Slain in the Spirit

[Word of Life]

Slain in the Spirit
By: Michael Bradley

Most of you have seen this phenomena occur in the charismatic churches. This is where you see pastors or ministers laying hands on people, usually on their foreheads, and then they fall backwards. The charismatics have named this phenomena as being "Slain in the Spirit." Some people call it "Falling in the Spirit" or "Resting in the Spirit."

Is this a real phenomenon? If it is - is it really God operating through the power of the Holy Spirit, or is it demonic spirits trying to masquerade as the power of Holy Spirit coming onto someone? There are many Christians and Christian groups who are really attacking this phenomena.

I’ll go ahead and give you the main Scripture verses where this phenomena is coming from. I’ll then give you some of the main arguments of those Christians who are against this phenomena and I’ll then end this article with my own personal opinions as to why I think this phenomena is a true manifestation from the Lord.

The Scripture Verses

Here are the main verses from Scripture showing people falling to the ground whenever God would manifest His presence to different people. The first verse is from the Original King James Version of the Bible, the rest are from the New King James Version.


"... that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God." (2 Chronicles 5:14)

Jesus said to them, "I am He." And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Then when He said to them. "I am He," - they drew back and fell to the ground." (John 18:6)

"And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last." (Revelation 1:17)

"And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid." But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid." (Matthew 17:6)

"And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (Acts 9:3-4)

"So I arose and went out into the plain, and behold, the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face." (Ezekiel 3:23)

"Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face." (Numbers 22:31)

"And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw - like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face." (Ezekiel 43:2-3)

"Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord; and I fell on my face." (Ezekiel 44:4)
Now I will give you some of the arguments being made by those who are against this phenomena and then some of my own arguments as to why I believe this a real manifestation from the Lord.

Arguments Against Being Slain in the Spirit

The Christians who argue against this phenomena really being from the Lord base their arguments on the following reasons:

Every time people fell when the presence of God would manifest - they would always fall on their faces, not fall backward.

Nowhere in the Bible do the prophets, the apostles, or Jesus Himself ever lay hands on someone and then the power of God comes through their hands to knock them backward.

The only time people fell in the presence of God was when God was rendering some type of judgment.
Now to some arguments that will counter some of the above arguments if you should ever need them in any kind of debate.

Arguments For Being Slain in the Spirit

I’ll take each one of the above arguments and see if I can give you an opposing point of view in order to try and defend this phenomena as being from the Lord.

1. The First Argument - people always falling face down rather than falling backwards. Granted, 5 of the above 9 verses specifically state that these people had fallen on their faces rather than falling backward.

However, the other 4 verses say they simply "fell to the ground," or that they "could not stand" when the presence of God would manifest. Who is to say that when these people fell to the ground, they could not have been falling backwards. These verses do not say if they fell forward or backward, so I believe this means they could have fallen either way - thus showing that there was the possibility of falling backwards when the presence of God would manifest.

The first verse says that the priests "could not stand" when the manifest presence of God would enter into the temple. Again, they could have easily as been falling backwards as well as falling forward. Since Scripture does not specifically say in which direction they were falling, I believe we are on safe ground making the assumption that these other 4 verses give us the possibility of people falling backwards whenever the presence of God would manifest.

2. The Second Argument - stating that at no time did Jesus or the apostles ever lay hands on people causing them fall backwards. Though I could not find any actual Scripture verses that did show this phenomena occurring as it does today by the laying on of hands - I feel the key argument for the possibility of this phenomena occurring is the following argument:

Sometimes when the presence of God would manifest like described in the above verses, people did fall to the ground. No question about it. However, other times God would manifest His presence and people would not fall to the ground. This was thus a manifestation that was completely controlled by God. He, and He alone, would decide when people would get knocked to the ground and when they would not whenever He would manifest His presence.

I think the key point to grab a hold of is that this phenomena can occur when God does decide to manifest His presence in this particular way. And sometimes God will manifest His presence through the hands of a pastor or minister. And if He does decide to manifest His presence through the hands of a minister, then I believe it is only logical to conclude that God can knock people to the ground like He did back in the Bible days if He chooses to do so.

