As we leave the New Year’s festivities behind, we find ourselves facing a world that increasingly appears ‘crazy’ in many respects. The pace of change and its global scale are unprecedented in human history. Feeling overwhelmed by fear and anxiety is not an unreasonable reaction. From a rationalistic (relying solely on reason and knowledge) and mechanistic (viewing issues purely in physical terms) worldview, humanity seems to be in trouble. To borrow a Biblical metaphor, rationally it seems that “our boat is going to sink in the storm.”
Continue readingCategory: Holy Spirit (Page 1 of 3)
Revival is God’s work
Revival is an event that God himself creates through the working of the Holy Spirit and it is based on what Jesus has already done and still does. This is a core truth that we must first realise before we can believe and pursue it.
Our early years in Sinoville
This article is about the experiences of Annakie and me in the AFM Sinoville congregation in Pretoria during the years 1972 to 1975. Maybe I should not talk about revival, because we did not pray for a revival at that time and never referred to it as a revival. And yet, when I think back today, I would say that I would not want or expect anything different from a revival or a revival in the making. At that time, we learned a lot from the Lord, that I trust will emerge in this article.
Continue readingHerlewing is God se werk
Herlewing is gebeure wat God deur die werking van die Heilige Gees skep op grond van wat Jesus klaar gedoen het en nog steeds doen. Hierdie is ’n kernwaarheid wat ons eers moet besef voordat ons kan glo aan herlewing en ons daarvoor kan beywer.
Ons beginjare in Sinoville
Hierdie artikel is gebaseer op my en Annakie se ervaring in die AGS Sinoville-gemeente in Pretoria gedurende die jare 1972 tot 1975.
Miskien moet ek nie praat van herlewing nie, omdat ons nie vir ’n herlewing gebid het nie en dit ook nooit eens ’n herlewing genoem het nie. En tog, as ek vandag terugdink, moet ek sê dat ek niks meer sou wou hê alvorens ek dit ’n herlewing, of ’n herlewing in wording sal noem nie. Ons het baie by die Here geleer en ek vertrou dat dit in hierdie artikel na vore sal kom.
Continue readingIntroduction
The question this article focusses on is: Is baptism with the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues? A second question that necessarily accompanies the previous one is: what is the sense of speaking in tongues? The answer to these two questions may highlight the wonder and power of baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The question is not about: does the believer, who does not have the experience of speaking in tongues, have the Holy Spirit? By the very nature of what a believer is, all believers (they have accepted Jesus after all) have the Holy Spirit in their lives. From biblical perspective, there cannot be a person who has accepted Jesus as his personal Saviour without the working of the Holy Spirit in his life. How else would Jesus be present and active in his life? If a believer could be without the Holy Spirit, then it could also be asked whether a born-again person is without the first person in the Trinity, the Father? Indeed, it concerns the question of the triune God’s presence in a believer’s life. After all, we read: “… for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose” (Phil. 2:13). The assumption is that in everything it is God who works through his Spirit in a born-again person.
Continue readingInleiding
Die vraag waaroor hierdie artikel gaan, is: gaan die doop in die Heilige Gees gepaard met die spreek in tale? ’n Tweede vraag wat noodwending hiermee saamgaan, is: wat is die sin van die spreek in tale? Die antwoord op dié twee vrae mag die wonder en krag van die doop in die Heilige Gees na vore laat kom.
Die vraag gaan nie oor: het die gelowige, wat nie die ervaring het om in tale te praat nie, wel die Heilige Gees? Uit die aard van wat ’n gelowige is, het alle gelowiges (hulle het immers vir Jesus aangeneem) die Heilige Gees in hulle lewens. Vanuit die Bybelse waarheid kan daar nie ’n persoon wees wat Jesus as sy persoonlike saligmaker aangeneem het, sonder die werking van die Heilige Gees in sy lewe nie. Hoe anders sou Jesus teenwoordig en werksaam in sy lewe wees? Indien ’n gelowige sonder die Heilige Gees sou wees, kan selfs gevra word of ’n weergebore persoon sonder die eerste persoon in die Drie-eenheid, die Vader, is? Dit gaan inderdaad om die vraag oor die Drie-enige God se teenwoordigheid in ’n gelowige se lewe. Ons lees immers: “… want dit is God wat julle gewillig en bekwaam maak om sy wil uit te voer” (Fil 2:13). Die aanname is dat God al die pad deur sy Gees in ’n weergebore persoon werksaam is.
