PROF.
BEN ONYEUKWU (REV.)
NCE(Eng.) ND/HD (Journalism); BA (Hons)
MA, PhD.
BIBLICAL PENTECOSTALISM (PART 1)
THE
MISSION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Writer’s Quote:
“Christians are not
those who profess Christ, but those who posses Him”
Main Text:
“When
the Day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a
sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole
house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongue of fire that
separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the
Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them”,
(Acts 2:1-4).
INTRODUCTION:
“Pentecost”, as a
concept, takes its origin from the Old Testament, though in a ceremonial sense.
The Day of Pentecost is the 50th day of the Sabbath of Passover
week, (Leviticus 23:15-16), thus the first day of the week. Pentecost is also
called the feast of weeks. (Deuteronomy 16:10), the feast of harvest, (Exodus
23:10) and the day of first fruits, (Numbers 28:26).
However, the coming of the Holy
Spirit on the Day of Pentecost marks the beginning of a new era in the history
of the Christian church, for Jesus had earlier said, … “You will receive power
when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), and so,
the coming of the Blessed Spirit of God is to transform and empower the
believers for a life changing mission on earth that would result in human, and
not crop harvest, as was the case in the Old Testament period, (Exodus 23:10).
Therefore:
BIBLICAL PENTECOSTALISM IS THE MOVEMENT OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT AND NOT MAN
The life force of the
Pentecost movement is the Holy Spirit who transforms and empowers the believers
for missions. In other words, Pentecostalism is not a human movement, but an
active work of the third person of the Blessed Trinity, and anything short of
this, is counterfeit. In line with this, the coming of the Holy Spirit is
marked by audible (wind) and visible (fire) signs. In the words of Herbert
Lockyer, the wind is invisible, inscrutable, not amenable to human control, but
manifest in its effects, and therefore, a fitting symbol of the mysterious work
of the Spirit of Regeneration, (Ecclesiastes 11:5). And, on the “fire” symbol
of the Holy Spirit, Lockyer also remarks that, in the Scripture, “fire” is used
in many ways. It is the consistent symbol of the Holy presence and character of
God, (Deuteronomy), and as well notes that various times it is applied to the
Holy Spirit, (Isaiah 4:4; Acts 2:3). Fire gives warmth and light, he continues,
it consumes what is combustible and tests that which is not, it cleanses that
which neither air nor water can cleanse… Fire, also gives heat, that is, warms
cold things and persons, and thus symbolizes the power of the Holy Spirit to
warm cold hearts, (Roman 5:5). And finally, fire gives power, generates steam (Driving
force), and so represents the energizing influence of the Spirit of God, (Acts
2).
The foregoing, therefore,
suggests that in an ideal situation, the Pentecostal brand of Christianity is
empowered to breed fervent believers with hearts full of love and zeal for God,
and not just nominal Christians which is
the prevailing situation in the present day Pentecostal groups and
associations, and so plays up the need for the body to be spiritually purged,
instead of engaging in fruitless statistics, which the Imo State Chapter of the
Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) is trying to do. For, the Nigerian
Newspoint Newspaper of December 12-13,2011 on page nine carries an interview
granted by the financial secretary of the Imo State Chapter of the Pentecostal
Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), the Rev. Dr. Enoch Chikaodi Okoro to Uzoma
Emmanuel, in which he gives reasons why the body is compiling a list of pastors
and churches, in an attempt to flush out fake denominations and preachers from
the association. For the benefit of the doubts, here comes part of the
interview;
Interviewer: “Man of God, we heard that PFN Imo State is
compiling names of pastors and churches, can you tell us the reasons for this
exercise?
Interviewer: “The reason is not farfetched. The exercise
is to enable us know who and who are members of this association, owing to some
of the atrocities and occult practices going on in the ministry, which is
denting the image and reputation of PFN”.
Interviewer: “So, what are some of the atrocities?
Interviewer: “A lot, now stories of what are read on the
pages of newspapers and what we see with our eyes in the recent times have
revealed that so many pastors are occultic and diabolic; they use diabolic
means in extorting money from innocent and gullible christians. You are aware
that some of them charge money before prayers are offered to you. The more
money you pay, the more chances for you to see the so called man of God. In
liberation and other arms of liberations, such pastors charge money before they
conduct the prayers, which is contrary to our Bible and ministerial ethics”….
Yes, the issues raised in the
interview by Dr. Okoro are true and despicable, but we, the writer inclusive,
are in the mainstream of the problem, and no doubt, these are some of the
reasons why most preachers, including the writer, stopped attending PFN
meetings. If one may ask, who ordained sister “Happi”, who runs a demonic
healing centre at Awaka, in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State?
Who conferred an Honourary Doctorate degree on, as well as ordained one Rev.
Dr. Jonathan Oparaeke, a traditional medicine man, who operates close to Uzii
Primary School, Owerri? Who inaugurated or laid the foundation stones of some
of the churches we refer to as occult groups today? Are they not some of the
“co called” real Pentecostal bishops and general superintendents, and members
of PFN, who are likely to be topmost on the new list of the association? And,
what do you think induced them into the aforestated? No doubt, money! “Woe to
them! For they have… run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit”… (Jude
II).
