What do Pentecostals believe about 'worship'? Pentecostalism believes that worship is the primary means by which Christians draw near to God to offer him a sacrifice of praise, in faith that his blessings will follow. This blessing involves the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s presence amongst Christians as they worship. A central reason, if not the reason Christians should gather together is for corporate worship in the Spirit, for it is there that God reveals himself in particular.
While affirming on the one hand that ‘worship is a lifestyle’ (it's not about one day per week, but every hour of every day; it's not about an event or an experience, but about belief-fuelled behaviour), on a practical level however, the focal point of worship in Pentecostalism is the corporate event, the 'worship meeting.'
Churches meet in ‘worship centres’. A time of ‘praise’ prepares individuals and the whole congregation for the ‘worship time’ that will follow. The aim of the worship time is for each individual to achieve genuine openness to God at the deepest (or highest) level. It is during this time that individual ‘worshipers’ seek and move close to God. This partly involves 'letting go' on a mental level; letting go of 'personal baggage' and inhibition. This allows individuals to move beyond the mind to find God himself. When this is achieved on mass (worshipers collectively 'enter in', and are united in 'pursuit' of God), then the worship meeting and centre becomes a place where God's special presence is revealed, “a place where earth can touch heaven” (to quote Hillsong).
The act of ‘drawing near’ to God in particular involves offering him a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. But often it is more than this: From the front, ‘worship leaders’ urge the congregation to ‘enter in’ (to the realm of 'worship'), not only because this causes God's presence to be manifest (or be felt), but also because this 'offering' of praise 'exalts' or lifts God up (He is ‘enthroned on the praises of his people’). In other words, God is enthroned or 'glorified' as his people praise him (Hence the old hymn, “we enthrone you,” and “I exalt you”).
In this sense, God acts in a special way when Christians praise and/or worship him: God 'reigns' (locally) as king through our act of acknowledging and submitting to his kingship in worship. It follows then, that as his people worship him, he becomes active in a special way. That is, God's Spirit is 'poured out' or 'rains down' and therefore God 'comes' and 'moves’ and 'works' in the midst of his people, as they worship him wholeheartedly.
The ‘worship team’ (musicians, singers and leaders) are therefore instrumental in this process. The worship leader and his/her team are seen as central to the church's purpose for meeting. Their role is to help the church to 'enter in' to worship wholeheartedly, and consequently “experience the manifest presence of God” (To quote Integrity Music's purpose statement). They do this in two stages by their own praise and worship: Firstly, by ‘ushering in the presence of God’ to the meeting by being the first to 'enter in', and secondly by leading the congregation 'into the presence of God’ as the congregation begins to follow their lead in worship.
The Pentecostal and indeed all charismatic movements also strongly emphasise private worship to God. Whether this happens in one's own home or car, individual Christians need to maintain their own private devotion to Christ by setting aside 'quiet times' (or loud as the case may be) where they worship God every day. This type of worship really amounts to the same activity as the main meeting, except that a Cd recording of a live worship event replaces the function of the ‘worship team.’
But this 'lifestyle' worship obviously involves isolated individuals and so lacks the 'corporate' element. Therefore, the public meeting remains central to worship in Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement more widely. For in the 'worship meeting' Christians experience something that is really unlike anything they do at any other time: they make a corporate sacrifice (or free will offering) of praise to God. God ‘delights in the praises of his people’ (collectively), and therefore this special activity carries the promise of a special blessing for the individuals who participate in the church-wide experience.
Summary
In summary, at the very heart of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements is a belief that central to the purpose of churches gathering is the public formal worship event where Christians draw near to God both individually and corporately to offer sacrifices of praise in the expectation that God's blessings will follow, which involve the coming of his active presence into their meeting and lives.
Next
But does Pentecostalism have a concept of worship that is its own? Is this concept of worship the biblical concept of worship? What is worship? Why do we do it? How do we do it? Why did Christians meet together in the New Testament? What should be the purpose of our congregational gatherings together? These and others are the questions we'll be talking more about.
talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
A Biblical Theology of Possessions: Craig Blomberg
Neither Poverty nor Riches, Back Cover Blurb:
"One of the most difficult questions facing us today is that of the proper attitude toward possessions. In wealthy nations such as Britain and the USA, individuals accumulate much and yet are daily exposed to the plight of the poor, whether the homeless on their own city streets or starving children on their TV screens. What action should they take on behalf of the poor? What should they do with their own possessions?
In Neither Poverty nor Riches Craig Blomberg asks what the Bible has to say to these issues. He avoids easy answers, and instead seeks a comprehensive biblical theology of possessions. Beginning with the groundwork laid by the Old Testament and the ideas developed in the intertestamental period, he draws out what the whole New Testament has to say on the subject and finally offers conclusions and applications relevant to the modern world...
