Category Archives: Charismatic Movement

Incidental references to ‘spiritual gifts’ in Paul’s letters

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It is sometimes thought that because the ‘charismata’ are directly discussed only infrequently in Paul’s writings, they were regarded by the apostle as the marks of an immature church, and needed to be discouraged or actually suppressed.

However, it is at least as plausible to argue that Paul took the exercise of spiritual gifts more or less for granted in the churches, and he felt the need to discuss them in detail only when there were problems (as at Corinth).…

Eph 4:1-16 – Aim high, dig deep, build together – sermon notes

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Ephesians 4:1-16

Ephesians the Switzerland of the NT.

But Switzerland isn’t all mountain peaks, and Ephesians isn’t all lofty doctrine.

We move from belief to behaviour, from principles to practice, from our wealth in Christ to our walk in Christ, from doctrine to duty, from exposition to exhortation, from the indicative to the imperative, from what God has done to what we must do, from the credenda to the agenda

Yet the two parts of Ephesians are closely connected. …

Prophets today?

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‘Christ,’ says Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians (Eph 4:11f), ‘gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.’

Most Christian teachers would agree that the office of apostle was limited to those who were the first witnesses of Christ’s resurrection.  On the other hand, they would take it for granted that evangelists and pastor-teachers are found in every era and place.…

Spiritual gifts – why some people are cautious

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I wrote the following to some Christian friends, a number of whom wished their church to move in a more ‘charismatic’ direction.  It is a plea to listen carefully and patiently to those who are more cautious.

To many Christians, the whole discussion about spiritual gifts is simply debating the Blindingly Obvious: God has promised gifts, and it’s down to us to receive them joyfully and use them effectively.

But there are still people around who are cautious about some of the gifts.…

Should Everyone Speak in Tongues?

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In earliest times, people spoke the same language. This unified language was used in rebellion against God in the building of the tower of Babel, Gen 11:1ff. God quelled this rebellion by confusing the people’s language and by scattering them over the face of the earth, Gen 11:9. In the future life, the unity of language will be restored in the praise and service of God, Rev 7:9-12; cf Zeph 3:9; 1 Cor 13:8. Some foretaste of this is found in the NT church in the miraculous gift of tongues at Pentecost, Acts 2:4,11.…

Are all the spiritual gifts for today?

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The New Testament has various lists of ‘charismata’ (spiritual gifts):-

Romans 12:6-8

1 Cor. 12:8-10

1 Cor. 12:28-30

Eph. 4:11

1 Peter 4:9-11
Prophecy Word of Wisdom Apostleship Apostleship Speaking
Serving Word of Knowledge Prophecy Prophecy Serving
Teaching Faith Teaching Evangelism
Exhortation Healings Miracles Pastor/Teacher
Giving Miracles Healing
Leading Prophecy Helping
Showing Mercy Discerning of Spirits Administrating
Tongues Tongues
Interpretation of Tongues Interpretation of Tongues

Nelson’s complete book of Bible maps & charts : Old and New Testaments.…

Charismatic questions

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A few thoughts on a couple of questions relating to the charismata (‘spiritual gifts’):-

1. How many charismata?

It is unreasonable to suppose that the lists of gifts mentioned in Scripture are exhaustive. It is, however, reasonable to suppose that these lists are indicative. In other words, it is reasonable to say that ‘there are probably more than 15 charismata’, but less reasonable to inflate that number to as many as 150 or even 500.

One can readily think of charismata that might have been included in the biblical lists, but for some reason were not (e.g.…

Pentecostalism, baptism in the Spirit and revival

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The 20th century was marked by the emergence of a cluster of renewal movements, including the Pentecostal movement, the neo-Pentecostal (charismatic) movement, and the restorationist (‘house-church’) movement.  There is no denying the vitality and appeal of these developments.  But an important question presents itself to the student of revivals.  It is this:  To what extent, if at all, do these movements represent genuine revivals?

A number of popular writers on revival stride unswervingly through this issue by including accounts of such-like movements among their descriptions of revival, without pausing to consider whether this is a proper thing to do. …

Problems associated with revival

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Having considered in general terms the mixture of good and evil which occurs in revival, we must now mention some of the specific problems which may occur.  These are of two kinds: extrinsic and intrinsic.

A. Extrinsic problems

Some of the problems which can occur in connection with revivals are extrinsic, in that they originate in those who are outside the stream of revival and who are opposers of the work.

1.  The first problem to be noted is that of resistance to change. …

The miraculous element in revival (II)

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A descriptive account has been given in the previous chapter of occurrences which seem to contain a miraculous element.  Now the question arises as to what construction we should put on these occurrences.  In other words, are we warranted to accept that there may be a miraculous element in revival?

As previously noted, those who have a ‘reformed’ understanding of revival have tended to view with suspicion allegedly miraculous phenomena.  But there have been others who have taken a more positive approach. …