Popular Beliefs: The Charismata I. Introduction A. We profess to be New Testament Christians 1. When we say this, we mean that we strive to practice the same Christianity as seen in the New Testament 2. The New Testament is our sole guide to faith, not any creed or book of man or no new, special revelation B. It can be seen, however, that certain practices occurred in New Testament times that we do not engage in C. These practices include the charismata: baptism of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, prophesying, and the revelation of knowledge D. It may well be asked: If we profess to be Christians of the New Testament, why do we not engage in such New Testament practices? E. There are many denominations in the Pentecostal movement who profess to be able to utilize these gifts; are their claims true? F. Let us spend some time exploring this question from the Scriptures II. The Charismata: The Baptism of the Holy Spirit A. In the New Testament, we do see examples of people being baptized in the Holy Spirit B. Some denominations claim that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is still administered today 1. some claim that the Lord bestows it 2. others claim to be able to bestow it upon others with the "laying on of hands" 3. Is this true? C. First: the Greek, literally, is "baptism in the Holy Spirit" 1. though the change in preposition is slight, it provides an important point 2. when the baptism in the Holy Spirit is given, the recipient is filled with the Holy Spirit by the will of the Father, as we shall see D. To understand the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we must understand how the Holy Spirit was transferred in the first century 1. Only two incidences can be considered the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" 2. Acts 2:1-6: Apostles baptized in the Holy Spirit a. The Spirit descends upon them, sent from the Father b. fulfillment of prophecy of Christ: Acts 4:1-5, John 16:7, 13 3. Acts 10:44-45: Cornelius et al baptized in the Holy Spirit a. the Holy Spirit descended upon them as Peter was preaching b. When Peter recounts the event to the disciples in Jerusalem, references again the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:14-16) c. Important note: Peter correlates this event to "the beginning," when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, and not to anything else in between! 4. All other transfers of the Holy Spirit are done by the agency of the Apostles by the "laying on of hands" a. No one else stated to have the ability to transfer the Holy Spirit b. Acts 8:12-16: Why did it take Peter and John to come down to Samaria to lay on hands to transfer the Holy Spirit if Philip could? c. Acts 19:1-6: Paul laid on hands, and the Holy Spirit was transferred E. The Scriptures teach that the baptism in the Holy Spirit, therefore, came upon the Apostles at the beginning to fulfill the prophecies of Christ and to begin the church and again upon Cornelius and his men to be a sign to Peter that the Lord has accepted the Gentiles F. Ephesians 4:5: there is but one baptism! 1. many Pentecostals attempt to assert that the one baptism is the baptism in the Holy Spirit 2. the difficulty with this, however, that the only times that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is directly mentioned are in regards to the events of Acts 2 and 10 3. Granted, baptism in water is only explicitly mentioned in Acts 8:39 and Acts 10:47 4. The rest of the time, baptism is not specifically qualified 5. Should this concern us? No! a. as we noted before, the baptism in the Holy Spirit never occurred because of man's agency-- no man has ever baptized anyone in the Holy Spirit nor has any man been able to actively pursue the baptism in the Holy Spirit b. Baptism in water, however, man can do and is able to actively pursue c. Baptism that can be pursued-- Romans 6:3-7, 1 Peter 3:21-- has great spiritual significance and can save, and both authors wrote of such baptism long after the last "baptism in the Holy Spirit" was recorded d. The one baptism, therefore, is immersion in water for the remission of sin G. We can see, therefore, that we do not practice baptism in the Holy Spirit today because: 1. we are not able to, since the Lord only can bestow such a baptism; 2. Paul states emphatically in the letter to the Ephesians-- long after the events in Acts 2 and 10-- that there is but one baptism 3. By historical and textual evidence, that one baptism is immersion in water for the remission of sin III. The Charismata: Speaking in Tongues, Prophecy, and Knowledge A. Speaking in tongues and prophecy is supposedly practiced in many Pentecostal churches today 1. They engage in "heavenly babble" and consider it "prayer" 2. the focus is on "speaking in tongues" 3. Interpreters may or may not be there B. Do they act in accordance with the New Testament? C. What were speaking in tongues and prophecy in the New Testament? 