupled sunesis ‘connect-the-dots’ understanding of [singular] Spirit” and in Ephesians 1:17 that God “may give you the Spirit of wisdom and/coupled of revelation by-the-means-of the genuine, experiential, relational epignosis knowledge of Him.”  There is no bible-study here!  See also New Covenant Ways – BT16 and Bible Info – BT2, and Least Among You – BT8.  See Tongues – BT11.

 

A careful survey of the New Testament clearly indicates the palaiotes ‘oldness, antiquatedness, worn-out quality of, uselessness, obsoleteness’ of relying on any kind of gramma writing to yada/ginosko experientially, relationally know God or His will.  Hebrews 10:17 cites Jeremiah 31:31-34 which makes that exact point – biblical writings and teachers of it never worked produced the desired results for the old covenant, so God went direct for the completely-different-in-kind NEW Covenant with eido ‘mentally ‘seeing’ prophetic vision-type of understanding/knowing’ for all of His people, exactly as Acts 2:17-19 says through prophetic horao visions and dreams!

 

Paul explains more:  “Currently I presently/ongoingly experientially, relationally ginosko know ek out-from a [neuter, singular] meros ‘part of the complete-whole.’  He is not talking about gnosis informational-knowledge about God from bible-study that he acquired a lot of as a Pharisee of Pharisees nor would he ever want anybody to be bible-students of his writings that make up 51% of the New Testament.  It only makes you a fan!  Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman is a great book!  Furthermore, he knows that regardless of the grace-gift you have from the Spirit, even as valuable as prophecy was, it is just “1 member” of “many members” in the Body-of-Christ to having experiential, relational ginosko knowledge of Jesus, because Christ is the “whole the parts belong to,” and so this earthly stage will always be incomplete.

 

Paul continues: “de however then-at-a-later-time I shall fully & genuinely, experientially, relationally epiginosko know, kathos kai ‘just as, according the manner in which also’ I have already-been fully & genuinely, experientially, relationally epiginosko known” (d).  Paul usually only uses this intensive form of ginosko when arguing against Jewish bible-scholars and Gentile Gnostics to prove they don’t have “the real-thing” genuine relational knowledge, but here he recognizes that when he is “face to face” with Jesus his experiential, relational knowledge of Jesus will be ‘full’ to the same degree as he is already “fully known” by Jesus.

 

No book can ever give us this knowledge and no amount of prophetic insight either!  We have to wait until we are changed into His likeness!  Until then, Peter quoted the prophet Joel on Pentecost in Acts 2:17-19 that ONLY said that “prophecy, even thru horao ‘envisioning’ visions and dreaming dreams” (a) was the singular way God would speak to His “men and woman servants in the last Days” Church Age.  Nothing else is mentioned!  Now wonder Paul so emphasized this 1 grace-gift as being “even more so” to zealously-desire! <Notes> a) horao horasis: generally to observe with the eyes, implying attention, concern, or heed, sometimes being acquainted through experience, but often emphasizing an eido mental ‘seeing’ to perceive/know with a discerning or ‘weighing-in’ mind.  Eido prophetic knowledge is the uniqueness of the New Covenant per Jeremiah 31:34 cited in Hebrews 10:17.  This is very similar to optanomai: gaze in awe with wide-open eyes upon used in Matthew 5:8; John 16:22; Romans 15:21; Acts 13:31; 1 John 3:2 or katoptrizo that is kataptron mirror + a derivative of optanomai = gaze in awe with wide-open eyes as in a mirror used only in 1 Corinthians 3:18.