There is no question that the manifest presence of God is coming through a pastor or minister when hands are being laid on someone for a healing. The manifest presence and power of God will literally flow through the hands of the pastor or minister - flow into the person’s body and then the Holy Spirit Himself will do the healing once inside the person’s body.

If "healing power" can come through a minister’s hands - then why not "knockdown power?" God can either knock someone over with a direct hit or through the hands of someone who is operating under His anointing at any given moment. I believe God can and does go either way with this particular manifestation.

3. The Third Argument - God only knocked people down when rendering some type of judgment on them. Look closely at the above 9 verses. It was only on the apostle Paul that God was rendering judgment on when He knocked him to the ground. The others were priests of the temple, prophets like Ezekiel and John the Revelator, or the apostles themselves. None of them were under direct judgment when this phenomena was occurring.

Conclusions

1. Being slain in the Spirit is simply when the presence and power of God comes directly at you causing you to either fall forward or backward. This power can either come directly through the hands of someone operating under the Lord's anointing at any given moment, or directly at you by God Himself - such as when you see people falling to the ground while just sitting in their seats with no one laying a hand on them.

This manifestation of God’s power can either come directly at you very lightly where you just start to lose your balance and then proceed to fall. Or it can come at you very strongly to the point where you cannot resist it and you are literally blown to the ground. When this happens, it looks like a cannonball is hitting someone right in the stomach and they fall backwards with a fair amount of force. God decides how strong He will manifest this kind of power when He does decide to manifest it on someone.

Granted, there will always be some people in a church service that will be falling backwards out of their own flesh. The power of God is not causing them to fall backward. They just want to be part of the crowd and they will fall backward on their own. However, you cannot throw out the baby with the bathwater on this manifestation just because some people will always choose to act out of their flesh.

2. So what happens when people are slain in the Spirit? Sometimes just a nice, restful, peaceful, relaxed feeling will come over the person. Sometimes people can receive inner and/or outer healings while resting in the Spirit. Some people can receive visions, instructions or advice from the Lord on a situation that He may want to deal with them on. People can rest anywhere in the Spirit from 1-2 minutes or as long as 4-6 hours if God would choose to go that long with a particular individual.

For those of you who would like additional information on this phenomenon - there is a book titled "Overcome by the Spirit" by Francis MacNutt. Francis MacNutt is an ex-Catholic priest who received a healing ministry from the Lord. He noticed that this phenomenon would occur quite often whenever he would lay hands on people for their healings.

He interviewed many people after they had fallen in the Spirit to find out what their reactions were and exactly what had happened to them while they were resting in the Spirit. There are many direct quotes from the people he interviewed and it was all very positive.

He came to the conclusion that being slain in the Spirit was a very real manifestation of God that was occurring because of all the good fruit it produced in the people who had experienced this phenomena. He said some of the actual healings that came through his ministry occurred when people were "resting in the Spirit" after he had initially laid hands on them.

This man, in my opinion, is a true servant of God. He explored this phenomenon with complete objectivity back in the 1970’s. He covers in this most informative book all of the things that he saw happen when this manifestation would occur.

Short Story

I will leave you with a short story on this manifestation occurring to someone I used to work with. I will never forget it as long as I live. It was very touching and I feel like God allowed this story to come my way when it did to help confirm that this particular manifestation was really coming from Him.

About 8 years ago, I worked with a man who was a very devout Catholic. He was married, with 2 girls, ages 8 and 11. There was a priest from Chicago who had come down for the Sunday service. I can’t recall the name of the priest, but he had a healing ministry and he did a lot of traveling with the healing gift that God had given him. He too found that people would fall backwards whenever he would lay hands on them.

On the Sunday this event occurred, this man, his wife and his two girls all went to see this priest. When this priest then made the call for anyone to come up and have hands laid on them, all four of them went up just to see if God would do anything to any of them.

My friend said that absolutely nothing happened to either him, his wife or the older 11-year-old daughter. They felt no power come against them and none of them fell backwards in the Spirit.

However, his youngest daughter, only 8 years of age, was hit hard! He said she went down like a ton of bricks. He said it looked like a cannonball or bowling ball hit her right in the stomach blowing her backwards with great force. There obviously was a catcher behind her when she fell backward.