It is no surprise that, far from the biblical ideal of "neither poverty nor riches" (Proverbs 30:8), more often than not we see either one or the other. What is a shocking surprise, with such a biblical consensus as observed by Blomberg, against both extremes of wealth and poverty, that today a movement within Christianity can so absolutely promise excessive riches to 'faithful' Christians in the name of Christ. Even more than most, Pentecostals need to urgently read Blomberg's book, and especially those of the Prosperity movement.
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[1] Blomberg, Craig L. Neither Poverty nor Riches, A biblical theology of possessions, IVP, 1999. talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
"One of the most difficult questions facing us today is that of the proper attitude toward possessions. In wealthy nations such as Britain and the USA, individuals accumulate much and yet are daily exposed to the plight of the poor, whether the homeless on their own city streets or starving children on their TV screens. What action should they take on behalf of the poor? What should they do with their own possessions?
In Neither Poverty nor Riches Craig Blomberg asks what the Bible has to say to these issues. He avoids easy answers, and instead seeks a comprehensive biblical theology of possessions. Beginning with the groundwork laid by the Old Testament and the ideas developed in the intertestamental period, he draws out what the whole New Testament has to say on the subject and finally offers conclusions and applications relevant to the modern world...
'On a subject as sensitive as this one, it is extraordinarily rare to find balance and prophetic voice rolled up in one. In my view, this is now the best book on the entire subject' (D. A. Carson)." [1]The Promise of Riches
It is no surprise that, far from the biblical ideal of "neither poverty nor riches" (Proverbs 30:8), more often than not we see either one or the other. What is a shocking surprise, with such a biblical consensus as observed by Blomberg, against both extremes of wealth and poverty, that today a movement within Christianity can so absolutely promise excessive riches to 'faithful' Christians in the name of Christ. Even more than most, Pentecostals need to urgently read Blomberg's book, and especially those of the Prosperity movement.
- -
[1] Blomberg, Craig L. Neither Poverty nor Riches, A biblical theology of possessions, IVP, 1999. talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Listening to the Spirit: John Woodhouse
Adapted from John Woodhouse, ‘How the Holy Spirit works when the Scriptures are being read or heard' (The Briefing Dec 1999 Issue 248):
Pentecostals speak of the Spirit’s work in ‘revealing’ God’s word or giving ‘revelation’ into God’s word. More often than not this refers to a verse of Scripture ‘standing out’ or affecting us in a special way; we see a new aspect of meaning in a familiar passage, or gain ‘special insight’ into the meaning of a text, or find immediate application into a specific situation.
Theologians speak of the Spirit ‘illuminating’ the Word of God. What does this mean, and how does it happen? Are Pentecostals referring to the 'illuminating' work of the Spirit when they speak of their ‘revelations’ into the Word of God?
Do some read the Bible intellectually, while Pentecostals read spiritually? Are these two different ways of reading the Bible? Is it the work of the Spirit to enable us to discern deeper truths in the Bible that cannot be seen just by the ‘intellectual’ processes of merely ‘reading’? What is the role of the Spirit when the Bible is read or heard?
How to hear God
The proper reading of the Bible is a spiritual activity. But it is wrong to set ‘spiritual’ in opposition to ‘intellectual’ reading. Reading is an activity that always requires the use of the mind. But because Christians believe that the Bible is the very word of God the proper reading of it is always more than an intellectual activity, although it is never less than an intellectual activity.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 makes clear that the words of the Bible are only properly heard or read when the hearer or reader receives the words, not as the words of men only, but also as they actually are, the words of God. If anybody ever receives the words of Scripture merely as the words of men, then they have not understood them. It is this proper reading and hearing of the Scriptures that is only possible by the Holy Spirit. This is ‘illumination’.
Our problem
Since the fall, people are by nature incapable of hearing God’s Word. Our problem is described in the Bible as hardness of heart, eyes that fail to see, ears that fail to hear, minds that forget, minds that fail to understand, minds that misunderstand, hearts that are darkened.
This is not an intellectual problem, such as missing the logic or argument put forward by the Bible. Some of the greatest minds are spiritually blind. It’s also not a moral problem, the inability to see the difference between right and wrong. Some extremely moral people are also spiritually blind.
This inability is an expression of sin. It is the stubborn unrepentant heart, which is hard towards God (Romans 2:5). People refuse to glorify God or thank Him. Our thinking is futile and our foolish hearts are darkened (Romans 1:21). This ‘hardness’ is actually God’s punishment for our sin (Romans 1:28; 11:10; Matthew 13:13-15). He decrees the god of this world to blind the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4).
The result of this judgment is that people by nature do not believe God’s Word. There is all the difference in the world between understanding the meaning of the words, phrases and sentences themselves in the Bible and actually believing them; that is, receiving them as God’s very own words. The evidence of ‘deafness’ to the Spirit is the failure to hear God himself speaking when the Bible is read or heard. This is why the gospel appears to be foolishness to those who are ‘perishing’ (1Corinthians 1:18).
