Because you Levites did not carry the Ark the first time, the anger of the LORD our God burst out against us. We failed to ask God how to move it properly.” So the priests and the Levites purified themselves in order to bring the Ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to Jerusalem. Then the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with its carrying poles, just as the LORD had instructed Moses. [1 Chronicles 15.13-15]
The Ark represents the very presence of God. This must be understood to comprehend the reason the Ark was to be handled a certain way.
In the previous article "Get Rid Of The Cart!" it should be noted that the cart represented a convenience. It also represented an alternate method to achieve the same goal as if it was carried on the Levites' shoulders.
Today, the Holy Spirit represents the power and presence of God, and specifically, Jesus Christ. When the veil in the Temple was torn at Jesus' crucifixion, the Holy Spirit's dwelling place transferred from the Ark to the hearts of believers. Most of Christendom agrees on this point. However, from this point forward, Christendom is highly divided (by the way, something Jesus prayed specifically would not happen in John 17.23).
Most disagreement regarding the Holy Spirit's work in believers today frankly comes down to a single problem: the Holy Spirit is not manifested today as He was in the early Church. Cessationists say the Holy Spirit no longer moves in the miraculous (that miracles have passed away) and in contrast Charismatics say everything the Holy Spirit did in the early Church is for the Church today. The single problem is that neither group stops to consider their disunity (division which indicts both groups) and subsequently, neither group takes the necessary time to humbly repent until that unity is restored (Acts 2.1-4). All the while, neither group accomplishes any identifiable "works of Jesus" (John 14.12).
Charismatics, Cessationists and all who call themselves Christians should be ashamed because the works of Jesus - the works of the Holy Spirit - are not evident in their lives. No amount of "naming and claiming it" or declaring "it has all passed away" exempts anyone! Jesus clearly defined what the Spirit of God does in a person (starting with Himself) in Luke 4.18-19. Any variation from this is merely for the convenience of the variant. The problem is not doctrinal, it is rather a matter of obedience to the Word (and therefore Will) of God just like carrying the Ark on a cart instead of on the shoulders of Levites.
The doctrines of Cessationists and Charismatics alike that allow (condone or promote) anything other than what Jesus described as the work of the Holy Spirit are damnable heresy, "damnable" as evidenced in the presence of every "loss" described in Deuteronomy 28.15-68 in the Church as much as in the world, and "damnable" as in the "judgment" Jesus described in John 3.18.
To the point of this article, to claim (by Charismatic or Cessationist alike) that debt, insurance, medicine and technology are the ways God does miracles today, IS NO DIFFERENT THAN TRYING TO CARRY THE ARK ON A CART! See Exodus 15.26. To carry the Ark on a cart was a step toward idolatry - a step toward convenience - just like depending on the conveniences of debt, insurance, medicine and technology today.
The indictment upon Cessationist and Charismatic is therefore one and the same: their faith is not in God alone as evidenced by the absence of the POWER of the Holy Spirit manifest in and through their lives. Furthermore, their dependence upon worldly solutions (conveniences of man's device - debt, insurance, medicine and technology) reeks of faithless idolatry and fear of death before the Father God.
There is but one solution: repentance. And, as both groups mentioned here (and all in between) repent of their powerless condition, they will find themselves in the unity Jesus prayed for (John 17) and will see the power Acts 2 describes.
This article was not written to win a popularity contest. In fact, it indicts its own author! Nonetheless, it was written to present truth from the Word of God. The fact that few will agree with it should come as no surprise:
You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.13-14]
Jesus began His earthly ministry with these words:
From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” [Matthew 4.17]
In light of these two passages, the "few" might easily represent those who, like Jesus, do the works of the Holy Spirit in Kingdom fulfillment while arriving at that accomplishment not through pride, but through repentance.
Father, the Church as we know it is highly divided. Everyone seems bent on protecting their pride through idolatry rather than coming into undeniable unity through repentance for faithlessness. May we stop putting Your Holy Spirit on the cart of man's devices and may we carry on our shoulders the burden of faith in (obedience to) You alone. Send more laborers into Your fields with this truth and the message of repentance! So be it!
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