He said the minute she hit the ground - she started bawling profusely. He said she was crying as hard as she could. My friend intially thought there was something wrong with her because she was crying so hard. He then started to go over to see what was wrong with her, but he received an immediate check from the Holy Spirit that he was not to go near her - that God was doing something very special with her.

He said that she laid on the ground crying as hard as she could for a good 10-15 minutes. After the 10-15 minutes, she all of a sudden quit crying and stood up. He immediately went over to her and started to walk with her outside. When they got outside, he turned to her and asked her why she had been crying so hard after she had been slain in the Spirit.

I will never forget these words as long as I live. This little 8-year-old girl turned to her daddy and said with a real big smile on her face:

"Daddy, Daddy, He felt so good, He felt so good!"

God was obviously manifesting His loving presence all over this little girl for the 10-15 minutes that she was "resting in the Spirit" to the point that she was crying as hard as she could. She obviously was in the manifest presence of God and He was allowing her to literally feel His love for her.

As I was driving home from work that day after hearing the above story, I then tapped in and asked God what had happened and was that really Him that did all of that.

These three words immediately came up out of my spirit and again, I will never forget these three words. The three words were - "I touched her" - with an emphasis on the word "touch."

I then immediately started to laugh. He touched her, but she went down like a ton of bricks! I really felt like God was telling me two things with these three specific words:

That it was His manifest presence that blew her backwards causing her to fall like she did, and that it was His manifest presence stirring on the inside of her causing her to cry as hard as she was crying.

The fact that she told her dad that "He felt so good" - showed that God had to be literally manifesting His love to her where she could literally and physically feel it all over her physical body.

You’ll each have to come to your own conclusions as to whether or not you feel this is a true manifestation from God. For those of you who do believe that this is a real manifestation from the Lord, the above Scripture verses, and arguments off of those Scripture verses, can give you some ammunition should you ever find yourself in a debate with another Christian over this topic.

As for myself, I really do believe that this phenomenon is a true and powerful manifestation from the Lord when it really is Him doing it. But as with all of the other manifestations from God, there are always demons out there who will try and counterfeit some of His manifestations, along with other people just acting out and pretending God is manifesting on them when He is really not doing so. These people are either operating under the power of suggestion or they simply want to be part of the crowd if they see other people truly falling under the power of God.

But don’t let counterfeit activity from the dark side or some people acting out of their flesh prejudice you against what I feel is a very powerful and wonderful manifestation from the Lord when He does decide to do it on someone.

For those of you who have been truly slain in the Spirit - you know exactly what I am talking about since you have had this real experience.

For those of you who have not - I challenge you to go direct God the Father in prayer and ask Him to personally show you if this manifestation is something that is really coming from Him or not. God loves it when you start to press in and ask Him specific questions on anything you may really want an answer on. Ask, and you may just receive His direct answer on this topic!

By: Michael Bradley
from bibleknowledge.com

 

[InHisGrip]

This has to be the best possible explanation. I have always had my doubts because there are so many counterfeits, but then I must also not be in danger of shunning what CAN be a true manifestation of God's presence. I have seen people being slain in the Spirit and in honesty, I was very dubious. I myself have never been slain like that, but I have been so overwhelmed by the Lord's presence that I couldn't stand, but had to either go on my knees or be face down before Him.

Thank you for this post, I truly learnt much from it.

God bless

MuchLoved
J

 

[ushalk]

this is my take on this, i do not doubt that the lord and the power and pureness of the lord can drop us to the ground or that we will fall. however i do not believe it in alot of the televangilists shows. ya know like when rod parsely went running around his church and breathed into the microphone and the first two rows of people fell back onto their chairs.

the lord working this kind of power through a humble servant i can see, but not one that is pridefull and high minded. this is my take on this great activity.

 

[MAJ52653]

While some people can counterfeit the various gifts or moves of the Spirit, the presence of counterfeit $20 dollar bills hass never proved that there are no real $20 bills.

 

[Word of Life]

I know I started and posted this topic of discussion, but please do your studies on this subject, as I am really concerned about this.

I have been in this now for a few days, and I don't find it scriptural.

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit

1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1Co 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

For what I have found out, I see this is manifestation that has originated from some Kundalini Energy Power. Which is some Eastern religion? It seems that the Pentecostal Churches, took up some of their practices and now has flowed into other churches too.

