In the NT, after the resurrection of Jesus, the Holy Spirit seemed to be active. Do you think that the Spirit is as active today?
The reason I am asking, is that Paul, in Romans, seems to describing a situation where in the Spirit was actively guiding the actions of the believers, leading them into truth.
Why were there many miracles during the apostles’ time? Essentially it was really about the purpose of miracles and the timing of God’s redemption plan.
God was going to set up the church at that time. If Jesus did not heal or cast out demons often, then the multitude would not believe that He was sent by the Father..... Instead of constantly hoping for miracles, we should appreciate that Jesus did miracles to demonstrate that He was the Son of God, so that people would believe. When the disciples preached the gospel, they were empowered to heal, speak in tongue, cure the sick and even restore lives. The purpose was to establish the church. We should see the reasons for their miracles instead of simply expecting them to be repeated today.
Adapted from 'Understanding prayer, Faith and God's Will: Compass for Christian Faith' by Roman Ri
I was baptized in the name of Christ and joined my church denomination. But I feel like it was much more like what is described as John's baptism. I didn't have the Holy Spirit come onto me, I didn't speak in tongues or prophesy. I pray for God's guidance, but I have never had God to actually speak to me as he did to Ananias to heal Paul, or Philip to speak with the Ethiopian.
Many Christians feel the same way. Although I have experience the Spirit leading me on some occasions, but it is not often, and I do not seek such experience 'intentionally', instead, it happens when the God has a purpose for a certain situation.. I believe the Christian walk is not about experiencing the Spirit often. As for God's guidance, although He watches over us, I don't think He guides us at every turn, but only at certain junctures, and in the bigger scheme scheme of things -- and I believe this is the common and collective experiences of many Christians.
The Spirit seems to have acted differently at different times.
There was an outpouring of the Spirit during the apostles' time to do miracles so that people would turn to God and establish the church. After the church was established, the Spirit was visibly less active and there are much, much less miracles. Evidently, God did not want to continue the outpouring of the Spirit.
"A
lthough there were many miracles during the apostles' time, Christians also faced intense persecutions – arrests, imprisoned and even put to death.
However, convinced by the Holy Spirit that they were living – or dying – for a living savior, they held onto their faith. The Spirit and miracles strengthened their conviction that God exists, and they continued to persevere. Today, we tend to look at the miracles and ignore the sufferings that they had to endure"
By understanding the purpose of miracles back then, we will realize the reason for less miracles today, instead of still hoping for more miracles if we get our act together ie if we pray, read the Scriptures and fast more. I hasten to act that miracles did not totally ceased, but it is evidently they are much less today than the apostles' time.
Are we living in a Spirit-quiet time now? P
Yes, the common and collective experiences of many Christians confirm that the Spirit is more quiet today. God want life to go on in a 'normal' way, so to speak. There are still some miracles today, such as healing and casting out of demons, but less.
I have experienced strong leading by the Spirit on some occasions, as follow:
"On a few occasions, the Spirit has called me to pray. In early 2009, my uncle was terminally ill from cancer. His home was in Malaysia, and on weekends, I would take a long-distance coach from Singapore to his hometown to visit him. My aunt, cousins, and the next generation children have been Christians for many years. They were not Christians by birth, but in the 1990s, the youngest daughter believed. At that time, her conversion was met with consternation within the family, but over the years, her mum and siblings gradually turned to God too. My uncle didn’t, but when he was ill, he appeared to believe. However, the family was not really certain about it, and it was difficult to ask him. Even though he was lucid, he spoke very little, and it was not easy for him to articulate what he was thinking. While redemption upon confession of sins is a familiar theology in Europe and America, however, it is not a common belief among people in Asia, where many either worship pluralistic gods or claim to be free thinkers. The pre-war generation, especially, still regards Christianity as western influence. They are aware of two main denominations of churches, but that is as much as they know. Incidentally, when I was praying for my uncle, he asked whether I was a Catholic or Protestant.
At that time, I would feel empowered by the Holy Spirit during prayer (I was not praying in tongue). Because I had experienced such manifestation before, I could recognize the Spirit’s presence again. As this went on for a few days, I began to wonder whether God was going to send a miracle. Perhaps my uncle might recover, I thought. With this hope, I persevered in prayer. This continued for almost a month, and during this time, I was traveling between Singapore and Malaysia on weekends to visit him.
One Sunday morning, in March, I asked my uncle whether he would say “amen” with me, and he nodded. I prayed for a while, and at the end, when I said “amen”, he repeated it as well. It was the clearest indication that he had turned to God.
Soon after that, I gradually stopped feeling the presence of the Spirit. A couple of weeks later, on an afternoon, while his wife and daughter were standing beside him, my uncle pointed to the ceiling and said that the door was opening, that it was very bright. My cousin asked whether it was the door of heaven, and he nodded. Two days later, he passed away. It was sad, but not unexpected, given the fact that he was ill and advanced in years. And he went to begin eternal life in heaven, which was comforting.
For some time after that, I continued to wonder why there was no miracle healing even though the Holy Spirit had manifested His presence.
Several months later, it dawned upon me that His purpose was to allow my uncle to see God’s love. During the visits, as the Spirit gave me the strength and endurance to pray, he felt that God’s people cared for him. This might have added to His conviction gradually, hence he said “amen” on the final occasion when I prayed with him. Later, when he saw the door of heaven opened, he knew that he would journey on to heaven.
Another call to prayer happened a year after that. It was on the first Saturday of May in 2010, which was still very stark in my memory. Feeling an unusually strong motivation to call on God, I started to pray, and a couple of hours passed quickly; I remembered it was slightly past noon when I concluded. At that time, I thought it was just me feeling highly motivated. Soon after, a situation that had been a stalemate for the past two years started to see progress. Gathering momentum, it moved along briskly, and by the year’s end, the prayer was answered. Someone who was familiar with the developments said that the outcome was highly unusual and unique; and to me, it was undoubtedly a miracle. In hindsight, I realized that about six months earlier, it was the Holy Spirit who motivated me to pray, an indication that the Lord was going to send divine help. This was a situation where He had a designated will to enact, and He moved people and events along until it was accomplished. And I would only realize that it was God’s will after the outcome was unveiled at the end. This is how we recognize God’s will: After events had unfolded and revealed His plan, we looked back and saw that He was at work. We cannot figure out His will ahead of time, and He usually does not tell us"
- Adapted from 'Understanding Prayer, Faith and God's Will' by Roman Ri