Continue readingProf Jan Hattingh het tydens Pinkster naweek by Christensentrum AGS Elspark gesels oor die Doping in die Heilige Gees.
Die gesprekke bestaan uit 4 videos wat almal hieronder ingesluit is. Hulle kan gekyk word en gebruik word in selgroup besprekings.
Besprekingsvrae is hieronder ingesluit by deel 3.
Ons het ook ‘n hulpmiddel hoe om selgroep byeenkomste te fasiliteer.
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Prof WJ Hattingh gave the following presentation at Auckland Park Theological Seminary during the one-day seminar on the Holy Spirit on the 18th of October 2016. This was the second presentation of the day following “The baptism in the Holy Spirit in perspective”.
Summary
This presentation will unfold as follows:
- We will first discuss the general working of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life.
- Thereafter, we will discuss the baptism in the Holy Spirit as a second experience after the new birth; the fulfilment of the promise made in Joel 2.
- Jesus was introduced as the Baptiser in the Holy Spirit. We will explore the meaning of the words used to describe the experience of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
- The magnificent meaning of the working of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life will be discussed from Paul’s two prayers in Ephesians.
- We will look at an example of the working of the Holy Spirit in a Christian’s life in this challenging world – the fight in a broken world, so that God’s good purpose can be fulfilled (Rom. 8).
- The imperative to “live by the Spirit”.
My aim is to help you experience the working of the Holy Spirit in its fullness in this challenging world.
Continue readingA more comprehensive article (available here) looks at the question: Is baptism in the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues? And a second question that accompanies the first: What is the meaning of speaking in tongues? The following is a brief conclusion of the article.
Die artikel is ook beskikbaar in Afrikaans.
Conclusion: Where does the “speaking in tongues” fit, or what is the meaning of speaking in tongues with regard to the baptism in the Holy Spirit:
Speaking in tongues is not a sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit, it is, as has already been said, more than that. Speaking in tongues is the spontaneous and accompanying response of the believer to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is the physical expression of the “overflow”, of the “streams of living water”. A continuous flow of the presence of the Creator God in action in the believer during and after the experience of baptism in the Holy Spirit. It is the believer’s spontaneous surrender to and the concrete and observable working of the Spirit of God in his life. This experience and process is described in the Bible as talking to God about “mysteries”: the truth and experience of God’s indescribable omnipotence and intense close love, which is beyond human comprehension or understanding. A participation of the believer through and with the Spirit who takes him on a journey from slave to child of God, to coheir with Christ. Speaking in tongues is nothing less than a participation in the power and glory of the risen Christ on the throne.
Continue readingIn ‘n langer artikel (hier beskikbaar) word gekyk na die vraag: Gaan die doop in die Heilige Gees gepaard met die spreek in tale? ’n Tweede vraag wat noodwendig is: Wat is die sin van die spreek in tale?
Hier volg ‘n kort opsomming van die artikel.
This article is also available in English.
Opsommend: Kom ons sê weer waar pas “tale praat”, of te wel wat is die sin van spreke in tale ten opsigte van die doping in die Heilige Gees:
Tale praat is nie ’n teken van die doop in die Heilige Gees nie, dit is soos reeds gesê, meer as dit. Tale praat is die spontane, begeleidende reaksie van die gelowige op die doping in die Heilige Gees. Dit is die fisiese uitdrukking van die “oorvloei”, die “oorloop”, die “strome van lewende water”. ‘n Voortdurende vloei van die teenwoordigheid van die Skepper God in aksie in die gelowige tydens en na die ervaring van die doop in die Heilige Gees. Dit is die gelowige se spontane oorgawe aan, sy in die hand plaas van, en die konkrete en waarneembare werking van die Gees van God in sy lewe. Hierdie belewenis en proses word in die Bybel beskryf as praat met God oor sy “verborgenheid”: waarheid en belewenis van God se onbeskryflike almag en intense naby liefde, wat bo menslike begrip of verstand is. ’n Deelname van die gelowige deur en saam met die Gees wat hom op reis neem van slaaf tot kind van God, tot mede-erfgenaam saam met Christus. Spreek in tale is niks minder as ’n deelname aan die krag en heerlikheid van die opgestane Christus op die troon nie.
Continue readingExperiencing a revival has become a yearning in the hearts of ATS’ people. It started growing from deep within us and has become more and more urgent. We are thinking about it and are listening to the whispering of the Holy Spirit to help us understand this yearning. We wonder if revival should not be the dream or desire of the church of Jesus Christ? Is it correct to think this way, or is it just wishful thinking or worse, a way to escape reality?
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