I am not out to hurt anyones feelings here, as I do know some of you have agreed and embarked on this "slain in spirit" I just want you to be aware, and you can then do your own studies on this subject and decide for yourself. It's just that we may have been fooled by man.

I also went in a prayer line on Monday night, while I was waiting in line, I spoke to God, asking Him to help me with this and protect me, as I was nervous, that second the pastor touched my hands, I immediately spoke in tongues. There were about 12 pastors in a line. As I moved along by each pastor, with him blessing me and touching our hands and the back of our head, I continually spoke in tongues. But I was not slain in spirit. As soon as I went out of that line of pastors, I stopped speaking in tongues.

If someone can provide me with a scripture, saying that "slain in spirit" is from the true living God, I would appreciate it.

 

[Chad]

Sister WOL, the article you posted quoted Scripture that talks about being slain in the spirit. There is a good article here as well that may help readers:

Is being slain in the Spirit biblical?

I always would focus on asking the Holy Spirit to give us guidance and discernment. Whether or not being slain in the Spirit is biblical, we still have the power of prayer and the living Word itself.

I personally do not doubt the energy/force of laying on hands for example. I've never felt it myself, but at my church every once in a while I even see a person just fall during worship, out of the blue (not from laying of hands). They start shouting in tongues on the floor sometimes too.

I must admit, its a pretty difficult subject but may GOD guide us all into Truth

 

[joy-messiah]

Is preactice of being slain in spirit is biblical?

Is preactice of being slain in spirit is biblical?

well, no it certianly is not! The biblical pattern is that God's sevents fell forwand but the enemies of GOD fell backwards, lets examine the relevent Scripture

Gen17:1-3, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him

Josh5:13-15, And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?
And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

Ezek1:28, As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake

Ezek43:2-3, And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.
And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.
Ezek44:4Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face.
Matthew17:5-6, While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
so in Scripture we have seen that all Godly ppl fell forward as did Abraham, Josheua, Ezkiel, Jesus's desiples, John the apostle, the angels of GOD, four and twenty elders and four living creatures
john 18:6, As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.
Isa 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
1Sam4:18, And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

no where in Scripture falling backward is positive, its always related with evil
neither 'catchers' r biblical,
search the word ' backward' and ' falling backward. in bible
but question is why chruch is seeking spiritual experinces which bible doesnot support?
When LORD said adultress generation is seeking sign and none shall be given to them then devil step forward and said i will give u false signs and falls wonders!

 

[Word of Life]

Thank you for your kind responses.

Like I said I am not out to hurt anyone, at the end of the day, it's up too the individual. God does give us a choice, I am choosing not to participate in this.

Thank you joy-messiah, I have done a search on the word "backwards" in the King James Bible, this too opened up my eyes even more.

(Gen 9:23) And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

(Gen 49:17) Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

(1Sa 4:18) And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

(2Ki 20:10) And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.

(2Ki 20:11) And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

(Job 23:8) Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

(Psa 40:14) Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

(Psa 70:2) Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.

(Isa 1:4) Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

(Isa 28:13) But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

(Isa 38:8) Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

(Isa 44:25) That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

(Isa 59:14) And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

(Jer 7:24) But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

(Jer 15:6) Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

(Lam 1:8) Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward.

(Joh 18:6) As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.

 

[ushalk]

wol, this is a very serious topic and i agree that it needs to be looked at. many people have done manythings when they are touched by the spirit. unfortinately many people have duplicated it for there own glory or money or what ever. our lord is very powerful and we could do many things when he touches us. however i have never myself been touched by the spirit where i have gone into a violent type of thing nor did i ever feel prideful or strut at the touch of the holy spirit. i have cried and fallen to my knees or on my face in prayer. you see i think these things are real. but i do not think that it is really when it seems to be prideful or violent in anyway. remember that the lord is a loving and caring lord. if it does not agree with the character, word or love of jesus christ it is not real. he is a gentle and loving lord.

 

[kenwyn]

I am not too sure that falling either backwards or forwards can be a true test of whether something is from God.