God’s work
There is nothing people can do to themselves fix our inability to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying through the pages of the Bible. Not will power or intellectual persuasion can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
Blindness to sight, deafness to hearing, is the work of God alone. The change is a God-given capacity to believe God. The consequence is that the gospel is no longer foolishness to somebody. God doesn’t increase their IQ or make his or her conscience more sensitive. God himself ‘breathes’ his word into their hearts so that they ‘hear’ it as his voice; they receive it as God’s Word (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
This is a work of the whole Trinity, God the Father, Son and Spirit, but it is especially attributable to the Holy Spirit. As with all his work, the One God is not divided in anything he does. The work of the Holy Spirit is the work of God.
Salvation
The work of ‘illumination’ is also not detached from salvation. ‘Illumination’ is not additional to salvation; it is an aspect of God’s saving work. Our eyes are opened, not to a general religious truth like the existence of God, but specifically to the reality of God’s grace towards us personally in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Actually God’s ‘elect’ are those specifically to whom the gospel comes with the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing full assurance (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). God chose them before time began to be saved, and when the time came his salvation comes to them by the Spirit’s work of bringing their hearts to belief in the truth about Christ Jesus as Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:13). ‘Illumination’ is, therefore, the experience of all Christians. It is part of being born again. We all have this work of the Spirit.
The Spirit and the Word
God’s Word accomplishes the work of God’s Spirit, which changes blind human beings into believers. The Spirit of God is God’s breath. ‘Spirit’ literally means ‘breath’ or ‘wind’ (Cf. John 3:8). When the word of Scripture comes not just as human words, but with the Holy Spirit and power, then the words come with the power of God’s own breath (Compare 1Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:13) (Cf. 1 Peter 1:12). The One, who brought creation into being by his powerful word, saying ‘let there be light,’ now illumes the darkness of unbelieving hearts by speaking the word of the gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-6). Scripture is effective only as God himself addresses hearers, to do his work in them by his Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).
Conclusion
People simply cannot believe the Bible, God’s word, unless God graciously speaks it to them himself. When God speaks, he acts; that is, his Word works – it is active and powerful by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s work when the Bible is read or heard is to bring the words to us in such a way that our deaf ears and our blind eyes are opened to receive them as God’s word. This is a sovereign work of God.
Pentecostals need to revisit the doctrine of ‘illumination’ and ‘revelation’. ‘Illumination’ does not amount to certain texts ‘standing out’ or new insights being gained. It is about hard hearts being made responsive to God, and unbelief turned into faith, and sinners turning toward obedience. It is not the word of God that is illumed. It is our darkness that is illumined by the God-breathed Word (the ‘Spirit’s’ Word).
The Holy Spirit is not a substitute for our minds. God’s Word must be understood by careful reading. We must always guard against misunderstanding the Bible by thinking as we read it. But the intellect alone will not make us believe God when we read the Bible. We must always pray that God himself will breathe his word into our hearts and minds, producing faith and repentance, hope and service, love and obedience.
---
John Woodhouse, Matthias Media: The Briefing Dec 1999 Issue 248, ‘How the Holy Spirit works when the Scriptures are being read or heard.’ talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecostals speak of the Spirit’s work in ‘revealing’ God’s word or giving ‘revelation’ into God’s word. More often than not this refers to a verse of Scripture ‘standing out’ or affecting us in a special way; we see a new aspect of meaning in a familiar passage, or gain ‘special insight’ into the meaning of a text, or find immediate application into a specific situation.
Theologians speak of the Spirit ‘illuminating’ the Word of God. What does this mean, and how does it happen? Are Pentecostals referring to the 'illuminating' work of the Spirit when they speak of their ‘revelations’ into the Word of God?
Do some read the Bible intellectually, while Pentecostals read spiritually? Are these two different ways of reading the Bible? Is it the work of the Spirit to enable us to discern deeper truths in the Bible that cannot be seen just by the ‘intellectual’ processes of merely ‘reading’? What is the role of the Spirit when the Bible is read or heard?
How to hear God
The proper reading of the Bible is a spiritual activity. But it is wrong to set ‘spiritual’ in opposition to ‘intellectual’ reading. Reading is an activity that always requires the use of the mind. But because Christians believe that the Bible is the very word of God the proper reading of it is always more than an intellectual activity, although it is never less than an intellectual activity.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 makes clear that the words of the Bible are only properly heard or read when the hearer or reader receives the words, not as the words of men only, but also as they actually are, the words of God. If anybody ever receives the words of Scripture merely as the words of men, then they have not understood them. It is this proper reading and hearing of the Scriptures that is only possible by the Holy Spirit. This is ‘illumination’.