 

We know also from Paul’s other writings that “The Perfect” is Jesus Christ and His coming is our “blessed hope” when prophetic insight is no longer needed (a).  This has nothing to do with the canon of the New Testament coming that wasn’t actually decided upon, even through much disagreement by Catholic Church councils, until 367-397 AD.  So much of the New Testament is about the anticipation of Christ’s Second Coming!  Jesus is the only “The Perfect that is coming” just as Hebrews says (b):  “Being made Perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him . . . a Son who has been made Perfect forever. . . But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more Perfect ‘tent/tabernacle’ (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation). . . “a High Priest . . . who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin.”  Jesus is “the Holy and Righteous One” (c), “the Holy One of God” (d) or just “the Holy One” (e) or “the Holy One, the True One” (f).  It’s preposterous to think the bible is “The Perfect that is coming” especially after you read Bible Info!  <Notes> a) Titus 2:13; Ephesians 1:12; Colossians 1:27; Galatians 5:5; Romans 8:11, 23-25, Philippians 3:11, 21; Colossians 3:4, cf. 1 Peter 1:3, b) Hebrew 5:9, 7:28, 9:11, 4:15 c) Acts 3:14, d) Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34; John 6:69, e) Acts 2:27, 13:35; 1 John 2:20; Revelation 16:5, f) Revelation 3:7.

 

All through the history of revival you see the same pattern: authoritative teacher-leaders criticizing, resisting, and even persecuting the supernatural grace-gifts of the Spirit, carefully ‘cherry-picking the low-hanging fruit’ of what grace-gifts of the Spirit they want to recognize, and pounding home Sola Scriptura “By Scripture Alone” as if the bible is “The Perfect that is coming” in order to justify the exclusion of the supernatural Holy Spirit for their day.  Today is no different!  So how does God react to all this resistance and downright disobedience?

 

God “opposes/stands-firm against the proud/unteachable but gives unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace to the lowly/teachable” (a). Some of these objectors finally “wake up to smell the coffee,” but many don’t!  The early Church Father Irenaeus around 200 AD said that churches who were rejecting the supernatural manifestations of charismata grace-gifts of the Holy Spirit were also the ones devoid of the Holy Spirit’s fruit, like “a leafless terebinth, and as a garden without an abater (plower) – such men are of no use to God, in that they can bear no fruit.”  The Holy Spirit is the only way the garden of our lives can be cultivated and watered!  To quench or suppress any [singular] meros ‘part of the complete-whole’ of Christ’s “grace-gifts into us, services/ministries thru us, and energetically-effective work in others” by-the-means-of His Spirit is to shut The Person of The Spirit out completely – the very definition of “quenching the Holy Spirit!” <Notes> a) James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5 citing Proverbs 3:34.

 

The Cessationists, like the Church of Christ that I was saved in, the Baptists, Anglican, Associate Confessional Reformed, Presbyterians, Calvinists, and others don’t believe in the supernatural dunamis enabling-power and ongoing prophetic revelation of the Holy Spirit.  They say that all of that died out with the apostles or with the creation of the New Testament.  The say that the Continuationism of the Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Moravians, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Four-Square, and Full-Gospel churches is wrong.  See also Wikipedia’s “Cessationism versus Continuationism.”

 

Many other Church Fathers documented the charismata grace-gifts of the Spirit!  The Didache or “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles,” written between 50-120 AD treated prophecy as standard fair, even giving rules to test prophets who “speak in the Spirit.”  Justin Martyr around 155 AD, said the “prophetic gifts formerly belonging to the Jews (i.e, the OT Prophets) are now at work in the Church” as well as other charismata grace-gifts.”

 

The Shepherd of Hermas, written around 140–150 AD, consists of five prophetic visions, and was considered canon by some of the early Church Fathers, also quoted by Pope Callixtus 1 as having authority, was part of the New Testament’s Codex Sinaiticus and is in the lists of New Testament books in the Codex Claromontanus, having thus had great authority in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.  Here we see that what was considered the Church’s bible varied greatly over time – see Bible Info!