1. "Speaking in tongues" was done in real language! a. in Greek as also in modern English, a "tongue" is a language b. a use of metonymy: the tongue representing the whole process of speaking c. Acts 2:8-11: the Apostles spoke (or, rather, were heard) in all kinds of languages from Europe, Africa, and Asia d. this was not "heavenly babble!" e. No evidence of a "heavenly language" that was used in "speaking in tongues" from the NT 2. 1 Corinthians 14:13-15 is used to justify speaking in tongues as heavenly language in prayer a. first of all, Paul speaks in hypothetical, not actual, language b. If one prays in a tongue, then his understanding is unfruitful! c. Paul will pray with both his spirit AND his mind-- therefore, he does not actually pray in a tongue d. verse 16: the entire point is to have understanding! e. Therefore, the NT not only does not establish a practice of praying in an unfamiliar tongue, but also rejects it! 3. 1 Corinthians 14:1-5: better to prophesy than to speak in tongues a. while Pentecostals may feel that speaking in tongues edifies, Paul establishes that it is far more edifying for the Corinthians to prophesy than to speak in tongues b. the only value of speaking in tongues comes from the ability to interpret (v. 13); this does not often occur in Pentecostal assemblies 4. We shall agree with Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:19: it is better to speak a few words of edification that are understood than thousands in meaningless terminology D. Now that we have seen what speaking in tongues and prophecy are in the New Testament, are they said to still remain? E. Let us examine 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 1. Prophecies/tongues/knowledge: done away with the "perfect" a. "Perfect:" Greek teleion b. Definition: complete and/or unblemished, "perfect" c. gender in Greek: neuter d. Christ's gender in Greek: masculine 2. To what, then, does "the perfect" refer? 3. The keys to this passage are in "knowledge" and the historical record 4. Knowledge is the general term gnosis a. in context, however, it seems to refer to spiritual knowledge b. when the "perfect" comes, the "partial" prophecy and knowledge pass away c. Remember: Paul writes to the Corinthians ca. 57 CE, before many of his other letters, before the Hebrew letter, before John's letters and the Revelation d. There was much that had yet to be revealed at that time 5. Historical record a. after ca. 175 CE, and not again until the claims of the Pentecostals beginning in 1900 CE, do we find any significant evidence for speaking in tongues and prophecy b. some heretical groups, proven wrong over time (like the Montanists), claimed them, but there is no indication of legitimacy c. This fact is admitted even by the Pentecostals d. Assuming that John the Apostle lived to around 97 CE, 175 would have been the end of the last generation to have direct contact with the Apostles 6. "new" spiritual knowledge-- revelation of inspired material-- has not been done truly since John, and there is a large gap in the historical record for claims of speaking in tongues and prophecy 7. The best conclusion, therefore, is to see that the "completed thing," the "perfect" of 1 Corinthians 13:8-10, is the revealed word of God, the uncovering of the mystery-- the New Testament 8. Therefore, speaking in tongues, prophecy, and knowledge ceased by 100-175 CE F. The claims of the Pentecostal churches, therefore, do not harmonize with the teachings of the Bible IV. Conclusion A. I hope that we have seen that although the practices of the charismata are present in the New Testament they are not for us to engage in now B. The New Testament establishes that the baptism in the Holy Spirit was bestowed by God upon the Apostles in Acts 2 and Cornelius et al in Acts 10, but the "one baptism" of Paul and the baptism that all submit to is immersion in water for the remission of sin C. The practice of speaking in tongues as performed in Pentecostal churches today are not the same as the practice in the New Testament D. Paul in the New Testament prophesies that speaking in tongues, prophecy, and spiritual knowledge will cease when the "completed thing" comes, and all evidence points to the completion of the New Testament as that "completed thing" E. We see, therefore, that in these regards we are practicing what the New Testament has taught us F. The New Testament teaches us that it is God's will for all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), and that if one believes, confesses, repents, is immersed in water for the remission of sins, and endures, he shall be saved (Acts 16:31-33, Acts 2:38, Matthew 10:22) G. If you have not done these things, or need encouragement in any way, please let us help you as we stand and sing