They say, “To show proper reverence to God, we must be quiet and somber.” Is it true? No.
There will certainly be times to be quiet before God, but the Bible says we are to “rejoice in the Lord always.”
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 The Greek word translated as “rejoice,” chairó, means to rejoice, be glad, be cheerful.* We are to rejoice “always;” the Greek word, pantote, means, at all times. That would include when we’re in church. And yes, we’re to rejoice even in the face of suffering and persecution.
The Hebrew word translated as praise, from which we get hallelujah, means to shine; hence, to make a show, to boast; and thus to be (clamorously) foolish; to rave; causatively, to celebrate; also to stultify:—(make) boast (self), celebrate, commend, (deal, make), fool(-ish, -ly), glory, give (light).”**–even dance and spin around! No straight faces and sitting still!
Shocked? But doesn’t the Bible say he is? No, Jesus quoted mockers who had no faith in Capernaum, who would taunt him with a local proverb, “Physician heal thyself.”
Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” Luke 4:23.
Jesus didn’t use medicine to heal people—he used supernatural power! Even in the advanced medicine of the twenty-first century, physicians admit, “Medicine isn’t science—it’s an art. We only practice.” They also often say, “I don’t know. We don’t have a treatment for that.”
Jesus always knows what to do; his healing is free and is available to everyone. It does no harm and has no bad side-effects. He and his healing are way above any physician. That is good news!
Those who follow Jesus are redeemed and transformed by the Holy Spirit and adopted into the family of God! We are no longer beggars but are daughters and sons of the Most High King. Jesus promised that we could ask anything in his name and he would do it.
Yes, we offer Jesus, the Bread of Life–not as beggars, but as co-heirs with Jesus.
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:13,14
Why wouldn’t he? The Bible, which people rightly point to as the final authority, never says that miracles have ceased or would no longer necessary. They can only point to I Corinthians 13:8, which says, “Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.For we know in part and we prophesy in part,but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.” But they don’t believe that knowledge has passed away. They say that the “completeness” refers to the canon of Scripture, the final agreement of the number of books in the Bible, particularly the New Testament—but what about the Resurrection, the final judgment and New Jerusalem, aren’t those rather the completeness Paul referred to? Yes. And if prophecy disappears when the Bible was “finalized,” then a good part of the Bible would disappear as well, since a lot of it is prophecy.
Paul was speaking, not of the gifts of the Spirit “passing away,” or their being unimportant, but of the ongoing need of love as a “way” of life and of operating in the gifts of the Spirit. He went on to say that the Corinthians—and by extension, all believers should “eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy” (I Corinthians 14:1). Do not quench the Spirit. I Thessalonians 5:19
The only way that healing or miracles of protection would no longer be needed is if we were in New Jerusalem in the new heavens and new earth, where there’s “no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:4). As long as people become ill, are injured are in pain or die, as long as there is spiritual warfare, miracles are still needed.
Many say that since they don’t see any miracles, miracles can’t exist—as though they themselves were the defining authority of what exists. One would have to be hiding in a cave to miss the many healings that the Holy Spirit has done through the ages and continues to do. Lesser known, but still happening, are the miracles of multiplying of food, and of supernatural protection from bandits..
I have personally been supernaturally healed, and even raised from the dead, so I am an eyewitness that these things have not “passed away.”
Jesus said it plainly that the only sin that can’t be forgiven is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. But what is that? Since the Bible interprets itself, we have to look at the context. The Pharisees were saying that Jesus did works of the Holy Spirit by the power of the devil. So, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit would be to attribute the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil. Very dangerous!
Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” Mark 3:28-30
Sorry, it sounds good, but Jesus said that there is only one sin that can’t be forgiven—unforgivable, is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. But the good news is, anything else, everything else, once repented of—turned away from, is forgivable.
And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Matthew 12:31,32
Urban Legends About God, the Bible & the Christian Life 