 

Irenaeus around 180 AD said: “It is impossible to name the number of all charismata, which the church, dispersed throughout the whole world, has received from God, in the name of Jesus Christ.  In like manner, we also hear that many brethren in the Church, who have prophetic charismata, speak in all kinds of tongues through the Spirit and reveal the hidden things of people, for their benefit and explain the mysteries of God.  For some [of Christ’s true disciples] do certainly and truly drive out demons, so that those who are thus cleansed from the evil spirits often believe and join the church. Others have foreknowledge of future things, they see visions and utter prophetic words.  Others heal the sick by laying their hands upon them and let them rise up healthy. Moreover, as we have said, the dead even have been raised up and lived with us for many years.”  Irenaeus continues: “Others do not accept the grace-gifts of the Holy Spirit and cast the prophetic charismata far from their sight, through which man, when he is sprinkled with it, bears the life of God as fruit.  Citing Isaiah 1:30, he continues: “They, like a terebinth tree that has lost all its leaves and like a garden without water’ . . . have no use for God, because they bear no fruit.”  I couldn’t agree more!  The churches I’ve been in that reject the gifts have to “work really hard” to show any signs of life!

 

Tertullian around 200 AD says the charismata grace-gifts were such common practice in Carthage that at a person’s water-baptism, he suggests they also: “Ask from the Lord, as a special grace-gift of His, the distributions of the charismata.”  Spirit-Baptism or Filling was expected to occur during water-baptism because there is only “One Baptism” per Ephesians 4:5.  Other writings that mention the charismata grace-gifts are those by Firmilian (c. 232), Cyprian (c. 258), Hippolytus (c.170-236), Clement of Alexandria (c.150-215), Origen (c.185-254), Ephraem Syrus (c.306-373), Eusebius (c. 260-340), Chrysostom (c. 347-407), and near the end of St. Augustine’s life (c. 430) he said that some of the grace-gifts of the Holy Spirit such as healing were present during his own lifetime and within his own geographical region of North Africa.

 

Regarding revivals throughout history, there is much written about the “outpouring of the Spirit, and Spirit possession” in Wikipedia’s article on Christian Revival.  The Encyclopedia Britannica says that spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues has occurred in Christian revivals of every age. In the same vein, Souer’s History of the Christian Church cites a reference to the famed leader of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, stating, “Dr. Martin Luther was a prophet, evangelist, speaker in tongues, and interpreter all in one person, endowed with all the gifts of the Spirit.” The history of revivals since then also prove that the miraculous grace-gifts continued throughout the Church Age, making the Cessationists dead wrong – see Cure of All Ills by Dr. Mary Stewart Relfe and Spirit-Baptism-BT3!

 

The damaging “wind of doctrine” called “Cessationism” that believes “the Holy Spirit’s grace-gifts ceased with the original apostles” obviously can’t be true, yet you will still see this doctrinal bias in the notes of many study bibles, like the Reformation Study Bible, The MacArthur Study Bible, Scofield III Reference Bible, Holman Christian Study Bible, Ryrie Study Bible, NKJV Study Bible, and Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible.

 

However, some study bibles are more encouraging of the modern experience or “Continuationism” of the charismata grace-gifts such as:  NKJV Spirit-Filled Life Bible, KJV Life in the Spirit Study Bible, Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, Modern English Version, Spirit-led Woman Bible, MEV Spiritual Warfare Bible, NIV Full Life Study Bible, and NIV Word in Life Study Bible.  I particularly like the English Standard Version Study Bible (ESV) because it is a formal-equivalence standard for scholarly interpretation and doctrine, and the notes are neutral concerning the charismata for today.  The Passion Translation (TPT) text and notes are fantastic!

 

Could this be why Paul warned the Church against such suppression (a), and stressed to “earnestly desire to prophesy, and in-possibility-NOT forbid speaking in tongues” (b)?  How can churches “cherry pick” what they want to obey out of the NT?  <Notes> a) 1 Thessalonians 5:19, b) 1 Corinthians 12:31, 14:1, 5, 39.

 

Cessationism is actually a “doctrine of demons” taught by powerless men to keep Christians powerless! by quenching the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 3:5 was written about them:  “having the form/appearance of godliness but denying the dunamis supernatural, enabling-power of it.  Avoid such people.”