I can think of four broad explanations for what appears to be being "slain in the spirit"

• It is faked
• it is an emotional or psychological response
• it is from the Devil
• It is from the Holy Spirit

If something is from the Holy Spirit, then we would expect to see the fruits of the Spirit. If someone claims to have been slain in the Spirit, one way to test the claim would be to look at their lives. Do you see more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? (Galatians 5.22)

I know that this test does not give instant results - we have to wait a while to see what is happening in people's lives - but it has the advantage of going back to the heart of the Christian life: growing more like Jesus.

 

[Rog]

I went up to get an anointing being from a preacher once. I was a very young Christian at the time. When the preacher touched my head, the guy behind me started pulling me back and I fell, because everybody else was.
I can't say I was slain, or that it was even from the Holy Spirit.
I felt a much greater power of his presence just walking and praising God, claiming my neighborhood for his Kingdom.

 

[ushalk]

rag, as you said though you felt someone pulling you down. putting that mindset that you should do as the others were doing. or that is what it sounds like happened to me. i do not deny that the holy spirit has the power to do all things. but i also feel that because of the way this world is all about money and how they look before man rather than the lord, i can see where people would set this up or fake it in order to gain money. the world and the things that people are making of christianity. are we really that bad in worship of moneythat we will destort the word of the living god and manipulate people in order to become rich.

then on top of all this we have people teaching that the lords people drive nice cars and have nice homes and they just keep getting money and material things. all this garbage reminds me of 2 things 1 when the roman catholic church was selling indulgences to people telling them that when they bought this it would get them to heaven. and 2 the story where the rich guy came to jesus to find out what he needed in order to be saved and jesus told him that he needed to go get rid of all his things. the rich man became quite distraught. then the scripture in

1 timothy 6:3-9- if anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our lord jesus christ and the teaching which accords to godliness, he is puffed up with conceit, he knows nothing; he has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words, which envy, dissension,slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among men who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining the godliness is a means of gain. there is great gain of godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into this world and we cannotn take anything out of this world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

 

[Stylez4Christ]

rag, as you said though you felt someone pulling you down. putting that mindset that you should do as the others were doing. or that is what it sounds like happened to me. i do not deny that the holy spirit has the power to do all things. but i also feel that because of the way this world is all about money and how they look before man rather than the lord, i can see where people would set this up or fake it in order to gain money. the world and the things that people are making of christianity. are we really that bad in worship of moneythat we will destort the word of the living god and manipulate people in order to become rich.

then on top of all this we have people teaching that the lords people drive nice cars and have nice homes and they just keep getting money and material things. all this garbage reminds me of 2 things 1 when the roman catholic church was selling indulgences to people telling them that when they bought this it would get them to heaven. and 2 the story where the rich guy came to jesus to find out what he needed in order to be saved and jesus told him that he needed to go get rid of all his things. the rich man became quite distraught. then the scripture in

1 timothy 6:3-9- if anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our lord jesus christ and the teaching which accords to godliness, he is puffed up with conceit, he knows nothing; he has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words, which envy, dissension,slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among men who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining the godliness is a means of gain. there is great gain of godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into this world and we cannotn take anything out of this world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. but those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

That not always true:thumbs_do

Because there is nothing wrong on being bless with a nice car or any nice things. I believed it has to be balance because there are greedy people out there. And we Christian need to cloth the naked and feed to hunger amen... We Christian post to be bless as the Jewish because this is why we see allot of them in wealth. But Christians some are not rich with nice house or anything like that, like my self I don't live a in a place but better then nothing, plus I’m still wearing things that is 4, 3, 1, years old. But I could say that my spirit is rich because some rich people don't always seem happy why'll some are poor financially but I come here today to tell that since we are in Christ we are rich.

But we work hard to get blessing and there is nothing wrong with that. Plus, there are people walk in the flesh that make so much money, is like there getting richness from Satan or something! But God got something better for his children! Plus being slain the spirit has nothing to do money!!! I got slain the spirit without being laying of hands...

 

[Love my Lord]

my husband wasn't sure about being slain in the Spirit either. Until we were called down front in church one sunday. My husband was given a word of knowledge and the preacher placed his hand on his head. He went down, with a big smile on his face. Its like a great big blanket of love and mercy falling on you. Its wonderful. Brings you closer to God. I am not saying that everyone who claims to be slain is for real> I'm sure some just want to be part of whats going on around them but when ti happens you never forget it. You leave wanting more.