Our problem
Since the fall, people are by nature incapable of hearing God’s Word. Our problem is described in the Bible as hardness of heart, eyes that fail to see, ears that fail to hear, minds that forget, minds that fail to understand, minds that misunderstand, hearts that are darkened.
This is not an intellectual problem, such as missing the logic or argument put forward by the Bible. Some of the greatest minds are spiritually blind. It’s also not a moral problem, the inability to see the difference between right and wrong. Some extremely moral people are also spiritually blind.
This inability is an expression of sin. It is the stubborn unrepentant heart, which is hard towards God (Romans 2:5). People refuse to glorify God or thank Him. Our thinking is futile and our foolish hearts are darkened (Romans 1:21). This ‘hardness’ is actually God’s punishment for our sin (Romans 1:28; 11:10; Matthew 13:13-15). He decrees the god of this world to blind the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4).
The result of this judgment is that people by nature do not believe God’s Word. There is all the difference in the world between understanding the meaning of the words, phrases and sentences themselves in the Bible and actually believing them; that is, receiving them as God’s very own words. The evidence of ‘deafness’ to the Spirit is the failure to hear God himself speaking when the Bible is read or heard. This is why the gospel appears to be foolishness to those who are ‘perishing’ (1Corinthians 1:18).
God’s work
There is nothing people can do to themselves fix our inability to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying through the pages of the Bible. Not will power or intellectual persuasion can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh.
Blindness to sight, deafness to hearing, is the work of God alone. The change is a God-given capacity to believe God. The consequence is that the gospel is no longer foolishness to somebody. God doesn’t increase their IQ or make his or her conscience more sensitive. God himself ‘breathes’ his word into their hearts so that they ‘hear’ it as his voice; they receive it as God’s Word (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
This is a work of the whole Trinity, God the Father, Son and Spirit, but it is especially attributable to the Holy Spirit. As with all his work, the One God is not divided in anything he does. The work of the Holy Spirit is the work of God.
Salvation
The work of ‘illumination’ is also not detached from salvation. ‘Illumination’ is not additional to salvation; it is an aspect of God’s saving work. Our eyes are opened, not to a general religious truth like the existence of God, but specifically to the reality of God’s grace towards us personally in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Actually God’s ‘elect’ are those specifically to whom the gospel comes with the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing full assurance (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5). God chose them before time began to be saved, and when the time came his salvation comes to them by the Spirit’s work of bringing their hearts to belief in the truth about Christ Jesus as Lord (2 Thessalonians 2:13). ‘Illumination’ is, therefore, the experience of all Christians. It is part of being born again. We all have this work of the Spirit.
The Spirit and the Word
God’s Word accomplishes the work of God’s Spirit, which changes blind human beings into believers. The Spirit of God is God’s breath. ‘Spirit’ literally means ‘breath’ or ‘wind’ (Cf. John 3:8). When the word of Scripture comes not just as human words, but with the Holy Spirit and power, then the words come with the power of God’s own breath (Compare 1Thessalonians 1:5 and 2:13) (Cf. 1 Peter 1:12). The One, who brought creation into being by his powerful word, saying ‘let there be light,’ now illumes the darkness of unbelieving hearts by speaking the word of the gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-6). Scripture is effective only as God himself addresses hearers, to do his work in them by his Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).
Conclusion
People simply cannot believe the Bible, God’s word, unless God graciously speaks it to them himself. When God speaks, he acts; that is, his Word works – it is active and powerful by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s work when the Bible is read or heard is to bring the words to us in such a way that our deaf ears and our blind eyes are opened to receive them as God’s word. This is a sovereign work of God.
Pentecostals need to revisit the doctrine of ‘illumination’ and ‘revelation’. ‘Illumination’ does not amount to certain texts ‘standing out’ or new insights being gained. It is about hard hearts being made responsive to God, and unbelief turned into faith, and sinners turning toward obedience. It is not the word of God that is illumed. It is our darkness that is illumined by the God-breathed Word (the ‘Spirit’s’ Word).
The Holy Spirit is not a substitute for our minds. God’s Word must be understood by careful reading. We must always guard against misunderstanding the Bible by thinking as we read it. But the intellect alone will not make us believe God when we read the Bible. We must always pray that God himself will breathe his word into our hearts and minds, producing faith and repentance, hope and service, love and obedience.
---
John Woodhouse, Matthias Media: The Briefing Dec 1999 Issue 248, ‘How the Holy Spirit works when the Scriptures are being read or heard.’ talkingpentecostalism.blogspot.com | joe towns: christian discussion on pentecost, charisma, pentecostal and charismatic beliefs, the Bible and Jesus; including the origin and history of pentecostalism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, gifts and miracles, divine healing and word of faith, prosperity and wealth, praise and worship, guidance and hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.
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