 

The early Church writers said you can’t separate the grace-gifts or signs & wonders from the fruit of the Spirit, because excluding the former is “cutting yourself off from the Vine so that you cannot bear fruit” (a).  The Holy Spirit is a person of God that you either dechomai ‘warmly welcome’ into your house or don’t.  You can’t take bit and pieces of the Spirit!  The indwelling Spirit wasn’t a doctrine that you had to simply take by trusting-relying-faith – simply confessing the creeds and dogma that a later powerless Church came up with!  When the Spirit came into a new believer, there were overwhelming experiences of unconditional-love, joy, peace, and exuberate worship, most often with proving-signs of supernatural tongues and prophecy, which is simply hearing, seeing, or feeling experiential, relational knowledge of the prophetic rhema words or phone Voice of Jesus, directly-spoken to you by-the-means-of the Holy Spirit, which you can then opt to speak back to God for relationship “eulogizing-thanksgiving, praise, and worship” or to others for Body-Ministry in church-assemblies or to unbelievers to confirm the gospel’s logos message.  <Notes> a) John 15:4-7.

 

“Demonstrable proofs by miraculous signs & wonders” was the only confirmation of the gospel logos message that God was “accompanying and working with them” in their preaching.  It was also the only proving-signs that “the Baptism of Filling of the Holy Spirit actually occurred to make a person a “New Creation” and thus saved after their water-baptism.  There wasn’t supposed to be any guessing or “you just have to take it by faith” that you were saved like the Church of Christ told me.  It was obvious to you and everybody else!  It sure was to me at my water-baptism, despite of the Church of Christ’s poor teaching, and has been obvious since with so many subsequent Spirit-Baptisms and prophetic God-messages!  A lot of so-called Christians will eventually find out that are not saved at all, though they may say they are.  The New Testament is full of people saying one thing, but the writers saying these people were tragically deceived.

 

In 2 Corinthians 10:5 in his gospel ministry, how do you think Paul “routinely was overthrowing arguments and every high thing routinely lifting-itself-up kata down-from/against the gnosis informational-knowledge of/belonging-to God?”  He directly links this by kai to “routinely taking every thought captive eis ‘toward and reaching the goal of’ the obedience of/belonging-to Christ.”  This is not about quarreling or using argumentative words, which Jesus didn’t even do (a) and that Paul prohibited (b).  The University of Arizona mall preachers from “The Door Church” really turned me off from their arguing with naysayers.  No, Paul didn’t use the world’s “fleshly” weapons back against them!   Instead he uses Spirit-kind-of warfare, “for the weapons of our warfare are not out of the flesh, but have God dunamis enabling-power to demolish strongholds.”  <Notes> a) Matthew 12:19, b) Romans 14:1; 2 Timothy 2:14, 23-24; Titus 3:2, 9.

 

Ephesians 6:10-20 is all about this Spirit-kind-of warfare, so we all need to learn this!  None of the weapons are used against people but against Satan and demons!  Paul explains his strategy:  “My logos message and preaching were absolutely-in-fact-NOT by plausible/persuasive logos messages of sophia wisdom (a) but instead by demonstrating-proof of the Spirit and/coupled dunamis enabling-power” (b).  It’s really hard to argue against the “signs and wonders” of God that should “accompany those who have trusting-relying-faith . . . speaking in new tongues . . . laying hands on the sick to recover . . . and they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the logos message by accompanying signs” (c).  I suspect the problems and ineffectiveness of most pulpit, street, and mall preaching is that they don’t believe or obey this, leaving them only with a “logos message that may be plausible/persuasive” to play on the same field using the same “fleshly” weapons of their enemy.  Futile!  <Notes> a) like the Gentile philosopher or Jewish Law debaters and mystic Kabbalists, b) 1 Corinthians 2:4, c) Mark 16:17-20.

 

 

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