 

[ushalk]

styles let me ask you. if christianity were shown by the material things that they have then why wouldnt we all just become millionaires? i did not state that no one would get blessed with these things. the point is how the word of god is being twisted concerning these things. this is a huge difference. however the scripture from 1timothy states very clearly that if we teach godliness to be material or montary gain it is a false teaching. so now i ask are you saying that i am wrong or the word of god is wrong. personnelly i say if you state that i am wrong then you say that the word of god is wrong aswell. i say this because the word states everything that i said and backs it up.

 

[Stylez4Christ]

styles let me ask you. if christianity were shown by the material things that they have then why wouldnt we all just become millionaires? i did not state that no one would get blessed with these things. the point is how the word of god is being twisted concerning these things. this is a huge difference. however the scripture from 1timothy states very clearly that if we teach godliness to be material or montary gain it is a false teaching. so now i ask are you saying that i am wrong or the word of god is wrong. personnelly i say if you state that i am wrong then you say that the word of god is wrong aswell. i say this because the word states everything that i said and backs it up.

No, I believed what the scriptures says but don't take it to the main stream because I don't find it wrong to be wealthy, as for me I rather live in a normal life rather then being a millionaires but spiritually I am on the inside but don't want be on the outside because I love the life that I live in but I believed God give me things. I found a good article here...

There are many times in the Old Testament that God gave riches to His people. Jacob (Genesis 31:16); the tribe of Manasseh: (Joshua 22:8); Solomon was promised riches and became the richest of all the kings of the earth (1 Kings 3:11-13; 2 Chronicles 9:22); David said in 1 Chronicles 29:12: “Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over all”; King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:5) and many others. However, They were a chosen people with earthly promises and rewards. They were given a land and all the treasures of it.

In the New Testament there is a different standard. The church was never given a land or the promise of riches. It states in Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” Christ spoke in Matthew 13:22 concerning the seed of God's Word falling among thorns and “the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.” This is the first reference to earthly riches in the New Testament.

In Mark 10:23 Jesus again said: "Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” It was not impossible, as all things are possible with God but it would be “hard”. In Luke 16:13 Jesus spoke about “mammon” (the Aramaic word for riches): “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

God speaks of the true riches He brings to us today in Romans 2:4: “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” That riches which brings eternal life. Again this is brought out in Romans 9:23: “and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? Also, read Ephesians 1:7: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." Referring to God giving mercy, Paul praises God in Romans 11:33: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”

The emphasis of the New Testament is God's riches in us: “that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,” (Ephesians1:18b) God actually wants to show off His riches in us in heaven: and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6,7)

The riches that God wants for us is: “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,” (Ephesians 3:16). The greatest verse that applies for New Testament believers concerning riches is found in Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This statement was given from Paul because the Philippians had sent sacrificial gifts to take care of Paul's needs.

1 Timothy 6:17 gives a warning to the rich: Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” James 5:1-3 gives us another warning about riches that were wrongly gained: “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.” The last time that riches are mentioned in the Bible is found in Revelation 18:17 speaking of the great destruction of Babylon: “‘For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’”

To summarize: Israel was given earthy promises and rewards as God's earthy chosen people. He gave many illustrations and types and truths through them. Many people desire to take their blessings but not their curses. However, in the progression of revelation God has revealed through Jesus Christ a more excellent ministry: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6)

God does not condemn anyone for having riches, they come to people from many sources, but He gives grave warnings to those that seek after them more than God and trust in them more than in God. His greatest desire is for us to set our hearts on things above and not on things on this earth. This may sound very high and unobtainable but Paul wrote: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) The secret is knowing Christ as Savor and allowing the Holy Spirit to conform our minds and heart to His (Romans 12:1,2).

from gotquestions.org

 

[SmileBig]

hi all. I would say that personally laying on of hands is something that some people will accept and others won't. For myself I have never been puled by someone to the floor when I have been prayed for. It is like I feel static electricity through my body and in some meetings when focussing on God I sense God's presence and can no longer stand.

I do agree however that there are false people in this area and some people can use it to exploit people and whip up an emotional response in people.