Furthermore, who is not aware of
the political blunders made by certain key Pentecostal preachers in Imo State
during the 2011 general elections? Who did not notice that the apex Pentecostal
leader in the state brought politics right into the church, as well as
campaigned for a government rejected by God and man? And, who does not know of
the bags of rice and money allegedly given to PFN by that wicked administration
in an effort to steal the people’s mandate? Does the above show the attitude of
spirit-filled persons, which is the main concept of Pentecostalism? The answer
is no. therefore; members of PFN should purge themselves, instead of embarking
on useless statistics which is an initiative of man.
BIBLICAL PENTECOSTALISM IS THE MANIFESTATION OF THE LIFE
OF CHRIST AND NOT DECEIT
Part of the
expression of Dr. Okoro in the cited interview indicates that … “so many
pastors are occultic and diabolic, they use diabolic means in extorting money
from innocent and gullible Christians” which by implication shows that such
pastors are deceitful. But, have the real brand of PFN members behaved
otherwise? Let it be cited that there is practical occultism, as well as philosophical
occultism, and it may interest the reader to note that the term “occult”
according to Hobart Freeman, is “that which is hidden” or “secret” and so, what
brings both the practical and philosophical occultists together is the word
“secret” or “hidden”. In this connection, practical occult pastors are in the
habit of using charms or amulets for extortion, as the philosophical occult
pastors use ideological means for the same purpose. And, most PFN members are
in the latter category, as they are guilty of “secret” agenda for money in
church operations, though they may not be using charms.
So, if occultism is a matter of
“secrecy” it becomes established that the way certain PFN pastors secretly
embezzled funds meant for Reinhard Bonnke’s crusades in Imo State and other
parts of Nigeria a few years ago is tantamount to occult means of extortion.
Those of them who use human projection without charms, in manipulating people
for money are also using condemnable occult principle, as those who had
undisclosed meetings with politicians in their bid to rig the 2011 elections
for money are in the same boat, and will share the same punishment in the lake
of fire, if they fail to repent (Psalm 9:17).
Truly, the things stressed above
are not the manifestation of the life Christ who came into this world for
selfless services to God and humanity (Matthew 8:20) but show that some have
incorporated the deceit of the devil into the church system, in the name of
wisdom, (James 3:13-17). Neither does money induced ministration tally with the
instruction of the master who says, “freely you have received, and freely you
shall give” (Matthew 10:8), but indicates that many have taken after Balaam who
loved unrighteous wages (Jude II), as well as proves that too many have forgotten
that Pentecostalism is all about being filled with the Holy Spirit, and that
the life so filled manifest the life of Christ, for by their fruits, not
statistics, we shall know them, (Matthew 7:16).
BIBLICAL PENTECOSTALISM IS THE DEMONSTRATION OF CHRISTIAN
VIRTUE AND DELIVERANCE POWER
By extension, the Holy Spirit
was sent to the church to grant believers the virtue that makes them “models”
of the Christian faith, as well as the “power” to set people free from demonic
bondages. But, some claim they have power to destroy the works of Satan, while lacking in the virtues for Christian
living, thus, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. No
wonder, the Bible portrays this brand of people as lovers of themselves, lovers
of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
without love, unforgiving, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God, and a
church with such characteristics should not be deemed “Pentecostal”, and
accordingly should be abandoned, the Bible concludes, (II Timothy 3:1-5).
Regrettably, therefore, a visit
to most Pentecostal churches would prove the fact that certain Pentecostal
pastors, and key members of PFN have compromised divine standards for
unregenerate worshippers, who in turn help them in socializing new members into
despicable models. For instance, in Owerri, the Imo State capital, there is a
Pentecostal denomination, a member of PFN which is presently in romance with
the state government, in which the inscription, “what you wear does not
matter”, is conspicuously displayed, and you know, the result has been
dangerously devastating, as today, both the pastor’s wife and the female folks
in that church run amok in ungodly fashions” whereas, the Scripture says “your
beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the
wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your
inner self, the unfading beauty of a gently and quiet spirit which is of great
worth in the sight of God” (I Peter 3:3-4).
Yet, there exist another
Pentecostal groups in Owerri, which may be termed a neighbor to Imo State
University, and also a member of PFN with a powerful radio-television
superintendent preacher, whose congregation as well lacks gospel morality, and
therefore casts doubts as to the realities of the presence of God, which the
jungles of the mission’s radio-television religious programmes put across to
the public, for where the Holy Spirit is allowed to function optimally, there
is always deliverance, as well as empowerment for holy living.
Understandably, what has been
said above remains the basic reason(s) why it is difficult to distinguish
between the false and genuine Pentecostal preachers and churches. And, this
makes it a matter of commitment to fall back to the Lord and ensure that the
church is returned to the mainstream of the Holy Spirit, rather than the
compilation of list of members, which is not in the power of man to do. For,
when this is done, the negative will be separated from the positive, by the
finger of God.
In conclusion, this work stresses the mission of the Holy Spirit as
it affects the life of the Pentecostal believer, as it pictures those qualities
that mark out the spirit-filled Christian, as well as points to negative
lifestyle which are indicative of the characteristics of the fake Pentecostal
folks. It equally holds out the fact that the PFN data exercise to ascertain
real member’s falls short of divine way of separating the wheat from the chaff,
and therefore, calls on the body to return to God, as a way of restoring its
lost glory. PRAY FOR REVIVAL.
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