The thing I would say is to test what you see. It says in the bible that by the fruits of people you shall know them, and to be wise as serpents and yet gentle as lambs so I dont go for prayer as an emotional response, I personally prefer to know the person praying for me first, knowing that their character matches God's will, to praise God when I am prayed for and not doubt God will touch me (the people Jesus touched were healed through faith) and if I dont want to go to the front I am not going to beat myself up about it but receive from God where I stand as God needs no human agent.

Finally, it is important to seek the giver and not the gift and rather than being hung up over whether you should have hands laid on you, it is better to draw close to God, to know His love and to bless others as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5v22) wars against the fruit of lust (Galatians 5) and we can be Christians who have gifts of tongues, interpretation, speaking, etc,etc but if we dont show God's love or have joy and peace then we are fruitless as Christians (1 Corinthians 13) and then it is a fleshy show. We should desire spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14) but we should seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6 v33).

God bless you all

 

[ushalk]

i am not against people having things but the more you receive physically does not show a man to be saved or unsaved. there is not one verse in the new testiment that states that the lord will bless us with money and cars and all that. lets go back to the rich man that jesus told to get rid of all his worldly bvelongings and follow him.

 

[Stylez4Christ]

hi all. I would say that personally laying on of hands is something that some people will accept and others won't. For myself I have never been puled by someone to the floor when I have been prayed for. It is like I feel static electricity through my body and in some meetings when focussing on God I sense God's presence and can no longer stand.

I do agree however that there are false people in this area and some people can use it to exploit people and whip up an emotional response in people.

The thing I would say is to test what you see. It says in the bible that by the fruits of people you shall know them, and to be wise as serpents and yet gentle as lambs so I dont go for prayer as an emotional response, I personally prefer to know the person praying for me first, knowing that their character matches God's will, to praise God when I am prayed for and not doubt God will touch me (the people Jesus touched were healed through faith) and if I dont want to go to the front I am not going to beat myself up about it but receive from God where I stand as God needs no human agent.

Finally, it is important to seek the giver and not the gift and rather than being hung up over whether you should have hands laid on you, it is better to draw close to God, to know His love and to bless others as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5v22) wars against the fruit of lust (Galatians 5) and we can be Christians who have gifts of tongues, interpretation, speaking, etc,etc but if we dont show God's love or have joy and peace then we are fruitless as Christians (1 Corinthians 13) and then it is a fleshy show. We should desire spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14) but we should seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6 v33).

God bless you all

I almost fall back when my church praying in circle and we was all in one place and that I felt electricity through my 2 hands and half way to my lower arm and the lord was all over me and I felt fattiness like I don't how to explain it but you just want to go down like something was heavy for me to go down but it felt nice accept I did fall down but I hand bin down haahahaha lol… hehehehe

 

[Stylez4Christ]

i am not against people having things but the more you receive physically does not show a man to be saved or unsaved. there is not one verse in the new testiment that states that the lord will bless us with money and cars and all that. lets go back to the rich man that jesus told to get rid of all his worldly bvelongings and follow him.

I agree what you said about that it dose not show that your save if you have allot of money. But I believed we can be bless with money because it a valuable things because that how society run and money is something some thing we survive on by receiving the things we need .

Philippians 4:19: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

That scripture show that God will supply us the need that we need from him, but according to his will, for example; I need money like a $ 1,000.00 for buying 600 bible so that I can able to afford to buy it for the people to read to the word of God but at the same time the people who going to get those bible are bless also because I believed the blessing has its root because since I’m bless with a $ 1,000.00 to buy all those 600 books because also I will felt happier because I’ve even bless spiritually because I’m happy to donate bibles because that 1,000 dollar is from the will of God even I did not spent 1,000.00 for myself but gave it all away. That one example show Godliness because I did his will e and he bless me because I believed that he can entrust us because see our heart. But donating things is a act of Worship and satan hate that lol.

But what if I did get bless with money but did not use them wisely that dose not go along with the will of God but I can curse myself doing by that lol. I believed we can rob God by not paying your tithes and offerings.

Malachi 3:7-11

7Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.

Hebrews 7:8
8And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
1 Corinthians 9:7-11
7Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
8Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?
9For it is written in the law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?
10Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.
11If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?